Assignment
Readings: "Why I Could Never Hate America" by Mehdi Hasan and "The America I Love" by Elie Wiesel.
Prompt
Mehdi Hasan and Elie Wiesel are American citizens but have different degrees of affection and/or loyalty to the United States. After considering both of their arguments and observations about America, write an essay that answers this question: What essential elements must a country have, in your view, before you can justify loving it-or feeling loyal to it?
Use specific evidence (i.e. quotations and examples from "Why I Could Never Hate America," "The America I Love," and your own experience) to support your arguments and analyze them accordingly (i.e. make connections between them and challenge and/or expand on their ideas).
Task
Below are some further questions that may be useful to consider in generating your argument. You only need to address the aboveprompt inbold; however, the following questions should help you get started:
A. How Hasan would answer the paper prompt? How would Wiesel?
B. What aspects of the United States did each writer mention that contributed to what they like-or love-about the country? Are any of those things important to you? Why or why not?
C. What aspects of the United States did each writer mention that contributed to what they dislike-or hate-about the country? Are any of those things important to you? Why or why not?
D. Are there other aspects of the United States that you love or hate that were not mentioned in either essay? Are any of these things more important than the positive and negative aspects that Hasan and Wiesel mentioned?