land use
Essay: Land Use
Topic: Eminent Domain and the Boarder Wall with Mexico
Synthesis Prompt: From the time colonies were established in North America, Americans questioned and debated how to use the land they had begun to inhabit. Is the land a bounty to take and use? Should it be protected for others or for posterity? With environmental issues surfacing dramatically in the late twentieth century, the issue of land use and land ownership has become a subject of political debate and community concern. Locate one U.S. land use issue of concern that has been in the news during the past several years. Then evaluate the tensions (ie. perspectives) on the use of the land or land ownership by examining the historical perspectives of at least four of the following writers, all located in the anthology, Writing America.
Decide on an original big idea about the issue that includes a specific line of reasoning that offers support for a specific policy or philosophy that you propose, an existing policy that you can cite that you want to support, or a specific American definition or value regarding this issue that you want to advocate for based on your studies of the literary works and American history.
Margaret Fuller( Summer on the Lakes. 1843 excerpted from chapter 3.) http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11526/11526-h/11526-h.htm#Hazelwood_Rock_River_June_30_1843
Rachel Carson ( A History of Plymouth Plantation, 1630 excerpted from chapter IX; and book II, chapter XI)
https://archive.org/stream/fp_Silent_Spring-Rachel_Carson-1962/Silent_Spring-Rachel_Carson-1962_djvu.txt
Franklin Roosevelt (“State of the Union Address.” 1944. Full text.)
http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/011144.HTML
Andrew Jackson ( On Indian Removal. 1829. Full text.)
https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=25&page=transcript
James Fenimore Cooper ( “The Slaughter of the Pigeons.” The Pioneers. 1823.
excerpted from chapter XXII.)
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2275/2275-h/2275-h.htm
William Apess ( “A Son of the Forest,” 1798. excerpted from chapters I & II.)
https://archive.org/details/sonofforestexper00inapes/page/18/mode/2up
William Bradford (“A History of Plymouth Plantation”, 1630. excerpted from chapter IX; and book II, chapter XI)
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24950/24950-h/24950-h.htm#The_9_Chap
Write a well-reasoned and well-researched essay that uses historical perspectives to evaluate the complexities of the current state of land use in the U.S. as you see those perspectives reflected in the current issue you investigate. Be sure to discuss specific stakeholders on all sides of the debate. 1,250-1,500 words.
You must include a minimum of 4 of the sources listed above. You may use all of them if you wish. No more than 20% of the paper should be quoted material.
Rubric:
Defensible Thesis (claim)
Sub-Claims (line of reasoning)
Evidence
Commentary
Connection to Thesis
Counterargument(s) and Rebuttal(s)
Sophisticated Conclusion
A simple essay will suffice.
