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By using a positive tone and very descriptive writing, Downe is able to paint a pristine picture in the reader’s head of the heaven-like America he lives in. By describing the delicious foods presented to him by strangers, the endless brandy he can get for three half-pence, and butchers who deliver meat like modern-day pizza men, Downe presents a vibrant and beautiful image of America to his reader. Downe’s tone also helps with his connotation; Downe is also able to make England seem like truly horrible place. When comparing England to America, Downe uses words with negative connotation like “improper,” and “disgusting” to portray his homeland in a bad way. When contrasted with how Downe describes America, the reader feels like England is a horrible place where the poor and middle class are stomped upon by the rich.
The age from 1450 – 1750 are categorized as the age of exploration where several European countries embarked on expeditions to create colonies in the New World. Portugal and Spain were the first countries to establish colonies in the New World, while England was the latest in obtaining colonies because of religious disunity and lack of financial capital. However, due to joint-stock companies, English citizens had a chance of settling in the New World or in the Americas for the reason of getting wealthy or the reason of escaping religious persecution. Salutary neglect left joint-stock companies to finance the trips of these new colonists.
The Many Themes and Binaries of Drown by Junot Diaz: My Take In Drown by Junot Diaz are many themes and many binaries that Diaz uses to convey a certain message. The message being the harsh reality immigrants go through and the lives of Latinos in U.S. specifically in the East Coast. Particularly in the two short stories that I am choosing are “Edison, New Jersey” and “Negocios”. These two have very similar themes, but for both of them what really stood out was the theme of money.
Today America prides itself on the themes sprinkled throughout the text. Many American citizens pride themselves on belonging to one of the most powerful and dominant
Written in 1782 by J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur, this passage from Letter of an American Farmer was written for the purpose of showing poor, helpless Europeans how much better their life could be in America. America was a place where anyone could come and be accepted as an American despite their cultural, social, or personal background. There weren’t constant fights for superiority or wars over foolish things in America like there was in Europe. America was a giant melting pot of people all coming together to form one great and powerful nation. Crèvecoeur’s usage of powerful metaphors, description, and references make this a powerful essay to persuade poor Europeans that America is the place they should be calling their homeland.
In this novel, there was a motif of America portrayed as a land of opportunity. Quintessential
After reading the chapters and articles on reciprocity I was really intrigued by the idea of reciprocity. I have been to Africa many times and I was reminded a lot of the Senegalese people when reading the articles. Many people in America do not really understand how much of what they get is so good when compared to other countries. We live in a place where we think we are the best and deserve everything and expect everything to get handed to us. An example of Generalized reciprocity in America are the farmers of our world.
A place where anything was possible, and anyone could obtain vast amounts of wealth. These sentiments were even shown by Jurgis, “If one could only manage to get the price of passage, he could count his troubles at an end” (25). But, after he had arrived in the country and had partaken in the “dream” he had heard of, he saw trough what hid behind the romanticized outer veil of the American dream. He witnessed the lies the dream had told about the living conditions, the working conditions, and politicians in the supposed utopia that was America. All of which were just as repugnant and fake as the “De-vyled ham”
In both “Third and Final Continent” by Jhumpa Lahiri and in “The Thing Around Your Neck” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americans are characterized in different ways. In “Third and Final Continent,” Lahiri characterizes Americans as being patriotic, accepting, and a little unfriendly. These traits are perfectly encapsulated in the first American that Lahiri has the protagonist meet; an 100 year old woman named Mrs. Croft. Croft is patriotic because she keeps bringing up the moon landing saying, “There is an American flag on the moon! (Lahiri, 179)”
America in the eyes of many was the promised land. It was the country that would have the answers to all their problems. Immigrants poured into America hoping for a chance at a better life. That's what America has been built upon. The American identity was created by the chance to find a better life, the American Identity was the people’s belief in hope.
What does it mean to be an American today? Or rather, what does being an American entail? Does that pertain to a certain individual’s perspective? Or is Americanism defined through a collective consciousness projected around the world? Over the course of time, Americans have gone through various embodiments of who they are, without loosing the essence of what they represent.
America has had a tumultuous existence, replete with war, progress, and ideologies. The most formidable of these is individualism, or the shift of society’s focus from the group to the individual and a growing emphasis on their personal needs and desires. Despite wide criticism, it has become the societal norm, spanning all generations, genders, races, and walks of life. Individualism, while indeed centered on the individual, is more accurately described as the changing and shifting relationship between the individual and society.
In the 1800’s, America was the subject of many romantic visions and musings. The British and East Coasters alike saw everything west of Appalachia as a wild wonderland: home to cowboys, adventure, and opportunity. Oscar Wilde, a renowned British author and satirist, voyaged across America to test the truth of these claims. Afterwards, he published his findings and opinions in a piece known as Impressions of America. In the piece, he makes it clear that America did not live up to his expectations, and would disappoint his readers as well.
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.
Ethnocentrism and its prevalence in U.S culture Ethnocentrism is judging another culture solely by the values and standards of one’s own culture. Individuals who are ethnocentric judge other groups in relation to their own ethnic group or culture. I think The United States likes to refer to themselves as the “big mixing pot” of cultures. I would agree, we do have a wide range of different cultures, but that does not mean that we do not “evaluate and judge other cultures based on how they compare to our own cultural norms.” I think us as Americans feel this way, because we are too scared to change what we have learned and known since birth.
