Question

Listen to this interview in which Marianna Cost, a retired woman living in New Jersey, explains how she was raised. Then, in the space provided, explain how her upbringing illustrates American values. Introduce the subject. Identify two values. Conclude by explaining the role of those values in American life. The response should be between 75 and 150 words.

Transcript from an interview an interview with retired textile union official, Marianna Costa, at her home in Haledon, New Jersey. Source: Library of Congress, Working in Paterson Project Collection. Regarding Sunday work activities: "The work week was six days a week for most people. My mother worked six days a week. So that if you worked ten hours a day and six days a week it only left you Sunday. All right, so on Sunday she had to do her wash, dress me up and send me to church and prepare for the following week. And that was the day we had our best meal because it was a cooked meal, or it would be meat, or it would be homemade macaroni with gravies and different things because that was the day that we had the best. It was like, not a celebration but a nice day. It had, you know, the smell of cooking and everything. The wash was usually done on Saturday night; hung out during the day. And during the week you'd iron as you went along." Regarding types of visiting: "The main thing was you didn't miss a sick person to visit, to make a sick call. You didn't miss a condolence call. A visit to the hospital, which was very rare. Very few people went to the hospital in those days. All the wakes. The custom was, in our culture, you stayed up with the deceased maybe two nights in a row. And somebody stayed up to watch over them. My mother volunteered for that because she didn't need much sleep."

Answer 1

In this interview, Marianna Cost, a retired woman living in New Jersey explains how she was raised. Her upbringing illustrates traditional American values of independence and hard work, the importance and value of community and family, respect for fallen one, compassion, and volunteerism.

She begins by explaining the average work week of ten hours a day for six days a week and following up the hard work outside the home with housework on Sunday. This explanation details the independence, hard work, care of property, and determination shown by Americans. She then discusses the importance of community and caring for one another by checking on the sick, sending your condolences, and sitting down together for family meal time. Cost then asserts the importance of volunteerism and compassion for the deceased.

These ideals are all often important to American citizens and helped to lay the foundation of a successful society.