American Studies
Essential Questions
The following thematic questions will guide our study of American history and literature this year. By the
year’s end, you should be able to write an informed and thoughtful essay--one that shows both your conceptual
understanding and your grasp of specific illustrative instances--on each topic presented below.
1. The American Dream: What has the American Dream meant to different people over the course of U.S.
history? Is it a myth?
2. This New American: How have immigrants and American attitudes toward immigration shaped U.S.
history?
3. Boom and Bust: How have individuals, government policy, technology, and belief systems contributed to
the nation’s agricultural & industrial development?
4. The Telling of History: How do cultural and ideological differences affect the telling of American history?
How has the analysis of U.S. history changed over time?
5. America’s Place in the World: How has the tension between isolationism and interventionism shaped
America’s foreign policy?
6. Wilderness and the American Mind: What role has physical geography played in American history? How
have the real and perceived frontier and attitudes toward the land and its resources shaped our history?
7. Protest, Reform, and Revolution: How have Americans attempted to change or reform American society
and government?
8. City on a Hill: In what ways have Americans claimed a special sense of purpose for their country? Does
America possess a special sense of purpose?
9. The State and the Individual: How has the structure of the United States government system and its
relationship to its citizens evolved and changed over time? How has the United States balanced the promise
of individual freedoms with the need for social order?
10. All Men are Created Equal: How have diverse groups of Americans struggled to make this true for them?
These definitions for the writing instruction words come from “Teaching Essay Strategies” ©2002
Pennington Publishing www.penningtonpublishing.
1. Describe = show the characteristics of the subject to the reader through visual details.
2. Explain = make something clear or easy to understand.
3. Discuss = talk about all sides of the subject.
4. Compare = show how things are the same, and contrast means to show how things are different. If the
writing prompt only mentions compare, you must still do both tasks.
5. Analyze = break apart the subject and explain each part.
6. Persuade = convince the reader of your argument or claim.
7. Justify = give reasons, based upon established rules, to support your arguments.
8. Evaluate = make a judgment about the good and bad points of the subject.
Stafford/AmLit Individual Book Choice
Your Name:________________________________
th
Approved book choice due: Thursday, April 16 .
Title of Book: ______________________________________________
Author: ____________________________________________________
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Prompt Due: Monday, May 4th. Using at least one of the American Studies’ Essential Questions, construct an
essay prompt that is specific to the book you’ve chosen. The prompt can be in the form of a question or a
command. Writing prompt words are on the back of this page. Following are indicators of a strong prompt:
_____Brief, focused & clear
_____Interesting enough to motivate writing
_____Invites and enables an individual thesis
_____Invites and enables the use of evidence when
supporting or defending the thesis
Your prompt:
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Thesis Due: Wednesday, May 6th. Following are indicators of a strong thesis:
_____States subject & provides a road map or “blue print” of essay’s organizational structure
_____Is preferably one, and no more than two sentences
_____Directly responds to each part of prompt & repeats key words from prompt
_____Justifies discussion: if it’s informational, the thesis will have a purpose; if it’s persuasive, the thesis will
have a point of view
Your thesis:
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Paper due: Wednesday, May 13th. Six points each for a total of 30 points. Rubric is from College Board.
_____Position
effectively and
insightfully
developed
through
outstanding
critical thinking
skill; examples,
reasons and
evidence are
clearly
appropriate
_____Well
organized and
clearly
focused;
clearly
coherent and
ideas flow
seamlessly
_____Displays
skillful use of
language;
vocabulary is
accurate and
varied; words
are
appropriately
and skillfully
chosen
_____Good
sentence
structure;
demonstrates
meaningful and
skilled variety
of sentence
structure
_____Free of
most mistakes
in grammar,
word usage and
mechanics