Thinking Critically, Challenging Cultural Myths Summary

Charles Murray’s American Exceptionalism invokes ideas I had not considered before. The way he describes America in its early life is unrecognizable to me. Murray discusses the geographic setting, American ideology, the traits of the American people, and the operation of the American political system. Now, centuries later than the time he described, it is like America had gone on a rapidly fast down torrent. I agree with Murray’s ideas of the exceptional traits America exuded, however, the traits I observe now, and as Murray talks about later on in the book, have taken on a different meaning. It is almost as if the once amazing concepts have been reduced to nearly half their worth. I am in no way stating America is no longer exceptional, but

In Interpretations of American History, a collaborative team of four editors (Francis G. Couvares, Martha Saxton, Gerald N. Grob, and George Athan Billias) seek to educate any student of history on the various perspectives on any one said historical issue. The editors sum up the entire book with “These volumes reflect our understanding that history is an act of interpretation. ” Essentially, this book offers a multitude of benefits for those who wish to further study history, but at the same time the reader must take everything said with a grain of salt.

Over the past few weeks of class, we have covered the first five chapters of our textbook, written by George Brown Tindell and David Emory Shi called, “America, A Narrative History.” Each chapter told the reader a narration of the history of America, as opposed to an expository version of America’s history. Each chapter had its own main idea over a portion of history, along with many details that cover the importance of the main idea. As a reader, one may obtain a deeper appreciation for the country 's history, prior to entering the class on the first day. The most important aspect of history, besides the battles that are fought, is the different cultures that make up today’s modern America.

In summary, the first section of the Bedford Reader assist students in writing, and reading more closely so selections were easier to understand. Also, we learn how to truly analyze an essay. The second section covers writing, and its importance in daily communication. All in all, critical reading should be done in a quiet place for it to be done most effectively.

My English Literature major has helped me to achieve an outstanding level of appreciation, enjoyment, and knowledge of both American and British Literature. As a high school AP English student, I struggled through great works like Hamlet and To the Lighthouse. My teacher’s daily lectures (there was no such thing as class discussion) taught me merely to interpret the works as critics had in the past. I did not enjoy the reading or writing process. As a freshman at Loras, I was enrolled in the Critical Writing: Poetry class. For the first time since grade school, my writing ability was praised and the sharing of my ideas was encouraged by an enthusiastic and nurturing professor. Despite the difficulty of poetry, I enjoyed reading it.

The often told story of America’s founding begins the Founding fathers waged a revolution and created a unique place called the United States of America. This story may include the early Jamestown colony and puritan colonists, and at times deal with the depollution and dispossession of the America’s native inhabitants. However frequently the complex nature of America’s prerevolutionary era is left out. Daniel Richter offers a refreshing non-teleological revision by showing that the United States has a much deeper history. Richter presents America as a nation with multiple pasts that stretch back as far as the middle ages. These pasts, he argues, continue to be felt in the present. Richter’s history utilizes a vast array of primary sources and his cultural history spans more than seven centuries. Richter works to recover the histories of an intermingling sort of individuals from North America, Europe, and Africa. The struggle for control of land and resources of these individuals took place in a global context. This multilayer struggle gradually gave rise to a distinctive American culture. Richter argues that by dissecting and understanding this culture on its own—and not as a build-up to an inevitable revolution—reveals the origins of American history.

America is a nation that is often glorified in textbooks as a nation of freedom, yet history shows a different, more radical viewpoint. In Howard Zinn’s A People's History of the United States, we take a look at American history through a different lens, one that is not focused on over glorifying our history, but giving us history through the eyes of the people. “This is a nation of inconsistencies”, as so eloquently put by Mary Elizabeth Lease highlights a nation of people who exploited and sought to keep down those who they saw as inferior, reminding us of more than just one view on a nation’s history, especially from people and a gender who have not had an easy ride.

According to Gary Colombo “Beginning college can be disconcerting experience.” (Gary Colombo, p. 1). Colombo also writes about how it might be stressful for students being it’s their first time away from home and has to deal with the stress from the real world and having independence. Colombo also explains that students will have to use their brains when thinking Critically and thinking outside the box. Colombo mentions that “Culture shapes the way we think; it tells us what “makes sense” “(Colombo, p. 3).

Colombo, Gary, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. Print.

When it comes to critical thinking, reading and writing are two factors that deal with the critical thinking process. A few key aspects of critical reading and writing are identifying the tone in ones writing, how to throughly read and annotate a text, and the revision process. In the essay, “The Maker’s Eye”, Donald Murray explains how the attitude of a writer, listening to what readers have to say and how to edit your own writing makes your work better when critically thinking in college. These aspects of critical thinking, reading and writing make will keep the reader interested and make the writing easier to translate when read.

Throughout Frances FitzGerald’s essay, “Rewriting American History,” the author introduces the idea to her readers that learning history nowadays is different to how it really was in the past. Also, what is read in history books may not of actually happened, but it is what the writers and editors want you to believe. Lastly, comments describing past photographs added into the textbook are most of the time opinionated. Although history textbooks have been used over many generations, the information within them are slowly changing. History cannot be rewritten, and so it should not be changed over time.

In response to “Rewriting American History” by Frances Fitzgerald, I’d know like to know just why Fitzgerald is so angry with contemporary people that are paving their own contemporary culture. Frankly, it won’t impact everyone the way Fitzgerald exaggerates. Thus—although I respect and agree with some statements—I do not share this concern that “each generation of children reads only one generation of schoolbooks”. In fact, there are many reasons as to why his argument is repugnant. This entire piece was too critical and too condemning of a reasonably flawed process.

Tindall, George Brown, David E. Shi, and Charles W. Eagles. America a Narrative History. 10th ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton, 2004.

Most people believe cultural Myths even if they are true or not. Usually, today’s generation follows the old generation’s methods of what they believed. Nowadays, culture myths contribute in how people think or believe from country to another. In “Of Myth and Men” Sonia Maasik and John Solomon explain cultural myths and how they affect people’s perceptions. Cultural myths are such stories considered as a group. Culture myth has been affecting since a long time ago until today and it might continue to the next generation.

However, there were several other clues: her constant promotion of the idea of close reading, her long-winded explanations of the purported benefits that close reading offers, and her expanded discussion on the repercussions of choosing to educate students in close reading. This, combined with the nigh excessive use of the term 'close reading' made her thesis appear in flamboyant prominence, which was likely an effective tool in disseminating information about the process of close reading to her audience. However, the importance of this article lies not in how effective it is in propagating the idea of close reading, but in how many of the claims regarding close reading are