The American Reader: Words That Moved a NationThe American Reader is a stirring and memorable anthology that captures the many facets of American culture and history in prose and verse. The 200 poems, speeches, songs, essays, letters, and documents were chosen both for their readability and for their significance. These are the words that have inspired, enraged, delighted, chastened, and comforted Americans in days gone by. Gathered here are the writings that illuminate -- with wit, eloquence, and sometimes sharp words -- significant aspects of national conciousness. They reflect the part that all Americans -- black and white, native born and immigrant, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American, poor and wealthy -- have played in creating the nation's character. |
From inside the book
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... As soon as you are dead and rotten , Either write things worth reading , Or do things worth the writing . -Benjamin Franklin Poor Richard's Almanac Introduction Contents COLONIAL DAYS AND THE REVOLUTION The Mayflower Compact.
... without reference to focus groups or pollsters to learn what people want to hear ; fearful of making a mistake , they use talking points or a text pre- pared by consultants and writers . Pollsters tell us what Introduction xix.
... writers who should be read and heard because of their eloquence and because of the light that they shine on the past and present . I make no claim that these are the only pieces that should be remembered . I could easily have produced ...
... writing , and thinking with verbal symbols . Will books survive ? I surely hope so , as they are far more pleasant and user- friendly than a blinking screen . It is true that some people — and what appears to be growing numbers of young ...
... Writers ' Representatives and Sally Kim of HarperCollins for bringing the revised edition to fruition . Diane Ravitch Brooklyn , New York COLONIAL DAYS AND THE REVOLUTION THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT We whose Introduction ☆ xxiii.