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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.

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Paper Undergraduate

Iranian Immigration to the U.S.

This paper focuses on Iranian immigrants to the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s. It investigates the reason that they left Iran, as well as the hostile reception they received in the United States. It concludes with the author's opinion about whether immigrating is a choice the author would have chosen under the same circumstances.

Paper Doctorate

20th Century Conflict the Latter

The Latter 20th Century: Conflict Fueled by Economic and Political Change

Paper Undergraduate

Cultural family background and its effects on development

¶ … young Americans any consideration of their cultural background is deemed irrelevant to their daily lives. Having been a part of American culture for several generations, they look beyond themselves as being purely…

Paper High School

4th, 5th, 6th, Amendments Safeguarding

America places a great deal of importance on the individual freedoms of each of its citizens. The American myth, whether completely true or just part of our cultural psychology, is that this country was founded to…

Research Paper Doctorate

McDonald's strengths, weaknesses, and competitive strategies

Marketing Analysis for McDonald's Corporation

Essay Doctorate

Fenianism as a threat to British rule in Ireland, 1860s-1870s

This paper is about Modern Ireland- Was Fenianism ever really a serious threat to British rule in Ireland in the 1860's and 1870's? Please analyze and make an argument. This paper is about Modern Ireland- Was Fenianism ever really a serious threat to British rule in Ireland in the 1860's and 1870's? Please analyze and make an argument.

Essay Doctorate

Hotel Industry Is Currently in the Middle

This paper is about hotel management. There are four questions. The first is about the current state of the hotel industry business cycle. The second is about the demographic factors in New Orleans for the type of hotel chosen. Then the hotel's org chart is described and then how the forecasts are done.

Paper Undergraduate

Isolation African-American Civil Rights Historically,

African Americans endured a lengthy struggle to get as many civil rights as they presently have. Education played a huge part of this process, as was presaged by W.E.B. Du Bois in his essay "The Talented Tenth". Ultimately, these people had to learn to use the political, social and legislative tools of the U.S. to achieve this goal.

Starbucks the Company That I

This paper is about Starbucks. The issue at hand is a managerial challenge that must be solved. In this case, managing the company's plans for rapid growth in China is the challenge that is to be overcome. The different issues are outlined, and then recommendations are provided to deal with the challenge.

Research Paper Undergraduate

Compare Modern to Contemporary Literature

The contrast between Modernist and Contemporary literature is vast. Both reflect the particular ages that they were created in. Modernism was authored in the late 19th to early 20th centuries when psychodynamics was on its rise; existentialist philosophy was the philosophy of the moment, and man, emerging from one World War was attempting to understand his way in the world and was disillusioned with existence. Religion, too, was supplanted by influential philosophers such as Nietzsche, and break in fall ways was conducted with the past. Modernism and post-modernism, represented by chaos, new experimental forms of style and creation, was the trend of the moment. Much of it was disjointed (as in the style of Joyce) and subversive. Contemporary themes, however, were written by writers who lived after the Second World War and were dealing with life in the modern century – in the examples given, in America. Themes included bigotry, technology, the Cold War; being a misfit, a minority, and despair at not belonging, meaninglessness of life; economic fragility; Civil Rights; and feminism. Both Modernism and Contemporary literature reflects its particular age in different ways.

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