Mount Rushmore National Memorial is host to just over two million visitors a year from across the
country and around the world. They come to marvel at the majestic beauty of the Black Hills of South
Dakota and to learn about the birth, growth, development and the preservation of our country. Over the
decades, Mount Rushmore has grown in fame as a symbol of America-a symbol of freedom and hope
for people from all cultures and backgrounds. America's Shrine of Democracy, Mount Rushmore
National Memorial features the 60-foot faces of four great American presidents—George Washington,
Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, respectively. These four U.S. Presidents
represent the birth, growth, development and preservation of this country.
For your writing portion for this unit, you will use the information from your Renaissance Scavenger
Hunt to formulate your own “Mount Rushmore” arguing which FOUR people YOU FEEL represented
the “birth, growth, development and continuance” of the Renaissance ideas! Be sure to include in each
of your FOUR paragraphs:
1. Intro sentence (topic sentence) identifying who you are selecting/writing.
2. Must identify AND explain ONE art piece, book/story, new technology, idea, discovery
etc. this your person contributed during the Renaissance.
3. Make the connection to how this person and their contributions impacted the world or
society DURING THIS TIME OR EVEN TODAY!
4. Why does this person belong on your Mount Rushmore?
We are framing our writing using a creative prompt and we hope this increases the chance you find the
writing process to be easier than if we did a basic, cliche writing prompt!
