American Identity
ttp://www.youtube.com/watc?v=R3kdY2vMO0w

Te above link is a Youtube clip from Tcaikovsky's Te Nutcracker. Most ballets are performed by a company of trained dancers. Te performances are intricately coreograped to telegrap te emotions and feelings of te caracters and to relay te plot of te story witout using an dialogue. In tis scene, te eroine Clara and te young prince watc a variety of performers, including a pair of dancers wo are supposed to be Cinese. In te context of te ballet, tis scene is supposed to be one of a series of wonders tat te prince sows Clara because at te time of te writing of te ballet, few people would ave ad direct interaction wit Cinese people. Tey appear in modified versions of traditional Cinese garb and appear to ave exaggerated versions of Cinese peasant ats upon teir eads. Altoug te performance is a ballet and te dance is performed…...

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3kdY2vMO0w 

The above link is a Youtube clip from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. Most ballets are performed by a company of trained dancers. The performances are intricately choreographed to telegraph the emotions and feelings of the characters and to relay the plot of the story without using an dialogue. In this scene, the heroine Clara and the young prince watch a variety of performers, including a pair of dancers who are supposed to be Chinese. In the context of the ballet, this scene is supposed to be one of a series of wonders that the prince shows Clara because at the time of the writing of the ballet, few people would have had direct interaction with Chinese people. They appear in modified versions of traditional Chinese garb and appear to have exaggerated versions of Chinese peasant hats upon their heads. Although the performance is a ballet and the dance is performed in the traditional steps of such a piece, there is also an undercurrent of stereotyping in the choreography. For example, much of the time the dancers have their arms crossed which is often seen in films and plays with stereotypical Chinese people as a gesture that is common to the people. Also, the accessories that the dancers have like the fans in the woman's hands and the long ponytail of the male dancer underscore that these are not real Chinese people, but prejudicial depictions based upon what the western world knew of that Asian country. The customs of an entire culture are distilled down into a stereotypical showcase of preconceived notions.

This clip describes me and my quest for identity. I am Asian. Specifically, I am Chinese and am currently living in the United States. My identity is comprised of cultural influences of both China and the U.S. The dance from The Nutcracker shows how some of the western world view the Asian people and it is offensive in a way and understandable in another way. Not all Chinese people wear the traditional garb that is displayed in the ballet. Also, not all Chinese men wear long hair and very few Chinese women carry around fans, if any do at all. On the other hand, the Chinese dance from The Nutcracker is a celebration, an example of the Broadway theme of optimism, abundance, and even exuberance. The characters are happy and dancing to entertain Clara. To her, they are amazing people because she has never had the opportunity to meet Chinese people before. When comparing this dance to some of the other dances which are characteristic of the American culture, it is easy to see that ballets and dances like this one would be a direct precursor to the lavish Broadway musicals that would appear in the years after the ballet was written. Just as the Chinese dance is extravagant, colorful, and has some amazing dance moves from the performs, so too later performances would have to reach this level of aesthetic appeal if they hoped to have any success.

Many other languages are indeed spoken in America, making language less of a required element in a definition than some might like. The widespread use of Spanish in the southwest is usually cited as a problem, but Chinese is common in large cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York, and waves of immigrants form different parts of the world add to the number who speak a second language either as their only language or as their primary language. Vietnamese became a more common language after a large number of refugees from the war in Vietnam came to the United States in the 1970s, and as for other immigrant populations, the second generation in particular has adopted English as their primary language.
Amy Tan represents the second generation in the Chinese community and writes about the differences between herself and her mother and her mother's generation. Tan has a…...

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Works Cited

Jefferson, Thomas. "The Declaration of Independence."

Morales, Aurora Levins. "Child of the Americas."

Tan, Amy.

Vanderkam, Laura. "Hookups Starve the Soul."

American Lit
The Development of the American National Character

hat is so unique about America? During the early years of this country's existence, America was still a colonial nation with an unclear identity as a collective entity. as it a mass of individualistic states or was it a unique system of values and rights, as eventually embodied in the American Constitution as well. It began originally a conglomerate of individuals seeking religious freedom and criminals seeking to establish a new life. But the nation gradually began to evolve into a more clearly defined social network, with hierarchies of status.

Letters from an American Farmer" is a unique snapshot of the early nation because its author lived and toiled the land of America, yet was supplanted from another nation. According to the website devoted to the author, it is unclear if the man ever became naturalized. Regardless, his commentary is a valuable perspective on…...

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Works Cited

Franklin, Benjamin. Commentary and Text of The Autobiography. Accessed on December 2, 2003 at The Early American Website.  http://www.earlyamerica.com/lives/franklin/chapt1/index.html .

Equiano, Obadiah. Text of Narrative and "West Indies Slavery" Essay Accessed on December 2, 2003 http://www.wsu.edu:8000/~dee/Equiano.html.

Letters from an American Farmer." Letter 3 and Commentary.  http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/CREV/letter03.html .

Occom, S. "Story and Biography." Commentary and Text of The Autobiography. Accessed on December 2, 2003 at The Early American Website.

Ethnicity and American Identity
The basic conception of American identity in the years between Cahan's Yekl, Yezierska's The Bread Givers, and Morrison's The Bluest Eye, is essentially unchanged. Each of the characters in these novels face a conception of American identity that is drawn along racial lines, and the arc of each novel's plot is centered on each character's attempt to transcend their racial otherness to be accepted by American society. In the following analysis, we will first look at the ways racial identity operates in these three novels. Secondly, we will look at Randolph Bourne's essay "Trans-national America" to see how Morrison's desire to avoid racial hierarchy fits into his basic scheme, and how the protagonists of the novels do not.

The crisis at the center of Abraham Cahan's story is presented as a conflict between Jake's ethnic past, his racial otherness in America and his ambition to be, in his…...

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Works Cited

Bourne, Randolph "Trans-National America" The Atlantic Monthly Vol. 118:1 (July 1916): 86-97.

Cahan, Abraham Yekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1896

Morrison, Toni The Bluest Eye. New York: Penguin USA, 1970.

Yezierska, Anzia The Bread Givers. New York: Doubleday, 1925.

Echoes of the Colonial Era in American Identity Essay The American Identity during the 1700s was still very much in development. Prior to the American Revolution in the latter half of the century, the colonists for the most part considered themselves subjects of England and the British crown. They had a king, they had local governments in their territories with members who represented the crown, but their identity as citizens of an autonomous, independent nation was not nearly as full-fledged as it is today. The American Identity really came into being thanks to writings of individuals like Ben Franklin, whose autobiography laid the blueprint for the American Dream and showed that hard work and self-reliance can lead one to the “promised land” of happiness in America. Likewise, the oppression that many colonial leaders felt under the British and their dislike of having to pay taxes to the crown added to the…...

Native Tribes and American Identity It is reasonable to suggest that the United States would not exist in its current form without the contributions and influences of the millions of Native Americans who already lived here when the first colonists arrived. Not only did these early Native Americans teach the new European arrivals how to survive in the New World, in some cases they even freely supported them for years while they awaited assistance from Europe, all with no real expectation of being repaid in kind or turn. Without this assistance, the settlement of the American continent might well have been delayed for several more decades.
In addition, and although many modern Americans may not realize it, the so-called “melting pot” that would characterize the American identity during much of the 19th and 20th centuries was the direct result of the influences of Native American tribes. Moreover, Native American tribes were also…...

American Ethnic Literature
There are so many different voices within the context of the United States. This country is one which is built on cultural differences. Yet, for generations the only voices expressed in literature or from the white majority. Contemporary American ethnic literature is important in that it reflects the multifaceted nature of life in the United States. It is not pressured by the white majority anymore, but is rather influenced by the extremely varying experiences of vastly different individuals, as seen in the works of alph Ellison's Invisible Man, Gloria Anzaldua's "How to Tame a Wild Tongue," and Cathy Song's poem "Lost Sister." American ethnic literature speaks for minority voices, which have long been excluded in earlier generations of American society.

American ethnic literature has developed enormously over the last few centuries, and especially within the context of just the last few decades. In today's literary world, it now shows…...

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References

Anzaldua, Gloria. "How to Tame a Wild Tongue." Borderland / La Frontera. Web. http://wolfweb.unr.edu/homepage/calabj/282/how%20to%20tame%20wild%20tongue.pdf

Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. Vintage International. 1995.

Franco, Dean J. Ethnic American Literature: Comparing Chicano, Jewish, and African-American Writing. University of Virginia Press. 2006.

Lee, Robert A. Multicultural American Literature: Comparative Black, Native, Latino/a and Asian-American Fictions. University Press of Mississippi. 2003.

American?
In J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur's letter "hat is an American?," the author attempts to familiarize the reader with the general lifestyle and character of a settler inhabiting the British North American colonies in an effort to demonstrate the concept of a uniquely American identity, formed out of the disparate influences which informed the culture of the time and region. De Crevecoeur describes the terrain, climate, religious attitudes, and occupations found on the newly colonized continent, and in doing so he illustrates the set of conditions which had helped transform the colonies' diverse European population into a unique, new culture known as American.

According to de Crevecoeur, the essence of the American identity is its multicultural heritage, or more specifically, its diverse European background. Because of the intermarriage of many European settlers since the early days of colonization, the American "is either an European, or the descendant of an…...

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Works Cited

Crevecoeur, J.H.S.J. (1904). Letters from an american farmer. New York, NY: Fox, Duffield & Company.

American Novel
On the Road with Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons

The romance of the open road. The dusty highway. The screech of brakes and the roar of the gas pedal. All of these images come straight from Jack Kerouac's seminal novel On the Road, a tale of the American 1950's Beatnik experience, a tale of America viewed through travel and the window of a car. According to Kerouac, one is most American and yet most away from the pressures of one's family and American society when one is traveling. Yet Sharon Creech's book Walk Two Moons could also, in its own fashion, also be classified as a novel of the American road, very much along the lines of the Beatnik Kerouac.

Given that Jack Kerouac was telling a tale of deviancy and dropouts, rather than of familial connection and harmony, this thesis may sound strange to the ears, at first. Also,…...

ports and popular culture (NFL/NBA)
Prelude

Pop Culture

Popular culture entails all forms of mass communication such as:

Newspapers

Radio

Magazines

Music

Books and Cartoons and comics

Advertising

It is somewhat different compared to higher forms of cultural art such as:

Classical music

Artworks

Conventional theatre

In terms of mass communication, popular culture means messages which are intellectually and artistically limited primarily designed to entertain and humor the viewers (Hollander, 2014). Following the industrial revolution, the people had a lot of time to spare which led to a huge demand for entertainment and amusement and gave height to media. The increasing supply of goods also made it necessary for the advertisers to attract the consumers and mass media could reach a large number of audiences at the same time (Hollander, 2014).

ports

The physical activities have always been in the life of human beings in the form of different leisure activities. These activities consisted of hunting and war-like nature as well as dancing and other activities.…...

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Sports have played a huge role in the American society on the whole as they have become a necessary part of the popular culture. American football is quite a popular game which brings NFL (National Football League) in limelight. NFL is same to same as other sports have an off season too when they are on a season break. Leagues such as NBA (National Basketball Association), MLB (Major League Baseball) and NHL (National Hockey League) follow the same pattern which builds the hype for them (Lee, 2012). It enables the public to forget all about sports for a while until it swings back in action again. The off season usually consists of training sessions, gym, trading players, NFL Combine and NFL Draft. These activities are heavily kept watch of by loyal fans followed by intense discussions (House, 2012).

Super Bowl is intensely popular in United States. Even the non-followers are somehow influenced by it as they hear news about it or by viewing it. The news channels mention regularly and social media is definitely on fire with news and updates. A famous band plays during halftime while a draw exists for watching the advertisements during the game and halftime (Lee, 2012). Companies are compelled to dish out loads of cash to display advertise themselves as the Super Bowl progresses. These ads are usually creative and funny and sometimes mixed. People for the sake of fun choose a particular team and cheer it till the end or otherwise friends pick a team and contend that it will win the title. It's sort of a public gathering event where food is enjoyed and drinks are taken in huge quantities. Tostitos and Doritos are chips found mostly at super Bowl parties while in case of drinks Coke, Pepsi and Budweiser. For the sports fans, it's their day off as they spend the entire day in front of a TV or mocking the opponent's team for fun. TV shows often give reference to Super Bowl just as Christmas and Halloween. Betting on a high level is also involved for the winning team, people are cut some slack from office, schools and colleges as it's the biggest event of the year (Hollander, 2014).

In 'Popular culture and the rituals of American Football' by Mark Axelrod, several cultural practices in America regarding football are mentioned. Before the ports went global, there were a lot of rituals and myths

The author attributes the apparent lack of clarity about the issue to the fact that American's debates about nationality are a reflection of huge contradiction in the estern tradition. In this case, American scholars state that the United States is similar to the France because its nationality has been based on universal principles rather than parochial since independence. Therefore, for an individual to be an American, he/she had to commit to an ideology of equality, democracy, and liberty (Foner, p. 152).
The second aspect used by the author in support of his argument is slavery that helped in shaping American identity. Through slavery, the value of American citizenship was forced to partially rest on its denial of others. Since it made up the most impenetrable limit of American citizenship, slavery made all blacks invisible to the people who were imagining or crafting the American community. The third aspect that seemingly…...

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Work Cited:

Forner. "Chapter Seven - Who Is an American?" Who Owns History? n.d. 149-66. Print.

The Evolution of American Identity Through Literature The diversity within the American experience, and as well within the canon of American literature, precludes the possibility of singling out two or even ten of the novels, poems, or short stories that best encapsulate what it means to be American. From the colonial and early national era and the fledgling formation of national identity through the struggles of emancipation from slavery and transcendentalism, onwards to the industrial and capitalist eras, American literature has provided an accurate reflection of the lives of individuals and communities that comprise life in different regions of the country. Geographic and cultural differentiations also help to expand what it means to be American, taking into account race, class, gender, and generation. Threads that tie together Americans throughout time and in spite of radical differences in worldview include staunch independence and self-reliance, coupled with a profound optimism. Trust in the…...

Essay Topic Examples
1. The Role of Nature in the American Renaissance Romantic eriod:
    Explore how nature is characterized and glorified in the works of American Renaissance Romantic writers. Discuss the symbolic and thematic significance of the natural world in the context of societal progress and the individual's spiritual journey.

2. Transcendentalism and Its Influence on American Romantic Literature:
    Analyze the philosophical movement of Transcendentalism and its impact on the literature of the American Renaissance Romantic period. Examine how transcendentalist ideas of self-reliance and intuition are reflected in the period's literary outputs.

3. Evolving erspectives on Individualism in American Romantic Literature:
    Discuss how the concept of individualism manifests in the works of American Romantic authors. Compare and contrast different authors' views on self-identity, personal freedom, and their critique of conformity.

4. The Intersection of Romanticism and Gothicism in American Renaissance Literature:
    Evaluate how American Renaissance writers blended Romantic and Gothic elements to create unique narratives exploring human psychology,…...

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Primary Sources

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. \"Nature.\" Boston: James Munroe and Company, 1836.

Thoreau, Henry David. \"Walden; or, Life in the Woods.\" Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1854.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. \"The Scarlet Letter.\" Boston: Ticknor, Reed & Fields, 1850.

Poe, Edgar Allan. \"The Raven and Other Poems.\" New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1845.

Whitman, Walt. \"Leaves of Grass.\" Brooklyn, NY: Walt Whitman, 1855.

American history is an exercise in country branding and national identity construction. Through a careful editorializing and curating of historical documents, events, and places, historians contribute to the shaping of American identity, ideology, and culture. Revisiting the process of history making shows how historians and history educators can encourage critical thought, shifting away from the use of historiography as propaganda toward a discursive process. Historians can define and interpret evidence in different ways based on their own historical and cultural context, and the influences of prevailing social norms.
American history has long been a myth-making process, rather than a discursive exercise. Westad (2007), Dudziak (2004) and Manela all points out how the United States has cultivated and crafted an identity based on the tenets of liberty, justice, and freedom. Yet in practice, the nation has been an exercise in exploitation, imperialism, and racism. "From its inception the United States was an…...

American and European Literature
Suggesting that there is a fundamental difference between American and European literature means much more than acknowledging that the culture produced by geographically distinct regions is similarly distinct, because it suggests that there are much deeper underlying symbols and tropes which mark these cultural productions as distinctly American or European regardless of the wide variety of genres and themes present in the literature of either region. hile the claim of an identifiable distinction between American and European literature feels accurate due to the clear differences between American and European culture, this claim requires critical examination because of the potential for stereotype and condescension inherent in it. Examining some of the more important factors which might produce a recognizable difference between these two canons, as well as the processes responsible for the formation of literary canons in the first place, reveals that the differences between American and European…...

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Works Cited

Guillory, John. Cultural capital: the problem of literary canon formation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993.

Kronick, Joseph. "Writing American: Between Canon and Literature." CR: The New Centennial

Review. 1.3 (2001): 37-66. Print.

Messent, Peter, and Louis Budd. A companion to Mark Twain. Malden: Blackwell, 2005.

Compelling Essay Titles for Immigration

General Titles:

The Immigration Conundrum: Challenges and Opportunities for a Changing World
Migration and the Making of Modern Societies: The Role of Immigration
Immigration: A Human Rights Imperative or a Threat to National Security?
Immigration: Shaping National Identities in the 21st Century
The Paradox of Immigration: Economic Benefits vs. Social Challenges

Historical Perspectives:

Immigration in History: From the Pilgrims to the Present Day
The Waves of Immigration: How Immigration has Shaped the United States
Immigration and American Identity: A Historical Dialogue
The Immigration Melting Pot: Myth or Reality?
The Push and Pull Factors of Immigration: A Historical....

1. The impact of colonization on Native American societies
2. The role of cultural preservation in Native American communities
3. The effects of federal Indian policies on Native American tribes
4. The representation of Native Americans in media and popular culture
5. The ongoing struggle for land rights and sovereignty for Native American tribes
6. The importance of language preservation in Native American communities
7. The challenges faced by Native American youth in contemporary society
8. The intersection of environmental activism and Native American rights
9. The significance of traditional healing practices in Native American communities
10. The contributions of Native Americans to American history and culture.
11. The impact....

Ecological Impacts of the Dust Bowl

The Devastating Effects of Dust Storms on Plant and Animal Life
Soil Erosion and the Loss of Agricultural Productivity
The Long-Term Ecological Legacy of the Dust Bowl

Economic Impacts of the Dust Bowl

The Collapse of the Agricultural Economy in the Great Plains
The Migration of Farm Workers and the Rise of Migrant Labor Camps
The Government Response to the Economic Crisis and its Lasting Impact

Social and Cultural Impacts of the Dust Bowl

The Psychological and Emotional Toll of Living Through the Dust Storms
The Rise of Dust Bowl Literature and Art
The Cultural Legacy....

Chapter 1: Ancient Civilizations

The Rise and Fall of the Sumerian City-States
The Indus Valley Civilization: Unraveling the Enigma
The Ancient Egyptian Civilization: Pyramids, Pharaonic Power, and Daily Life
The Minoan and Mycenaean Civilizations: Maritime Masters of the Aegean
The Zhou Dynasty and the Birth of Chinese Civilization

Chapter 2: Classical Civilizations

The Athenian Golden Age: Democracy, Philosophy, and the Arts
The Roman Empire: Conquests, Governance, and the Pax Romana
The Mauryan Empire: From Chandragupta to Ashoka's Legacy
The Hellenistic World: A Syncretic Blend of Greek and Persian Cultures
The Han Dynasty: China's Ascendancy and Technological Innovations

Chapter 3: Medieval Civilizations

The....