Cultural Myths In Rereading America

Over the past few weeks of class, we have covered the first five chapters of our textbook, written by George Brown Tindell and David Emory Shi called, “America, A Narrative History.” Each chapter told the reader a narration of the history of America, as opposed to an expository version of America’s history. Each chapter had its own main idea over a portion of history, along with many details that cover the importance of the main idea. As a reader, one may obtain a deeper appreciation for the country 's history, prior to entering the class on the first day. The most important aspect of history, besides the battles that are fought, is the different cultures that make up today’s modern America.

Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle in their book “Rereading America” feel that commencing college is a very disturbing experience. So many things we have to deal while starting college, but the major challenges are expanded difficulty levels and higher expectation which we are not familiar over the years of high school. In order to solve this issue, we have to remodel ourselves by taking up the challenge and rethink about our strength and flaws. To succeed in college we need to be mentally strong and dedicated towards our goal.

Shelters may be the final safety net, but that net scrapes perilously close to the ground. To be in a shelter is to be homeless, and the more shelters we build, the more resources we divert from the only real solution to homelessness: permanent housing.

American Lore is just like any other lore it has myths, legends, and fairy tales, but American lore shows the history of America and how we live today, with a twist to the story. With Legends, myths, and fairy tales it expresses the way americans think and how creative we can be to come up with these stories from things that could actually happen. Legends are based on historical facts Myths are based on religion and gods and goddesses. Fairy Tales are made believe not real, includes special creatures. Tall tales and legends are more based in American lore and is heavily based on history and the many traditional stories that are spread from generation to generation. American lore is based on, “power social status and prestige, control or dominance over people and resources. Achievement which is a personal success through demonstrating competence according to social standards . Hedonism pleasure or sensuous

The “Narratives of the Life of Frederick Douglass” is the story of Frederick Douglass’ life from the time he was born into slavery, to the time he escaped to freedom in the north. When Douglass wrote this book, slavery was still legal in a large portion of the United States. After Douglass’ escape to freedom and his continuation of his education, he became an abolitionist through his works of literature and speeches. In “The Blessings of Slavery”, by George Fitzhugh he states that southern slaves for the most part are the freest and happiest people in the world. He also goes on to say a number of other things that basically establish that slaves live an easy and good life compared to others. Frederick Douglass’ pure story telling in the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” directly goes against any argument for slavery from Fitzhugh, by revealing the harshness of the institution of slavery and the individuals behind it. In each piece of literature both authors also unknowingly touch on topics of early American history such as free labor ideology and paternalism therefore deepening our knowledge of popular understandings during this time period. Douglass refutes Fitzhugh’s pro-slavery argument of the average slave living an ideal life, by disproving early ideas of the free labor system and paternalism through real life encounters of the physical oppression slaves faced on the day to day basis in the forms of inhumane

The United States is shaped by its cultural myths. Cultural myths are widespread views or notions that are held and propagated by a nation to enforce its values. Among the great American cultural myths is the cultural myth of “educational empowerment” (Mann 110). It is the idea that the quantity of schooling is the yardstick of intelligence and the singular predictor of success. The notion that children fed into the machinery of education at an early age will be extruded further along the process equally and efficiently educated. However, like all cultural myths it is misleading, if not outright false. Problems in education throughout American history have made access to a good education difficult, if not

The theme for American History is to not lose hope over life’s disappointments and to instead concentrate on the positive. The quote, “You are forgetting who you are, nina. I have seen you staring down at the boy’s house. You are heading for humiliation and pain,” plays a big role in the story. When Elena is about to step out the door to go to Eugene’s house (who is white), her mom warns her and says that she’ll be humiliated. But Elena wants to take the chance and would rather think about the positive outcome instead of the negative. Elena is seemed as an optimistic person. Even though Elena may have known that her mother was right, she still went for the opportunity and hoped for the best. This is an excellent example of not losing hope and

By 1600, England’s feudal system was nearing extinction, as a new family (Tudor’s) came to power and wanted support from the middleclass and the establishment of new liberties for Englishman (i.e. trial by jury and no arrest without a warrant), which resulted in a large amount of local and self initiative to prosper in the community: yet many beggars now existed, culminating in an increased need for colonial expansion both for personal prosperity and more space for the existing population.

Becoming America The American culture, a unique culture. What defines “American.” Americans are defined by events in the 1800’s.

The Closing of the American Mind, as the title says, is Alan Bloom 's attempt to both expose and dissect the flaws found within our nation’s higher education system, claiming that it has failed not only democracy as a whole, but has also been detrimental to the students therein. In support his claims, Bloom brings to the foreground the “new” set of beliefs that have been uncritically accepted on college campuses nationwide. These beliefs contain the open principles of relativism and multiculturalism, both of which Bloom goes on to explain have no place nor value in the real world. This opening to principles of tolerance and acceptance, Bloom argues, have resulted in a closing of the American mind, discouraging students to discuss and promote their own ideas—specifically, those that do not conform to conventional ideals. At the university level, where multiculturalism has been promoted and allowed to thrive, Bloom finds that education has been undermined, in the worst possible way (without rationality).

The core of the book is the fallacies of American culture and human nature. The book exposes how people in the industrial age were just as cruel and grimy as the machines they worked with. They had fowl mouths and terrible drinking habits. The men were always the one to support the family, but in reality, wastefully spent their money and time. The women were similar to men in that they had terrible drinking habits and never truly supported their families. Women who weren’t heathens were prone to men that were and eventually became the alcoholic wives and moms to cope with their “piece of shit” husbands. What made it even worse is that no one ever seemed to attempt correction. They all happily lived in the slums of lives without a thought of

We welcome you to join us in taking part in reading the Common Book, and participating in our schedule of events this semester in order to contemplate the influences of America's culture on many of her southern brothers and sisters, and the rich heritage that they lie weave into the American

The question of whether the impact of European contact had on indigenous populations should be addressed as historical or moral is an ineffably difficult one to answer. On one hand, a moral point of view could add more emotional and thoughtful aspects into history. However, on the other, a historical perspective would help give the audience an objective point of view and an understanding of past events without the main point being an ethical issue. Thus, the impact European contact had on indigenous populations in North America should be directed as a historical question, as it showcases every detail and account of history from a neutral perspective that allows questions about the morality or immorality of past actions to be answered by the

Mid-America Christian University has become my home in the four short months I have been here. It was a scary and tough decision for me to attend MACU but I wouldn’t want it any other way. Critical thought and popular culture was a required course to take and to be honest, I thought it was going to be a super boring class. But, it taught me a lot about myself and made me examine my calling in life a little deeper than before. In turn, I thoroughly enjoyed this course.

American culture refers to the traditions and practices of the people of the United States. Culture comprises of the nature of buildings, religion, music language and marriage. The population of the United States is more than 320 million people making it the most culturally diverse country in the globe. Books such as Crabgrass Frontier, Manifest Destination and Muscular Christianity are important sources of information about American culture. This paper is a reflection on the methods that these books use in providing information about the evolution of the US culture. The paper examines the relationship between these three sources and ways they challenge or inform an understanding of the American society during the late 19th and early 20th century. There is an analysis of the efficiency of the issues tackled by these books in influencing the contemporary discourse surrounding American culture. The major argument of this paper is that Crabgrass Frontier, Manifest Destination and Muscular Christianity provide reliable information about the evolution of the US culture and they supplement each other through the use of relevant examples.