The general consensus among contemporary "experts" [philosophers,historians, psychologists, anthropologists and sociologists] is that our individual and collective "identity" is a byproduct of the "rationalization" of a series of complex interactions between our memory, our experiences, and our culture's basic assumptions about "good" and "evil" , and "right and wrong".
These "experts" also argue that our sense of "identity" has a critical impact on our day to day decisions and actions, the course of our lives, and the direction our nation's future will take. Proceeding on the assumption that these "experts" know what they are talking about, we are going to give you an opportunity to begin to think about the forces that have shaped the emergence of our nation's sense of "identity", and to consider what needs to be done to shape that process in the future. To accomplish those ends UNIT II will ask you to do four things:
As you do this unit stay conscious of EXPECTATION 5, and remember what you and your classmates had to say about the "mistakes" you thought you had made when you were describing the characteristics of the "Founding Fathers".
ASSIGNMENT #4 - UNIT 2
Over the centuries great American leaders have always argued that the "compass" and "yardstick" that should guide American life were the two documents that provide the framework for our nation - the Declaration of Independence, and the Preamble to the Constitution . Some have argued, however, that as a nation, we have often failed to follow the "guiding principles" articulated in those documents. Read through the selection taken from Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man , and then, using what you learned about Power in the period between 1790 and 1920 , explain why, in your opinion, some Americans have been denied their "birthright". Once that task is done, explain what you think can be done in the future to ensure that we , as a nation, are true to our " publicly declared" national "identity".
[Don't forget to substantiate each contention you make with a well documented synthesis of quantitative, textual, and visual data.]