What does it mean to be an American? What does it mean for the authors of these sources to be an American and what outside ideas of what it meant to be an American may have influenced this perspective? For this essay assignment, you will read a selection of primary sources and come up with an argument to answer this primary question. Make sure you use evidence from all five of the sources included.
For this assignment you will read primary sources created by an African American, Mexican American, Japanese American, Native Hawaiian, and Puerto Rican. The list of sources is below.
Additional questions to consider that can help you answer the primary question above: How does the author struggle with the issue of identity? How does the author talk about trying to reconcile various parts of their identity? How does the author define Americanness? How does this author address how a particular group has been kept out of being American? Does the author want to claim an American identity? Why or why not?
