Ugly, Ugly American, By Robert J. Lederer And Eugene Burdick 's Genius Novel, The Ugly

“What is an American?” This speech, given by Harold Ickes in May of 1941, banded its audience together in a fight for World War II. The speech can be classified as many different things; some might say that it is persuasive, others motivational. Whatever title one might choose to brand it with, one thing is irrefutable; the speech itself does its duty by capturing the attention of its audience through language and technique.

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 American is a new man who is neither a European, nor his direct descendant. He is a strange mix of blood which cannot be found in any other country. The American is described as a person whose grandfather was an Englishman, his mother was Dutch and who has married a Frenchwoman. The American is a person who has left behind all his ancient manners and prejudices, and has received new ones from the mode of life he has embraced, the rank he holds and the government he obeys. A person becomes an American after being received in the broad lap of the great Alma Mater, and he becomes melted down into the new race of men whose posterity and efforts could transform the world in the days to come.

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.

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.

Over and over again, Williams illustrates this theme of “American Exceptionalism.” Throughout the book, there are several occurrences in which the “We are the best, and all that we are doing is of benefit to the world” mentality is shown. On one hand, there is nothing wrong with being proud of roots as an American and believing that America is the greatest country, but on the other hand, using this thought process in in order to legitimize the domination and control of other nations unlike America while preaching one set of values and acting on others, is wrong. We see these actions play out time and time again as America invades and controls other countries “to help” them, however, prohibits the country from experiencing the full advantages of self-determination – a value that America claims to hold i.e. a tragedy of American Diplomacy.

There are two types of Americans that are portrayed in The Ugly American. The two types of Americans portrayed in The Ugly American are the ethnocentric Americans, who believe that their ways are superior to all others, and don’t really care about stopping the spread of communism; and then there are the kind hearted Americans, who truly care about defeating communism. Through multiple characters we learn how these two types of Americans think and how they represent not only themselves, but their country.

There are tens of thousands of “how-to” books, but “The Ugly American” is unique in that it’s actually a “how-not-to” book. Published in 1958, the action takes place in the early 1950s at the height of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States of America. Set primarily in the fictional Asian country of Sarkhan, the struggle between Russian Communists and American Foreign Service personnel plays out battle by battle through examples of military and political events riddled with “Ugly American” social faux pas.

In an editorial in the Miami Herald, Leonard Pitts vocalizes that America, despite its ludicrous behavior, still has the aptitude for change through highlighting the woes that plague the once united nation and through inciting hope with his consequent words. Within Pitts rather frank expressions, one can determine just “how far down the rabbit hole” America and its marred character has fallen. A country once renown for its overwhelming acceptance has become a perpetrator of insults vulgar enough to induce controversy, Hilary Clinton being just “that bitch” as if she is merely a mean girl in high school, not a top-tier politician. Pitts even casually broods “about secession”—an idea entirely alien to what the somewhat “United” States prevails

Americans receive a lot of criticism for what they do, and who they are. On countless social media posts and such items. It is not rare that you see a few jokes about Americans and their style of life. Like being fat, lethargic, racist, and violent. In the article “Are Americans Different? You Bet They Are” Richard Reeves, an American writer, discusses the way a typical American acts and lives their life.

Historically speaking, there existed negative feelings towards the United States because of the difference in power since the nineteenth century. Throughout the nation’s history, the

What has led to this vague perception of Anti-Americanism? The United States of America proclaims itself to be a very giving and helpful nation. Many technological and medical advances in third world countries would not have prevailed without the help from this prosperous nation. However, the naïve population has failed to realize the hatred surrounding its policies and governmental attitude. There are many contributing factors tied into this perception of Anti-Americanism such as America’s support for Israel, the nation’s ways of life and morals, its strong economic and military power, freedom from unjust rulers, and the country’s impact on smaller countries.

America’s foreign policy affects each and every person in the world in terms of prices, taxes, supply of gasoline, and the lives of our soldiers also depends on how we associate with US. This country can bring hope to the lives of the poorest people in the world. It is because of their persona that they are able to respect the lives of others who are not even their own. Most American citizens believe in embracing their values, justice, fairness, democracy, a helping hand when there is need and hard work. Their values are applied from their households, to

“America was conducting business as usual, but others were joining the game.” (Zakaria, 221). All this time we thought we were on top, we were actually slowly becoming less and less of leader and more a bystander as the rest of the world is slowly rising around us. Zakaria shows in that quote that as America has been continuing business like always, and because of this we have failed to realize our standing with the world around us. In the book The Post-American World, Zakaria shows us the challenges that America faces today. I believe the United States is most affected by our ignorance, competition, and worldly participation.

    Before traveling through Europe last summer, friends advised me to avoid being identified as an American.  Throughout Europe, the term American connotes arrogance and insensitivity to local culture.  In line with the foregoing stereotype, the unnamed narrator's use of the term American in Margaret Atwood's Surfacing is used to describe individuals of any nationality who are unempathetic and thus destructive.  The narrator, however, uses the word in the context of her guilt over her abortion and consequent emotional numbness.  The narrator's vituperative definition of American as an individual who is unempathetic and destructive is largely attributable to the narrator's projection of her own