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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

Realism and Liberalism in U.S.

One of the longer international conflicts in recent history is the perpetual state of conflict which has existed between the United States and Iran, a revamped Cold War of ideological rivals that has simmered since the 1979 Islamic Revolution resulted in a prolonged hostage crisis. Beginning with President Jimmy Carter's humiliation at the hands of the embassy hostage takers in Tehran, and continuing through the 1980's as the Reagan Administration retaliated to Hezbollah terrorist attacks by shooting down Iran Air Flight 655 in an ostensibly erroneous application of military power, the state of international relations between America and Iran has been defined by hostility and distrust. When President George W. Bush included Iran in his now infamous "Axis of Evil" soliloquy during his 2002 State of the Union address, this invective signaled that the impasse between these two nations, both considered economic and cultural powers within the Western and Islamic cultures respectively, had continued to harden with the progression of time. Today, the nuclear aspirations of Iran's dictatorial regime represent the most current manifestation of this increasingly volatile standoff, as President Barack Obama engages in a practical process involving stern diplomacy, targeted economic sanctions, and the use of social media to sabotage Iran's established ruling order.

Paper Doctorate

Analysis of a genuine business communication problem

This essay is a fictional case scenario involving a college HRM team and an internal communication problem experienced by the team. It makes a comparison to a similar communications problem in a real-life business organization. In this case, the main problem was the discouragement of dissent by junior members of the team and the real-life situation was the failure of risk management on the BP Deepwater Horizon driling platform that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.

Paper Doctorate

Dream Act -- Immigration Controversy the \"Dream

Introduction The "Dream Act" is legislation that was originally introduced to the U.S. Congress in 2001 and in 2009 it was re-introduced after being co-authored by Republican U.S. Senator Orin Hatch of Utah and Democrat U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois. The "Dream" Act in Dream Act is an acronym for "The Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act." The Act is designed to allow young Latinos – who are technically illegal immigrants – to avoid deportation and become American citizens through a specific legal process. These young people were brought into the U.S. by their undocumented immigrant parents as children, but because they have never achieved citizenship, they fear the worst – deportation. Hence, the Dream Act would allow Latinos who at present are illegal – and who were under the age of 15 when their parents brought them into the United States and are under the age of 30 now – to remain legally in the U.S. for up to six years if certain requirements are realized.

Paper Doctorate

Computer Hacking, Electronic Surveillance and the Movie

This paper looks at the movie Sneakers (1992) and examines the issues of computer hacking and electronic surveillance as portrayed in the film and as they relate to today's world. The paper briefly recounts the movie's plot and discusses the consequences of computer hacking. It then explores the prevalence of electronic surveillance and what these practices mean to civil liberties.

Paper Doctorate

Behaviorism During the Previous Months,

During the previous months, a summer program has been organized for the children from the unprivileged socio-economic backgrounds. The scope of the program was that of offering unique and joyous moments for children whose parents did not have the possibility to offer them summer vacations. In other words, the scope of the summer program was that of gathering selected children and integrating them in daily activities of fishing, scouting and other such entertaining activities.

Research Paper Doctorate

The American experience: history, culture, and society

The End of Savagery: The Abolition of Traditional, American Indian Societies to pave way for the White American's "New World" Society

Research Paper Doctorate

Multiculturalism concepts and applications

America's fear of multiculturalism and destabilization of the status quo: Insights from "A different mirror" by Ronald Takaki

Research Paper Doctorate

Women's history: key events and perspectives

Mary Paik Lee's Quiet Odyssey is the story of the silent struggles of many immigrant Americans, who have had to endure pain, poverty, and prejudice in order to form a sense of community and identity.

Research Paper Doctorate

Discrimination Involves Classifying People Into Different Groups

Discrimination involves classifying people into different groups and giving the members of each group distinct and typically unequal treatments and rights (Wikipedia, 2003). The criteria defining the groups determine…

Paper Undergraduate

Organizational structure concepts and frameworks

¶ … ethic immigration services in the U.S. are non-profit organizations catering to Mexican immigrants (Instituto de Los Mexicanos en le Exterior, 2010 in Amayo-Castro, 2011). The objective of these organizations is to…

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