Unit+Two+American+Literature

Unit Two Discussion Questions American Literature

1. Read Franklin’s aphorisms (page 57) and then pick one and explain what it means and why it is or is not relevant, accurate, useful, insightful, etc. What effect does its wording or use of literary devices have on its effectiveness?

2. Write your own aphorism that makes a statement about life in a clever, unique or witty way. Try to use a metaphor or analogy.

3. Read Patrick Henry’s “Speech in the Virginia Convention” (page 66) and then list at least five strategies or methods Henry uses to make his speech persuasive. Then pick one or two of them and explain why they work as well as they do and why they might be appropriate for the audience Henry was speaking to.

4. Read the broadside on page 70 and write about the following prompt: In what way is the message of this broadside more moderate than you might expect given what you know about the history of the time period? What does this show about public opinions on political issues?

Read “The Iroquois Constitution” on page 73 and respond to the following prompts:

5. Look for and explain some of the symbols you see in this piece. For example, why might being a “fire keeper” be an important job? What is the significance of the “Tree of the Great Peace” and the description of its roots?

6. Look beyond the symbols to the literal governmental information here. Explain the literal political system being set up in this constitution. Do you see any parallels to our own government?

Read “The Declaration of Independence” on page 77 and respond to the following prompts:

7. Pick a passage from the declaration that is at least 70 words long and paraphrase it (put it into your own, contemporary, understandable words without changing the meaning).

8. Explain the historical, political, literary and rhetorical significance of the above passage.

Read the excerpt from “The American Crisis” on page 82 and respond to the following prompt:

9. Pick one sentence, idea or example that Paine uses that you find particularly convincing or effective and explain why it works so well. (Or, if you find none of his points convincing, explain why.)

Read “To his Excellency, General Washington” on page 85 and respond to the following prompt:

10. What is ironic about what Wheatley wishes for Washington at the end of the poem? Explain why she might make such a wish and what this shows about her political views. (Hint: See if you can find any similarities between her literary and political background.)

American Literature Unit 2 Test Review

Format of the test: 60 multiple-choice questions, and one CER to be completed during the test period.

Questions 1-6 deal with the Unit 2 introduction (pp. 49-52) Questions 7-10 deal with Benjamin Franklin and his Aphorisms (pp. 56-57) Questions 11-15 deal with Patrick Henry’s “Speech in the Virginia Convention” (pp 66-68) Questions 16-17 deal with “The Bold Americans” (p. 70) Questions 18-26 deal with “The Iroquois Constitution” (p. 73-75) Questions 27-38 deal with “The Declaration of Independence” (pp. 77-79) Questions 39-43 deal with “The American Crisis” by Thomas Paine (pp. 81-83) Questions 44-55 deal with “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine (not in book) Questions 56-60 deal with “To his Excellency, General Washington” by Phillis Wheatley (pp 85-86)

You may use your notes on the whole test (your own notes, in your own handwriting, in your own notebook). You may use your textbook on the CER only.

Bring: a #2 pencil (with eraser), your notes, your textbook.

Terms I expect you to know (please don’t ask me what they mean during the test):

Ethos Pathos Logos

Iambic Pentameter Heroic Couplets Allusion Metaphor Simile Symbol Onomatopoeia

Monarchy

Rationalism Enlightenment Age of Reason

Tories Whigs _

Example Questions:

1. What is the time period of unit 2? a. up to 1750 b. 1750-1800 c. 1800-1840 d. 1840-1885 e. 1885-1910

2. What European philosophical movement strongly influenced thought and literature at this time? (MARK ALL THAT APPLY) a. rationalism b. the age of reason c. the enlightenment d. the “Common Sense” movement e. nationalism _

3. What is the meaning of this aphorism: “Keep thy shop, and thy shop will keep thee”? a. be yourself b. you’ll get out of your business/career what you put into it c. be honest d. if at first you don’t succeed, try again e. keep out of foreign affairs

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No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do, opinions of a character very opposite to theirs,

4. Why does Patrick Henry say this early in his “Speech in the Virginia Convention”? a. to avoid offending those in his audience who agree with the previous speakers b. to show himself to be religious and therefore a good and moral person c. to show himself to be respectful, even to those he disagrees with d. to show he doesn’t care whom he disagrees with e. a and c

5. What is the rhetorical purpose of “The Bold Americans”? a. to convince Americans they must split from England b. to convince Americans they must stay with England c. to convince the King to give Americans their independence d. to convince Tories to stop supporting the King e. to convince Americans we must split with England if the King doesn’t give us more freedom

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The following passage is from Dekanawida’s “The Iroquois Constitution”

These clans distributed through their respective Nations, shall be the sole owners and holders of the soil of the country and in them is it vested as a birthright.

6. Why did Dekanawida set up these clans as owners of the land in the new confederacy? a. to show how much they value land b. to show how much they value women c. to force members to live peacefully with members of other nations d. all of the above e. none of the above

Read the following passage from the “Declaration of Independence” and then answer the following questions about it.

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of Nature and Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect of the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

7. According to **this passage**, what is the purpose of this document? a. to give the people of the world reasons that America is becoming independent of England b. to notify Americans that they need no longer give allegiance to England c. to notify England that America is no longer under its control d. to let Thomas Jefferson’s mom know he is moving out of the house e. all of the above

The following passage is from “The American Crisis” by Thomas Paine:

I have as little superstition in me as any man living, but my secret opinion has ever been, and still is, that God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsupportedly to perish, who have so earnestly and so repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities of war, by every decent method which wisdom could invent. Neither have I so much of the infidel in me, as to suppose that He has relinquished the government of the world, and given us up to the care of devils; and as I do not, I cannot see on what grounds the king of Britain can look up to heaven for help against us: a common murderer, a highwayman, or a house-breaker, has as good a pretence as he.

8. What is Thomas Paine saying about God in this passage? a. He will support American independence b. He will support England in the war c. He has abandoned the world and let devils run the world d. He is a Whig e. He is a Tory

9. What is Thomas Paine saying about Americans in this passage? a. they are athiests b. they are Christians c. they are like thieves d. they have tried everything to avoid war e. they are loyal to the King

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The following passage is from “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine

To the evil of monarchy we have added that of hereditary succession; and as the first is a degradation and lessening of ourselves, so the second, claimed as a matter of right, is an insult and an imposition on posterity. For all men being originally equals, no one by birth could have a right to set up his own family in perpetual preference to all others for ever, and though himself might deserve some decent degree of honors of his contemporaries, yet his descendants might be far too unworthy to inherit them. One of the strongest natural proofs of the folly of hereditary right in kings, is, that nature disapproves it, otherwise she would not so frequently turn it into ridicule by giving mankind an ass for a lion.

10. What are the two evils Paine criticizes here? (MARK TWO) a. monarchy b. democracy c. degradation d. nature e. hereditary succession

11. What kind of argument is the majority of this passage? a. ethos / ethical / ad hominem b. logos / logical c. pathos / emotional

12. What kind of argument is the last sentence of this passage? a. ethos / ethical / ad hominem b. logos / logical c. pathos / emotional

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13. What literary device is used very often in Phillis Wheatley’s “To his Excellency, General Washington”? a. metaphor b. symbolism c. onomatopoeia d. simile e. allusion

Unit 2 Test CER (sorry for the bad formatting)

Name___________________________ Hour ______


 * Prompt: ** Look at the titles of the unit two literature we’ve read, and then make a claim about how one or two of them use good rhetorical (persuasive) strategies to accomplish its/their rhetorical purpose. Then support your claim in the three columns below. You should use specific examples and quotes from the literature to back up your claim. You may use notes and your text book.


 * Unit 2 Literature: **

Benjamin Franklin’s Aphorisms (p. 57) Patrick Henry’s Speech in the Virginia Convention (p. 66)

Anonymous Broadside (p. 70) Dekanawida’s Iroquois Constitution (p. 73)

Jefferson’s “The Declaration of Independence” (p. 77) Thomas Paine’s “The American Crisis” (p. 82)

Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” (not in book) Wheatley’s “To His Excellency, Gen. Washington” (p. 85)

Example claim:

__ Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” __ tries to convince his audience that __they should fear God’s wrath__ __ and therefore avoid sin  __. This piece __is__ convincing because it uses __effective__ rhetorical strategies for his audience.

(The first two underlined parts must be changed. The last two may be changed.)


 * Claim or position:** (left column, 5 spaces)


 * Reasons** that support my claim or position (middle column, 5 spaces)


 * Reasoning**: How this evidence supports my claim or position (right column, 5 spaces)


 * Counter-Arguments** (evidence from the literature that goes against your position) (top third of page 2)


 * Summary** (what you have concluded from the claim, evidence and reasoning about this literature and about effective persuasive speaking/writing)? (bottom 2/3 of page 2)


 * Excerpts from Common Sense by Thomas Paine. These are the excerpts we used in our group work:**

Excerpts from //Common Sense// by Thomas Paine SOME writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher.

“There is something exceedingly ridiculous in the composition of Monarchy; it first excludes a man from the means of information, yet empowers him to act in cases where the highest judgment is required. The state of a king shuts him from the World, yet the business of a king requires him to know it thoroughly; wherefore the different parts, by unnaturally opposing and destroying each other, prove the whole character to be absurd and useless.”

“Government by kings was first introduced into the world by the Heathens, from whom the children of Israel copied the custom. It was the most prosperous invention the Devil ever set on foot for the promotion of idolatry. The Heathens paid divine honours to their deceased kings, and the Christian World hath improved on the plan by doing the same to their living ones. How impious is the title of sacred Majesty applied to a worm, who in the midst of his splendor is crumbling into dust! As the exalting one man so greatly above the rest cannot be justified on the equal rights of nature, so neither can it be defended on the authority of scripture; for the will of the Almighty as declared by Gideon, and the prophet Samuel, expressly disapproves of government by Kings.”

To the evil of monarchy we have added that of hereditary succession; and as the first is a degradation and lessening of ourselves, so the second, claimed as a matter of right, is an insult and imposition on posterity. For all men being originally equals, no one by birth could have a right to set up his own family in perpetual preference to all others for ever, and tho' himself might deserve some decent degree of honours of his contemporaries, yet his descendants might be far too unworthy to inherit them. One of the strongest natural proofs of the folly of hereditary right in Kings, is that nature disapproves it, otherwise she would not so frequently turn it into ridicule, by giving mankind an ASS FOR A LION.

England since the conquest hath known some few good monarchs, but groaned beneath a much larger number of bad ones: yet no man in his senses can say that their claim under William the Conqueror is a very honourable one. A French bastard landing with an armed Banditti and establishing himself king of England against the consent of the natives, is in plain terms a very paltry rascally original. It certainly hath no divinity in it. However it is needless to spend much time in exposing the folly of hereditary right; if there are any so weak as to believe it, let them promiscuously worship the Ass and the Lion, and welcome. I shall neither copy their humility, nor disturb their devotion.

“The Sun never shined on a cause of greater worth. 'Tis not the affair of a City, a County, a Province, or a Kingdom; but of a Continent — of at least one-eighth part of the habitable Globe. 'Tis not the concern of a day, a year, or an age; posterity are virtually involved in the contest, and will be more or less affected even to the end of time, by the proceedings now. Now is the seed-time of Continental union, faith and honour. The least fracture now will be like a name engraved with the point of a pin on the tender rind of a young oak; the wound would enlarge with the tree, and posterity read in it full grown characters.”

I shall conclude these remarks, with the following timely and well-intended hints. We ought to reflect, that there are three different ways by which an independency may hereafter be effected, and that one of those three, will, one day or other, be the fate of America, viz. By the legal voice of the people in Congress; by a military power, or by a mob: It may not always happen that our soldiers are citizens, and the multitude a body of reasonable men; virtue, as I have already remarked, is not hereditary, neither is it perpetual. Should an independency be brought about by the first of those means, we have every opportunity and every encouragement before us, to form the noblest, purest constitution on the face of the earth. We have it in our power to begin the world over again. A situation, similar to the present, hath not happened since the days of Noah until now.

The birthday of a new world is at hand, and a race of men, perhaps as numerous as all Europe contains, are to receive their portion of freedom from the events of a few months. The reflection is awful, and in this point of view, how trifling, how ridiculous, do the little paltry cavilings of a few weak or interested men appear, when weighed against the business of a world.