A Simple American My essay is over the essay “ The Discovery of What It Means to Be an American” by James Baldwin. What is an American? That is one question with many different answers. I feel that an american is not just one born in America , but one who loves it. An american is someone who is proud to be in America, no matter what. An American is someone who loves and cares for others as if they are their own. What it means to be an american is so much more than being born in America. Baldwin stated, “The American ought therefore love his country much better than that wherein either he or his forefathers were born.”(p. 33) No matter where you go , the country you love will always be home. Being an American comes from within your heart. Being an American is learning to love your country even in faults. Being an American is standing behind your liberties and freedoms. An American is one who will stand for our flag and do nothing but honor America. There are many people who was not born in America that are americans. Americans love everyone and care for everyone, though slavery did make americans seem bad. Prejudice people do not deserve to be called an american. An American is not someone who judges people based off of something you can not change. An American treats everyone equally no matter what. An American knows there is more to you …show more content…
Just because you are not of America decent does not mean you can not be American. If you love American as much as your home country, you are an American. if you wake up everyday happy to be in America, you are an American. If america changes your life for the better, you are an American. Being an American is simply being proud of your country. It is wanting your country to succeed. Being an American is standing behind your country in disasters. It is helping your country to overcome major disasters. Being an American is being
During the late 1950?s and early 1960?s, many African nations were struggling for their independence from Europe. In ?Down at the Cross,? James Baldwin relates this struggle to that of blacks in the United States during the same time period, and there are far more similarities than Baldwin mentions. Although this comparison offers hope, demonstrating the power of blacks over white oppressors, the ongoing European presence in Africa is a painful reminder that independence and freedom are not complete.
To be an American is to be proud of your flag and country, to be willing to suffer for America, and to never be willing to give up.
In 1955 a civil rights activist by the name of James Baldwin wrote his famous essay “Notes of a Native Son”. James Baldwin was born in Harlem, New York during a time where racial tensions where high all throughout the United States. In this essay he highlights these tension and his experience’s regarding them, while also giving us an insight of his upbringing. Along with this we get to see his relationship with a figure of his life, his father or more accurately his stepfather. In the essay James Baldwin says “This fight begins, however, in the heart and it now had been laid to my charge to keep my own heart free of hatred and despair”. This is a very powerful sentence that I believe
Born in Harlem in 1924, James Baldwin grew to be a complex man with many aspects. As an avid reader as a child, Baldwin soon developed the skills to become one of the most talented and strong writers of his time. His first novel was written in 1953 and was called “Go Tell it On the Mountain” and received critical acclaim. More great work from this novelist, essayist, and playwright were to come, one of which was “Notes of a Native Son,” which was first published in Harper’s Magazine in 1955 and was also first known as “Me and My House.” In “Notes of a Native Son,” Baldwin exercises his many talents as an essayist in how he manages to weave narratives and arguments throughout the essay. He is also able to use many of his experiences to prove his points. Baldwin effectively interlaces his narratives, arguments, and experiences so as to reach his central idea and to advocate the overall moral that he has learned to his audience. This is what makes Baldwin so unique in his work: his ability to successfully moralize all people he comes in contact with.
James Baldwin's "Notes of a Native Son" demonstrates his complex and unique relationship with his father. Baldwin's relationship with his father is very similar to most father-son relationships but the effect of racial discrimination on the lives of both, (the father and the son) makes it distinctive. At the outset, Baldwin accepts the fact that his father was only trying to look out for him, but deep down, he cannot help but feel that his father was imposing his thoughts and experiences on him. Baldwin's depiction of his relationship with his father while he was alive is full of loathing and detest for him and his ideologies, but as he matures, he discovers his father in himself. His father's hatred in relation to the white American society had filled him with hatred towards his father. He realizes that the hatred inside both of them has disrupted their lives.
What does it mean to be an American? Being an American is much more than the idea of freedom and money. Everyone has their own version of the American Dream as expressed by poets, musicians, and even authors. I believe the American Dream is still possible because it takes hard work and dedication to be able to achieve what you want. I also believe the American Dream is starting from the bottom and working your way up to something more, something better. Below are a few of America’s voices from the great melting pot.
James Baldwin was born in Harlem in a time where his African American decent was enough to put more challenges in front of him than the average (white) American boy faced. His father was a part of the first generation of free black men. He was a bitter, overbearing, paranoid preacher who refused change and hated the white man. Despite of his father, his color, and his lack of education, James Baldwin grew up to be a respected author of essays, plays, and novels. While claiming that he was one of the best writers of the era could be argued either way, it is hard to argue the fact that he was indeed one of the most well-known authors of the time. One of his intriguing skills as a writer is his ability to intertwine narration and analysis in his essays. James Baldwin mixes narration and analysis in his essays so well that coherence is never broken, and the subconscious is so tempted to agree with and relate to what he says, that if you don’t pay close attention, one will find himself agreeing with Baldwin, when he wasn’t even aware Baldwin was making a point. Physical placement of analytical arguments and analytical transitions, frequency and size of analytical arguments, and the language used within the analytical arguments are the keys to Baldwin’s graceful persuasion. Throughout this essay, I will be using Baldwin’s “Notes of a Native Son” for examples. “Notes of a Native Son” is an essay that Baldwin wrote which focuses primarily on his life around the time his father died, which also happens to be the same time his youngest brother was born.
The works of James Baldwin are directly related to the issues of racism, religion and personal conflicts, and sexuality and masculinity during Baldwin's years.James Baldwin's works, both fiction and nonfiction were in some instance a direct reflection his life. Through close interpretation you can combine his work to give a "detailed" look into his actual life. However since most writings made by him are all considered true works of literature we can't consider them to be of autobiographical nature.
What does it mean to be American? and how can someone become an American? First of all, being an American means to have education, good financial status, being secure and be free but also to love the country and all it gives you. To become an American, you will need to have a dream or a goal, these goals can be, having or giving a good education to your children, being able to get a good job, have a quiet life without economic problems nor any other kind of problems, and most importantly be a free person; once you are done with those goals you would become an American and love the country. In the novel "The Book of Unknown Americas" written by Cristina Hernandez, tells the story of a Mexican family who travels to the United States to solve a problem of his daughter who suffers from a brain problem. This family left all their past so that her daughter, Maribel, had the opportunity to improve herself and return to normal as she had been years before. The Rivera family came to an apartment building, where they met a great variety of people who shared the same or similar objective in their lives, these objectives could be from having a better economy, better health or safety or simply
James Baldwin lived during an extremely tumultuous time where hatred ruled the country. Race riots, beatings, and injustice flooded the cities that he, as well as most African Americans, was forced to live with every day. Many people, out of fright, suppressed their opposition to the blatant inequalities of the nation. However, some people refused to let themselves be put down solely because of their skin color and so they publicly announced their opposition. One such person was James Baldwin, who voiced his opinion through writing short stories about his experiences growing up as a black man. In order to convey to the reader the unbearable nature of this troubled era, he traces his feelings of hatred for his father and his hatred towards society, which transform as he evaluates his experiences.
In America, the people often try to define themselves under one description. They say the words "I am American" and are sure that the meaning behind that sentence can be applied to all that are citizens in this country. However, to be American is different for everyone. In the excerpt from
In “The Discovery of What It Means to Be an American” by James Baldwin, written in 1961, he tells us he grew up in the United States but moved to Paris, France. He description of the differences of bring an American writer in Europe and the feeling of being released from American social norms and adjusting to European way of life through his experiences. Baldwin goes to describe his personal experiences as a writer, talking to people from all classes and parts of Paris. He tells us of how these experiences make him a better writer and how it changed his views on the “American Dream”. Baldwin goes on to tell us of the difference of his profession being seen as less suspicious and lack of a “fixed” society in Europe
The definition of an American, is someone who is a citizen of the United States. Many African Americans, and immigrants struggled to become actual Americans in their lifetimes, because others didn 't see them as actual people; and based it on the color of someone. In today 's world people who live in America consider themselves as Americans, but to me there is certain qualities that make a person an American. To me being a true American is not based off of what Country they were born in, or what race their parents are, or even if they were immigrated to the United States. People from all over the world would say that maybe people could base this off of someone 's family heritage, or where they were before they came to America. If you were asked what makes an American an American what would you base it off of? To me there are four specific characteristics that make a person a true American; those three things would be, freedom, individuality, belief in the country, and happiness.
America is a very diverse place to live in, and everyone has their opinion on what an American is. Everyone identify "being American" as many things, from the way you look to the way you talk. American culture is very different from most cultures, In “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan, she had a specific idea of what's being an American is outside of her Chinese culture. She identified being an American as having a traditional dinner with all of the common foods, having certain table manners, and dressing like everyone else and I totally agree.
To me, being an American is accepting of all and not passing judgment on any, even while holding a different opinion. Being able to express that difference and being respected for the difference is, what it means to be an American. Being an American means that we are still changing with the times and rolling with the tides. No matter how powerful our country becomes, we are still evolving and we will always evolve. Being an American is freedom to vote and participate in our democracy fully, where the American people have a say in what is done in our country, and the government listens to the American