Essay: My American Dream
  Quarter Final Essay

Write an essay of at least 5 paragraphs and 2 pages that tells what your American dream is.

Be honest and speak in your own voice. Use anecdotes from your own life to clarify who you are and what you want and what you don’t want. Focus less on WHAT you want to be and more on WHO you want to be.

Think about the “big themes” in American literature, and what they mean in your life.

community and family
liberty and freedom
equality and justice
money and wealth
religion and spirituality

Most of these words have been used in so many ways and for so many purposes, that they don’t communicate much to a reader unless you slow down and talk about things that have actually happened to you that illustrate what you mean with them.

You can also explore what they mean by using the literature we have read to illustrate ideas. The Pilgrims show both the benefits and the downsides of life in intensely joined communities--people are there for each other, but everyone gives up some independence.

You can agree or disagree with any of the writers we have read, using things they said as either good examples or bad examples.

Is your dream similar to or different from the dream of living in a unified and loving community, as John Winthrop described, or from being “healthy and wealthy” as Ben Franklin suggested?

What role does liberty play in your dream? What about equality? Justice? Money? Spirituality?

What virtues will you need to realize your dream? What knowledge and skills will you need to master? What are you doing to get there?

Does your dream grow out of your family? Is your dream a continuation of a family dream, or a rejection of one?

Where might you want to be when you are 30? 50? 70?

Think about these readings:

D’Arcy McNickle’s “Hard Riding” and “Meat for God”
1882 Treaty Negotiations
1912 Claremont v US Supreme Court Decision
William Bradford: “A History of Plymouth Plantation”
John Winthrop: “A Model of Christian Charity”
Patrick Henry “Speech”
Thomas Paine “Crisis”
Thomas Jefferson: “Declaration of Independence”

Scoring: 100 points

1. Your essay has a clear theme. It makes a clear statement. It’s interesting. It doesn’t just wander around (on one hand, on the other hand etc.). It has at least 5 well-developed paragraphs. 40 points
2. Use of personal anecdotes that illustrate who you are--what you like or don’t like. 25 points
3. Use of quotations from the reading, to make your points more clear and to demonstrate familiarity and understanding of several readings. 25 points
4. Style: You write in active voice, with vivid verbs and precise nouns. 10 points
5. Fatal errors: Sentence fragments. Run-on sentences. “ Spelling errors. Capitalization errors.