PaperDue

Essay Topic Hub

American
Essays

6,541+ paper examples, study guides & outlines

6,541 papers

1 subject area

UG & Grad levels

Free to browse

What is American?

The concept of "American" as a subject of study spans disciplines ranging from history and sociology to literature and cultural studies. It invites students to examine what defines American identity, society, and values — questions that resist simple answers. Courses in world studies, American history, and cultural analysis regularly ask students to interrogate the idea of America as both a geographic place and an evolving set of ideals. Works like J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur's 1782 letter posing the question "What Is an American?" and figures such as Benjamin Franklin and Amiri Baraka serve as anchors for exploring how American identity has been constructed, contested, and redefined across centuries.

Student papers on this topic take a wide range of approaches. Comparative essays examine American values alongside European or Asian counterparts, or place historical periods like the Progressive Era and the New Deal in direct contrast. Other papers use case studies to analyze specific social and political developments — the Abolition Movement, the Americans with Disabilities Act, or the influence of Latin migration on American life. Cultural and media analysis appears as well, with papers exploring pop music in the 1980s, advertising's effect on dietary choices, and the evolution of the cell phone as a lens into American society.

A strong essay on an American studies topic works best when it anchors a broad theme in a specific argument. Effective evidence draws on policy documents, literary texts, historical events, or cultural artifacts rather than vague generalizations about national character. The most common pitfall is treating "America" as a monolith — successful essays acknowledge the diversity of voices, regions, and experiences that shape any aspect of American life.

6,541 papers

Sort by:

Research Paper Undergraduate

Race, Ideology, and U.S. Foreign Policy in the Cold War Era

In his book Merrill reinterprets the history of United States foreign policy decisions through the viewpoint of a specific, American ideology. According to Merrill, a central ideology has driven and shaped American…

Paper Undergraduate

Ray and Joan Kroc Community Center: Chicago's West Pullman

This paper provides an examination of the neighborhood context, including the history of the area, a description of current issues affecting the area including unemployment, foreclosure, high school education and violence rates to demonstrate why the Kroc Community Center is needed. A discussion of the various services that are offered at the Kroc Community Center, including its target population for these services, and the fee required for these services is followed by a discussion concerning whether there or not local families can afford these services. Finally, a discussion concerning the Kroc's Center building and operating costs and sources of funding is followed by a comparison of services offered at the Kids Off the Block organization with respect to grassroots or corporate philanthropy. A summary of the research and important findings concerning the foregoing issues are provided in the paper's conclusion.

Research Paper Undergraduate

CBT for Childhood Anxiety and School Performance: Study Review

¶ … student is dependent upon numerous things, including the child's social-emotional status. Anxiety disorders incorporate themselves into a child's life in ways that school becomes a difficult task.

Paper Doctorate

Business Strategy, Management, and Trade: Three Forum Essays

As a former heavy-hitter in the business world, Republican Californian gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman has repeatedly stressed the need for deregulation of business sin order to increase international trade and…

Paper Undergraduate

Marketing Strategy in the Retail Home Furnishings Industry

The retail home furnishings industry is being adversely impacted by the global recession, with demand for these products predicted to continually suffer as housing starts fall throughout the first and second calendar…

Research Paper Undergraduate

High-Context vs. Low-Context Cultures in Intercultural Communication

Explain how differences in the perception of time and the use of space affect intercultural and co-cultural communication.

Paper Undergraduate

Kant's Ethics and the Morality of Torturing Terrorists

If we torture a suspected terrorist in order to gain information about future terrorist plots, are we treating him as a means to an end and not an end in itself? That is, by Kant's lights, are we acting immorally?

Research Paper Undergraduate

Mexican Californians After 1848: Immigration and Society

The United States is rightfully considered to be a country of immigrants. Its entire history was marked by continuous flows of people coming from all corners of the world in search for a better world.

Paper Doctorate

Income Inequality and the Causes of the Great Depression

In terms of American history, the Great Depression looms over the U.S. like some sort of mythological ogre, albeit an economic one, and this ogre frightens politicians and the public alike. Economists, historians, and others have debated the causes of the Great Depression ever since it happened, with a number of theories to explain the worst economic collapse in the history of the world, but the most likely theory is a rather simple one: economic inequality. The truth is that too much wealth was accumulated in the hands of too few people who did not use it for the benefit of the national economy.

Research Paper Doctorate

Alienation in 20th-Century North American Literature

North American literature of the twentieth century began as a predominantly white male-dominated literature, on the heels of 19th century romantic literary expression, such as within the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne,…

← Prev 1 2 3 … 35 655 Next →