United States History Student Edition

09

INQUIRY ACTIVITY

FLORIDA BENCHMARKS

Analyzing Sources: Art, Literature, and American Society ? COMPELLING QUESTION What do the arts reveal about current society?

• SS.8.A.4.9 • SS.8.A.4.15 • SS.8.A.5.2

• SS.8.A.1.2 • SS.8.A.1.3 • SS.8.A.1.5 • SS.8.A.1.7

Plan Your Inquiry DEVELOPING QUESTIONS

Background Information During the mid-1800s, art and literature reflected changes in American culture and society. Writers such as Margaret Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau stressed the relationship between humans and nature. Herman Melville and other novelists explored elements of history and life in the United States. In his poetry, Walt Whitman captured a new American spirit and confidence. Painters such as Thomas Cole developed a purely American style. The primary sources in this lesson reflect the perspectives of authors and artists living in the United States during the mid-1800s. As you examine each source, consider what the arts can reveal about society.

During the 1800s, American writers and painters depicted the ways the nation was changing. Think about how the works of authors and artists can reflect the issues of the day. Then read the Compelling Question for this lesson. What questions can you ask to help you answer this Compelling Question? Create a graphic organizer like the one below. Write your Supporting Questions in your graphic organizer.

What this source tells me about what the arts can reveal about society at the time

Questions the source leaves unanswered

Supporting Questions Source

A B C D

E F

G H

ANALYZING SOURCES Next, examine the primary sources in this lesson. Analyze each source by answering the questions that follow it. How does each source help you answer each Supporting Question you created? What questions do you still have? Write these in your graphic organizer.

After you analyze the sources, you will: • use the evidence from the sources • communicate your conclusions • take informed action

John James Audubon created images of every bird known in the United States at the time of the publication of his book, Birds of America .

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; transfer from the National Gallery of Art; gift of the Avalon Foundation through the generosity of Ailsa Mellon Bruce, 1951

399

GO ONLINE

Explore the Student Edition eBook and find interactive maps, time lines, and tools.