AP Language Essay 4: Abbey and Patriotism

Your fourth AP Language essay is available for download here.

American author Edward Abbey wrote the following personal critique of patriotism in his book  Confessions of a Barbarian:

“My loyalties will not be bound by national borders, or confined in time by one nation’s history, or limited in the spiritual dimension by one language and culture. I pledge my allegiance to the damned human race, and my everlasting love to the green hills of Earth, and my intimations of glory to the singing stars, to the very end of space and time.”

In a well-developed essay, defend, refute, or qualify Abbey’s argument that we should rethink our loyalty to a particular nation and refocus it on broader love to humanity, nature, and/or something else.