I went through my blog and answered the questions on Moodle. This helped me put some ideas together and see some similar themes coming out of my writing. So far I have my ideas in bullet point form just to organize my thoughts.
1. recurring themes and connections
- personal freedom to do what one wants
- lack of restrictions and obstacles, but more than this too
- freedom and power demand responsibility
- fought for and protected
- freedom of land and space to explore and settle
- freedom of upward mobility and self-improvement
2. good conversation
- asking questions and never being "done" with a topic, idea, or question
- studying and reading in-depth and in different ways, with different "lenses"
- hearing other people's ideas, really listening
- debate and don't just try to agree on everything, celebrate diversity
3. famous figures
Cullen and "The American Dream"
- "American Dream": upward mobility, still ambiguous because everyone has a different interpretation, like a national motto
- good to recognize biases in writing (ex: most writers don't give much credit to Puritans' good qualities)
- "The Good Life": happiness, health, safety, financial stability or even wealth, godliness
Benjamin Franklin
- academic, loved to read, loved buying books
- humility and modesty as part of list of virtues he tried to acquire and practice
- always wanted to improve himself and progress in his life
- good connections, networking
- jack-of-all-trades: politician, writer, scientist, inventor, etc.
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