Questions

1. What was the rhetorical situation of this speech when it was delivered at the World’s Columbian Exposition? How does that context affect the approach Frederick Jackson Turner takes and the tone he uses? Pay special attention to the relationship between him and his initial audience.

   Question

   Questions: - What was the rhetorical situation of this speech when it was delivered at the World’s Columbian Exposition? How does that context affect the approach Frederick Jackson Turner takes and the tone he uses? Pay special attention to the relationship between him and his initial audience.
2. Turner uses the word “primitive” with relative frequency. What does it mean in this essay? Is it a synonym for “savagery”? How does its juxtaposition with “civilization” add to its meaning?

   Question

   Questions: - Turner uses the word “primitive” with relative frequency. What does it mean in this essay? Is it a synonym for “savagery”? How does its juxtaposition with “civilization” add to its meaning?
3. What does Turner mean in the following statement: “The frontier is the line of most rapid and effective Americanization. The wilderness masters the colonist” (par. 4)? In what way is this point fundamental to Turner’s argument?

   Question

   Questions: - What does Turner mean in the following statement: “The frontier is the line of most rapid and effective Americanization. The wilderness masters the colonist” (par. 4)? In what way is this point fundamental to Turner’s argument?
4. How, according to Turner, has “frontier individualism…promoted democracy” (par. 5)? What are the “dangers as well as…benefits” of this “democracy born of free land” (par. 6)?

   Question

   Questions: - How, according to Turner, has “frontier individualism…promoted democracy” (par. 5)? What are the “dangers as well as…benefits” of this “democracy born of free land” (par. 6)?
5. What point does Turner emphasize with the lengthy quotation from Edmund Burke’s 1775 “Speech for Conciliation with America” (par. 7)?

   Question

   Questions: - What point does Turner emphasize with the lengthy quotation from Edmund Burke’s 1775 “Speech for Conciliation with America” (par. 7)?
6. Turner claims that “the American intellect owes its striking characteristics” (par. 8) to the frontier. What are those characteristics, and what are their consequences to Turner’s claim about American “exceptionalism”—that is, the distinctive American character? What evidence does he provide for his argument?

   Question

   Questions: - Turner claims that “the American intellect owes its striking characteristics” (par. 8) to the frontier. What are those characteristics, and what are their consequences to Turner’s claim about American “exceptionalism”—that is, the distinctive American character? What evidence does he provide for his argument?
7. Turner bookends his speech-turned-essay with references to “the closing of a great historic movement” (par. 1) and “the ever retreating frontier” (par. 8). Is his essay more of an elegy for the West, a celebration of the opportunities of the present moment, or an argument to move on to the next “frontier”? Cite two specific passages to support your response.

   Question

   Questions: - Turner bookends his speech-turned-essay with references to “the closing of a great historic movement” (par. 1) and “the ever retreating frontier” (par. 8). Is his essay more of an elegy for the West, a celebration of the opportunities of the present moment, or an argument to move on to the next “frontier”? Cite two specific passages to support your response.