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What is America?

America as a topic of academic study spans nearly every discipline, from history and political science to public health, literature, and cultural studies. Its breadth makes it a common subject in introductory college courses as well as upper-level seminars, where students are asked to examine the nation's political institutions, social tensions, and evolving identity. What makes the topic academically rich is precisely its complexity: the United States has served as a site of competing visions, from debates over economic policy and national power to questions of individual rights and social change. Papers touching on figures like Edward M. Bannister, Sam Patch, and Heather Whitestone illustrate how individual stories can illuminate broader national narratives.

The papers archived under this topic reflect a wide range of approaches. Historical analyses trace developments across defined periods, such as America's rise to world power during the Gilded Age or the military origins of the republic from 1763 to 1789. Policy-focused essays examine specific controversies, including welfare from a libertarian perspective, same-sex marriage, and the Cuba-related Helms-Burton legislation. Other papers take a social or public health angle, addressing issues like childhood obesity or health promotion strategies. Comparative and philosophical approaches also appear, as in contrasting the theories of David Hume and William James within an American intellectual context.

A strong essay on America establishes a focused thesis rather than attempting to survey the entire nation's history or character. Evidence drawn from primary sources, policy documents, historical events, or specific case studies carries more weight than broad generalizations. The most common pitfall is treating "America" as a monolithic subject — the strongest papers define a precise time period, population, or issue and argue a clear, defensible position about it.

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Paper High School

Aldo Leopold and Environmental History in Answering

In answering the question of whether the United States has improved on environmental policy since the 1930s, the cyclical nature of the political system must be considered. A generational reform cycle occurs every 30-40…

Paper High School

Effects of Cigarette Smoking

Cigarette smoking kills, and where it does not, it still inflicts significant harm upon both the smoker and those in his or her vicinity, the victims of so-called second-hand smoke.

Paper Undergraduate

history of korea

South Korea is known today as one of the rising economic giants of the industrialized world. The nation is a respected U.S. ally, and a center for fashion and technology, not to mention other industries.

Additional specifications and requirements

In evaluating China's prospects for achieving superpower status, especially during this economic crisis, the first research question would take into consideration whether and to what degree the United States is in decline as a superpower, and if it is, then whether China is simply going to achieve superpower status by default. This is what happened to the British Empire after decades of economic decline and then bankruptcy as a result of the Second World War: the U.S. took its place as the leading world power. Certainly the U.S. position seems far shakier today than it did in the 1950s and 1960s or in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Even the predominant economic model that it has been propounding worldwide since the 1980s, that of free trade and free markets is no longer sweeping all before it as it did after the Cold War.

Paper Doctorate

Intolerance Restoration Intolerance vs. Prodigal Similarities Differences

America has long been seen as a cultural "melting pot" in which each group that comes to this country is melted into an American. This metaphor assumes that the original culture is lost, or must be lost, in the process of becoming a "true American." This document contains a compare and contrast essay to reinstate this point.

Joy Luck Club the Review With American Culture Study

The Joy Luck Club (1993) was based on Amy Tan's 1989 novel and deals with issues of culture, assimilation and generation conflicts between a group of four Chinese mothers and their Americanized daughters. All four women in the club had emigrated from China to the U.S. after World War II, and met after church to play Chinese mahjong every week. In reality, they had little joy or luck, and no expectations, only the hope that their children would have better lives than theirs. An-mei Hsu and her daughter Rose were often in conflict over her American husband Ted Jordan, who was wealthy, and the fact that she regarded Rose as too weak and passive.

Essay Undergraduate

Charles Horton Cooley and his contributions to sociology

Charles Horton Cooley is a great sociologist who has contributed significantly to the field of sociology. He was born in Michigan State where he studied and work. He was a professor in the University of Michigan and lived near the university with his wife and three children. Looking glass self was one of his greatest works. The paper evaluates some of the sociologist major papers in the field of sociology and economics. The contributions to the conflicts theory and functionalism theory will also be evaluated in the paper. Charles Horton Cooley died in 1929 in the same state he was born of cancer.

Essay Doctorate

Economic perspectives on the death penalty in religious contexts

In 1972, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of Furman v. Georgia that the death penalty, as applied in three capital cases in the state of Georgia was "cruel and unusual punishment and in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. (Hastings and Johnson, 2001, paraphrased) A mere four years later the state of Georgia was once against before the Supreme Court in the case of Gregg v. Georgia, a case in which the decision handed down by the court found that the death penalty was in fact constitutional. (Hastings and Johnson, 2001, paraphrased) The objective of this study is to examine the practice of the death penalty from an economic perspective. Towards this end, this study will examine the literature in this area of study. According to a recent report there are several states considering abolition of the death penalty including the states of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, and New Hampshire, all of which have "shifted the debate about capital punishment, at least in part, from morality to cost." (The Economist, 2009, p.1)

Paper Doctorate

Analysis of O Brother, Where Art Thou? and its literary connections

Famed filmmaking brothers Joel and Ethan Coen wrote and directed O Brother, Where Art Thou? The film was released shortly before Christmas of the year 2000. The film is a sort of remix and remake.

Paper Undergraduate

Thoughts on Book Readings

This three page paper explores readings that challenge the American worldview and portrayl of itself in historical accounts. How the US views itself is often at odds with how the rest of the world does. Why? Our shared history and collective narratives about who we have been is based on our cultural values and beliefs about who we are. This is very clear in our school texts which are markedly different from the retellings of the same major events in foreign texts. This paper examines this in closer detail.

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