Written Task 2 Introduction

Written in 1922 and 2007 respectively, ‘The Great White Fleet,’ an advertisement by the United Fruit Company Steamship Service, and ‘Squatters take on Developments,’ a business article written by Benjamin Shores for the Miami Herald, present conflicting views on America’s expansion into the Caribbean over the past century. In keeping with the cultural norms of their time, and by playing to the idiosyncrasies of their target audience-affluent members of western society-both articles lay bear the wanton desire of self-indulgence that has come to define the American dream. This argument is made all the more apparent when cross-examining these texts under the lens’ of audience, context and mood.