Page 26 - 2021-bfw-aufses-alr-1e

Perhaps because of the immense amount of information at our fingertips and the
5
questions that arise about where and who that information comes from, Americans have
become more astute students of rhetoric than ever before. Contentious and hard-won
political campaigns and elections, the Great Recession of 2008, and the rise of social
protest movements such as Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter are just some of
the many twenty-first century events that have led us to read carefully and sensitively,
even as we’re bombarded by a 24-hour news cycle and the constant presence of
social media. The nonfiction in this chapter will require you to draw on those skills
Redefining America
to analyze and interpret the arguments each text puts forward about American life.
Journalist and activist Barbara Ehrenreich uses the effective rhetorical strategy of the
personal narrative to recreate the experiences of working-class Americans at the turn
of this century. And a newly-elected President George W. Bush comforts and fortifies
Americans after the deadliest terrorist attack in American history. Barack Obama
reminds us of the genius of America in a speech he gave at the start of his national
political career. We hear from attorney and social justice activist Bryan Stevenson on
how the logic and illogic of our justice system relates to the history of the violence
and discrimination of Jim Crow, and from writer Jesmyn Ward about the personal and
historic factors that led her to move back to her hometown in Mississippi. Roxane
Gay uses humor to examine and reject constraints on what feminism means today.
Kathryn Schulz, Omer Aziz, and the Conversation on Immigration and the American
Dream all address various aspects of our identity as a nation of immigrants, including

Mario Tama/Getty Images

A California voter participates in early voting for the state primary for the 2020 presidential
election in this “Mobile Vote Center” in Los Angeles. These centers allow voters to cast their
ballots from anywhere in the county where they live.
To what extent do American elections reflect a cohesive national identity? What does
the right to vote contribute to the meaning of the American Dream today?
6
Copyright © 2021 by Bedford, Freeman & Worth High School Publishers. Uncorrected proofs have been used in this sample chapter.
Distributed by by Bedford, Freeman & Worth High School Publishers. Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution.

AufsesALR1e_24889_ch05_002_097.indd 6 5/4/2020 3:57:40 PM