America Dreams - Student: Lawyer

The Library of Congress

	Teachers	Students	Resources

Task	Process	Team Roles	Conclusion

Lawyer	Your passion for controversy and debate will guide your vision of the American Dream. Prepare a written or oral legal brief about the status of the American Dream. Defend your argument with evidence from the collections. (A legal brief includes: title, who vs. whom, statement of facts, argument, conclusion, references. See the Brief Reporter for examples.) Be sure your group has completed the Getting Ready Activities on searching and document analysis.

Group Tasks
Each team member is responsible for a management task.		Team Manager Research Manager Production Manager Archive Manager

Assessment Questions How will your project be assessed? Identify which of these questions you will use to guide your inquiry:		What is the American Dream? How has the American Dream changed over time? How do diverse cultures view the American Dream? How have significant historical events affected the American Dream? How will new opportunities of the 21st century challenge the American Dream? What makes being a lawyer an effective medium for exploring the American Dream?

Action Plan Create an action plan and and determine your timeline for completing the project. Include the following information in your Action Plan:
Timeline and Responsibilities		Choose your team management responsibilities and decide each manager's specific responsibilities. How much time do you have? What deadlines do you need to meet? What materials do you need? How do you plan to manage the materials?
Research Strategies		What is your focus for inquiry? Identify your research topic or theme. What questions will focus your research? List a series of genuine questions you intend to answer by your research. What additional information do you need to answer these questions? How will you know you've found what you are looking for? List the type of resources you intend to look for to answer your research questions. What primary resources from American Memory will you search for? How do you know that the examples you've found are valid? Once you have located a few examples of primary sources, what is your criteria for selecting these as evidence? Use the document analysis worksheet. (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Tips for Searching the Collections There are many ways to search the American Memory collections. The Learning Page is a good place to start. You may find it helpful to read and practice "Finding Items in American Memory" to learn how to narrow your search idea. Learn to work with keywords and work within a specific collection of resources. Here are a few helpful hints to get you started: Search the collections by type and read the search tips chart Use the search tips list Each collection has a unique set of keywords. Find collections that may be helpful by using the "plain English" themes in the Learning Page Pathfinders. Within each collection, browse the indexes of authors, subjects, and titles. Use the Collection Connections section of the Learning Page to find out more about a specific collection or to see a list of collections with related topics.

Resources
General: To search all text collections, use this link: Manuscript and Broadside Collections/Books and Pamphlets Specific Collections that may be of help: Broadsides and Printed Ephemera ~ ca. 1600-2000 Title: An American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera Manuscript Division ~ Selected Highlights Title: Words and Deeds in American History: Selected Documents Celebrating the Manuscript Division's First 100 Years U.S. Congress ~ Documents ~ 1774-1873 Title: A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1873 Woman Suffrage ~ Books and Pamphlets ~ 1848-1921 Title: Votes for Women: Selections from the National American Woman Suffrage Association Collection, 1848-1921

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Last updated 12/19/2002