Making Connections

1. Read carefully paragraphs 1 and 2 of the declarations by Thomas Jefferson (p. 389) and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (p. 393). Explain how the writers use rhetorical strategies to develop their arguments.

   Question

   ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=

   Making Connections: - Read carefully paragraphs 1 and 2 of the declarations by Thomas Jefferson (p. 389) and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (p. 393). Explain how the writers use rhetorical strategies to develop their arguments.
2. Defend or challenge Jefferson’s and Stanton’s characterizations of the “self-evident truths” that they proclaim.

   Question

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   Making Connections: - Defend or challenge Jefferson’s and Stanton’s characterizations of the “self-evident truths” that they proclaim.
3. How are Jefferson’s and Ho Chi Minh’s (p. 396) declarations similar? How are they different?

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   Making Connections: - How are Jefferson’s and Ho Chi Minh’s (p. 396) declarations similar? How are they different?
4. Jefferson recounts the “crimes” of King George III of England. Whose “crimes” are recounted by Stanton and by Minh? Explain.

   Question

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   Making Connections: - Jefferson recounts the “crimes” of King George III of England. Whose “crimes” are recounted by Stanton and by Minh? Explain.
5. If Jefferson were alive in the twentieth century, how do you think he would have responded to Minh’s proclamation? How might he have responded to Stanton’s declaration if he had been alive when it was drafted?

   Question

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   Making Connections: - If Jefferson were alive in the twentieth century, how do you think he would have responded to Minh’s proclamation? How might he have responded to Stanton’s declaration if he had been alive when it was drafted?
6. Why do you suppose the Declaration of Independence has had such a huge influence on the writing and thinking of others?

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   Making Connections: - Why do you suppose the Declaration of Independence has had such a huge influence on the writing and thinking of others?
7. Read carefully H. L. Mencken’s “Declaration of Independence in American,” from his book The American Language. Write a piece in which you convey Jefferson’s, Stanton’s, or Minh’s thoughts and ideas in the slang of the 1950s, ’60s, ’80s, or today, as Mencken did using the slang of 1921.

   Question

   ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=

   Making Connections: - Read carefully H. L. Mencken’s “Declaration of Independence in American,” from his book The American Language. Write a piece in which you convey Jefferson’s, Stanton’s, or Minh’s thoughts and ideas in the slang of the 1950s, ’60s, ’80s, or today, as Mencken did using the slang of 1921.