Unit I American Roots Essay

1. Unit I American Roots Essay The Writing Process

2. Timeline: 11+ • Thesis due Monday September 23 • Introduction due Tuesday Sept. 24 • Rough draft due Thurs. September 26 • Final draft due Wednesday October 2

3. Timeline: 11 • Thesis due Tuesday September 24 • Introduction due Wednesday Sept. 25 • Rough draft due Friday September 27 • Final draft due Friday October 4

4. Why? • Writing 11.14.1.1 Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content. • Writing 11.14.5.5 Use a writing process to develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, drafting, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach. • Writing 11.14.9.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

5. Your Writing Process • Describe your writing process. How do you write a paper? • Do you… • Plan ahead? Procrastinate? • Write from beginning to end without stopping? Constantly re-write as you write? • Take breaks? Write in small windows of time? • Proof read? Rely on spell-check? Have another person read your paper?

6. The Writing Process… • Isn’t linear. • Is unique to each individual.

7. The Question • How do different and diverse early American authors explore the themes of economy, race, and religion? • Assessment sheet

10. What do you want to say?A Super Venn Diagram (11)

11. What do you want to say?A Super Venn Diagram (11+)

12. Brainstorm: A Super Venn Diagram • Who wrote the text? • Race • Gender • Country of origin • What is the purpose of the text? • What is the author’s argument? • What happens in the text? • What is similar and different about their themes of economy, race, and religion?

13. So what? • What is significant about the differences? • What is significant about the similarities?

14. Thesis Statement • Expresses the main argument of an essay • Subject + argument = thesis • Authors + theme(s) • Video game controller

15. Thesis Evaluation • There are similarities and differences between Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley, two female American poets. • Must take a stand • Anne Bradstreet, Phillis Wheatley, and OlaudahEquiano rely on religion to overcome obstacles.

16. Thesis Evaluation • Cabeza de Vaca and Bradford’s accounts are both about landing in the Americas and meeting Native Americans. • Must justify discussion • More than an observation • The eighteenth-century authors’ own race and perspective influenced if they called other Caucasians, Africans, and Native Americans “savages.”

17. Thesis Evaluation • Early American authors discussed economy and race frequently. • Must be specific • The Declaration of Independence, “Of Plymouth Plantation,” and “La Relación” demonstrate that the colonists’ desire for liberty was fueled by economic and religious motives.

18. Thesis Development • Diverse early American authors, such as Cotton Mather, OlaudahEquiano, Phillis Wheatley, and George Copway, demonstrate that White Christians twisted their ideas of religion to support the subjugation of other races, mainly for economic motives.

19. Thesis Statements • Subject + argument = thesis • Authors + theme(s) • Take a stand • Be more than an observation • Be specific • Answer: • How do different and diverse early American authors explore the themes of economy, race, and religion? • How does who wrote the literature determine the content?

20. Essay Analysis • Unscramble the essay and label its parts. • Thesis • Title • Attention-getter • Topic Sentence • Topic Sentence • Topic Sentence • Introduction • Body • Restatement of thesis • Conclusion

21. Essay Analysis • What parts of the essay are easily recognizable? • How did you decide which sentence was the thesis? • Where did you put the thesis? • How did you know when to begin a new paragraph? • Define “topic sentence.” • How did you decide what to put in the introduction and conclusion?

22. Introduction General statement Bridge: topic intro, theme, authors’ names, etc. Specific thesis statement

23. Introduction According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “race” is defined as “a group of people connected by common descent or origin.” General statement Although the definition of “race” is broadly defined today, people of the eighteenth century often restricted the definition to one’s skin color. Condemning one person to be less than someone else, however, posed a problem for Christians who advocated all people were equal in God’s eyes. Bridge: topic intro, theme, authors’ names, etc. Diverse early American authors, such as Cotton Mather, OlaudahEquiano, Phillis Wheatley, and George Copway, demonstrate that White Christians twisted their ideas of religion to support the subjugation of other races, mainly for economic motives. Specific thesis statement

24. Introduction: Attention-Getter • Although we cannot actually see the economy, people base many of their decisions on it. • Have you ever thought about how people of the eighteenth century imagined race? • Religion can be defined as “the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, esp. a personal God or gods.”

25. Introduction: Attention-Getter • How can you hook the reader’s attention? • Interesting quote • Definition • General statement • No questions.

26. Conclusion Restatement of thesis • “Sending off” statement: Smart sentence appealing to audience

27. Conclusion Mather, Equiano, Wheatley, and Copway demonstrate that, throughout colonial times in the Americas, White Christians oppressed Africans and Native Americans for economic reasons and ultimately ignored true Christian principles. Restatement of thesis Other races were considered inferior, “savage,” and even “diabolic” and were enslaved or taken advantage of for labor or land. In order to reconcile their religion with the horrible treatment of other races, White Christians hid behind a hope of spiritual freedom for the oppressed. Despite its broad definition, the race and skin color of a person should never entitle another to treat someone with anything less than human dignity. • “Sending off” statement: Smart sentence appealing to audience

28. Quote Integration • Introduce the quote: author + text • Quote the quote • Include page number in parentheses • Place period AFTER the parentheses • Explain the quote

29. Quote Integration • Mather and his American congregation profited from the slave labor and the money the slaves earned for them: “you Expect from their Service, a Support, and perhaps an Increase, of your other Possessions” (638). African slaves were simply another “possession” for their White masters.

30. Quote Integration • Phillis Wheatley, in her poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” attests to the negative sentiments others attached to black skin: “Some view our sable race with scornful eye, / ‘Their colour is a diabolic die.’” Other people looked upon Africans with hatred and contempt because of their dark skin.

31. Quote Integration: Words • Says, explains, describes, demonstrates • Use a comma • Ex: In “On Being Brought From Africa to America,” Wheatley says, “Remember….” • Use a colon when a noun precedes the quote: • Ex: Bradstreet shows her reliance on religion: “Farewell my pelf….”

32. Quote Integration • “Thus it pleased God to vanquish their enemies and give them deliverance” (85). • According to Bradford from “Of Plymouth Plantation,” the colonists believed in a powerful God: “Thus it pleased God to vanquish their enemies and give them deliverance” (85). They attributed their successes in battle to God’s power.

33. Quote Integration • “And did thy wealth on earth abide?” (37) • In “Upon the Burning of Our House,” Bradstreet says, “And did thy wealth on earth abide?” (37) She uses economic language to talk about her belief in Heaven and God.

34. Quote Integration • Introduce the quote: author + text • Quote the quote • Include page number in parentheses • Place period AFTER the parentheses • Explain the quote

35. Writing Paragraphs • Topic Sentence: what is this paragraph about? • Evidence: prove it. • Quote + page numbers • Concluding Sentence: what did you just prove?

36. Writing Paragraphs • In the eighteenth century, races other than White were considered inferior. Phillis Wheatley, in her poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” attests to the negative sentiments others attached to black skin: “Some view our sable race with scornful eye, / ‘Their colour is a diabolic die.’” Other people looked upon Africans with hatred and contempt because of their dark skin. Similarly, Cotton Mather, in his essay, “The Negro Christianized,” explains how Africans were thought to be “the most Bruitish of Creatures upon Earth,” “Vassals of Satan,” and the “Blackest Instances of Blindness and Baseness” (638). Not only did Caucasians look down on Africans, but they also labeled Native Americans as uncivilized and barbarous. In “La Relación,” Hispanic author ÁlvarNúñezCabeza de Vaca refers to the Native Americans he encounters in the south as “wild, untaught savages howling like brutes” (75). Similarly, William Bradford in “Of Plymouth Plantation” calls the Native Americans “savages” and shows the negative mentality Caucasians held about other races (84). Whites considered Africans and Native Americans inferior because of their skin color.

37. Paragraph Analysis • Unscramble the paragraph and label its parts. • Topic Sentence • Concluding Sentence • Intro to Quote • Evidence • Explanation of Quote • Argument

38. Paragraph Analysis • What parts of the paragraph are easily recognizable? • How did you distinguish between the topic and concluding sentence? • What do you notice about the Explanation of Quote? • How is the Argument an argument?

39. Transitions: A Toaster • Bread will pop up automatically. • Plug toaster into electrical outlet. • Lift up bread lifter or push the Cancel button. • Select toast shade and press down bread lifter. • Place appropriate food items in slots.

40. Transitions • How will you link your ideas? • Where do they go? • Beginning of paragraphs and sentences • Mid-sentence to connect ideas • Ending of sentences • Can place emphasis on certain sentence

41. Transitions: What do you need to signal? • Definition • Example • Addition • Sequence • Analysis • Comparison • Contrast • Cause-Effect • Conclusion

42. Transitions: Examples • Between paragraphs: Whites considered Africans and Native Americans inferior because of their skin color. Because Caucasians believed their race was superior, they used the “inferior” races to their economic advantage.

43. Transitions: Examples • Within paragraphs: African slaves were simply another “possession” for their White masters. In addition to using Africans as slaves, Caucasians took advantage of Native American land and resources.

44. Title Work • First thing a reader sees • Catchy • Informative • Double meaning • Not too long

45. Title Work • Economy and Race in Early American Literature • Money and Skin Color • Gold or God: What Wins in the Eighteenth Century? • Subjugation

46. Peer Conferencing • Praise: What did you like about this essay? What do you remember? • Question: What questions would you like to ask the writer? • Suggestion: How could this paper be revised and improved?

47. Peer Conferencing • Evaluate the thesis. Is the thesis taking a stand, clear, and specific? • Evaluate the argument: does it answer, “So what?” • Does the essay discuss the economy, race, and/or religion? • Is the introduction general to specific? • Is the conclusion specific to general? • Are there at least three in-text citations and three texts mentioned? • Does the writer use transitions? Highlight two strong examples.

48. Peer Conferencing (11+) • Evaluate the thesis. Is the thesis taking a stand, clear, and specific? • Evaluate the argument: does it answer, “So what?” • Does the essay discuss the economy, race, and/or religion? • Is the introduction general to specific? • Is the conclusion specific to general? • Are there at least six in-text citations and four texts mentioned? • Does the writer use transitions? Highlight two strong examples.

49. Grammar

50. Sorting Words Nouns Adjectives Verbs