The population of the United States is extremely diverse, due in large part to the waves of immigration that have shaped and reshaped the demographic landscape

Question

Many Americans worry, however, that immigration threatens our sense of national identity as conveyed by the values we share. In your opinion, does immigration threaten national cohesion? Support your opinion with evidence from the text.

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

An ideal response will:
1, Explain how immigration waves have made the United States one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world, with Americans naming over one hundred separate ethnicities in surveys.
2, Discuss how some Americans fear that immigrants are too different to fit into American life, and that the lack of a common language corrodes the social cohesion that comes from being able to discuss shared political values. Further discuss the critics' response to that position as being empirically thin, as many single-language states experience high levels of conflict while others have minimal conflict.
3, Discuss why the student believes that immigration does or does not threaten national cohesion, drawing upon those arguments and other evidence from the text such as the fact that early immigrants were still able to adopt the American creed, even without a common language.
4, Provide a clear and effective conclusion.