ipl-logo

American Identity In Ernest Cline's 'Ready Player One'

973 Words4 Pages

American Identity Research Paper Being an American does not only refer to one’s nationality or ethnicity, it is more about the American spirits and dreams. Gary Johnson has once said, “We live in America. We live in a free society where we are able to make choices. It's about giving individuals freedoms and holding them accountable”, and this is completely true as in what being an American means. Although America is often seen as “a melting pot” in which people from all over the world can all fit in and unite together, Americans actually seek uniqueness and self-freedom because they value individualism, and equal opportunities are available for everyone. Many people would see America as one and unite, because despite the fact that America are …show more content…

Wade Watts grown up in a extremely harsh environment, being poor and an orphan at a young age, but the virtual utopia, OASIS, helped him achieve his dreams freedom because “anonymity was one of the major perks” in OASIS (Cline 28). Cline portrayed Watts as a low-class person to further emphasize the power of equality and freedom of OASIS, in which “[one] can give [his] OASIS avatar any name [he] liked”(Cline 28). Names determines one’s identity, and in the virtual world of OASIS, having a different name so that other people would not know what the real name is, indicates that many concerns in the real world, either appearance or social status, will be neglected, allowing a person to be unique and free from judgement of others. This aspect of the virtual world is very similar to America in a way that everyone have the opportunities to be whoever they want without being concerned about others’ comments which could sway one’s …show more content…

Back in China, communities should be considered before oneself always; usually, this is just a sense of respect for the others, but, the communities around you can affect everything you think and do. Whenever I got a bad grade in any subjects, not only my parents, but everyone around me will know and instinctively started to judge or comment. That is why, back in China, I would think of individualism more along the line of isolation, however, coming to America changed my aspect on individualism. In America, no one would really care about my actions enough to talk about it behind me, and this gave me a lot of personal space to actually do what I like to do and be who I want to be. One simple example is that no matter if one drives a BMW or walks half an hour everyday to school, people around would not think of him or her differently. This is why I feel relieved and free instead of left out during these three years in America, and this is what I believe as in being an American mean — being unique is typical and

Show More
Related

In Response To Executive Order 9056 By Dwight Okita

503 Words | 3 Pages

In this essay we will attempt to explain what is an American. We will compare two different pieces of literature. We will analyze "In Response to Executive Order 9066" and "Mericans" to see how the authors define what it means to be an American. In my opinion cultural heritage and physical appearance do not determine what is an American. America is a melting pot.

Read More

Summary Of Mericans By Sandra Cisneros

530 Words | 3 Pages

Sandra Cisneros and Dwight Okita are writers, who are greatly influenced by American culture. Both authors discuss and establish the topic of American identity in “Response to Executive Order 9066” and “Mericans.” Okita defines “American identity” as the connection and experience with culture rather than where your family originated from. Cisneros short story is about making sense of a culture instead of making assumptions based on physical characters. However, both establish that the physical appearance of a person and their heritage do not determine what it means to be American.

Read More

Ap Euro Dbq Individualism

675 Words | 3 Pages

Individualism is being independent and only relying on yourself. Many of these thinkers valued hard work and education. Nicholas Copernicus stated, “I am not so much in love with my conclusions as not to weigh what others will think

Read More

Why Do Different Time Periods See American Identity Differently

578 Words | 3 Pages

Americans from different time periods see American identity differently. Different effects in the time period may change your views. Back when there were slaves people thought you had to be white. Back when my grandma was in school she said it meant you 're “free to make your own choices”(mary eaton). Finally our generation may think differently from that.

Read More

Essay On What It Means To Be An American

446 Words | 2 Pages

What does it mean to be an American today? Being an American isn’t hard,but sometimes people just like to not follow things. First thing is being to say The Pledge of Allegiance in school than sitting down on your lazy butt. Second thing is being yourself. Three thing is if you are at a game standing up and put your hand on our heart for The Star Stander Bender .

Read More

Analysis Of Anna Quindlen's A Quilt Of A Country

431 Words | 2 Pages

What does it mean to be an American: The land of the free and the home of the brave? Due to the diversity that America offers, the people regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, cultures, backgrounds and sexual orientation have an equal opportunity for a better life in America. In Anna Quindlen’s “A Quilt of a Country,” she explains how people view America. She writes that being an American is an idea that works despite that fact that it should not due to the diversity that exist in the country. Quindlen informs the reader that America was uniquely constructed on no precise culture or race.

Read More

The Chinese In All Of Us Analysis

999 Words | 4 Pages

I struggled with my identity because I felt I had to choose a side, like I was betraying my heritage. It wasn’t until I became an adult that I began to understand what I was taught in school. It was not my teacher’s job to validate my identity but to educate me on why I am an American. Richard Ramirez wrote, “For myself, I like the metaphor of the melting pot. I like it for two reasons.

Read More

Examples Of What It Means To Be An American

500 Words | 2 Pages

What does it mean to be American? On the surface, the question of ‘what it means to be an American’ would normally invoke an emotional response of patriotism, freedom, and the opportunity to live one’s dreams. While this is true for me in the larger context, however, ‘what it means to be an American’ is deeper and has a more visceral meaning to me. To quote Ayman from the New York Times interactive story project about being an American, “I think America was an idea sold to different groups of people and rebranded multiple times, for my parents it was opportunity to escape a third world country for a better life.”

Read More

American Day Address Thesis

537 Words | 3 Pages

The definition of being an American is often synonymous to most people. Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, once expressed his vision, saying, "My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as a beacon of hope." According to Lincoln, being American means embodying hope for a brighter future. Similarly, in Learned Hand's address titled "I am an American Day Address," he defines being American as having a sense of liberty. Understanding Hand's concept of liberty lies in recognizing the balance between courage and freedom.

Read More

James Baldwin's Essay: American Identity

1220 Words | 5 Pages

American identity American identity is an identity of people who share the same beliefs, culture, values and things like same history and political views. From the beginning of history, Americans have defined themselves through their traditions that are based on ethnicity, work, play, community life and generally, their diverse cultures. However, America is becoming more and more diverse as time passes by, raising questions as to what it really means by an American identity. How Americans see themselves today and how the world views them is a question that many people are asking themselves today. Whether there is a culture that is well based on the culture and values of the Americans or not, it is difficult to define what an American identity

Read More

What It Means To Be An American Essay

1254 Words | 6 Pages

When I go to school I show everyone what it means to be an American even if they can’t see it. It gives me the opportunity to let me do what I want to do and how I do it. To be an American means that I am free and that I can vote for anyone that I want to vote for. To be an American means that you can say the Pledge of Allegiance and know what it means and why we have it. We are a country that brings in people from all over the world and who have different religion to be joined as one.

Read More

What It Means To Be An American Essay

889 Words | 4 Pages

Thus, expressing one’s opinion is a big part of being an American. Some may say that to be an American means to be free, as it boasts about having the freedom of religion, rights, and justice. To be considered an

Read More

Individualism In Brave New World

771 Words | 4 Pages

The utopian society in the Brave New World can be compared and contrasted between our contemporary society using individualism, community and the human experience. The fictional novel by Aldous Huxley, published in 1932, is about a utopian society where people focus stability and community over individuality and freedom, but an outsider is introduced to intervene with the operation of the utopian state. In the contemporary world, people need to show individuality in their communities in order to survive, and to be human, one must show emotion, which is the opposite in the Brave New World. Individualism is very important in the contemporary world, but in the utopian state, individuals are conditioned to be the same as everyone else. They do not know how to be themselves.

Read More

Polanyi's Double Movement

2654 Words | 11 Pages

In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith saw market society as a natural phenomenon that emerged from man’s natural propensity to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another. Smith argued that primitive man had a predilection for gainful occupations, and always acted out of economic gain. Later in 1885, Karl Marx, in Das Kapital, concluded that a capitalist mode of production incentivized capitalists to increase labor exploitation to inhumane levels, alienated laborers from their true selves, and in the end the dynamics that made capitalism the most efficient mode of production would undermine it in the long-run. About a half a century later in 1945, in his text Great Transformation, Karl Polanyi argued that primitive man acted so as to safeguard

Read More

Individualism In America Essay

799 Words | 4 Pages

America’s identity is defined differently by every individual. Ideally it was to be a place of freedom and acceptance, identified by its message of liberty and hard-work, however the question arises whether America is a melting pot in which only one culture dominates or it a mosaic of many peoples’ histories. America’s potential and true identity lies within its ability to assimilate and create a natural individualism despite race, class, and immigration standing. A country as powerful and influential as America is within industry, politics, and socioeconomics cannot be abstract in definition.

Read More

More about American Identity In Ernest Cline's 'Ready Player One'

Related Topics

Open Document