DB week 4

ENG 205 Week 4 Unit A

1. Discussion board: John Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur (250 words)

Reading:

READ:  pp. 539-43, from Letter III, "What is an American?"

Discussion question:

What answers does Crèvecoeur offer to the question he poses in the title of Letter III, “What is an American?”  What economic, social, religious, and racial qualities characterize an American in Crèvecoeur’s view?  

2. Weekly wiki (150 words). Mark page number please.

Students will choose a short excerpt / quote from one of the readings of that week, type it in, then add a short (150 words or so) explanation for your choice. Was your selection important because it:

· is an example of beautiful or striking language?

· exemplifies a particular theme or character?

· makes the reader think about something in a new way?

· is typically "American" in some way (and in what way)?

· was just something that you liked?

Try not to use the same quote that someone else already has; if you must, make sure that what you say about it is original.

For example:

"My country is the world, and my religion is to do good."  Thomas Paine.  

I chose this quote because I think it is a good example of Enlightenment thought which was very popular during the late 1700's.  Paine is rejecting formal ties to any specific country or any particular religion (humanist world view).  He is focused on the here and now, not an afterlife, and this concern is evident in his writing about social and political systems that influenced the thinkers behind the American Revolution.  The language is simple and straightforward.

3. Write responses for another student’s work. (75 words)

Before I get into the texts, the obvious difference between Puritan and Quakers is the tone set forth by each.  Puritan beliefs seem come with a heavy hand of discipline opposed to Quakers which is more of a story telling narrative. 

Puritan Sources of Evil: Sinful Man.  “The sword of divine justice is every moment brandished over their heads, and it is nothing but the hand of arbitrary mercy, and God’s mere will, that holds it back.”  Here, Puritan trust in the institution of god and the punishment he will provide for not following his teaching is an ideal symbol of a difference in sources of evil.    “The sword of dvine justice”, to me sounds like trusting in our institution or a bitter waring crusade against the enemy.

Quaker Sources of Evil: Sinful World: “I saw in these southern provinces so many vices and corruptions, increased by this trade and this way of life, that it appeared to me as a dark gloominess hanging over the land; and though now many willingly run into it, yet in future the consequence will be grievous to posterity. I express it as it hath appeared to me, not once nor twice, but as a matter fixed on my mind.”  The preaching’s of John Woolman show a light dove touch to the what is often described as “black eye” in American History.  His description of the “future the consequence will be grievous to posterity”, is spot on to how the American public views the issue of slavery as an evil act of human kind.