America holds a new definition everyday for people around the world. Today America can mean Ebola, but yesterday it meant segregation, and who knows what it could mean tomorrow? John Steinbeck wrote Travels with Charley to provide his personal description of America. To Steinbeck, America houses varying people: the close-minded, the relinquished, the excited, the grounded, and the uneducated. Each defines America based on their experiences. Today America contains a whole new set of people, with different views of America based on past as well as their own experiences. America, the land of opportunity, always develops to differ in meaning, whether it represents freedom, equality, injustice, violence, or discrimination. America holds no uniform
In today’s society, the variation of social, cultural, political, and economic life mirrors our Founding Fathers dreams. Since then, America has learned to adjust and accept every citizen's differences with the help of The Bill of Rights, US Constitution, Northwest Ordinance, and the Declaration of Independence. As these documents represent the development of America then, books like the Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore reflect the variations of social, cultural, political, and economic life today. Over time, the definition of being an American has evolved and molded with society to make what the United States citizens know now.
Life, liberty, freedom, equality, opportunity, and so many other words have been used to describe the United States of America. Every American child grows up with the words “the land of the free” pounded into their heads, and every morning schools declare America as a place of “liberty and justice for all.” Such inflated rhetoric presents America with large shoes to fill. Thus, America’s shortcomings should not be surprising. Langston Hughes and Upton Sinclair were two 20th Century writers, who saw past this idealistic talk and saw the jungle that the United States really was. Langston Hughes wrote in his poem “Let America be America Again”, “Let America be America again. –Let it be the dream it used to be. –Let it be the pioneer on the plain –Seeking a home where himself is free. –(America was never America to me) (1).” He highlights not only the experience of African Americans during the 1930s, but identifies with other oppressed groups including immigrants writing, “I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—And finding only the same old stupid plan –Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.” Likewise, Upton Sinclair conveyed his repulsion to immigrant oppression during the Industrial Revolution in his book The Jungle, emphasizing the gullibility behind trusting the grandiloquence of the American dream.
America is known across the world as a country that endorses freedom and equality. A place where one will not be judged based off of the characteristics that create them. The land of the free and the home of the brave is what we sing as an anthem to invite people to our land .Although this country already struggled with battles between races and ethnicities,these morals are what we're supposed to represented our country, but the opinions and actions of Americans did not come as a surprise.
The different cultures in society have impacted the external outlook of America, but America is still based on achieving maximum liberty and protection of the rights of humans. There is no doubt that America continues to be an ethnically diverse country, as the
Discovering America's reality. In the novel,"Travels with Charley in Search of America", John Steinbeck sets goals for himself to rediscover America. During the trip to find America, Steinbeck chooses to collaborate with the people of America. In Steinbeck's journey he encounters people that were influential toward the trip by helping him understand that their are no real archetypes in America: Robbie's father, The Actor, and The Brave Grey Man.
America is one word that brings the hope of freedom to many people around the world. Since the United States’ humble beginnings freedom has remained at the core of its ideologies and philosophies. People of all races, nations, and tongues have found refuge in America. The National Anthem proclaims, “…land of the free, and home of the brave” (Key, 1814). But has America been consistently a land of the free? Unfortunately freedom has not always reigned. There is a constant struggle to overcome fear and prejudice in order to provide a true land of freedom. In times of heightened tension, the masses of common people seek to find a scapegoat. Often, this scapegoat is a minority
“America is another name for opportunity. Our whole history appears like a last effort of divine providence on behalf of the human race.” This statement made by Ralph Waldo Emmerson signifies many peoples’ views of what it has meant to be an “American” for the past few hundred years. Still, the world continues to evolve around us, and times continue to change. With these changing times, how one defines what it means to be an American has also evolved. It is no secret that today especially, in our country, times are in turmoil and our country is divided. With this division come differences in how we view each other and ourselves as Americans and what things should look like in our country. Aside from our own views, comes the views of the outside world and their ever-changing views of America, and the citizens living in the country. These things combined work together to help answer the question, “what does it mean to be an American?”
Steinbeck initiates this criticism by effectively using touching diction to paradoxical devices as to assert “American’s way of life”
“The American flag represents all of us and all the values we hold sacred” Adrian Cronauer uttered this statement that still abide true considering that America was constructed by the people for the people and continues to be operated in that way. The United States of America advances despite the improbable conception because of patriotism within the citizens and because of the acceptance of unique religions of American citizens.
America is commonly characterized as the greatest country in the world, the glorious “land of the free and the home of the brave”, “indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”. This idealization of the American identity conveniently focuses on what people want to hear and blurs out most everything else. In reality, Americans do not live up to the dreamscape created by our views, and we never really have. America is no longer characterized by its freedom and democracy, nearly every first world country can afford that luxury. Nor are we set apart by the great opportunities given to our people, for those are far from universal. We aren’t equal, we aren’t unified, we aren’t kinder or smarter or richer than any other country across the board. It’s easy to find the shortcomings of American culture, all the things we aren’t, but the things we are have proven to be more elusive. First, let’s examine the nots.
Since March 2014, in excess of 3,000 individuals have passed from the unstoppable spread of the Ebola infection all through the West African nations of Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria. Notwithstanding the colossal and miserable loss of human life, the Ebola broad sickness is having shocking and ruinous consequences for these West African economies in a mixed bag of greatly imperative parts/territories by ending exchange, harming cultivating and startling speculators.
Americans have not only defined themselves by their religious, ethnic and racial identity, but also by their individual freedom and common values. America has become a nation where its people can fight for what they believe in. Our founding fathers have formed America to be “the land of the free and the home of the brave”. Being apart of the American culture and living on the land founded by our leaders specifies the meaning of the American Identity.
What does it mean to be an American? America is the land of opportunity, with a free society that affords all people unlimited opportunity to compete for success. And in this competition there will be winners and losers, often determined by the choices we make, including the choice of our attitude. In Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, the primary character, Holden Caulfield embodies the dark side of the American dream, by choosing the negative sentiments of judgement, isolation and fear.
America is known as the land of the free and home of the brave. When thinking of this you think about all the opportunities presented to people and all the freedom. An idea of America is that we’re a meritocracy, which means anyone can be able to to become anything they want as long as they work hard playing by the rules. Along with that many people believe that diversity will bring together the country and unite us all but that’s not the case. America is not a meritocracy.
Jack Ohman's, direct cartoon 'Ebola' was published in 2004 and raises the issue of America's ignorance to the health and their 'fear' of Ebola being introduced into America yet citizens are still oblivious to deaths and diseases caused by fast food, soft drinks, alcohol and tobacco. It is said that 65% of the world's population will die from chronic disease compared to 1700 people that died from Ebola with only 2 of those deaths being in America. American citizens need to look at how established these products are in their everyday life . The American government needs to introduce more awareness and less deadly products to its citizens, the message and tone expresses that the American government needs to stop enforcing the mass production and encouragement such as advertisement and acceptance for citizens to buy these lethal products. The author is