Read the excerpt from "Optimism Within" by Helen Keller. Then, make a claim about the author’s purpose for writing the text. Support your claim with evidence from the passage and commentary about how the author uses language to achieve that purpose. How did you do? Rate your work on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 as the highest score. Then write a brief evaluation of your work below. Note what you learned and what challenged you.

I inferred you are referring to this excerpt from the text;

"Most people measure their happiness in terms of physical pleasure and material possession. Could they win some visible goal which they have set on the horizon, how happy they could be! Lacking this gift or that circumstance, they would be miserable. If happiness is to be so measured, I who cannot hear or see have every reason to sit in a corner with folded hands and weep. If I am happy in spite of my deprivations, if my happiness is so deep that it is a faith, so thoughtful that it becomes a philosophy of life, — if, in short, I am an optimist, my testimony to the creed of optimism is worth hearing."

Explanation:

The author here uses her personal experience of been deaf-blind to assert that an individual's happiness is not dependent on his or her circumstances. Helen says "I who cannot hear or see...I am happy in spite of my deprivations if my happiness is so deep that it is a faith, so thoughtful that it becomes a philosophy of life."

We notice her use of convincing language such as when she says "my testimony to the creed of optimism is worth hearing", this language gives her message a convincing feel.

1. read the following excerpt from franklin d. roosevelt's "fireside chat 19":

on the other side of the picture, we must learn also to know that guerilla warfare against the germans in, let us say serbia or norway, us; that a successful russian offensive against the germans us; and that british successes on land or sea in any part of the world strengthen our hands.

remember always that germany and italy, regardless of any formal declaration of war, consider themselves at war with the united states at this moment just as much as they consider themselves at war with britain or russia. and germany puts all the other republics of the americas into the same category of enemies. the people of our sister republics of this hemisphere can be honored by that fact.  

the true goal we seek is far above and beyond the ugly field of battle. when we resort to force, as now we must, we are determined that this force shall be directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil. we americans are not destroyers — we are builders.

analyze the effectiveness of this excerpt. how does it function within the speech as a whole? how does the structure of the excerpt to convey the speech's purpose and key points? support your argument with evidence from the speech. (10 points)

fears about being blown up