Select a characteristic of the American spirit and/or the American frontier that you also find in Louis Zamperini. Using 4-5 credible print academic secondary sources, explain this characteristic, its history in America, why it is a part of the American consciousness, and how it currently manifests itself in American society. Tip: the research that you do for this assignment will for the basis for Essay #3, the research essay.
Paper Guidelines:
Introduction
Your paper should orient the reader by briefly introducing the American spirit and/or the American frontier.
Develop a claim: What specific trait of the American spirit or the American frontier will you discuss, and how is it a part of the American consciousness today? Your response to this task will be your thesis claim.
First Body Paragraph
Your first body paragraph should briefly give some background on the role of the frontier in the American consciousness or the elements of the “spirit” that characterizes Americans. This paragraph must use a quote or paraphrase from one of the readings for the class. This quote/paraphrase will be your first source.
Other Body Paragraphs (most likely 2-3 paragraphs)
Explain the ways in which the specific “American” trait is a part of the American consciousness today (should constitute the bulk of your paper): What are some of the ways that the trait has influenced Americans in the past, and how does it continue to affect them today?
Body paragraphs should include 3-4 credible print academic secondary sources to help develop the discussion. You may use information from one of the sources in the Course Reader, but the remaining sources must be ones you have located on your own. For this portion of the assignment, online sources may not be used.
Conclusion (most likely one paragraph)
Your summary/evaluation should have a conclusion that effectively “finishes off” your task. You may also use an example of a media source (TV commercial, ad, billboard, film, etc.) that displays or draws on the characteristic of the American spirit or the frontier that your essay is discussing, but this type of source is not required for this essay.
Works Cited
Your essay must include a Works Cited page that lists all of the sources (4-5) referred to, summarized, paraphrased, and/or quoted in the body of the paper.