Most people know Gertrude Stein for her quote, “The purpose of art is to create human beings out of inanimate matter”. Fewer people know that she wrote over 20 books, many of which were very successful. One of these books, “The Making of Americans”, follows the lives of a group of first generation Americans as they struggle to fit in and make sense of their new country. If you’re a high school student, this is a great read for you since it can be used as a creative writing exercise. You will engage with the text in a whole new way, thinking about what it means to be an American. The following article will guide you in writing Stein’s brilliant book, “The Making of Americans”, specifically addressing the high school audience.
The Importance Of History
For those of you who are unfamiliar, Stein wrote, in the preface to “The Making of Americans”: “History is a thing one cannot fully understand even though it is surrounded by questions, dates, and facts”. This is a very insightful statement, and it’s one that people with an interest in history will appreciate. For those of you who are writing the book, you must take this into consideration. When writing a historical fiction novel or writing a non-fiction piece about historical events, it is extremely important to do your research and make sure that everything “flows” correctly. There are several websites that can be helpful in researching and finding information about historical events. For instance, en.wikipedia.org can be an invaluable tool in helping you understand something about a particular historical figure or event. Although this particular website is not necessarily geared towards high school students, you should access it and read the articles about historical figures and events that you are familiar with.
Why Did Stein Write This Book?
If you’re a high school student interested in history, you may be familiar with the concept of assimilation. This is the idea that immigrants and their descendants will cease to be “strangers” in their adopted country and instead become an extension of the society that they left behind. In Stein’s time, there was a lot of fear and tension between the native-born and the new immigrants, especially since many of the new immigrants were fleeing from war-torn Europe and bringing with them the horror of the Holocaust. If American citizens didn’t get to know these new immigrants and understand what they were going through, there was concern that they might be at risk of being “over-run” by “undesirables”. These immigrants would not be “assimilated” into American society and instead would form their own communities, leading to complete social and economic chaos. This was a real issue in Stein’s day, and it’s one that continues to resonate with people today.
Stein wrote “The Making of Americans” because she was worried about this issue and wanted to give her readers an insider’s perspective on what was happening. She saw these first generation Americans as the last remaining link to the world she knew, and she worried that they might not survive what was to come. What she wrote came from a place of love and concern – she wanted to ensure that her readers understood what was happening and knew that they were not alone.
How Do You Decide On A Hero/Antagonist?
In most cases, you will choose your hero and antagonist relatively easily, since you are writing a story about familiar people and events. A common issue that you may encounter, however, is that your hero and antagonist don’t necessarily need to be a person. Sometimes, you can choose an item, an idea or a place as your antagonist. In “The Making of Americans”, Stein chose one of the most recognizable figures from the era as her antagonist – Emma Goldman. Although Stein’s primary aim was to critique the culture that she grew up in, she still idolized certain aspects of it and couldn’t bring herself to truly hate the woman whose life she was writing about. Emma Goldman was a polarizing figure in her time, attracting both supporters and critics. Most people today know who Emma Goldman is, and you may decide to choose a similar figure to make your story more relatable to your readers.
What Is The Moral Of The Story?
As with most of Stein’s work, “The Making of Americans” has an underlying theme of tolerance. In her time, there were certain groups of people that Stein considered “undesirables”, people that she believed would harm American society if they were to become too numerous. One of the groups that she warned about was anarchists, people who did not believe in governmental authority and who wanted to dismantle the existing social order. In “The Making of Americans”, Stein uses Emma Goldman as an example of this type of person, warning her readers about what could happen if too many of these individuals try and establish themselves in American society. At the same time, however, Stein wanted her readers to understand and appreciate the struggle that these people were going through. So, you should try and show the “good side” of anarchists as well, since they were trying to establish a new way of living – one without a government or a leader. This was a difficult time, and it’s an aspect of American history that deserves to be remembered and taught. In the end, though, Stein believed that the “undesirables” would be ultimately defeated and could not cause complete social and economic chaos. For this reason, she wrote that “Americans will not let the unfit populate their country”.
Based on the above, you should be able to decide on a topic for your creative writing assignment. The important thing is that you choose something that you are passionate about. As with most creative writing assignments, you want to choose a topic that is open-ended, something that can be used for a number of different pieces. You could write an article for a newspaper or magazine about your chosen topic, or you could even decide to write a novel. In terms of “The Making of Americans”, you could write an article for a newspaper regarding the social and economic changes that started in the late 1800s and continued through the early 1900s. Or, if you’d like, you could write an entire novel about the subject matter – more than likely, your English teacher will love the assignment and give you all the credit you need for coming up with such an interesting topic.