Write a maximum 800-word speech based on the following readings:
·Yager, 2014 –The Awful Reign of the Red Delicious
·Houran & Godbout, 2017 –Johnny Appleseed
·Pollan, 2002 –Botany of Desire, chap 1 –
“The Apple” Imagine the following scenario: In September 2018, the Texas State Board of Education voted to remove certain historical figures from the required social studies curriculum. According to their new rules, students would no longer be taught anything about Helen Keller, Barry Goldwater, or Hillary Clinton. Once those changes were approved, some members of the Board decided to go further and set strict guidelines for how schools should teach about other historical figures. The Board members wanted to be certain that teachers offered narratives that only presented certain historical figures in a positive, patriotic way. One of the figures they included was John Chapman, also known as Johnny Appleseed. School Board members remembered learning about the heroism and generosity of Johnny Appleseed. But, in their view, nowadays teachers presented a different narrative –portraying Chapman as a rapacious businessman, with a problematic personal life, who spread alcohol consumption around the country, rather than as a gentle and generous man who simply wanted people to have apples to eat. They believed that this narrative diminished Chapman’s standing as an American hero and made the history of capitalism in the United States seem tawdry. Members of the Texas School Board thus proposed to strictly define how teachers taught the narrative of Johnny Appleseed –mandating that they focus on the older, more heroic, and more innocent narrative. As an example, they referred teachers to the approach of Bill Jones in Mount Vernon, Ohio, who is an expert on Chapman and working hard to establish a “Johnny Appleseed Heritage Center and Outdoor Theater.” You are a concerned citizen who happens to have some knowledge of Chapman. You find the Board’s ideas appalling. Not only do you see the Board’s proposal as a form of censorship, you believe that complete and nuanced historical narratives –that show the warts and all –are much more effective for teaching students to appreciate U.S. history. Thus, you decide to write a short speech to deliver at the next School Board meeting, arguing for a more “warts and all” approach to teaching about Chapman. In order to convince the School Board that this is necessary, you write a speech that includes many specific details about his life and how he built his business. You provide many examples to show how interesting his life was, discussing how this kind of exciting and well-rounded person is more interesting for students. In addition, to the specific details of this life, your speech addresses some of the broader concerns and issues that his life and business approach raises, including:
·How his aggressive approach represents a more accurate portrayal of the growth of business and industry in the American frontier.
·The history of the idea of “wholesomeness”in relation to apples in the U.S.
·The relationship between Chapman and the genetic science of apple research
·Genetic diversity among apples in the 19thcentury, versus homogeneity in the 20th
·The relationship between apples and alcoholism
·The meaning of meritocracy in the United States and how apples may be connected to it Thus, write a maximum 800 word speech defending the teaching of a more complicated, less “shiny” version of the story of John Chapman in public schools. Be sure to do the following:
·Include many specific details and examples in your speech
·In fact, use “for example,” once or twice in your speech.
