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=Welcome 8th graders!=

Congratulations! You are the lucky group of students who will be experiencing English 8 this year. The focus of English 8 is //American Identity// and we will be asking ourselves //**"Who are we as a people and how did we come to be that way?"**// In American history and culture are several themes/concepts that are woven throughout the literature that we will study this year. These "thematic rivers" are listed below:


 * **“A City Upon a Hill**”-//What does it mean to have the “eyes of the world” upon us?//
 * **Conflicting Loyalties –**//How does a person resolve conflicting demands from family, different religions, different beliefs, different nationalities?//
 * **Dependence, Independence, Interdependence**—//How are these conditions different? Which is most important to the American experience?//
 * **Materialism vs. Idealism**—//We are a country of unparalleled wealth. Our ideals have helped shaped the modern world? How can America be, deeply, both materialistic and idealistic**?**//
 * **Changing Perceptions of Nature**—//Is the natural world a thing to own and use as we wish, or is humanity only one part of the natural world? How has the answer to that question changed?//
 * **Freedom vs. Order**— //Which quality of life is more important to us as a people? Is it possible to balance these two concepts? What must we give up to keep what we've gained?//
 * **Expanding of the Domain of Freedom**— //“The land of the free” –to whom do those words apply? To whom do they not apply? How, when, and to whom has that freedom extended?//
 * **Evolving Nature of American Identity**//—Who are we as a people, and how did we come to be that way? Who gets to be called **American**////?//

We have an exciting year ahead of us and I am looking forward to spending this year with you.

~ Ms. Fitzpatrick