RE100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Helen Hunt Jackson, Henry David Thoreau, Gilded Age
Document Summary
Re100 unit 3: religion through popular myth (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) The english word myth derives from the greek word, which literally means story". Our national myths, then, are national starless stories that serve the nation in important and crucial ways. American myth, therefore is a story that conveys commonly shared convictions on the purposes and the meaning of the nation. It does not matter if the myth is true or false, its whether people take it seriously (as being true). Looks at contrasting views of the american creed held by white, blacks, and in some cases, by native americans and immigrants. Asserts a positive, enthusiastic, optimistic view of the american. Asserts that every myth but one has some truth in it, and that every myth has some good in it too. These white colonists who arrived in america are a chosen people with their government, and are meant to inherit (by divine will) this land.
