M J Fry Average American Analysis

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.

The American people strive to make themselves the best version of a model citizen they can be. Each person in America has an abundance of patriotism that keeps them from slacking from the progress they have made in becoming honest, diligent, innovative people. All Americans work toward those characteristics because they are what makes a person an ideal American citizen. Honesty is one of the key qualities to being a good citizen. When a person is honest they are easy to trust and can be counted on in times of need. An honest person is desired in every community because they are simply good people. An American should also be diligent. In today’s society without trying hard to accomplish what a person desires to do, it is nearly impossible.

However, there were the Antis said “Here take a dose of this (Anti-Expansion Policy Medicine) anti-fat and get slim again!” The person who drew this political cartoon used hyperbole which is seen with the size of Uncle Sam and him getting bigger, representing America. This is a parody that is mocking pro-imperialism like Saturday Night Live did with mocking the recent election. It is also showing/addressing the two sides of imperialism. Horatian satire was also used because in a light funny way, the artist was criticizing America, making it seem powerful but very foolish at the same time.

Steinbeck addresses a possible result from the consequences of Americans never being satisfy and in that, he concludes that “we seem to be in a state of turmoil all the time, both physically and mentally”. Right here, Steinbeck uses parallelism from “physically” and “mentally” as implying that as a nation we aren’t completely healthy in any sense. That as a nation, we are all over the place. By using parallelism, Steinbeck secretly gives an additional notice to the readers that America’s state isn’t doing too well. After having addressed his own conclusion to explain this attitude, Steinbeck reaches into his dominant device again, paradox. However, this time, Steinbeck uses paradox in the form of showing America’s hypocrisy in spreading their ill dissatisfaction. For instance, through his own words he references America’s distaste of it’s own government, yet, they like to “impose it upon everyone else”. From initially reading this without taking it a step further, one cannot argue that this phrase imposes a contradictory appeal between America’s distaste to its government, but it still wants to seek its dominance over other nations with spreading democracy. This conflicting difference accounts for the truth is that America can be self-centered as well as be a grumpy nation. At this precise moment, one can additionally comment on the ironic and

America is the land of opportunity and equality. Many people grow up believing this to be absolutely true, but Stephen Marche feels otherwise. He wrote “We Are Not All Created Equal,” arguing his point that opportunities in this country are strictly determined by the fate of ones class in society. Marche starts off making a strong case by mentioning the United States’ third place ranking for the least amount of social mobility. In further attempts to prove his point he outlines how class determines the fate of Americans place in society by comparing it’s rigid divisions to those of the aristocracy in Britain. There is a repeating idea throughout the paper that many people in the upper classes love to assume that the poor should fault themselves for their predicament due to their lack of hard work. Marche knocks that assumption out the park with statistical evidence to back up his claims. Although he made a very convincing argument with facts, he had a host of overgeneralized statements throughout the paper, which ultimately weakened his argument of class being the only determining factor of success in America.

As the American people hear this powerful message, they are more likely to believe the argument, and begin to take action in supporting America’s fight for independence from Great Britain by fighting in the war. The other texts, “América” by Blanco and “Let America be America Again” by Hughes, and the musical number, “America” use various rhetorical devices to powerfully convey similar messages regarding how much more difficult it is to live in America when you are underprivileged than when you are a privileged American citizen. As the authors successfully utilize pathos, descriptive imagery, juxtaposition and other techniques, they more powerfully convey their message to their audiences, causing the audiences to be more likely to feel strongly about the issue and actively advocate for equality . Rhetoric is also utilized in political texts and speeches to convey messages and promote social

In the essay “What’s so great about America” by Dinesh D’Souza, the India born author shares his experience while living in America. D’Souza first starts his essay saying “Here is a country where everything works”(D’Souza 237-238), everything from the highway sign to properly working public toilets. He also emphasized how overwhelmed an immigrant can find themselves while visiting a supermarket for the first time. D’Souza then compares America to most countries today that does not have the most basic of health care products like deodorant which “is unavailable in much of the Third World”. New immigrants and people all over the world are witnessing the lifestyle of the poor in America living well, other

It’s time for a change, America! We must break free from the British. It is time to stop allowing the British to use us based on what is best for crown and parliament. Americans are fed up with the all the taxes imposed on us. It's time to break free from the ways of the British and develop American ways. It’s time to fight for our freedoms and build American they way we want it. We must break away from the all of the taxes the British have imposed so that we can have financial prosperity. We must start doing things for ourselves and we don’t need the British telling us how to live our lives. Americans need a voice. In other words, it is time for a change, we must stop the British from suppressing our political, economical, and religious

Modern America has a problem, which unfortunately consists of American’s placing more value on unimportant issues. This problematic lifestyle is the focus of the essay. In this essay she addresses her audience of Americans and reminds them that we should do activities that we have a passion for and never let it go. With an array of rhetorical devices such as repetition and similes, she effectively persuades the audience.

The United States is going through a transition period. Americans are questioning why we continue old beliefs and if they should be changed. We as a nation are always trying to progress in any way possible. The truth is that we progress in areas that don’t have an impact on human life like technology. When compared to Brobdingnag a nation of simplicity, we see a focus on the essentials of life. They focus on what's important to keep humanity alive. Focusing on the essential aspects of life doesn’t allow us to be distracted by utilities that make life comfortable which forms lazy habits. America should adopt a simple education system, governing system like Brobdingnag but maintain a strong army.

For my project i chose to do a political cartoon to help me answer the question "Will individualism be the death of America?". In my cartoon i put the iconic figure of america, Uncle Sam, sitting on top of the toilet pointing to the American Constitution saying his famous catch phrase " We want you!"

In "civil Disobedience" by Thoreau, he implements metaphor and tone to support his opinion that the U.S government should be improved by acting up more rapidly and systematically.

He worked to remind us that a country is not great merely by saying so. He put fort ideals of honesty, and suggested that we might achieve more of such ideals if we could laugh at the pigs in our streets, the tobacco juice on our carpets, our provincial bragging, our humorless religious sects which encourage alienation more than warmth, our "darning" of our mothers more than of ignorance, our praising giants of physical stature more than those of character, etc. The humor of American Notes is more than a traveler's awkwardness at not being able to acquire refreshment at a temperance hotel, though that is part of it. “American Notes” will continue to mock those who cannot laugh with it. Such is the healthy function of successful

“Small wonder our national spirit is husk empty. We have more information but less knowledge. More communication but less community. More goods but less goodwill. More of virtually everything save that which the human spirit requires. So distracted have we become sating this new need or that material appetite, we hardly noticed the departure of happiness”

"We saw that our clever men, our so-called progressives and reformers never accomplished anything, that we were concerning ourselves with a lot of nonsense, discussing art, unconscious creative work, parliamentarianism, the bar, and the devil knows what, while all the time the real question was getting daily bread to eat ... when our industrial enterprises come to grief solely for want of honest man at the top" (126).