We the people

7 responses so far ↓

• 1    Lauren DeDecker // Sep 30, 2007 at 11:04 am

  Its funny that this was on here because I was about to post this link to the same thing (http://news.aol.com/story/ar/_a/new-test-asks-what-american-means/20070929113709990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001). I took it and missed two but I would have done worse if I hadnt been in government. I think its pretty fair, and a good idea, but the American ideology would be more important to have on the test than really difficult specific questions.

• 2    TYLER WALSH // Oct 1, 2007 at 9:55 pm

  I just took the quiz and I missed one but it really makes you think about how much people would have to study for this. I’m not really sure how i knew some of those things.. I just knew them. I guess being socialized in America helps with that and a new citizen should know some things but I agree with Lauren that just the ideology and not the number of Reps in the House is important. I think knowing that the 13 stripes stands for something is important, and all major holidays and what our country was founded on but some of those questions were just hard. Either way, making it harder to be a citizen is probably a good idea because the world’s population is growing and the more people want in and not out, the harder it will be on America, especially tax payers. Which is a whole other blog : ). Really interesting though.

• 3    Travis Barron // Oct 2, 2007 at 9:36 am

  So, I only made it through half of the article before it asked me to get a membership to see it. I looked at the excerpt of the quiz and found it to be moderately easy. But as for the overall fairness of the test, I am unsure. It would be fair if those quized on this were given opportunities to study beforehand, but I honestly feel that there is a large percentage of natural citizens in the United States who don’t even know the answers to this quiz. I agree with Lauren, that it more questions based on American ideology instead of difficult questions about the structure of the government. I found the questions, “Name three rights that only the US government offers,” and “Name two ammendments that specify the right to vote,” to be good examples of important questions.

• 4    Morgan Ashpitz // Oct 3, 2007 at 5:56 pm

  Looking through and having trouble with some of the questions really made me think of the knowledge people have to have to become a citizen in the United States. There are probably a large amount of people who were born and grew up in the United States that could not answer half of these questions. I think the questions should be more on the line of the knowledge that every common American could answer. The questions on American’s rights are pretty important to know, but I don’t think that knowing what ocean is off the west coast of the United States makes you a true American. I believe that there are a number of Americans who would have to study for days to pass this test, and yet they don’t have to simply because they were born here. In the end, I don’t believe that this test is entirely fair to those applying for citizenship.

• 5    Claire Lewis // Oct 4, 2007 at 10:46 pm

  I am glad they changed the test for new citizens. I found that the new test has questions based more recent American history, and therefore would be very beneficial to know. The questions are also based on how our government system is run. Without this knowledge it would be very difficult for a new citizen to excel. I took the quiz and didn’t know two of them. However, the test seems easy to study for and would be fairly easy to pass if you were from another country.

• 6    Lee // Oct 11, 2007 at 11:32 pm

  In the article, it said that the new citizenship test does not include questions about who said “Give me liberty, or give me death” and who wrote the star spangled banner. I was surprised that those facts were included in the original test. I do not think that it is important to know who wrote the star spangled banner, and I am glad that these useless facts were taken out of the test. For someone to become a citizen, I think it is important to understand the basics of the American government and how it operates. While the new test is still difficult, it seems to be moving toward more beneficial topics which I think is better.

• 7    Patrick, Micheal, Robert, Tiffany, Madeline // Nov 1, 2007 at 2:56 am

  Patrick, Micheal, Robert, Tiffany, Madeline Per 7

  The following video was on Barack’s plans in 08, and was released in January of this year.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5h95s0OuEg
  We thought it was good how Barack appeared confident and spoke well. It was interesting to note that he claimed to offer a different way for politics, and also that he would appeal a lot on the grassroots level.

  In this following article, Barack vows to make a stand against hilary. Earlier, he had questioned some of her statements, but was hesitant in being too forceful. The article was written just before the Democratic debate that took place on October 30th.
  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/28/us/politics/28obama.html?_r=2&pagewanted=2&hp&oref=slogin
  Comments:
  Robert – Down with Hillary! At least someone is attacking her…
  Madeline – This article provided a lot of information on the differnences between the Democratic candidates, and showed how they clashed
  Tiffany – This article showed an aggressive side of Obama, along with the debate, which probably leads to some viewing him as a strong debater.
  Patrick – In yesterday’s Democratic debate, Barack and John Edwards particularly questioned Hillary Clinton’s honesty. It was entertaining, and seemed as if Barack stuck with his claim. Still, it didn’t seem to harm Hillary much, as she appeared composed throughout the debate.
  Micheal – I don’t know if it’s such a good idea to have inner party disputes, and it probably won’t reflect well for whoever is running for the presidency in the future.

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