Task V: A Critical Lens
		So you've touched on several sprawling topics in this WebQuest:  Capitalism, Communism, Communist Hysteria in the early 1950's, Atomic Bomb research, and the social dissent of the 1960's.  They all are the history of America.  Try and distill your thoughts concerning what Doctorow has suggested about Disneyland and what Ginsberg has said in his poem titled "America."  Do so to react in a formal essay to one of the following quotes:
			1) There is nothing the matter with Americans except their ideals.  The real American is all right; it is the ideal American who is all wrong.                                                      Gilbert K. Chesterton 1874-1936, British Author 2) America is a vast conspiracy to make people happy.                                                               John Updike 1934 - ,  American Author 3) The superficiality of the American is the result of his hustling.  It needs leisure to think things out; it needs leisure to mature.  People in a hurry cannot think, cannot grow, nor can they decay.  They are preserved in a state of perpetual puerility*.                                       Eric Hoffer 1902-1983, American Author, Philosopher *  Means immature or childish.
				Task I ... ***Meet the Rosenbergs** Task II . ***Doctorow’s Disneyland** Task III ... ***Ginsberg’s America** Task IV .***Defining Our Terms** Task V .....***A Critical Lens**         Return to Homepage