Part One: Usage/Vocabulary (20%)

Part Two: Essay on Jitney (40%)

Do middle class values serve the jitney drivers in Pittsburgh in 1978?

Becker’s faith in hard work, his strategy of accommodation with racism, and his resolution to follow the rules have been shaken to the core. How have the people in his neighborhood really survived to this point, and what will happen now that the city is moving them out? Has the role of middle class values changed over the years between 1776 and 1978? Has the time come for Becker to re-consider his judgment of Booster’s militancy?

Part Three: One–Act Play: The American Dream (40%)

Gather together in an interesting locale some characters from the works which we have studied this year and have them debate whether the American Dream is alive and well today. (There may even be a thunderstorm predicted!)

Have your characters consider the following definition of the American Dream:

Americans believe our society is just, despite its problems, because our freedoms enable any citizen, regardless of race, color or creed, to pursue and achieve success. American society is free from the tyranny of arbitrary government. We compete on a level playing field where winners are determined by the quality of a person’s character, not by the advantages of hereditary class and privilege.

Ben Franklin pointed to his own life as evidence that poor people can accomplish anything in a free society as long as they modify their behavior and develop the virtues essential to success. This task is not easy, but success beckons anyone willing to make the necessary sacrifices:

And, most importantly,

If you become competent at these skills, then people will trust you, look for opportunities to work with you, and maybe even invest their money in your projects.

Furthermore, Franklin believed that any individual who consciously exercises these virtues will develop the strength of will needed to change the circumstances of his or her birth. The result is as predictable as a scientific experiment! And that’s the beauty of America. Freedom from the arbitrary constraints of government guarantees opportunity! We can determine our own destiny through sheer force of character!

However, this vision of the American Dream has a dark side. Those who fail in America have only themselves to blame. We are morally responsible for our fate. The classical liberals of Franklin’s day (and the conservatives of our own) believe we must find our own way through education and experience rather than depend upon government to show us the way. Otherwise, we would not be free.

Many of the writers we have studied this year have contested Franklin’s version of the American Dream. What pitfalls in the path to success and happiness do they uncover which Franklin may not have recognized?

Write a play in which you dramatize the conflict of ideas between proponents and critics of Franklin’s conception of the American Dream.

Characters: