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An Analysis of the Nature of American Identity

Land of the Free and Home of the Brave! Today there are approximately 250 million living Americans. But what exactly is an American? This is a very difficult question to answer, for there is absolutely no answer that everyone will agree upon! Technically speaking, an American is any person who is a citizen of the United States of America, either by birth or by naturalization. Yet this superficial definition does not even begin to describe what an American truly represents. […]

An Analysis of the American Identity in the Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

In the novel Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison weaves an allegorical story about a man who discovers the very essence of the American identity and his role within it. This tale is narrated through the eyes of a nameless Southern black man who claims to be invisible. From his beginnings as a black educated fool (pg. 143) to his present stage of invisibility, the speaker had many conflicts in which he gained a lot of wisdom. Towards the end of his […]

The Many Events that has Created the American Identity in History

American identity has been created by many events throughout the course of history. This country was founded on the clashing and mixing of many different cultures and lifestyles. One of the most important periods of time for this country was during the period of conflict between Americans and Native Americans over land rights. Americans had an idea of manifest destiny and that this land was theirs for the taking. The Americans were going to walk through anyone who opposed them […]

An Introduction to the American Identity in 18th and 19th Century

It can strongly be argued, as it has for many years, whether or not an American identity ever occurred between 1776 and 1861. The answer to this question really depends on your definition of what an identity consists of. An identity is the sameness in all that constitutes the objective reality of a thing; oneness. The thirteen colonies tried hard to find a sense of themselves as a nation even before they had a nation. Nationality became an American invention […]

The Meaning Behind the American Identity

What does it mean to be a true American? This question has been asked many times when it comes to the topic of immigration. Americanization in itself is a mysterious aspect of our society. In the world today, everyone has his or her own identity but not everyone is accepted or considered American because he or she might stray from the American way. If the term un-American means someone who does not have the characteristics of or who is not […]

Discussing the Ethnic Diversity in the United States in Relation to American Identity

The country of the United States of America has been founded on the basis of immigration and ethnicities. So what necessarily makes one an American? Many people think that our nation should be looked at as one nation of a group of people, bottom line. This can and will not be able to happen in our country. Because of our differences as people, the United States will always be looked upon as a nation of ethnically diverse people. Our ethnic […]

An Analysis of the American Identity as Presented by Erikson and Goffman

When foreigners think of America, they think of McDonaldils, the Statue of Liberty, Hollywood film stars, and the list goes on. In terms of Americans, people associate Texans with cowboy boats, Californians with surfboards, and New Yorkers with a snobbish grin on their face. It is true that all these things represent America in one way or another, but what exactly is American identity? Erikson’s analysis on American identity has drawn attention to four topics: Mom, adolescent, boss, and machine. […]

Second Generation Asian-American Identity in Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Hesitant. Hopeless. Humiliating. Centered in Seattle, Washington, near the end of WW11 when the Japanese living in America are forced to internment camps. It follows Henry Lee through multiple storylines of him growing up in the 1940s and as a widower with a son in the 1980s, describing the pains and horrors he faced while focusing on his young love with Keiko Okabe. In Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Jaime Ford presents the view that identity is […]

The Manifest of the Changes of American Identity

Americans of today’s society view their home country as a melting pot of culture, customs, and creeds. America has grown to be the most culturally diverse nation in the world but this feat did not happen rapidly. The most culturally diverse country in the world consisted, in its most ancient of forms, of untamed and pristine land as well as a race of people who lived to worship the land that they thrived on. Only after their land was explored […]

The American Identity in Joyve Moser and Ann Watters’ Creating America

In Creating America, Joyce Moser and Ann Watters suggest, “In understanding American identities, we need to come to terms with unity and division, with separateness and common ground”. As we take a look at the primary text, we begin to understand the logic behind Moser and Watters’ assertion about American identity. Through meticulous analysis, we find a shared similarity of opposing ideas in specific texts, such as “unity and division” and “separateness and common ground”. Furthermore, in the description of […]

Italian-American Identity in Stallone’s Rocky

Sylvester Stallone’s “Rocky” is universally regarded as a classic film. Winning multiple Oscars, launching the acting career of Stallone himself (perhaps not the best consequence in the long run…), and inspiring several people to run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, virtually everyone has cheered on “The Italian Stallion” in his fight against Apollo Creed and knows Rocky Balboa as a household name. However, what most people don’t realize is that the film contains several ideas related […]

The Development of American Identity through Different Aspects of Society and Culture

America was still a colony of Britain and shared in its imperial identity. Development of this American identity was witnessed in various sectors of society. Through sports we see the American culture trying to define its leisure activities to drinking parlors where the society sought some recreation time and the literature through which the emerging American sought to shape his identity. These pillars of the American way of life greatly influenced its emergent identity in the 19th century and ultimately […]

American Identity Essays