A Letter To America

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Sarah jackson 12/13/2010 Ms. Heilman This essay "A Letter to America," by Margaret Atwood had a creative format in which it was written as a letter for the authorities. And ordinary citizens of America to demonstrate that at one point in our history we had ideals about a fair nation of peace and freedom. But somehow has lost its way, and become too involved in our military and engaged in much political and business fraud. In this sense Atwood describes she is embarrassed with what America has done especially because many people and countries have aspired to American ideals. This article also reminded me of Churchill's essay in which America has the tendency to "[...] grab stuff other people produce, at our gunboat-diplomacy prices[...]" (5) or "gutting the Constitution" (5),meaning underhandedly putting aside the private rights of citizens in order to so called keep the nation "safe". Even Atwood asks, "[...] when did you get so scared? You didn't used to be so easily frightened" (5). However, at the end of the essay Atwood still has hope for this nation yet and I agree with her indefinitely. If America would stop trying to control everything for one-minute we could take a step back and regain our dignity, respect, and values that we have always strived for. The purpose of this essay is to discuss the rapid changes that America is going through. It also brings to light the complex feelings that people, especially Margaret Atwood, have towards these changes. Margaret Atwood talks about her disconnection with the American world. She remembers the joy and excitement of American pop culture in the days of “the Andrews Sisters, Ella Fitzgerald, the Platters, and Elvis." (Atwood 169). She talks about the great accomplishments of the authors that wrote her favorite stories and the actors that she grew up watching. The
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