Book Description
The American Reader is a stirring and memorable anthology that captures the many facets of American culture and history in prose and verse. The 200 poems, speeches, songs, essays, letters, and documents were chosen both for their readability and for their significance. These are the words that have inspired, enraged, delighted, chastened, and comforted Americans in days gone by. Gathered here are the writings that illuminate -- with wit, eloquence, and sometimes sharp words -- significant aspects of national conciousness. They reflect the part that all Americans -- black and white, native born and immigrant, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American, poor and wealthy -- have played in creating the nation's character.
Customer Reviews:
What We've Lost Is Found Again.......2001-02-09
With the politicization of the schools and the increasing emphasis on race, gender and enthnicity as guides to the "multicultural" curriculum, we have lost the emphasis on our common heritage that should bind us together as a nation and a society. The sad proof of this is how little American kids know about the past that is their cultural patrimony. National Assessment of Educational Progress tests have revealed that three quarters of high school juniors tested did not know when Abraham Lincoln was president; one third did not know what the Brown Decision was about, and 70% could not identify the Magna Carta. One third did not know that the phrase "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is from the Declaration of Independence; many were unfamiliar with the Getysburg Address. The American Reader is the best corrective to this situation that there is. Between its covers it presents those words that define our country's past and have expressed its goals and its dreams, its efforts and its achievements. This is what American children should be reading in school. Since many of them are not doing so, this book should be in every home, ready at hand to every parent and teacher.
LOVE THIS BOOK!.......2001-02-07
The American Reader is an anthology of wonderful poems and speeches from critical figures in American history. It is not only perfect for the classroom, but a great bedside companion. I like to read a different selection every night. It is a good tool for self-education, for those of us who had too much "social studies" and not enough real history. And it is fun to read. I love it.
A wonderful book!.......2001-02-06
I love this book. I enjoy reading the poems and speeches that represent our American heritage. I have shared it with my children and like to read them some of my own favorites. I warmly recommend it to parents and teachers!!
Average reference book.......1999-06-11
The book has good sources and the introduction to each quote is both brief, yet gives excellent detail. The quotes are also span well over American history. Though the book would be better subtitled as the "Words that moved the Author" since they seem to reflect more of a narrow ideology, than a broad expanse of American culture. It is an excellent souce for minority or romantic quotes, yet completely lacks any military nor religious experience. When one sees two good Emerson quotes, but totally ignore the anti-slavery work of Finney, nor care of orphans of DL Moody, nor the quotes of living greats like Billy Graham; it seems that the work is too shaded to a personal belief rather than a cross section of American heritage.
Excellent, outstanding read for home or school!.......1999-01-03
This book is fun to read and an excellent source of classic Americana. Ravitch's selections reflect the pulse of the nation. It contains a rich selection of poetry, essays, speeches, folk songs that map the American experience. It offers insight into who we are as Americans and how we got there.
Average customer rating:
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The American Reader: Words That Moved a Nation
Manufacturer: Tandem Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: 1417692634 |
Customer Reviews:
Excellent and valuable book that appeals to the head, not the heart .......2006-09-01
Lewis and Clark among the Indians by James P. Ronda is one of the most respected books in the L&C literature. It is not a general history of the expedition, but instead focuses entirely on Indian relations of the Expedition, explaining not only L&C's responsibilities, actions, and mistakes in dealing with the native people they encountered, but also on the motivations and views of the Indians.
The most interesting aspect of the book for me was the discussion of Lewis and Clark as ethnographers (or recorders of primary data about native American life). Several members of the Expedition made particularly valuable notes on the lifestyles of the Indians they met. Sergeant John Ordway had a talent for recording homey details that give us a glimpse into a long-vanished world of Indians at the moment of first contact with whites. Sergeant Patrick Gass, a carpenter, perceptively described the houses of the Indians. William Clark gravitated instinctively toward political analysis, grasping who the leadership was and how Indian power politics worked. It's not surprising he later proved so talented as a diplomat managing Indian affairs in the West long after the Expedition. But it was Meriwether Lewis who emerged as the premier ethnographer of the Expedition. Food, clothing, cooking utensils, weapons all caught Lewis's eye and were recorded, and often drawn, in painstaking detail.
Thankfully, Ronda steers clear of political correctness, refusing to portray the Indians as saintly victims or L&C as the vanguard of American imperialism. Lewis and Clark among the Indians is academic history at its finest. The research is fresh, measured, and dispassionate. As such it will appeal to those readers with a particular interest in the topic.
It's worth noting that Ronda sets a goal in the introduction of avoiding the themes of "high adventure, national triumph, and male courage." One sometimes senses that he bends over backwards to drain excitement and humor from the narrative.
Well Written and Exciting Look at the Explorers' Interactions with All the Tribes Along the Way .......2006-02-17
As the title indicates, Ronda's book concentrates primarily on Lewis and Clark's interactions with Indians along their journey to the Pacific. Aside from the exploration, Jefferson's other mission, as described by Ronda, was to make peace with the Indians, establishing not only a relationship with the U.S. but to also broker peace among the tribes. As the author points out, the latter was very naïve as the two explorers' did not comprehend the complex relationships among the various tribes. For example, the tribes closest to traders had a distinct advantage over the interior tribes due to their access to guns, ammunition and other material sought by the interior tribes such as the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes living well up the Missouri. Tribes such as the powerful Teton Sioux were protective of their roles as dominant traders while their enemies the Mandans and Hidatsas traded with many plains tribes due to their ability to grow vegetables and corn that the plains Indians lacked. Although trying to bridge gaps between rivals such as the Mandan and the Arikaras seemed plausible to the explorers, Ronda points out well that presents and well meaning speeches by Lewis and Clark could not realistically alter relationships until the whites provided a dominant presence among the tribes. A good portion of the book concentrates on the Mandan and Hidatsa since the explorers spent their first winter on the upper Mississippi enduring a very supportive relationship. Strong bonds were made with the Mandan but Ronda well documents the intricate relationships that the explorer's had with the various tribes including sexual contact that Ronda describes had a mystical tribal benefit aside from some cases of trade. It is quite impressive that the explorers were well treated among the less fortunate Indians such as the Flatheads, Shoshone and Nez Perce who assisted L & C over the most crucial part of the trip supplying needed horses, food and guides. After reading of L & C's fortunes with the mountain and plains Indians, Ronda described a different contrast with the Indians closer to the Pacific who had either direct or indirect contact with traders. The Chinooks prove to be savvy traders as well as other tribes along the Columbia River. This change and more aggressive stance toward pilfering, which Ronda describes as possible cultural misunderstandings, try the corps almost to violence altering the more congenial relationship that the expedition featured for the most of their contacts with the natives. Ronda goes beyond describing the contacts between the corps and the Indians; he also explains the cultures of each tribe and clarifies issues that were not clear to the explorers. This is most notable when Lewis and his three man platoon make contact with the aggressive Blackfeet that ends in the only bloodshed between Indians and the corps. Ronda indicates that Lewis may have unintentionally raised tensions by explaining that the U.S. would be aiding the Blackfeet's traditional enemies and in turn under cut there trade dominance. Interesting that later, the Blackfeet become the most feared tribe of future Mountain men. Excellent book that fits well after a general read of the journey since the book covers activities of only key corps members concentrating primarily on Indian relations.
Interesting and thoughtful read.......2004-03-07
A well researched book that is not meant to replace a reading of the original journals. Dr. Rhonda did an excellent job putting the American Indians back in to the narrative of Lewis & Clark's expedition. The information regarding the various tribes and nations is quite accurate and helps to give an introduction to American Indian history for someone who might not have any familiarity of the western nations. Generally, the book is well-written and interesting. It could be interesting and entertaining for both academic and general readers.
Technically and politically correct.......2004-01-31
This was an excellent bed time book - 3 or 4 pages a night and your off to dream land. Ronda reconstructs meetings with the Indians with the use of footnoted quotations from the journals. This is supposedly better than reading the journals yourself because Ronda brings his objective view to the table were as L & C had Euro-American bias. The book, much like the journey itself, has moments of interest and moments of repetitive dullness.
Insightful, unique and first-class.......2003-10-28
Responsibilities of proclaiming U.S. sovereignty, promoting intertribal peace between Indians, and advancing American trade were major components of the Corps of Discovery. This book portrays the relationships between Indian and white convergences when the U.S. was spreading its wings into unknown but recently acquired territories.
Ronda chronologically takes the reader up the Missouri River with Lewis and Clark first beginning with the Oto and Missouri Indians, followed by the Yankton Sioux, the intimidating and challenging Teton Sioux, the apprehensive Arikaras, winter life in the Mandan/Hidatsa village, the amiable Shoshones, Nez Perce and Flathead tribes and culminating with the ever so pilfering, troublesome lower Columbia River Indians.
What Ronda makes very clear, and what Lewis and Clark were hard pressed to alter and/or understand, were the intricate and byzantine trade network systems which existed among the various tribes. For example, there was the Teton Sioux and Arikara trade, followed by the Mandan/Hidatsa and Assinboine trade alliances which were difficult and demanding systems to change.
Secondly, encouraging intertribal peace between tribes was like swimming against the current. After decades and possibly centuries of intertribal warring, peace was not going to happen overnight.
If the reader is somewhat versed in the Lewis and Clark literature and assumes that there is not much else to learn from the expedition, this is an extraordinary look into a different side of the journey.
Customer Reviews:
Do Them No Harm.......2000-11-29
Few books have been written that tell about the Native American's side of history. This book tells about the Nez Perce stories of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in Idaho. Zoa Swayne spent decades interviewing tribal elders and studying the journals before putting this book together. Clark met 3 Nez Perce boys on the Weippe Prairie, Zoa discovered the names of 2 of the boys. Lewis and Clark spent 2 1/2 weeks in the Nez Perce country building canoes before continuing on to the Pacific Ocean and nearly 2 months on the return trip, so there is a lot to tell.
The world as Indians saw it.......2000-01-09
Ms. Swayne has done an excellent job of telling the story of one indian tribe's encounters with American explorers. Not really a portrayal of Lewis and Clark themselves, it is more a glimpse into what the world looked like to the Nez Perce 200 years ago. It's told from the Indians' point of view, based on oral and written history collected after much research by Ms Swayne. Each stage of the unfolding story is contrasted with entries from Lewis's and Clarke's journals. The different views of the same developments provides real insight into the different world views and problems faced by the Indians and the explorers.
It's a fairly short book written in the style of a novel, and is a good relaxing read for adults or teenagers.
Average customer rating:
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Do Them No Harm: Lewis and Clark Among the Nez Perce (Lewis & Clark Expedition)
Zoa L. Swayne , and
Carol Ann Goodrich Bates
Manufacturer: Caxton Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
United States
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ASIN: 0870044273 |
Book Description
An Indian woman's words mark beginning of unique friendship.
In Autumn 1805, members of the Lewis and Clark expedition were saved from starvation by the Nez Perce Indians. Out of this meeting grew a unique relationshilp between two very different cultures. One that helped shape the future of the western U.S. Zoa Swayne spent years writing down the events of 1805,1806 as remembered by Nez Perce storytellers as well as studying the journals kept by the Corps of Discovery members. DO THEM NO HARM! paints a vivid and memorable portrait of Nez Perce life and culture in the early nineteenth century. 350 pages.
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Northwest discovery
Harry M Majors
Manufacturer: Northwest Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
Pacific Northwest
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ASIN: B000711MOU |
Customer Reviews:
Great text in the history of science.......2002-10-17
A modern reader of Harvey's most famous and important work, "On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals," cannot help but be amazed at the methodical, precise way he goes about demonstrating his thesis. His method is not purely "scientific" in the sense we know it today, but it does represent a great step toward the scientific method. Harvey himself would disagree on this point--he viewed the then-current crop of scientific theorists (Descartes, Bacon, et al.) with disdain. He considered himself a philosopher, and judging by his remarkable adherence to Aristotelian principles, one might be willing to grant him that. History, of course, has judged him to be a scientist and a physician, however, and we have learned to think of him exclusively in those terms. Not that this is a negative or even largely incorrect judgement; it just fails to take into account the full extent of William Harvey the man, and his motivations for inquiry. I think the only proper way to view him is as a transition point between Aristotelian natural philosophy and the scientific method. This book is a remarkable document because it is both a crucial turning point in the history of ideas and proof that those ideas were not so far apart as we have been led to believe.
A Great Book From a Great Mind.......2000-09-13
At the time of William Harvey writing this book he was laughed at and riduculed for his beliefs of circulation of the blood. The people at this time were so intwined with Galenic medicine that there was no way Harvey could have been right with his discovery. If you want to see how the thinking was with this subject at this time of civilizations then this book will be wonderful. If you just want some basic history of medicine then this book will be outstanding to you. I highly recommend it.
Product Description
Includes
1- On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals
2- Vaccination Against Smallpox
3- The Physiological Theory of Fermentation
4- Germ Theory and It's Applications to Medicine & On the Antiseptic Principle of the Practice of Surgery
5- On the Extention of the Germ Theory to the Etiology of Certain Common Diseases
6- Radioactive Substances
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Managing visitors' perceptions: find out why park managers need to understand how a visitor perceives recreation resource impacts.(Research Update): An article from: Parks & Recreation
Catherine E. Dorwart ,
Yu-Fai Leung , and
Roger Moore
Manufacturer: National Recreation and Park Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
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ASIN: B00082J9CA
Release Date: 2005-07-31 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Parks & Recreation, published by National Recreation and Park Association on May 1, 2004. The length of the article is 3285 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Managing visitors' perceptions: find out why park managers need to understand how a visitor perceives recreation resource impacts.(Research Update)
Author: Catherine E. Dorwart
Publication:
Parks & Recreation (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 1, 2004
Publisher: National Recreation and Park Association
Volume: 39
Issue: 5
Page: 24(7)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Books:
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- The Civil War for Dummies
- The Craft of International History: A Guide to Method
- The Debate on the Constitution : Federalist and Antifederalist Speeches, Articles and Letters During the Struggle over Ratification, Part Two: January to August 1788 (Library of America)
- The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody: Great Figures of History Hilariously Humbled
- The Decline and Fall of the Lettered City: Latin America in the Cold War (Convergences: Inventories of the Present)
- The Devil's Dominion: Magic and Religion in Early New England
- The Digital Hand: How Computers Changed the Work of American Manufacturing, Transportation, and Retail Industries
- The Duke of Alba
- The Encyclopedia of New Jersey
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