America By Tony Hoagland Summary

In Michael Pollan’s essay, “The American Paradox”, Pollan argues that American’s hold falsified ideas if one is more focused on nutrition. Americans have too much going on in their head with trying to be healthy, that they do not actually become healthy. The notion that “a notably unhealthy population preoccupied with nutrition and the idea of eating healthy” (Pollan 268) is what Pollan defines as the “American paradox”. The amount of time spent focusing on healthy eating habits decreases the joy one contains. Pollan identifies many issues that contribute to what is wrong with the way Americans think about eating today. For instance, we spend too much time and money trying to be healthy, we have strayed away from the past as new inventions occurred and last being we listen to “flawed science”. Despite the fact that many may say they see positive results from focusing on nutrition and health, Americans actually receive negative outcomes from nutrition and health.

From “The Other America,” in Major Problems by Michael Harrington is a document that tells of the poverty present in America that is often skillfully and unintentionally concealed and also speaks of Lyndon Johnson’s war on poverty and briefly of how poverty rose during the Reagan administration. After Johnson’s declaration of war on poverty, there was significant change regarding the climate of the social, economic, and political in the America of those times. And while Johnson’s countless social programs helped decrease poverty immensely, it also left a huge number drowning in it still. Later Reagan’s administration would cite George Gilder on the fact that welfare did not reduce poverty but increase it to explain why the levels of poverty rose during the first few months of Reagan’s administration. Democrats and liberals would argue against this and say that poverty

At the end of Prohibition President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared, "What America needs now is a drink". 13 years before Roosevelt said that, on December 16, 1920, the United States went dry causing all breweries, distilleries, and saloons to shut down. This also prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol nationwide which is stated in the 18th amendment. This tried to decrease violence, increase efficiency in the workplace, and overall just make America better. In Prohibition 13 Years that Changed America by Edward Behr, Prohibition is a crucial event that takes place which causes a disruption in American society which makes illegal activities more normalized such as George Remus’s Bootlegging business causing him to find

“[A] recent author and public figure…[Colin Powell, wrote a] book, My American Journey, [that] helped me harmonize my understanding of America’s history and my aspiration to serve her in uniform…Powell gave me another way to think about the American dilemma and, more than that, another way to think about my own life” (Moore 131-2). Author Wes Moore wrote the book The Other Wes Moore, both an autobiography and a biography about a man who shares his name and has a similar backstory, to demonstrate how people’s destinies are primarily influenced by the environment into which they are born. Examining stories including and similar to those of both Wes Moores, as well as reflecting on one’s own personal experience, can provide insight into

What every American should know by Eric Liu thoroughly examines the issue of cultural literacy and its place in modern America. It takes on a convincing argument against E.D. Hirsch’s book on the same which included some 5000 things that he thought define cultural literacy and every American should know. Liu argues that America has changed over time, becoming more multicultural, and to capture the cultural literacy of the country, no one person should sit down and come up with what they think everyone else should know. Instead he suggests that in order to capture the view of the nation, every American should be involved in the making of the list. The most engaging part of this article is Liu’s idea that this new list that is crowd-sourced should always change according to the times. It should not be cast in stone because things in this day and age change really fast; what is a hit this month will be old news in the next one. This is what cultural literacy really is; keeping up with what is going on around you and being open to learn new things as they emerge. This can also be said of education; in order to stay educated in any field, you have to be in the know of in terms of new developments.

Have you ever referred to someone as “high class,” “middle class,” or “low class?” The article “Class In America” is a very educated read and describes the way people are characterized by their “class.” I think that this article informs all types of readers and allows people to see how people are grouped based on themselves. “Class in America” is written to show and prove to society that people do not talk about “class” anymore, because of the way the world looks at it today. Gregory Mantosis is the author of the article, and he uses many facts and data to prove his points.

The idea of an equal America exists no more. Regardless of the fact that there is a plethora of varying perspectives dividing the country into two, there are words and phrases that are generally accepted in viewing our country from the rest of the world. First, the American Dream is regularly associated with equal opportunity, prosperity, and liberty. Walt Whitman, as well as many others, have written about this desired America for the socially accepted American. He is often referred to as “America’s Poet,” who amplifies the elegant qualities of America that we believe to be true. It is obvious that Whitman portrays America as an alive and colorful place full of chance and flourishment throughout his work. “I Hear America Singing” is a prime example of an America that is only seen from the surface, where Whitman clearly indicates that the United States is a country where all its citizens are able to achieve equality and liberty. Contradictory, Sharon Olds poem, “On the Subway,” proves the lack of individual liberty, which deteriorates the growth of the country, ultimately opposing the America, where personal freedom is the foundation. Olds’ poem pokes holes in the surface that shows the controversial interior that truly makes up America that Whitman painted beforehand. Olds and Whitman also illustrate varying insight regarding personal liberty and its importance in two opposing poems; one who proclaims it as easily attainable and necessary to the country and the other who

"Battleground America," written by Jill Lepore, provides a strong history of guns and the way they have changed in the eyes of the American through the years. She proves her point with strong evidence throughout her article, sprinkling it with opinion and argument that is strongly supported. She presents her argument to convince her audience that the open availability of guns allows citizens to undeservingly purchase them by displaying the credibility in her sources, using negative connotations in her speech, and the strength and objectivity only a strong logos appeal can provide.

In this poem, America by Tony Hoagland, tells about the way people in America live. Also comparing America to a prison. And tells us the lifestyle we live in America. Which is more important for society to have money in your pocket is more important than anything else. One of the real society is consumerism. Furthermore, try to express that consumerism and big business are robbing Americans. Another thing is that you are a materialist qualify and now a day for what you have. Not by human quality and that affects society. It comments on the value system that puts money ahead of everything and yet does not bring happiness. The poem allows to see the unnecessary amount of consuming in America.

Poetry has a way of having a significant impact on the way society thinks about and conceptualizes certain issues. In fact, a major part of the culture of a society comes from the poetry at the time and this has been true dating as far back as the work of William Shakespeare. Today, on the other hand, society has developed and advanced significantly and American society in particular. Whereas cultures and societies were traditionally grouped together, the United States has been different in that it has been one of the greatest cultural and societal melting pots in the history of the world. Consistent with Caucasians, African Americans, Latin Americans, men, women, and a variety of other diverse demographics all in between, the United States also faces societal issues that are much different than those which may take place in as a result of such a diverse population base. Among the most significant issue that takes place in this regard is the significant amount of inequality. Inequality has been the focus of many contemporary poems and is one of the leading topics of focus in modern poetry analysis.

The book “The Other America”, written by Michael Harrington, describes poverty in America in the 1950s and 1960s, when America became one of the most affluent and advanced nations in the world. The book was written in 1962, and Harrington states that there were about 50,000,000 (about 25% of the total population) poor in America at that time. The author did extensive research with respect to the family income levels to derive the poverty numbers, and used his own observations and experiences to write this book. This book addresses the reasons for poverty, the nature of poverty, the culture of poverty, the blindness of Middle Class America with respect to poverty, and the responsibility of all Americans in addressing the issue of poverty in America.

In, “The Caging of America”, by Adam Gopnik explains the problems in the in the American criminal justice system focusing more on the prison system. Some of the struggles that Gopnik states in his article are mass incarceration, crime rate, and judges giving long inappropriate sentencings to those with minor crimes. He demonstrates that inmates are getting treated poorly than helping them learn from their actions. Using facts and statistics, Gopnik makes his audience realize that there is an urgent need of change in the American prison system. The main idea of Gopnik’s article is that the prison system needs to improve its sentencing laws because prisons are getting over crowed. Gopnik’s argument is valid because there is a problem in the sentencing laws that has caused a malfunction in the prison system as a whole.

Written in the first half of the 20th century, “Let America Be America” is a poem that documents and responds to the oppressed state of the United States, in both the past and present. The poem is a plea for a return to the original principles of freedom that our country has seemingly forgotten. Additionally, the speaker sees America as the broken home to oppressed people who have lost sight of the ultimate goal of freedom and happiness. Although America is often perceived as the “land of the free,” Langston Hughes’s poem contradicts this ideology by not only painting a vivid picture of oppression in America but also by providing a desperate hope for the future.

The American Dream has existed since the 16th century. For some, it was a matter of promoting that America was a land of plenty, for others, a land of opportunity and for a third group, land of destiny. However, it was not until 1931, when James Truslow Adams wrote the book "The Epic of America," that the concept was established. It ended by defining itself as equal opportunities and the freedom that allows all citizens to achieve their goals in life only with effort and determination. Today, more than eight decades later, it is still spoken of an American Dream, but not all the inhabitants of the United States refer to it as the same thing. Different groups, different types of life, different obstacles. Immigrants from all over the world

Through the various primary sources, a theme of hypocrisy is introduced, revealing the constant contradiction of freedom in America during the 19th century. This theme is exemplified in “America”, a poem written by James Whitfield. The poem begins with the lines, “America, it is to thee, / Thou boasted land of liberty, - / It is to thee I raise my song, / Thou land of blood, and crime, and wrong” (Whitfield “America” 1- 4). Within the first four lines of the poem, Whitfield introduces the notion that America, albeit boasting of freedom, is truly a land of wrongdoing. This idea is further enhanced later in the poem, as it is mentioned, “Oh no; they fought, as they believed, / For the inherent rights of man; / But mark, how they have been deceived / By slavery’s accursed plan” (Whitfield “America” 37 -