What it means to be an American

Assignment: write a multi-paragraph essay that defines your interpretation of what it means to be an American. This essay should use the strategies of definition (exemplification, classification, function, negation) and different perspectives from the unit to help you develop a complex and thoughtful definition. • What pieces of writing from this unit connected strongly with you? How can they help to add depth and dimension to your defintion? • How can you share your ideas with a peer to help you select the strongest material to include in your draft? • How will you take the complex elements of your definition and work them into a clear, focused thesis statement? • How can you sequence your ideas so that they work together to build a clear and convincing definition? • What strategies of definition work well with your selected evidence and ideas? Evaluating and Revising • Does your essay have coherence—does it present ideas that tie together and flow smoothly, making the essay easy to follow for the reader? • Does your essay have specific, varied diction and a variety of sentence patterns? • Where can you add or revise transitions so that one idea smoothly leads to another? • Synthesize Sources from Different Perspectives Poetry: “The New Colossus,” by Emma Lazarus Speech: Excerpt from President Roosevelt’s Address at Statue of Liberty Celebration America’s Voices Poetry: “I Hear America Singing,” by Walt Whitman Poetry: “I, Too, Sing America,” by Langston Hughes Poetry: “America,” by Claude McKay Fulfilling the Promise Short Story: “America and I,” by AnziaYezierska Defining an American Letter: Excerpt from Letters From an American Farmer, “What is an American?” by Hector St. Jean de Crevecoeur A Hyphenated American Essay: “Growing Up Asian,” by Kesaya E. Noda Researching Images of America Poetry: “Let America Be America Again,” by Langston Hughes What Is Freedom? Speech: Excerpt from “The Four Freedoms,” by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt Historical Document: The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States Historical Document: The Bill of Rights Strategies for Defining Freedom Definition Essay: “What Is Freedom?” by Jerald M. Jellison and John H. Harvey Embedded Assessment 1: Writing a Definition Essay Argumentative Essay: “Is the American Dream Still Possible?” by David Wallechinsky The Structure of an Argument