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ACTIvITy 3
Independent Practice
On May 23, 2013, American President Barack Obama made a speech at the National Defense University at Fort McNair. The speech covered topics involving the nation’s efforts to fight terrorism, including the use of drones, and an exchange with an outspoken member of the audience. In the passage below, Obama addresses the issue of the American military prison in Guantanamo Bay (GTMO), Cuba, and his views on how and why it should be shut down.
First Reading: First Impressions
Read the following passage silently. Your focus for this first reading should be on understanding the meaning of the passage. As you read, diffuse the words you may not know by replacing them with synonyms and/or definitions for the underlined words. Use the definitions and synonyms to the right of the paragraphs to help your understanding.
From
speech excerpts
Remarks by the President at the
National Defense University
by Barack Obama
1 For over two centuries, the United States has been bound together by founding documents that defined who we are as Americans, and served as our compass through every type of change. Matters of war and peace are no different. Americans are deeply ambivalent about war, but having fought for our independence, we know that a
price must be paid for freedom. From the Civil War, to our struggle against fascism, and through the long, twilight struggle of the Cold War, battlefields have changed, and technology has evolved. But our commitment to Constitutional principles has weathered every war, and every war has come to an end.
2 With the collapse of the Berlin Wall, a new dawn of democracy took hold abroad, and a decade of peace and prosperity arrived at home. For a moment, it seemed the 21st century would be a tranquil time. Then, on September 11th 2001, we were shaken
ambivalent: having mixed feelings or contradictory opinions about something
fascism: a government ruled by a dictator who controls the lives of the people
Berlin Wall: a barrier
that existed between
East and West Berlin from 1961–1989, erected by the communist government of the Soviet Union
Close Reading Workshop 2 • Close Reading of Argumentative Nonfiction Texts 27
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