Writer’s Journal #2

1/15/03

Andrew Carnegie, “From The Gospel of Wealth”

Alexis de Tocqueville, “Equality and Materialism”

John G. Cawelti, Apostles of the Self-Made Man, Introduction

1. In the table below, briefly describe what each author has to say about social mobility in the United States.

You may wish to consider the authors’ attitudes toward it and the economic or social reasons for it.

In class, you should be able to refer to a passage or paragraph in the texts from which you draw your answers.

Carnegie

deTocqueville

Cawelti

2. Because they are writing to persuade, both deTocqueville’s and Carnegie’s essays rest on several assumptions

(beliefs without which their arguments would not make sense).  In the space below, identify at least one assumption

for each 19^th century writer.  If possible, identify more than one.

3. What idea about success in America might be applicable to all three writers?

Try to articulate ONE sentence that would work for all three.