Monday and Tuesday 

Writing Days

Homework- Peer edit and revise.

Wednesday

Key Understandings

•Birth of corporate America, and the need for government regulation - Should the government intervene with big business?

•Immigration and its effect on urban centers - How has immigration changed, shaped, or determined the American identity?

•Exploitation and conditions of the laboring class- What moral/ethical responsibilities does big business have to the laboring class?

•Reality of the American Dream - Is the American Dream a reality?

Intro to The Gilded Age:

1. Read an overview of the Gilded Age. 
2. Watch a 10 min. bio for JD Rockefeller.

1. Watch a 10 min. bio on Andrew Carnegie.

Objectives:

• Understand the innovation and development of modern business.
• Gain insight into the morals and ethics of a boundless free-market economy and understand the need for government regulation.
•  Explain the socio-economic class differences and the dangers of a two class system.

The Rise of Corporate America

Opening (15 min.): Active viewing of the following video clip:

Questions for Gekko’s speech:

•  Consider ethos, pathos and logos in Gekko’s speech.
•  What does Gekko do to get the attention of his audience, and what appeal does he use?
•  How would you describe the tone of the speech? Use a two-word phrase, an adjective-noun combination (“angry sarcasm”, for example), or a combination
•  Do you agree or disagree with Gekko’s philosophy?
• Compare to the following quote: “The rise of corporate America in this period is a story of risk taking and innovation as well as of rapacity and ruthlessness.”

Key Word Definitions (10 min.):

Economic Darwinism- The natural selection through capitalism and the “survival of the economic fittest” is known as Economic Darwinism.

Laissez-faire- In economics, laissez-faire (English pronunciation: /ˌlɛseɪˈfɛər/  ( listen), French: [lɛsefɛʁ]  ( listen)) means allowing industry to be free of government restriction, especially restrictions in the form of tariffs and government monopolies. The phrase is French and literally means "let do", though it broadly implies "let it be" or "leave it alone".

Gild - give a specious or false brilliance to : the useless martyrs' deaths of the pilots gilded the operation.

Keynote Presentation - Gilded Age America Defined (30 min.): Business and Technology in the Gilded Age

“The Gospel of Wealth” - Andrew Carnegie (35 min.)

1. What does Andrew Carnegie mean by this statement in the opening paragraph: “Much better this great irregularity than universal squalor”? How does this statement lay the foundation for the argument that follows?
2. What forces and changes does Carnegie consider “inevitable” (par. 1) and why? In what ways does this perspective lay the foundation for his overall argument?
3. What is the logic that Carnegie uses to conclude that the advantages of the “law of competition” (par. 5) outweigh any disadvantages? You might explain his logic through the use of a syllogism or Toulmin analysis.
4. Carnegie uses a number of familiar words that he either defines in narrow terms or assumes his audience understands. What is the meaning of each of the following terms in the context of Carnegie’s article: “civilization/civilized” (par. 1), “caste” (par. 4), “race” (par. 5), “progress” (par. 5), “trust fund” (par. 9), and “duty” (par. 9)?
5. How does Carnegie believe the “reign of harmony” (par. 7) between the rich and the poor will be brought about? Why, according to him, must “indiscriminate charity” (par. 10) be eliminated to achieve such a reconciliation?
6. Identify at least two counterarguments that Carnegie addresses. How effectively does he concede and refute each?
7. On what basis does Carnegie invoke Christian beliefs as part of his argument? What is the effect of calling his beliefs about wealth a “gospel”?
8. To what extent has Carnegie’s belief that the wealthies members of the community should be “trustees for the poor” (par. 12) become an accepted tenet of American culture today?

 Read “Ragged Dick” by Horatio Alger (CIAL 1493-1497), and answer the questions. Read about the Biltmore Estate, and take a tour. Also, read Gilded Age Immigration.

Homework- Read 567-577 in the Textbook . 

Tuesday

Objectives:

•  Understand the shaping of the American Dream during the Gilded Age
•  Identify the social and cultural issues involved with mass immigration
•  Identify the issues/challenges/dangers of a Marxian two-class system

Opening (10 min.):

Discussion- If someone was “living the dream”, what would their life be like? Describe and share.

The American Dream

The Horatio Alger Myth - “Ragged Dick” 

1. Horatio Alger characterizes Dick as thoughtful, shrewd, kind, humorous and honest. Find specific support for each. What trait do you feel is most important?

1. Mr. Whitney characterizes what we have come to refer to as the path to the American Dream. What are its four components? Do they still hold true today?
2. What has become known as the “Horatio Alger Myth” still grips the American imagination. Why do you think that is so?

Emma Lazarus Poem - “The New Colossus” (CIAL 998)

The New Colossus

BY EMMA LAZARUS

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, 

With conquering limbs astride from land to land; 

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand 

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame 

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name 

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand 

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command 

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. 

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she 

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, 

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, 

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. 

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, 

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” 

Questions:

1. Notice that Emma Lazarus begins with an image of what the Statue of Liberty is not like. How does its compare/contrast with the ancient Colossus of Rhodes affect the meaning of the poem? Compare gesture, position, and symbolism.
2. How do the statue’s welcoming words to the oppressed contribute to the American idea of the country as a “melting pot”?
3. Do you see an irony in welcoming the “huddled masses” (l. 11) and “wretched refuse” (l. 12) through the “golden door” (l.14)? Do you think Americans still hold to that welcoming idea today? Why or why not?

Immigration During the Gilded Age - Interactive Keynote

Homework- Read Jacob Riis’ “The Mixed Crowd” (CIAL 869-874), and answer the questions. 

Wednesday

Jacob Riis “How the Other Half LIves”

Questions: 

1. In the first paragraph, Jacob Riis writes, “The one thing you shall vainly ask for in chief city of America is a distinctly American community.” Do you find that statement ironic? Do you find it characteristic of our idea of the “melting pot”? 
2. Riis, in paragraphs 2 and 3, describes the “picturesquely autocratic” Irish landlord; in paragraph 5, he states, ‘In justice to the Irish landlord it must be said that like an apt pupil he was merely showing forth the result of the schooling he had received, re-enacting, in his own way, the scheme of the tenements.” What does Riis mean by that last statement? What is his larger point that this example of the Irish serves to support?
3. Riis refers to the “German rag-picker”, the “Italian scavenger”, the “Irish hod carrier”, and the “Chinese coolie” (par. 7-8). Do you read these phrases as stereotypes? Are they offensive? Why or why not? Why has Riis chosen to use these examples?
4. How does Riis characterize the immigrant in paragraph 8? Is this characterization inconsistent or consistent with the previous paragraphs? Explain.
5. Look very carefully at the diction and imagery Riis uses in paragraphs 10-11. How do his rhetorical choices characterize the immigrants’ struggle? How do these choices reflect the relationship between Riis and his likely audience?
6. What do you see as Riis’ purpose in this piece? To what extent do you believe he succeeds in achieving that purpose?
7. What is most striking about the photos that accompany this essay? What argument is Riis making through them?
8. Although Riis did not feature individuals, especially children, in some of his photos, more often he chose to depict a group image. Why? What is the impact of de-emphasizing the individual in these group photographs?
9. In the introduction  to “How the Other Half Lives”, Riis wrote the following:

    “Long ago it was once said that “one half of the world does not know how the other half lives”. That was true then. It did not know because it did not care. The half that was on top cared little for the struggles, and less for the fate, of those who were underneath, so long as it was able to hold them there and keep its own seat.”