Read the two passages. First explain how the central theme is similar in both passages. Then discuss how the passages present that theme in a different historical context.
Passages
Passage 1:

When President Kennedy vowed in the early 1960s that America would put a man on the moon, few could have dreamed that it was actually possible. But on a humid July night in 1969, I sat with my parents in front of the television, glued to the images of an astronaut bounding around on the lunar surface in front of an American flag. That night, I walked outside and looked up at the moon, which suddenly felt so close. Then I turned my head slightly to the nearest star. What was next? I thought. Everything out there suddenly seemed close enough to touch, and in that moment anything was possible.

Passage 2:

It has been 68 days since we left the shores of Europe aboard the Mayflower, and there have been many moments when I was sure all hope was lost. Great storms rolled upon us with no warning at least a dozen times, and when sickness spread across the ship, most of us felt that we would never see solid ground again. But now on the shores of this new land, with the past at our backs and a new life ahead of us, it feels as if anything is possible. It is November, so first we must build a home. Then, perhaps we will move westward and see what else this great land has to offer.