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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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Drug and alcohol use among teenagers and young adults

Literature Review Although there have been many significant achievements in drug abuse prevention over the past few decades, drug use among youth continues to be a leading health risk. Alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use have had an extraordinary impact on morbidity and mortality of youth. The cost of negative outcomes attributed to adolescent drug use affects nearly half a million individuals annually (Peterson, 2010). Economic costs of the use of alcohol tobacco and other drugs by youth were estimated to reach $484 billion in 2004 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2004). In the current essay the author will discuss problem of drug and alcohol use among teenagers and youth of 18-25 years old. The author has reviewed twelve research study on the drug and alcohol use among the teenagers and adults between the ages of 18-25.

Research Paper Undergraduate

North Korea's nuclear program and threats to regional security

Abstract The study highlights the various aspects behind North Korea's provocation to the US, South Korea and Japan with the help of their nuclear weapons, media and foreign policy. Introduction: "The most critical thing in the war of North Korea is to teach everyone of our nation to hate US imperialism, or else, all of us will be unable to defeat them who are boating about their technological superiority." These are the famous words of the leader of North Korea who had instigated the hatred for US and its allies in the North Koreans. The beliefs and ideology of North Korea is entirely different from Unites States of America, Japan and South Korea and there have been many issues in the past amongst these nations. The conflicting national interest and the pursuit for technological superiority is a major threat to the world development and world security.

Paper Doctorate

Benedict Arnold's transformation from Revolutionary hero to infamous traitor

Throughout the American history there have been many intriguing characters, courageous and intellectual men that fuel inspiration in the later generations preceded by those who will go down in the history unnoticed and overshadowed due to the bravery, intellect and achievements of others and finally there are those who became famous not for their acts of valor but for the wrong reasons. Benedict Arnold was born to a successful business man in 1741 at Norwich Connecticut ; he earned himself the position of an army general in American Revolutionary war after achieving great victories for the Continental Army and exhibited great leadership, valor and warfare expertise.

Paper High School

California wildfires: causes, impacts, and prevention strategies

This paper discusses the dangers of wildfires in the state of California. There are lots of things which cause wildfires to spread in California. Santa Ana winds spread the wildfires. Also human interaction with the environment causes fires either intentionally or accidentally. The wildfires are very dangerous for peopel and animals.

Paper Undergraduate

Gil Martin's addiction risks and health vulnerabilities as a Hispanic-American worker

This paper profiles Gil Martin, a middle-aged Hispanic truck driver who is dealing with the problems of caring for aging parent and the stress of living with his wife and their children and stepchildren. Martin suffers from lower back problems and high cholesterol. The paper suggests a program of exercise to reduce the risks of Martin becoming dependent upon prescription painkillers.

Research Paper Undergraduate

The Patriot Act's threat to privacy rights and civil liberties

The Patriot Act also has the ability to strip the American public of their basic rights to privacy. The Patriot Act allows easy access to financial records, pen registers and trap-trace devices could be installed on personal computers and telephones, and student records can be accessed without consent of the school (Unpatriotic Acts).

Paper Doctorate

George Magnus's predictions of the 2008 financial crisis

George Magnus is a leading Economic Advisor at the UBS Investment Bank and has been a rebel around different systems in the world. George was employed in the UBS investment bank from 2004 till 2012. Along with being the senior economic advisor, he also played the highest level economist from 1997 till 2004. Prior to working for the UBS, he was working as a chief economist in SG Warburg from 1987 till 1995. Magnus is known for his work and cooperation with famous banks of both America and United Kingdom. The economist has authored many books and uploaded regular reviews which can be found at his website.

Paper Doctorate

Why companies expand internationally and establish global operations

The 5 major reasons that companies expand internationally (or globalize) are the following: They seek (1) cheaper or more plentiful supplies,- Sometimes the resources in one's own country (either labor or material or both) can be too expensive for the company. Seeking cheaper resources, they may decide to relocate to another country where such is the case. For instance, many companies choose to relocate to parts of E. Europe or to Asia where they may find a pool of cheap labor. They may also find more plentiful supplies for their product than can be found within their own country (for instance, someone producing paper may want to move to a country where trees are in larger supply)

Discrimination and cultural identity of Italian-Americans in the 1930s

Italian Americans – 1930s Introduction The American experience for Italian immigrants (with particular emphasis on the 1930s) is the salient topic for this paper. The materials presented from scholarly sources in this paper show the positive and negative impacts experienced by Italian American immigrants; those sources will also be critiqued and analyzed in the context of the experiences, including impacts such as discrimination that Italian Americans went through during the 1930s.

Paper Undergraduate

Lincoln as an outsider leader and transformational change

Schumpeter's essay (Dec 1st 2012) "Lincoln and leadership" in the Economist discusses Lincoln's leadership skills, showing how, occasionally, in American – and general history a leader arose who had unconventional leadership skills and was, indeed, an outsider to the system. Sometimes, in fact – and extraordinarily as it was – the outsider was better than eh insider: more skilled, knowledgeable. He could see it with a fresh eye. Schumpeter (2012) therefore proposes that it may be this very skill of the outsider: the ability to see the situation with a certain freshness that enables him to succeed and makes him so fitting for the task. Lincoln was one of these outsiders… The essay proceeds to discuss various leadership skills and to demarcate between insider and outsider

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