What Are The Similarities Between A Letter Home And Waiting For Dan

In a letter called "A Letter home" one of the students, Kara, that attended Kent State University is demoralized after hearing the U.S. has invaded Cambodia. Many of the college students decide to fight back, protesting against the Ohio National Guard. After protesters got too out of hand, 4 students are killed and 9 are left dead. In "Waiting for Dan" the author and her family learns that their dad has been taken to a prison in Mississippi after taking place in the Freedom Rides. The family is left grief-stricken, and wait for their father to return home. These short passages have many things in common, but are also very different.
One main similarity between "A Letter Home" and "Waiting for Dan" is that both protest erupted in violence.

For example in "A Letter Home" the protesters were angry that the U.S. army invaded Cambodia. In the letter it states "even before a shot was fired yesterday, the feeling on campus was anything but normal. Many students were outraged when they heard that U.S. soldiers had invaded Cambodia on April 30. A day or two after that, some young people burned the ROTC building on campus and set some bonfires downtown. I heard that police cars were hit with bottles and store windows were broken"(2). This shows that many protesters were brutal because of their anger towards the soldiers, and they were trying to teach them a lesson. In "Waiting for Dan”, many colored people and people like Dan rode the buses as protest to the unequal treatment of African Americans. In the excerpt it states "before he left, he justified his decision by saying the Freedom Ride would bring the race issue to the forefront of American politics"(7). Dans courage shows that he was willing to stand up for his rights, no matter the

In "A Letter home" Kara's experience takes place in 1970. The backstory at the top of the page, states "In 1970, the United States was involved in the Vietnam War. Many Americans opposed the war and wanted it to end. Protests took place in many cities and on college campuses." (Introduction). The backstory shows the reader the time period this protest took place, which was the World War II era. In "Waiting for Dan" the events take place during the Civil Rights era. You can tell it takes place then because in the text it states, "In the early sixties, the Southern states practiced what they called the “separate but equal” treatment of African Americans"(5). The Civil Rights Era took place in the 1960's and ended in the