There is no one true answer to the question, “What does it mean to be an American?” If one would take the time to ask, like you did with this prompt, one would recieve a variation of responses that differ based on individual experiences, beliefs, ideas, and knowledge. When I am asked to respond to such question, my answer recognizes the characteristics that go a long with American family dynamics, educational opportunities, cultural diversity, and technology advnacements. Family is a great deal of what being an American means to me. The family dynamics in America contrasts greatly with our western neighbors in the individuality and the family model. In America decision-making and independence are encouraged for the most part, while in other countries, children are taught that they must remain loyal to the families and tribes. Once I turned 18 years of age, I was responsible for my own medical and legal decisions. The typical family model in America includes the parents and the child, while in other family models across the world, the grandparents, aunts, and uncles are also included. In family models that include the extended families in other countries, it is not considered out of the normal for the grandparents to live under the same roof as the grandchildren. The point of it all is that in America, privacy is given both in space and in decisions. It would be impossible for me to talk about being American without expressing America as the land of opportunity. I could not
What does it mean to be an American? In my eyes to be an American means to have privileges, rights, and freedom. America isn't perfect, but it is one of the only countries that have rights given to people of different diversities and gender. America does not have tremendous poverty. Instead we have choices given to us by the people who fought and died for the American people. Without George Washington and the other patriots who planted the first seed in the ground and help plant the American nation we live in now who knows what America would be like now.
What does it mean to be an American? This question has often been purposed throughout American Literature. This answer depends on one singular important factor, time. Timing is everything, it determines what is happening in the present, what has occurred in the past, and it gives us a glimpse of the possibilities yet to come. Benjamin Franklin and John Winthrop, both knew a very different America, because of this they both have a very different sense American identity and a sense of community that was present in America during those time periods. Winthrop lived in early America when the country was just starting to take shape with the first colonies being
What it means to be American? Everybody you ask this question to will have a completely different response. Some responses might have similarities but none will be exactly the same. In the beginning of the year my response was “To be an American means having a rich history, having opportunities to better ourselves, and having freedoms.” Unfortunately not everyone has had the same opportunities or freedoms. Native Americans, who are indigenous, dealt with having their freedoms taken away, less opportunities even though they had rich history in this land before it was taken away from them. Look at what Zitkala-Sa endured. Not only that, but African Americans have fought long and hard for freedom and equality as well. W.E.B. Du Bois stood for
Families acquired a new form and with it a myth of the American family was created. The myth of the American family is one where “father knows best, mothers are never bored or irritated, and teenagers rush to the dinner table each night, eager to
There are many different family dynamics in today’s society. But what really makes a family? Every definition found has defined family, in simple terms, as “A father and a mother raising their children together.” However, not every family is like that. Most families are not like that at all. Different aspects come into play in families such as divorce, death, and abandonment that can redefine the family structure, either for the better or for the worse. A family does not have to consist of the traditional sense of the nuclear family, but rather a family can consist of friends, step-siblings, step-parents, half siblings, or family members outside the immediate circle of parents and brothers and sisters. Anyone who can come together is a family;
Being an American means to have opportunities that are available to us that others don’t get in other parts of the world. The United States of America is a country that is based on being a free country for citizens to have more freedom than anywhere else. It is one of the only countries that give rights to people of different diversities and genders. To be an American means to have opportunities, rights, and freedom.
The families in America are steadily changing. While they remain our most valued and consistent source of strength and comfort, some families are becoming increasingly unstructured. In the past, the typical family consists of a working father, a stay at home mother and, of course, well-rounded children. Today, less than 20 percent of American families fit nicely into this cookie cutter image. American households have never been more diverse. Natalie Angier takes stock of the changing definition of family in an article for the New York Times.
When considering what an American is, one must first question what makes America the unique nation it is. Is it the feeling of home? Maybe it is the idea of inclusion? Is it the nationwide determination? Could it possibly be the fact that anything is possible in America? Stay tuned to find out the answers to all those questions and more. I believe that it is worth analysis to find out.
American households have never been so diverse. As a result of these changes, there is no longer one dominant family form in the U.S. Parents today are raising their children against a situation of increasingly diverse and, for most, constantly evolving family values. The idea of the modern family has evolved over the years because of the financial crisis which has caused both parents to look for work, parents are no longer staying together, and same-sex couples are presently able to start a family of their own.
Family comes from the latin word familia meaning household. According to Drench, the family system is comprised of a group of individuals who work together to adapt to outside influences (p. 198). Individuals relate to each other in predefined ways (Drench, pg 198). Power and decision-making responsibilities are understood among other groups (Drench, p 198). Webster dictionary defines “family” as a group of individuals living under one roof and under one head. Hence, the “nuclear family” of the 1950s and 1960s consisted of a mother and father and one or more children. Grandparents often lived nearby and were available to assist with childcare and other family responsibilities (Drench, p 198). So that being said, a family to me consists of a father, mother, children and other relatives. We receive our identity and value from family. We don’t get to choose the family we want to belong rather our families are chosen for us by God to keep us together.
What does it mean to be an American? This question can have different kinds of answers. However, when many people ponder about America, they associate it with a place where citizens have tons of freedom and equality. But sometimes, Americans do not get these freedoms and equality right off the bat as other people in other countries expect. Being an American can come with a lot of perks, such as the freedom to speak your thoughts, freedom to express yourself and several more; However, to obtain these perks, freedoms, and rights, the people must be able to fight and defend their rights. Therefore, along the many reasons of being an American, to be an American means to fight for and defend their rights. Through the study of literature and history, the reader will learn that in certain circumstances, people will realize that they will have to fight and defend their rights against those who tries to take it away.
As time had progressed the definition of a family has changed drastically. What one would have considered a family in early centuries has truthfully changed from what one would consider a family in today’s society. During earlier centuries a family consisted of a father, mother and their children; however that is no longer the case for most families in American society today. In American society families are defined in many different facets such as the traditional family, blended families, single parent homes and homosexual families. Regardless of the components of the family, one must understand that a family is a unit in which there is an adult providing the basic needs and wants of the children in which they have been entrusted. As time progresses America will continue to define and enhance the definition of the term family. Although society may continue to change and enhance the definition of society the traditional family structure that America was known for is slowly fading away as the concept of blended, single parent and homosexual families become the new norm for lives of many Americans.
Today, family still remains alive and well. Although many forces have attempted to change the American family, it has managed to prevail and preserve the basic values and principles it was first found upon. What Americans need to realize is that what works for a family in one economic and cultural setting doesn’t work for a family in another. This study is relevant because most people don’t understand that families are just doing what they have to do to survive the new ways of society.
When speaking of family and what makes one, we can look at the conceptual lifestyle of the American family. The American family is both mother and father in the same household with typically one son and one daughter. However what makes a family does not have to be consider of how many people live in the household or even if they live together at all. Family can be made off of a bond or just being there for one another within tough times. For example all families go through ups & downs, laughs & cries and especially commitment and compromising. Most importantly family is built off of support, love and care. The key “norms” that I was able to review with others and their experiences with connections of what makes a family, is based off of love!
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a family is "a group of two or more people who reside together and who are related by birth, marriage, or adoption" (U.S. Census Bureau). How would we fit what today’s society calls a “family” in this definition? Families no longer live together. Some live in different houses, different cities, and even different states. Children go long periods of time without seeing either mommy or daddy, sometimes both. We have become so adapt to a single-parent household it is what has become “normal.” Family structure has changed quite abundantly, this definition does not fit for every “family”.