«The American Character«

What makes something or someone American?
Is it a certain look, a speaking dialect, a way of life?
Reading the phrase "American Character," what image do you see?

Perhaps you see an image like one of these, or one that is completely different. When you look back over American Literature you have read,
you may think of George in Of Mice and Men, Scout Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, Maya in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, or another character who stuck in your mind as a memorable example of an American character... an American story.
 

> Your ultimate task is to decide - with thoughtful evidence -
whether Huck Finn is representative of the American Character.

> Today is your first step... Today, you will define what the American Character looks like to you.

1. Consider these questions:
- What is unique about living in American and the American way of life?
- What is important to you as a teenager living in America? Do your friends feel the same?

What it means to be an American has changed some over the years, and American writers have always been willing to record their thoughts on what that meaning is and how it has changed. Here is a short list of poems (and a few songs) from different American times that embody these ideas.

2. Click on each title to read the listed works:
Walt Whitman's "I Hear American Singing"
The Declaration of Independence
Native American: Tears of a Nation
Langston Hughes' "I, Too, Sing America"
Johnny Cash's "Man in Black"
Black Eyed Peas' " Gone Going"

3. Open a New Document in Microsoft Word. Make sure to put your name on it & save it.

4. Now, write a view impressions from the poems & songs you have read.

5. Think of two or three TV shows or movies you enjoy that take place in America. Pick a favorite character from each movie.    

6. Use an Internet search engine (such as Yahoo or Google) to perform a search on one of the characters your chose. Paste a picture of that character into your Word document.

7. Beneath your character, write a few sentences about why this character is representative of America. Think of character traits, occupation, relationships, values, and life's events.

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