Ronan Taylor
1. The story utilizes the individualistic ideologies used by Ralph Waldo Emerson in selfreliance. The story makes fun of Americans for not living up to their ideals of diversity and for not being the ultimate civilization that we so egotistically believe we are. This idea stemmed from the city on top a hill sermon or a model Christian charity. The story clearly has a strong individualist message to it, most likely influenced by selfreliance. The story utilizes franklin esque satire to make its point. Franklin utilized satire in his work “Rules by Which a Great
Empire May be Reduced to a Small One”. Vonnegut uses satire in moments that may seems completely horrifying or absurd. A model of Christian charity quotes
“For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill”
“We must delight in each other, make others' conditions our own” Selfreliance quotes
“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.” Franklin satire quote
“You are to consider, that a great Empire, like a great Cake, is most easily diminished at the
Edges”
Vonnegut satire quotes
“All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution”
“It was then that Diana Moon Clampers, the Handicapper General, came into the studio with a doublebarreled tengauge shotgun.”
2. seems to me that the poem is about jonathan winthrops ideals as seen in a Model of
Christian Charity. this seems to be talking about the rise of theism in the colonies and the conflicts between theists and religious officials. the poem seems to also describe early americans not living up to their values. Lowell poem quotes
“ Edward’s great millstone and rock of hope has crumbled” “Yet people were spiders”
“Edwards thought the world would end there.”
“Faith is trying to do without faith.”
“a common piece of kindling,
only fit for burning.
You too must have been green once.” sinners in the hands of an angry god quotes
“The God that holds you over the Pit of Hell,much as one holds a Spider, or some loathsome
Insect, over the Fire”` 3. Baldwin’s argument is basically composed of, blacks are being set up to fail and all whites want them to know is the ghetto. But it’s not entirely their fault, as their vision of history is horribly misguided. Equiano says that slavery was used by white people to put blacks in their place, similar to how Baldwin says that ghettos are used to put blacks in their place. once again this work is about how america has failed ot live up to the city on a hill from a model of christian charity appess also discussed that white people