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Literature

Big Idea Overview and Resources

Part 1: Looking into Lives
Part 2: On the Move
Part 3: Finding Common Ground

Part 1: Looking into Lives

Overview

The nonfiction selections in Part 1 portray people from diverse cultural and historical backgrounds. The personal stories narrated in the following autobiographies and biographies remind readers that, although we come from very different backgrounds and perspectives, we share similar struggles and joys. The human condition is the common thread that binds us together.

The personal accounts in this section are categorized as autobiographies or biographies. In an autobiography, a writer narrates his or her life story. Autobiographies are usually written from a first-person point of view. A biography, on other hand, is an account of a person's life written by another person. Most biographies chronologically trace a person's life. Because they are written from an outsider's perspective, biographical texts incorporate the author's attitude toward the person that he or she is writing about.

Web Sources

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/autobiography/
The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is considered America 's first autobiography. It has been both praised and criticized since its publication in 1791, after Franklin 's death. The site includes the autobiography as well as other Franklin resources, such as a timeline, reenactments, and games.

The Biographical Dictionary
http://www.s9.com/
This online database contains short biographies of over 28,000 men and women from ancient times to the present day. Users can search for people by birth and death dates, professions, literary works, and key words.

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Part 2: On the Move

Overview

The personal and expository essays in Part 2 describe the writers' travels around the world. The authors share insights about their backgrounds and themselves, gained as a result of their journeys,

Adventure or travel writing is informative as well as reflective in tone and style. Many prefer to write about their travels in the form of an essay because of its shorter length and focused topic. Personal essays are more informal than expository or persuasive essays and are frequently written in the first-person point of view. In an expository essay, the writer's main objective is to explain an idea, a place, or an experience. A persuasive essay aims to convince the reader of an idea through clear and logical arguments.

Web Sources

The Online Writing Lab
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/index.html
The Purdue University Online Writing Lab offers many resources for writers, including this extensive page on effective strategies for writing and revising your work.

National Peace Essay Contest
http://www.usip.org/ed/npec/
Each year, the United States Institute of Peace selects a different topic and invites high school students around the country to submit an essay on the topic.

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Part 3: Finding Common Ground

Overview

Men and women have altered the course of history using their ability to persuade others to imagine a different reality. Sometimes these individuals conveyed their message through gentle appeals; other times, their provocative words incited people to take action. The writers in Part 3 also demonstrate the power of persuasion, whether they are asking their audience to take responsibility for American ideals or asking them to build a new ballpark.

Persuasive writing attempts to convince readers to think or act in a particular way and often makes appeals to emotion as well as to logic and reason. An argumentis a specific type of persuasive writing or speaking in which logic and evidence is used to appeal to reason. An effective argument usually has a clear assertion, or statement of belief. Evidence to support the assertion follows in a logical, organized manner. The writer or speaker will sometimes acknowledge counterarguments, or ideas that support the opposing view, and offer a solution or response that addresses them.

Web Resources

American Rhetoric
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/
This is an index to over 5,000 full text, audio, and video versions of public speeches, sermons, and debates. The “Top 100 Speeches” feature on this site is a database of the 100 most significant American political speeches of the twentieth century.

The Gettysburg Address
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/gadd/
This is a transcript of The Gettysburg Address, a famous speech delivered by President Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

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