Question/Problem 12: Describe America at the close of the 19th century.

Objectives

Description of lesson/activity

Resources

1. use evidence from the entire unit to draw conclusions about life in the late 19th century.

2. understand that the United States was a society of diversity as the century closed, both strengthened and weakened by events since the Civil War.

3. Write a culminating essay that will assess knowledge gained throughout the unit.

1. Students will gather all notes and written material from Unit VII.

2. The teacher will introduce the lesson by sharing excerpts from "I Am An American" by R.L. Duffus and the poem "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman; both accompany this lesson. Through discussion the teacher and students should identify elements of both writings that indicate the answer to the question posed by the unit, "What, Then, Is This American?"

3. The teacher should assign a culminating writing assignment:

   Using information from our study of this unit, write an essay which describes America at the close of the 19th century. This essay should include these three major topics:

   - evidence of America as a place of new beginnings

   - evidence of the problems faced by America

   - evidence of the strengths of America

1. Resource: Excerpts from "I Am An American" by R.L. Duffus
2. Resource: "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman
3. Resource: Criteria for Essay