Footprints on the Sands of Time

So far in 11 AP we've focussed on important literary moments in American Culture. These have been "footprints on the sands of time" as mentioned by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and they have shaped American Culture into what it is today.

We started by looking early colonial influences of literature, and found that religion played a major part in molding this country. It has had some consequences when taken to extremes such as the Salem Witch Trials, shown by the play The Crucible. However, the "footprints" of religion left by colonists also gave us strong morals and systems of education. We've also looked at the battle against racism and slavery through our analysis of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the battles soldiers had with themselves after Vietnam through The Things They Carried. These are all major footprints in time, and now we are starting to learn about more recent occurences in history(excluding TTTC).

This week, we looked into the women's suffrage movement, and learned how through clever speech writing, such as mimicking the Declaration of Independence, people such as Elizabeth Stanton have made their impacts on history. A recurrence throughout most of these major events show the uses of appeals to strengthen their points in history. The Declaration of Independence and of Sentiments both include a variety of appeals, even Abigail in The Crucible made appeals to emotions of the people of Salem and of association to other girls of the village. Another recurrence in these events is that most were part of some kind of reform. So if society is always changing, what will happen in our generation? What will be our footprint in time?