Writing and Historical Document

PROMPT ONE
Choose one 19th century American poem or short story and one historical document.
Write to compare the ways in which each of these represents the changing popular idea of democracy from the time period in which it was written. Cite specific evidence from the literature to support your ideas.
For this lesson I chose the story “Ain’t I A Woman?” And the historical document “The American: Mark Twain”.

The story “Ain’t I a Woman” was written in 1851. This explains how women were treated differently. Negroes were treated even worse than other women. One man is explaining how women need help doing things. No one seems to help the Negroes. This story represents the changing popular idea of democracy because it’s stating that all people aren’t treated equally. In today’s world we have freedom of speech. All people are treated with equal rights. The historical document explains how Mark Twain was writing for a newspaper. He wrote many stories for The Daily Territorial Enterprise. He had such a large reputation that it spread to San Francisco. He joined many paper companies, but after getting into a squabble with a rival newspaper he took a position with the paper in San Francisco. These two stories change the way people look at democracy because they both are stating how people aren’t treated equally. In the story it’s telling how women aren’t treated equally. Men are getting more rights than women are. The women don’t like this and feel they must voice their own opinions. In the historical document Twain explains how he was writing for a few papers. A rival paper gave him a bad name and he moved to San Francisco. When moving there he started writing for a new paper. In today’s democracy we have freedom of speech but back then they did not. Therefore he got a bad name and moved for a different opportunity.