Sarah Colegrove Dr. McGuire POS 103 12/4/2011 Democracy 1. Mrs.

Madeleine Lee is a socialite who lived in New York City with her husband until he passed away. After that time, she traveled around cities in the eastern United States looking for what America is. Mrs. Lee is intelligent and it seems that she is very curious about the power and political workings in the United States. She also seems enjoy using those around her to gain what she desires to gain power. 2. Mr. Ratcliffe is senator from Illinois who holds a lot of power in Washington and is greatly feared. He an older man who seems to carry himself in a distinguished manner. Ratcliffe is intelligent and a good orator. He also seems to very sure of himself and arrogant because he has so much power in Washington. 3. Mrs. Lee is looking for power and has exhausted her search in several other places in the United States. She thinks that in Washington she will be able to see the clash of power much more clearly and on a broader scale than what she has seen in New York. 4. Mrs. Lee is interested in Mr. Ratcliffe because he is a well-known, intelligent politician whom she likes to discuss political issues with. Mr. Ratcliffe is romantically interested in Mrs. Lee particularly because she is much younger than him, intelligent, and wealthy. In a sense they seem to view each other as a type of friendly adversaries they both seem to

be trying to gain power for themselves within Washington. At the same time they seem to view each other as friends (although Ratcliff certainly wants to be more than friends.) 5. The literary purpose of the trip does not at first seem to be entirely clear to me. It is possible that the purpose is to provide a way for Adams to further some of his points about democracy and politics in the United States. Adams seems to use Washington as a way to not only develop the characters in his book but also the way that they view politics. 6. Ratcliffe does not like the new president and intends to deal with him by manipulating those who are around him to Ratcliffes side and cutting off the new president from those who supported him. Ratcliffe holds a great dislike for the new president and intends to deal with him that way so that he can control the president to do what he wants to be done. 7. Henry Adams seems to have a pessimistic view towards the politics in the United States, especially Washington D.C. At many times he seems to be making fun of the way that politics works in Washington and other times he seems to show disgust at how corrupt the place is.