American History I

1.  What principles and ideals did Banneker invoke to argue that slavery was not a normal feature of life, but was, instead, unnatural?

2.  You have now done three in-class writing exercises meant to help you sharpen your writing skills, useful in any decently-paid employment in a modern economy.  The first writing exercise focused on the formation of a starting hypothesis; the second on managing an excess of evidence; and the third on organizing your analysis clearly and effectively, and also on confidently editing your own writing.  The aim is not some kind of fancy writing, but for your writing to be clear, organized, substantive, and persuasive — for whatever it is you have to write in your future careers ... whatever those will be.

You will be the proof of the pudding, as it were, for the next writing assignment &151; do you feel that the three writing exercises were helpful toward sharpening your writing?  How so, or how not?