The reality is often quite different, a great national striving consisting frequently of failure. many of the oft-told stories of the most pluralistic nation on earth are stories not of tolerance, but of bigotry. slavery and sweatshops, the burning of crosses and the ostracism of the other. children learn in social-studies class and in the news of the lynching of blacks, the denial of rights to women, the murders of gay men. it is difficult to know how to convince them that this amounts to "crown thy good with brotherhood," that amid all the failures is something spectacularly successful. which statement best summarizes the central idea of this excerpt? due to the many cultures represented in our nation, our history is spoiled by racist acts. the high number of horrors committed in our diverse nation makes it difficult to believe in a united people. children in american schools are only learning about the negative parts of american history—and none of the positive. among all of the acts of hatred and racism, there is good in our population made of immigrants.

The high number of horrors committed in our diverse nation makes it difficult to believe in a united people.

Explanation:

In this passage, the main idea that the author wants to express is that it is often difficult to believe in the idea of a united people and an American brotherhood when we hear about all the failures that the United States has had because of intolerance. The author cites some of these cases, such as slavery, sweatshops, ostracism of the other, lynching of Black people, denial of rights to women and murders of gay men.

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)