What Is An American?

Since this great country was first established many intuitive minds have tried to answer the question; "What is an American". This country is full of individuals of many backgrounds, and diversities and each person has a different opinion on this question. In my opinion, an American is someone who values freedom and equality and pursues the "American dream." Every American exercises these rights and these are great adjectives to describe our country. Each of the seven readings, and the one image I compiled help mold this broader definition into a more precise description of an American.

In Edward L. Hudgins article, What is an American?, Hudgins defines an American in ways I had not thought of before. Hudgins stated all these ideas about Americans being driven to do their best and meeting challenges head-on. I would like to think that being an American means everything Hudgins stated, however I think Hudgins is giving the optimistic answer of what being an American means. What Hudgins explains as being an American is what I believe most Americans were like when the country was first founded. The idea of taking risks and working until the risks paid off is one that most Americans do not believe because the possibility of actually achieve one’s dream is extremely less likely today than it was when the country was first established.

What it means to be American? Everybody you ask this question to will have a completely different response. Some responses might have similarities but none will be exactly the same. In the beginning of the year my response was “To be an American means having a rich history, having opportunities to better ourselves, and having freedoms.” Unfortunately not everyone has had the same opportunities or freedoms. Native Americans, who are indigenous, dealt with having their freedoms taken away, less opportunities even though they had rich history in this land before it was taken away from them. Look at what Zitkala-Sa endured. Not only that, but African Americans have fought long and hard for freedom and equality as well. W.E.B. Du Bois stood for

An American is someone who doesn't rely on others for their individual happiness. Someone with the freedom to independently make decisions towards becoming a better person without conforming to society's standards/sentiments. Americans have equal rights no matter where they come from. “Of every hue and caste I am, of every rank and religion... I resist anything better than my own diversity,” (Whitman) Walt Whitman is saying that no matter the color of your skin, your rank/wealth in society, or your religion, you are just as equal as everybody else. We are all so different and diverse yet so equal. Although we are equal, we cannot rely on one another for our own happiness. “To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in

What does it mean to be an American? Being an American means a multitude of different things. It depends on who the person is and what is the most important to them. It may be that they are free, or that they are proud, or simply because they appreciate the country’s history. This country has so many privileges that other countries do not have, and this sets it aside from them.

To be an American can mean a lot of things to others, but one thing everyone has in common on what they think it means is to be free. It means you can vote for who and what you want. It means you can say “The Pledge of Allegiance.” It means you can have a good education and the job you want. It means to be proud in living in the United States of America. Being an American is having freedom and being able to do things with that freedom. It’s about having freedom of religion, rights, and justice. It also means having equality. To be an American means you have the right and freedom to do what you want. It means having the freedom of speech. It means you can be yourself. To be an American mainly means having freedom.

What does it mean to be an American?. Many people feel that the American Dream is something hard to conquer. In reality the American Dream is just living like any average American in the United States , living with the right to have life, liberty , and the pursuit of happiness. It means that Americans have the right to vote if they want , have the right to speak their minds , or even publish what they want . It is being a republic civilization with a national government system that limits and protects American citizen laws from being violated.

America, the place where hopes and dreams come true, where people come to look for better opportunity is welcome to people from every nation out there. America doesn’t just have one nationality, it is full of immigrants, who come for a better life. The phrases ‘I’m an American’ is a part of our everyday vocabulary, but what does it mean? To be an American means to be yourself and have pride in what you do. Every American has a special skill to contribute to make America what it is today. That’s what makes America unique compared to other countries in the world.

What it means to be an American is that we have our basic freedoms, we have the right to vote for our president, our senate, our house of representatives, and many more. We also have the right to a fair and speedy trial, while other countries if you break the law you get the death sentence. The United States of America is a great place and we should be respectful and proud of that. What is means to be an American can vary from person to person, but there will always be the core value that we have our freedoms and our liberties.

What does it mean to be an American? In today's day and age, the general perception of an American is to be free, free to practice any religion, free to speak your mind, free in general. However, America has only been able to be perceived as a promised land due to the obstacles and barriers that have been challenged by early Americans. From having to accept others religious beliefs to the abolishment of slavery. A good example is J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur’s Letters from an American Farmer (1782). Letters from an American Farmer is a collection of twelve letters written from the perspective of a fictional character. These letters do a magnificent job at emphasizing on how America is similar to the environment and the people who feed

What is an American? This question cannot be answered by one word. There are so many different characteristics, qualities, and features that can be used to describe an American. Besides features, someone is only a real American if they take advantage of all of the many privileges that are given to them. Any person that is not grateful for the privileges that are given to them to me are not real Americans but this is only my opinion. Real Americans use their privileges to benefit themselves and everyone around them. In today's society there are certain things that are expected from American citizens, for instance being a responsible citizen.

The American Dream is the belief where any American can be successful when completing hard work. Do you believe that the American Dream is achievable? Is it guaranteed for both natural-born Americans and immigrants? The American Dream is a definite reality because the United States is a country that allows various opportunities for individuals to work for what they want and access prosperity while doing so.

What does it mean to be an American? There are many different aspects to being an “American”. Four ways can be used to define and explain what it means to be an American. These four ways are negation, function, example, and classification. Exemplification can be used to define being an American in the best way.

The author's response to the Atwan collection as well as the journal articles reviewed by the author of this paper is pretty simple. It can be concisely stated as the following. Open immigration is never going to be a viable solution, amnesty (for the third time in three generations) is not a good idea without some major follow-up, and the economic consequences of allowing 12 million (estimated) immigrants becoming legal overnight is not the panacea and feel-good fest that some people may think it will be. If amnesty recipients agree to do so and complete the requirements, they can and should be allowed to stay and be fruitful members of society. However, if the enforcement mechanism is not dialed up at the same time, then this country will be doing this yet again 20-30 years down the road"¦for at least the fourth time in a century. An American is someone who legally immigrates to this country and meets all the necessary requirements or is born to at least one American parent.

What does it mean to be an “American”? To each individual person it means something very different. For the writer Bharati Mukherjee, who wrote the essay, “American Dreamer”, to be a true American someone has to want to be an American, not just prove that they merited citizenship. Her essay “American Dreamer” goes in depth into this idea and her opinion that as an American one should believe in bringing together the cultures in America. “We must think of American culture and nationhood as a constantly reforming, transmogrifying “we” (Mukherjee 438). For the author James Baldwin, who wrote the essay “Stranger in the Village”, an American is a person who is integrated with other cultures, and