Themes & Persuasion
Who Owns the Land? AMERICA by Neil Diamond Native Americans regarded themselves as caretakers not owners of the land. Europeans laid claim to the land and aggressively defended it from the Native Americans and one another. AMERICA by Neil Diamond What entitles people to claim land as their own?
THEMES Universal truth revealing something about the human condition Not limited by race, language, time, or place. The critical belief about life conveyed Transcends cultural barriers Often more than one in a text Main idea, underlying meaning stated directly or indirectly
What Makes an Explorer? This is SPARTA! Based on the film excerpt, state a possible theme in a complete sentence .
What is it that causes people to seek out the unknown? America’s early explorers traveled: to gain glory for themselves and countries, to find gold or other riches, and to discover new routes for travel and trade. Yet none of these motivators alone seems enough to face the uncertainties of exploration-unknown destinations, unknown rewards, unknown dangers-worth the risk.
Are People Basically Good? Puritan settlers believed that human beings were sinful creatures doomed to a fiery eternity unless saved by the grace of God. Yet others who came to North America celebrated the powers of reason and proclaimed the goodness and intrinsic worth of humans. Who was right?
Are People Basically Good?
Explain an internal conflict you faced recently.
Colonists and Revolutionaries What role did explorers, settlers, colonists, and revolutionaries play in creating “an entirely new country and unique way of life?”
Who Has the Right to Rule? For centuries European kings and queens ruled because they believed that they had a God-given right to do so. In the Age of Enlightenment, people began to question basic assumptions about government.
Everybody Wants to Rule the World In America, a popular uprising put a new kind of government to the test: democracy.
Puritan Beliefs & Native Conflicts Once the Puritans establish a foothold on the continent, their cultural conflicts with the Native Americans escalate.