Most people in the United States of America think of themselves as American, but are these people really American. If you would to go on the street in Yutan, NE, and ask people what they think the definiton of American is, it would most likely not be what the dictionary says. The word “American” consists of a nationality, a stereotype, and a large quantity of describing words. American can describe a person, a place, and a thing. American can even be used as a noun. This paper will discuss the connotative, denotative and the history of the word American. The first paragraph will discuss the denotative definition of this word. The denotative definition is what you would see in the dictionary. The dictionary definition is strictly about location in the United States, if this object has derived from the United States. The definition has even been broadened to anyone who …show more content…
It was first used in 1570 describing people from the Western hemisphere in the perspective of the Europeans. American comes from the word America, which means “new world.” Right now the word is only used to describe people coming from the United States of America, but people are trying to get the word to describe people coming from any part of the Americas (multiple countries). It can be used as both noun and adjective. I talked about the connotative meaning and the denotative definitions of the word American. They were very different in some parts and quite similar in others. The connotative meaning was for of having nationalism and patriotism for the U.S.A., and the denotative was just a citizen of the U.S.A. I also explained the history of the word and that it is a very old word. Lastly, the word American has different definition for different people. It also has different levels of severity. American can just be another word describing a citizen of the U.S. or could be a word that defines and motivates all of us to become the perfect,
A Different Mirror drives the question Who is American? America is a melting pot of culture, but many only see as White. Takai writes, “Within the lifetime of young people today, Americans of European
Michel-Guillaume-Jean de Crevecoeur was a French born citizen who moved to New York and became a naturalized citizen of Great Britain. After living in America as a citizen for a while, Crevecoeur decided to write an essay titled “Letters from an American Farmer”. During this time, tensions in America between the colonists and loyalists were increasing, and because of this the idea of America as a sovereign nation and territory was becoming popular. Crevecoeur wrote this essay in order to discuss what it means to be an American, and why people should be honored to be called an American. Crevecoeur believes that America is a melting pot of the world, and is full of opportunities for anyone who lives there. In order to back up his claim, Crevecoeur uses rhetorical devices, especially pathos, while he does also use ethos and logos as well.
To be an American is to be proud of your flag and country, to be willing to suffer for America, and to never be willing to give up.
There was a combining of culture in America that was unique and this mixing that occurred throughout the colonies made it so that the majority could not identify, fully, with the term "Englishmen" but identified themselves as Americans. In Europe most would call themselves French, Dutch, Irish, ect., but in the colonies there were so many people immigrating from not only England, but most other European countries and in America they were marrying and reproducing in a way that did not happen as often in Europe so they identified with the term "American" because they no longer could identify with only one European country. The descendents of an Irish woman and a French man born in America could not identify solely with the term Irish or French, and they were not born in Europe so the term European could not apply to them, but the word American described these unique people perfectly. The American was a mixture of many cultures and could identify with living in America and being a part of large web of different backgrounds. Hector St. John Crèvecoer explained this concept of an American in his "Letters from an American Farmer," composed in the 1770's. Here he explains that the descendent of many different cultures...
A History of the American People, written by Paul Johnson, as well as A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn, is a different sort of manner in which to better understand the events that happened from the creation of the United States, to the 21st century. While both authors tell the story of America in a similar fashion, they each put their own “brand” of sorts on it. Johnson, being British upper-middle-class, was never taught American history as a student, and this made him have a sort of child-like sense of wonder about America. He writes, “…I eventually came to American history completely fresh, with no schoolboy or student prejudices or antipathies.”
Americans are defined by the respect they have for their country and its government, in taking advantage of their freedoms and rights that they gain by showing respect through allegiance, pride, and loyalty.
America has always been looked at as “The New World” where people from all over come to fulfil their dreams. Their dreams may not have been exceptional, but only to have enough to survive, have a house where their children could be raised and feel free and protected. Now, according to Webster’s online dictionary Americanism is defined as a custom, trait, belief, etc., peculiar to the United States of America or its citizens, but to me it means so much more.
Alan Trachtenberg, professor of American studies at Yale and author of The Incorporation of America, argues that the system of incorporation unhinged the idea of national identity that all American’s had previously shared. As a result, incorporation became the catalyst for the great debate about what it meant to actually be American, and who was capable of labeling themselves as such. Throughout his work Trachtenberg consistently tackles the ideas of cultural identity and how those ideas struggled against one another to be the supreme definition of Americanism. This work not only brings to life the issue of identity, but it attempts to synthesize various scholarly works into a cohesive work on the Gilded Age. It demonstrates that concepts developed during the incorporation of the time period have formed the basis for the American cultural, economic, and political superstructure.
Davidson, James West, et al. The American Nation. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003
Cave, Damien. "What Does It Mean to Be American?" The New York Times. The New York Times, 2014. Web. 04 Sept. 2016.
Berube, Margery S., et all; The American Heritage Dictionary Second Edition; Houghton Mifflin Company; Boston, Mass, 1985
The United States and cultural myths pertaining to this country have been a topic of discussion for many years. Stephanie Coontz’s “The Way We Wish We Were”, David Brooks’ “One Nation Slightly Divisible” and Margaret Atwood’s “A Letter to America” are all essays about different American cultural myths. Each author focuses on a different cultural myth that pertains to the United States. They explain how these myths are thwarting a realistic view of America. As well as changing the perception of the country as a whole. The major cultural myths of America among the texts are about “ideal families”, “ideal lifestyles, and a “ideal country.”
The definition of an American, is someone who is a citizen of the United States. Many African Americans, and immigrants struggled to become actual Americans in their lifetimes, because others didn 't see them as actual people; and based it on the color of someone. In today 's world people who live in America consider themselves as Americans, but to me there is certain qualities that make a person an American. To me being a true American is not based off of what Country they were born in, or what race their parents are, or even if they were immigrated to the United States. People from all over the world would say that maybe people could base this off of someone 's family heritage, or where they were before they came to America. If you were asked what makes an American an American what would you base it off of? To me there are four specific characteristics that make a person a true American; those three things would be, freedom, individuality, belief in the country, and happiness.
Nationalism is extreme loyalty and devotion to one particular nation, and many Americans are nationalistic about their country. But even though they are loyal to America, defining what it means to be a true American is tricky. Being American is one complex thing, but the concept of being American can not be fully grasped. What it means to be American may in fact be one of the biggest mysteries of all time. Indeed, discovering what it means to be a true American could possibly take an entire lifetime. One thing, however about all true Americans is certain: we are all alike in that each one of us is different from the Americans in important ways. We are diverse in our backgrounds, races, and religions. Nevertheless, we are exactly identical in the we feel toward our country, even though we express our pride in a million different ways.
Being an American is more than just living in America, or being born in this country. Many people talk about being American’s and they aren't even in this country. Being an American is a way of life that people adapt into by seeing how we act. People all over the world eat the same things that we eat, so that can't really be a way of being an American. To me, being an American is embracing our ways of life, not fighting for the other guys, and loving our anthem and the flag.