...Definition Essay What do you think American means? Do you think that it’s just a person that lives in America? American isn’t just someone who stands up for the Pledge of Allegiance, an American is someone who does what they are suppose to do for this country. For example, the people in the military. These people are giving up their lives to serve their country, these people are the ones that let you live in America free and out of slavery. The real Americans are the ones out on the battlefield risking their lives and not knowing if they are going to come back to their family, friends, and loved ones. I don’t think that you are an American until you have been out on the battlefield. I think that if you are not going to be out on the battlefield,...
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... or a loving and supportive group. In most cases when people think of families they think of having a mom, dad, brother, sister. However, nothing in life is perfect. Today, we have separated , same sex, extended, and blended families. Society tries to explain these more contemporary families but has a harsh way of doing so. In the essay, Stone Soup, by Barbara Kingsolver, she discusses how society views families and in the essay, Family Values, by Richard Rodriguez, he talks about American family values. Both essays express the view that family should be valued regardless of differences. Kingsolver breaks down what it means to be a real family while Rodriguez emphasizes the value of family; both authors show the importance of having family. In the introduction of the Kingsolver essay, she talks about a young boy’s soccer game. She talks about how the young boy, whose name is Andy, has a blended family. Kingsolver writes, “He’s Andy, my best friend’s son. The cheering section includes his mother and her friends, his brother, his father, and stepmother, a stepbrother and stepsister, and a grandparent” (147). She uses her friend’s son as an real life example of what kind of family would be considered a broken family by society but is not. Andy’s family is supportive of him and loves him enough to come and cheer for him regardless of Pagan 2 his parents being divorced. Kingsolver talks about how society assumes if that a family is broken apart, it is a failure. She talks about how when she was growing up...
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...Complex Systems in Education CSE ESSAYS COURSE Complex Course on Writing English and American Essays for Advanced Students English Language Programs Division Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Writing 2 United States Information Agency, Washington, D. C. 1999 2 3 How to Use this Complex Course Частные уроки Английского Языка 387-1231 MIND Speaks to MIND – Selected American Essays 4 Preface Some years ago, a visitor to our office, a professor of English at a large foreign university, asked if the English Language Programs Division had published a book of American essays for foreign students – especially students at the advanced level. Having to respond in the negative, I was, nonetheless, “intrigued” by the idea of a collection of essays that would form a source of stimulating ideas or thoughts that could be thoroughly examined in the EFL classroom, discussed and debated in free conversation, and perhaps, ultimately, lead to a significant growth in the exchange of information between cultures – via the printed page. From this rationale, then, there issues an explanation for the title, Mind Speaks to Mind, which itself is an “exchange of information” between the editor and Edward Hoagland in his essay, “On Essays”! And, readers are encouraged to study this essay first as a type of guideline concerning the nature/purpose of the essay. It is found on page 26. For ease of reference, the essays are presented in alphabetical order according...
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...Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx, explains what it means to be a communist nation. According to Marx, a communist nation will allow everyone to own the land, everyone is responsible to work, and the state will control communications and transports. Marx said a communist nation will do and be much more but those list above are a few main points. The opposite of communism is capitalism, which is where private owners, rather than the state, control a country's trade and industry for profit. The United States of America is not communist but capitalist because America does not share land between citizens, does not force the disabled to work, and Americans can communicate how they please and ship their goods wherever. The United States of America allows citizens to own private property, unlike communist nations that Marx describes in his essay. In a communist nation, the nation will have an “abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes,” according to Marx. This means that there will be no private property but just public land which the people work. America does allow citizens to own land, and then use it for private purposes. There are private property rights in the Constitution, the fourth Amendment, regarding that individuals may hold and exercise their property, even if it is against the government itself. In a capitalist nation, the people are allowed free enterprise which Americans can do and communists cannot. Therefore, since the...
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...what it means to be American What defines an American? An American is someone who is free to go on their own path and strive for what they want, knowing that they can accomplish their goal. One of the great things about America is the freedom to choose your own path and live your life to your standards. To be free of the restriction and oppression of the former land. Many immigrants from this land were people with dreams and hopes of a future to be free of what they had left behind. in the poem “The New Colossus” when the author says “give me your tired your poor your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”she saw the statue of liberty she saw freedom and opportunity to start living the life she wants. An example of of this would Goerge from Of Mice and Men. The author quotes that george's dream is to “Have a little house and a couple of acres and a cow and some pigs.” He believes in his dream...
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...Harriet Washington – Medical Apartheid Book Essay QUESTION 1: Iatrophobia “One of the most harmful contemporary legacies of this history of abusive medical experimentation is that many African Americans are wary of participating in potentially life saving medical studies. A recent study in the American Journal of Law and Medicine estimated that only 1 percent of the nearly 20 million Americans enrolled in biomedical studies are black. This reluctance, though justified, has meant that blacks often miss out on the latest treatments and breakthroughs.” – Amara Rivera Given the History of Medical Apartheid in the U.S., African-Americans have tended to be iatrophobic. Should African-Americans continue to participate in medical research and trust their doctors today? Would Harriet Washington and Tim Wise be in support of your argument? QUESTION 2: Ebola Watch this Press TV video: The Debate: Ebola Man-made (pt1) (11 mins) Based on his arguments, is Dr. Short a conspiracy theorist? Comment on the validity of Dr. Short’s arguments and examples given the arguments provided by Washington in Medical Apartheid in the Epilogue of the book and in the rest of the text. Use the relevant examples and ideas Washington uses to draw connections between medical apartheid practiced on Blacks in the U.S and Blacks in Africa from her book. QUESTION 3: Scientific Racism and Eugenics The "science" of eugenics proposed that human perfection could be developed through selective breeding and...
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...J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, a French aristocrat, traveled all over the American colonies. His audience would consist of the people who read Letters from an American Farmer in 1782. Crevecoeur’s diction, metaphors, and rhetorical questions show that his tone is proud for Americans. His purpose of this essay was to praise American society and prove that America is doing great. Crevecoeur starts off his essay by using a rhetorical question “…; to what purpose should they ask one another what countrymen they are?” Crevecoeur does this to get Americans thinking about their history and the history of America. America was colonized by Europe. The first people are Europeans who colonized America. The people who came to America were...
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...What It Means To Be an American……. Lets just think about it there are over 1 million people in the world and if you were to ask every person what does it mean to be an american you're going to get over 100 different answers. There is no true answer to what being american really means but if you ask me what's my perspective on what it means to be an american it would have to be,being able to have dreams and turn those dreams into reality. Being an American can also mean much more like, freedom of speech, freedom of color and freedom of judgment. In the essay What is Freedom? It say in paragraph 7,” Freedom means I want to do, not what the government wants me to do.”Too me that means not giving up your dreams....
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...William Hudson's book American Democracy in Peril, has given several challenges facing democracy in American. Hudson's seventh challenge to America's democracy is the “national security state”. Hudson starts the chapter off talking about Ronald Reagan's administration and their involvement in Central America. He talks CIA director William Casey involvement in the conflicted and how he created the contra to prevent the Saninistas from supplying the rebels in El Salvador. Hudson also talks about Oliver North and John Poindexter and the Iran-contra and how they, with the support of Casey, created a hidden government inside the government that used government resources to achieve their own political agenda as Hudson puts it. In the end, North and Poindexter claimed they did what they did for national security. As indicated to Hudson "national security state" from the Iran-contra. Hudson believes "national security state" is harmful to democracy. This essay will investigate the four practices and dispositions associated with "national security...
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...American is of or relating to United States of America or its people,language, or culture. What does it mean to be an American? Being American means that everyone gets to say the Pledge of Allegiance every day and show respect to all the Americans that sacrifice their lives for citizens. There were prisoners that were also American that said the Pledge of Allegiance every day because it meant so much to them. However Mike Christian is a great example of what it means to be a real American no matter how badly mistreated he went through. Americans do a lot of things to show their country’s pride; like hanging american flags in their yards, on their cars, and also having them on their shirts. Americans also say the Pledge of Allegiance every...
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...Valued Possessions vs. Insignificant Desires Anna Quindlen, a novelist, social critic, and journalist wrote an intriguing essay “Stuff is Not Salvation” about the addiction of Americans, who splurge on materialistic items that have no real meaning. The ability to obtain credit is one of the main reasons to blame for society’s consumption epidemic. However, Quindlen feels the economic decline due to credit card debt is insignificant compared to the underlying issues of American’s binging problems. Quindlen’s essay gives excellent points regarding the differences in America’s typical shopping habits. Additionally, she mentions how people acquire all this “stuff” but seem to never realize, “why did I get this?”(501). Quindlen makes her audience visualize a world where we acquire our needs versus our meaningless desires. Yet, she fails to mention people who could live a life of happiness through the possessions they acquire. In summary, Quindlen supports her point of view with examples of American spending habits in the past decades of depression compared to now. She mentions Black Friday and how people become enthralled by cheap bargains (Quindlen 500-501). In Quindlen’s essay, she refers to an accident in which a worker at Walmart was trampled to death by a mob of shoppers and despite the horrific incident people kept shopping (500). With the U.S. depression, Black Friday brings hopes of more money spent, therefore a rise in the markets. The dream of an uplifted economy became...
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...Turner is most successful at analyzing American history through his essay, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History”. This piece examines how life was first created here in America, as well as how the first frontier set the stage for numerous civilization advancements that would occur in the near future. Many Americans today seem to forget about the first settlements that served as the basis for what the United States of America has become. This essay accomplishes the goal of reminding those people of how majorly important each step was on the American frontier centuries ago. What was once just an enormous area of free, unoccupied land, is now the home of billions of people as well as numerous buildings, businesses, and modes of transportation....
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...The Sixties journal response due Discuss Machiavelli/Jefferson essay prompt Man and the State: Machiavelli on Political Power Discuss rhetorical and critical reasoning implications Homework: World of Ideas – “Government Introduction: (14-19) Machiavelli’s “The Qualities of the Prince” (36-53) Journal response – Machiavelli text Prereading Questions (39); Questions for Critical Reading 1-5 (50) Define the terms ends and means, and explain why they are important. Compare Machiavelli’s advice with the behavior of a specific politician – past or present. Under what political circumstances might the ends justify the means? 05 The Old Globe 10 Machiavelli packet due Group presentation and discussion – Machiavelli Discuss rhetorical and critical reasoning implications Homework: World of Ideas – Jefferson’s “The Declaration of Independence” (76-84) Journal response to the Jefferson text Prereading Questions (80); Questions for Critical Reading1-5 (84) How does the document seem to define independence? Use this definition as a basis for your own. To what extent does your definition agree with Jefferson? 12 Jefferson packet due ...
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...to live in America for working privileges. Their real desire is to become something that depicts pride and honor, an American. Being an American in a country as diverse as ours means more than just living on American soil, it has endless benefits that allows one to feel free. Unfortunately, the rapid flow of immigrants into America has led to many issues. One of the main ones is the concept of assimilation, which has been disputed for years due to the capacity of the incoming immigrants. Jay Nordlinger, in his essay “Bassackwards: Construction Spanish and Other Signs of the Times” notes that not “everyone who comes to America is dying to melt into the pot”. Yet he stresses, as does Linda Chavez in her essay “Supporting Family Values”, the need for immigrants to assimilate to American culture. These two concepts have been floating around America since the first illegal immigrants started to show up and they’ve been controversial ever since. Everyone is looking for a happy medium for the issue but can’t seem to find it. Recent immigrants are being expected to trade their ethnic and national identities for new American identities, and the concept of ‘Americanization’ commences. Is the idea of American culture as a “melting pot” still valid, or are immigrants becoming ‘Americanized’? Being an American means to live on American soil. But more than that, to be American is to...
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...Yes, Amy Tan goes into explaining the categories by sharing personal experiences. Amy does not treat both equally. I do not see it as a problem because there is no way to treat the Englishes equally when you use them in a different form. 4. Amy believes that her mother’s limited English is a problem in department stores, banks, and restaurants. 5. Her mother’s English has an effect on her life because of how broken it is she needs to pretend to be her at points, watch her mother be treated poorly, and go through several bad situations. 6. She says that math is precise and had a specific answer, as for in English was assigned several questions where she had to fill in the blank and get “bland combinations” as answers. No, I do not think her problems come from her family’s language skills. I believe that it’s pretty much an excuse that she is using, being an Asian American, and it all depends on the person to limit themselves to the English language or not. 7. She offers the explanations that Asian Americans might come from a “broken” English language family and they have teachers steering them into math and not English. A reason I believe most Asian American’s don’t go into the fields of language is because they stereotype themselves and do what most people stereotype them to do. Purpose and Audience 1. She begins by explaining her qualifications because she is starting a strong essay on English. She wants to let the audience...
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