If you think about a melting pot, then think about America they are very much the same. Many people use the metaphor “America is a melting pot” because of their many similarities. If you took people out of each country, ethnic group, and race then put them all into one country then you would get America. The same thing happens in a melting pot, you can put so many different ingredients into one pot and they come together to make one soup. So if someone were to describe an american, they could just compare them to an ingredient. Dictonary.com decribes The American dream as the ideals of freedom, equality, and oppertunity traditionally held to be available to every American. Many people believe that the American dream can be achieved, Although it …show more content…
She finds out it's not as easy as she thought it would be, if even possible to achieve. The author believes America is a place full of opportunity, then she learns that in order to be successful she has to work from the ground up. “My old dreams about my America rushed through my mind. Once I thought that in America everybody works for love. Nobody has to worry for a living” (Yezierska 72). Yezierska learned she had to start from the bottom to have a life in America. She understands now how much hard work is needed to thrive. The narrator explains how she believed everyone loved what they were doing and did not do it because they had to. She then realized how she had to first make a living, not doing what she loved. “America is no Utopia. First you must become efficient in earning a living before you can indulge in your dreams” (Yezierska 94). Immigrants have a higher standard of America because most of the time it's better than where they came from. America is not perfect. Immigrants have a harder time when beginning their life in America because they have to start from the bottom unknowing of where the bottom
America was founded on change. Past revolutions were fought to make new ways in which to live life in this country. Our families all came to America, at one point, to feed into this definition of being an American. The term melting pot in my mind means structure, meaning what we, as Americans, are made of. It was many ethnic backgrounds that came to make up our country. So as more and more people migrate to America, stand up for the changes they believe in, this country will only continue to get stronger.
In the short story “America and I” by Anzia Yezierska, the author talks about a girl who came to America looking for the “American dream” and also trying to escape from Russia, which she calls prison. This nameless girl feels “beaten out of [her heart],” suffocated in Russia, like she couldn’t get out of her impoverished lifestyle there. She tried to adjust to living in America because she’s from a different culture and environment and she asks many questions to help herself out but then she realizes that she is not an American and never will be. She ends up working with a Russian family as a servant. Then, later on she worked in a sweatshop and got fired. She had low thoughts about
The tone of the short story “America and I” changed dramatically over the course of the narrative. The author, Anzia Yezierska, started the story with a hopeful and anxious tone. She was so enthusiastic about arriving in America and finding her dream. Yezierska felt her “heart and soul pregnant with the unlived lives of generations clamouring for expression.” Her dream was to be free from the monotonous work for living that she experienced back in her homeland. As a first step, she started to work for an “Americanized” family. She was well welcomed by the family she was working for. They provided the shelter Yezierska need. She has her own bed and provided her with three meals a day, but after a month of working, she didn’t receive the wage she was so
America, the land of the free and a source of never-ending hope and possibility. Yezierska was not alone in her idealized view of this great nation. She comes as a young woman, hopeful and excited for the life that could be. “In the golden land of flowing opportunity I was to find my work that was denied me in the sterile village of my forefathers. Here I was to be free from the dead drudgery for bread that held me down in Russia…. I’d be a creator, a giver, a human being! My work
Perhaps, the “Melting Pot” myth gained strength during the Industrial Revolution. With millions of immigrants entering the United States, culture was changing within the United States. Americans set a high standard for there society and everyone wanted to be accepted. There was a social requirement to live in a civil society creating together the “American Dream,” which leads to prosperity. Many immigrants moving to the United States brought with them various traditions of their culture and after moving, they repressed such beliefs and forged ahead with a new way of “American Thinking.” The rituals and traditions of such societies should have brought diversity to this nation’s culture however, these ways would soon become a part of the past. The “Melting Pot” myth heavily influences American society and people believe that everyone no matter what skin color or religious belief is created equal. This belief of the American Way of life is idyllic to say the least. Unfortunately, this myth has been thwarted due to a high level of racial supremacy within the nations past and even present. There are two particular events in national history, which will forever hinder equality: slavery of African Americans and Japanese internment camps during World War II in America. These substantial events shape our society and are only the tip of the iceberg when it
The core standards of America are founded, in principle, on the basis of its diversity and equality among citizens. Begin- ning with its Declaration of Independence, the United States distinguished itself from other modern nation-states by establishing a country of men who were different but equal. Yet, despite the unifying images America projects within and beyond its borders, the idea behind E Pluribus Unum does not resound as one might assume it would.
America is considered to be a melting of people. People from different countries and with different cultural backgrounds can all be found in America. People with different values and from different nationalities can be found in America. This also includes a variety of people who speak a multitude of different languages. As a result of these people choosing to live in America it becomes necessary to find ways to effectively communicate with them.
From big, overwhelming institutions setting regulations for a large amount of people to a small
The United States is a nation of, largely, assimilated immigrants that spans back over 200 years. Or at least it used to be. Today an American is an American that retains their cultural identity to their homeland. America is a nation of multiple cultures and races thrown together haphazardly but still one whole. The term salad bowl would seem fitting would it not? We used to be considered a melting pot, a blend of multiple cultures and races that were American. America is a melting pot because we are Americans, not matter where we came from, we are here now in the United States, and that is our culture.
The central theme of this essay is to analyze the metaphor used to describe the United States as a “Great Melting Pot.” Once, President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed: ‘‘We Americans are the children of the crucible. It has been our boast that out of the crucible, the melting pot of life in this free land, all the men and women of all the nations who come hither emerge as Americans and as nothing else ...” The enthusiastic attitude showed in this quote by President Roosevelt is very strong and powerful in urging immigrants to transform into Americans. If you are not close to American history, you might think that this actually happened, but unfortunately there were issues concerning different points of view in relation to this and other matters as well such as racism and discrimination.
Cultural diversity is an American ideal yet our cultural experience is similar to many around the world. An analysis of two vastly different scientists’ views on the nature of cultural change and diversity sheds light on why deep-rooted cultural intricacies from generations ago are fading into oblivion. Thomas Sowell and Wade Davis clearly have differing opinions on the evolution of cultures and the significance of diversity. Wade Davis (2007) presents in “Dreams from Endangered Cultures,” that he is not concerned about the fact cultures evolve over time in a “dance with new possibilities of life,” but that power and corruption is destroying the unique expression of the human spirit in various indigenous peoples of the world. On the contrary, Sowell (1990) believes cultural changes results from a Darwinian law of survival of the fittest. He contends cultural diversity and change occur as a dynamic process that evolves from things that work over time, and if these changes don’t work, they disappear much like Roman Numerals (Sowell, 1990). Both scientists have valid points but their diverse perspectives on cultural change and diversity and its implication on society as a whole are particularly interesting.
Since the country’s beginning, race, gender, and class have been very important factors in a person’s experience in the United States of America. The meaning of race, gender differences, and the separation of class have changed over United States history. For many Americans, their perceptions of class and race and the degree to which gender affect people’s lives, often depends on what their race, gender, and class are, too. There are differences between the reality of America, what is represented as American reality in media, and the perceived reality of America. Americans as well as those looking at America from an outside perspective may have questions and confusions regarding what the real connections are to race, class, and gender are in America. The paper tries to clarify and explore how these issues connect and play out in real life.
The age old question that many ask today is “what is an American?” America is continued to be called the “melting pot” of the world. This statement refers to the combination of different cultures and ethnicities throughout the United States. The diversity of America should not take away from the history and foundation it was found upon. ...
The United States of America was built on a foundation of immigration. Our country started from people seeking religious refuge from tyrannical England. From that point on America was seen as a place for people who wanted a better life. Throughout the years, more immigrants came and they weren’t just from England. People who felt prosecuted, unwanted, or were just sick of how their life was in their country came to America. For a while, we welcomed them with open arms. There was such an influx of people from all different cultures and backgrounds that America became known as the melting pot. Then slowly, as people forgot their heritage, America started refusing these immigrants. So what happened to America’s melting pot?
Growing up I was exposed to people from all walks of life, it didn’t take long to identify that everyone has their own outlook on luck. Conversations on the steps to achieve success rank at the top of controversies; as stated by Oprah Winfrey: “Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.” Others have expressed their belief that the results of your life depend on the stars aligning, being in the right place at the right time or being awarded this elusive “luck”. Does luck exist, or it is simply the result of carefully planned actions resulting in successful goal achievement? Could you happen into a winning lottery ticket?