“The More Factor” by Laurence Shames in contrast to Louie Zamperini in “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand

Select one of the quotations below, and write a typed essay of at least 500 words (not counting the quotation) in MLA style that does the following:

1. introduces the quotation (author, title, page number, etc.—spelled correctly);
2. explains in detail what the quotation means and what the context of the quotation is (i.e. How is the quotation a part of the greater work from which it comes? What is its significance?);
3. uses at least 3 specific examples (in the form of quotes) from the life of Louie Zamperini in Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken; and
4. explains how the ideas in the quotation do or do not apply to Zamperini.

Your essay will be graded according to these criteria:

1. Length: paper meets the minimum word requirement
2. Development: paper uses SEE paragraph structure in body paragraphs and fully explains all examples.
3. Organization: paper has a clear structure (introduction, body, and conclusion) and ideas are linked together logically through transitions.
4. Thesis Claim/Divisio: paper contains a thesis claim that mentions the main ideas of the quotation and indicates whether or not they apply to Louie.
5. Content: paper addresses one quotation from the list, fully explains key ideas and relates them to the larger work from which the quotation comes, uses appropriate and specific examples (quotes) from Unbroken, and relates the outside quotation to Louie.
6. Grammar/Mechanics: paper uses proper English grammar and mechanics. Words are spelled correctly, sentences are clear and concise, word choice is appropriate, and punctuation is used correctly. MLA format is used correctly.
7. Quotations/Paraphrases: author and title must be indicated in signal phrases, quotations must have quotation marks, and page numbers of all quotations and paraphrases must be indicated properly in parenthetical citations.

Quotations

 “The More Factor” by Laurence Shames

A century, maybe two centuries, before anyone had heard the term baby boomer, much less yuppie, the habit of more had been installed as the operative truth among the economically ambitious. The habit of more seemed to suggest that there was no such thing as getting wiped out in America. A fortune lost in Texas might be recouped in Colorado. Funds frittered away on grazing land where nothing grew might flood back as silver. There was always a second chance, or always seemed to be, in this land where growth was destiny and where expansion and purpose were the same. (26)

“The More Factor” by Laurence Shames

Frontier; opportunity; more. This has been the American trinity from the very start. The frontier was the backdrop and also the raw material for the streak of economic booms. The booms became the goad and also the justification for the myriad gambles and for Americans’ famous optimism. The optimism, in turn, shaped the schemes and visions that were sometimes noble, sometimes appalling, always bold. (27)

Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur, “What is an American?”

He is an American, who, leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he holds. He becomes an American by being received in the broad lap of our great Alma Mater. Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labours and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world. (23)

Patricia Nelson Limerick, “The Headline Frontier”

Indeed, it is impossible to read all these references to the frontiers of technology without recognizing that the American public has genuinely and completely accepted, ratified, and bought the notion that the American frontiering spirit, something in the last century, picked itself up and made a definitive relocation—from territorial expansion to technological and commercial expansion. (592-593)