Read: The Declaration; Crevecoeur, “What is an American?” (especially the first five pages; you can skim the rest); Lazarus; King; Adams; Jischke; Wiesel. Write:
• What does the Declaration mean to you? How do you feel about it?
• What ideals in the Declaration have guided American thinking throughout our history?
• List four aspects of being an American, according to Crevecoeur. Support your choices by citing the text.
• Who, if anyone, is left out of his notion of an American?
• What are your reactions to Lazarus’s poem? How does it relate to the American Dream?
• You have probably never read the whole speech. Now that you have, what are your initial reactions?
• How is the Declaration of Independence at the heart of King’s speech? What might that say about American reform/protest movements?
What are the elements of the American dream according to Adams?
• Adams asks us to reconsider the American dream. Why? What does he recommend?
• What is the American dream according to Jischke?
• What do you think of the story of his family?
• What do you think of Wiesel’s claim that the US started the war in Iraq for unselfish reasons?
• Wiesel says that racism and anti-Semitism have vanished from American society. What do you think of that assertion?
• “For an individual, as for a nation, to be free is an admirable duty – but to help others become free is even more admirable” (Wiesel 420). What do you think of this statement?
