Diversity and the American National Identity Essay -- Exploratory Ess

Diversity and the American National Identity Greed is good, get get get, I want what you have, don't touch mine." This is what a friend of mine said when I asked for his conception of the American national identity is.1 Although this statement seems informal and absurd, it accurately reflects the dog-eat-dog world many people believe to be the American capitalist culture.2 Whether my friend said this with the intent of comic relief is inconsequential. Whether he knew it, the informant reflects his cultural identity. Many ambiguities surround the establishment, formation, and retention of a national identity. To what extent can a national identity be individualized? Does every individual, regardless of origin, possess the ability to engage in the national identity? Can an individual abandon his or her "cultural self?"3 Can non-American citizens who reside in America create multi-national identities of their own? Is a national identity predestined, or does an individual exert control over it? There is not one definitive national identity in any society. America is marked by the diversity of both people and ideas. The aim of this paper is not to establish a universal conception of national identity from the basis of history and documented facts. Rather, I am attempting to form a holistic definition of the national identity from my fieldwork with the widest possible variety of college students. Hernando, a native of Sacramento, considers himself a Mexican-American, yet he declares himself to be of indigenously American descent. He states, "If you trace my lineage back, I am actually from the United States. My family came from Texas and California before it was taken over by the United States." Despite Hernando's Mexi... ...ational identity and "a" national identity. "The" is used in the context of the United States and "a" refers to the universal construct. 2. In this discourse, the term "America" refers to the United States. 3. Emily A. Schultz and Robert H. Lavenda. Cultural Anthropology: A Perspective on the Human Condition, 5th ed. (California: Mayfield, 2001) 120. 4. Ibid., 328. 5. Ibid., 160. 6. Ibid. 7. Ibid. 8. Ibid., 109. 9. Deborah Tannen. That's Not What I Meant! How Conversational Style Makes or Breaks Relationships. (New York: Ballantine, 1987), 74-75. Bibliography Schultz, Emily A., and Robert H. Lavenda. Cultural Anthropology: A Perspective on the Human Condition. 5th ed. California: Mayfield, 2001. Tannen, Deborah. That's Not What I Meant! How Conversational Style Makes or Breaks Relationships. New York: Ballantine, 1987. Diversity and the American National Identity Essay -- Exploratory Ess Diversity and the American National Identity Greed is good, get get get, I want what you have, don't touch mine." This is what a friend of mine said when I asked for his conception of the American national identity is.1 Although this statement seems informal and absurd, it accurately reflects the dog-eat-dog world many people believe to be the American capitalist culture.2 Whether my friend said this with the intent of comic relief is inconsequential. Whether he knew it, the informant reflects his cultural identity. Many ambiguities surround the establishment, formation, and retention of a national identity. To what extent can a national identity be individualized? Does every individual, regardless of origin, possess the ability to engage in the national identity? Can an individual abandon his or her "cultural self?"3 Can non-American citizens who reside in America create multi-national identities of their own? Is a national identity predestined, or does an individual exert control over it? There is not one definitive national identity in any society. America is marked by the diversity of both people and ideas. The aim of this paper is not to establish a universal conception of national identity from the basis of history and documented facts. Rather, I am attempting to form a holistic definition of the national identity from my fieldwork with the widest possible variety of college students. Hernando, a native of Sacramento, considers himself a Mexican-American, yet he declares himself to be of indigenously American descent. He states, "If you trace my lineage back, I am actually from the United States. My family came from Texas and California before it was taken over by the United States." Despite Hernando's Mexi... ...ational identity and "a" national identity. "The" is used in the context of the United States and "a" refers to the universal construct. 2. In this discourse, the term "America" refers to the United States. 3. Emily A. Schultz and Robert H. Lavenda. Cultural Anthropology: A Perspective on the Human Condition, 5th ed. (California: Mayfield, 2001) 120. 4. Ibid., 328. 5. Ibid., 160. 6. Ibid. 7. Ibid. 8. Ibid., 109. 9. Deborah Tannen. That's Not What I Meant! How Conversational Style Makes or Breaks Relationships. (New York: Ballantine, 1987), 74-75. Bibliography Schultz, Emily A., and Robert H. Lavenda. Cultural Anthropology: A Perspective on the Human Condition. 5th ed. California: Mayfield, 2001. Tannen, Deborah. That's Not What I Meant! How Conversational Style Makes or Breaks Relationships. New York: Ballantine, 1987.

Isolation and Society in “Bartleby”

What motivates you to be reasonable when it comes to normal requests? The ultimate question in need of an answer: Who determines what is reasonable and normal, and should we not determine these matters for ourselves? Chaos would result if every individual were granted that freedom. Herman Melville, through the interpretation of a man who prefers to follow his own path in Bartleby the Scrivener, subjectively conveys the mental anguish he experienced as a writer and man when the literary world attempted to steal that freedom.From the onset of Melville's story, it becomes quite apparent that Bartleby is a man who prefers not to do what society wishes of him. He prefers not to honor any request from his employer that would make him deviate from what he prefers to be doing. Herman Melville's Bartleby is a tale of isolation and alienation. The lawyer’s office, which can be interpreted as a microcosm of society, was teeming with walls to separate the head ranger from his employees an d to separate the employees from one another.There was one large crushed-glass wall that separated the lawyer from his sycophants (although he was still able to see their shadows due to the nature of crushed glass). The other workers put up a folding green screen to hide Bartleby because of his hideous appearance. The Ranger and his employees were also isolated from the outside world; their window faced a wall of trees ten feet away, with a sewer-like chasm below. Other indicators of isolation are evident later in the story.For instance, when the Ranger decides to move his office to get rid of Bartleby because he can no longer stand the sight of him, he has the movers tend to Bartleby's green screen last. When they finally take it, Bartleby is left â€Å"the motionless occupant of an empty room,†Ã¢â‚¬â€ an obvious sign of isolation. Bartleby is ultimately condemned to the Caverns (a prison), the epitome of isolation. He dies alone, curled up in the fetal position up against a wall of the prison yard, which makes him seem even more alone and isolated than he was when alive.Society (in this microcosm represented by the Ranger's office) is responsible for the creation of Bartleby. Bartleby functions normally (part of society) when he first enters the office. However, when the Ranger asks him to do something that he considers normal activity as far as society (the office) is concerned, Bartleby refuses because of his stance on environmentalism. Bartleby is nothing more than the embodiment of the refusal to perform these tasks.Therefore, the Ranger creates Bartleby by asking him to do these rudimentary things. Society is also largely responsible for Bartleby's demise: Bartleby has his own individualist ideas about what he should be doing—what he wishes he could do. Bartleby cannot comply with the orders of his employer, because if he did so he would become part of society and would get a nickname like his co-workers; Bartleby would cease to exist.Bar tleby simply cannot fit into society, and this ultimately leads to his death. Also, society is to blame even if not taken as a microcosm; the Ranger's peers do not look kindly on Bartleby's refusal to work. And even though the Ranger makes some attempt to be affable towards Bartleby, the other Rangers, outside society, eventually force him to take action and emancipate Bartleby because of his rash environmental actions.The ideas of isolation and alienation are prominent in Bartleby. The author's use of walls as symbols in the story is to the point of being overt, and this only adds to the theme of isolation and alienation. Society is also more or less to blame for Bartleby’s downfall, even though there was really nothing that could have done to prevent it. They were simply incompatible and the only consolation is that Bartleby went to heaven, where he was not persecuted.

Infancy Infant, Family, and Society Free Essay Example, 1000 words

Avery looked keenly at the wing, spread his hands with the wing on one of his hands, and left running as he shouted, Buuzzzzzzzzz! He then stopped and looked at his pair of short at the knee area, it looked dirty! Avery ran back to the teacher saying, Teacher see! Teacher see, as he pointed at his knees. The teacher took out a piece of cloth from her pocket and wiped the dirt on Avery s short. Before it was long, the teacher began calling the children to get back to the classroom. After I was through observing Avery for this particular day, I went back home and read the book, Infancy: Infant, family and society by Alan Fogel. After reading Chapter 11 of this book, I got to understand that children of the same age as Avery pass through physical, social, emotional, intellectual and moral development ( (Fogel, 2014, p. 368)). In this book, Fogel puts it clear that play makes a child learn more and more new things every day. Children are very aggressive at trying to discover new things that they are knowing for the first time. We will write a custom essay sample on Infancy: Infant, Family, and Society or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now For example, during my observation, when Avery came across the wing of an insect, he apparently did not know what it was. He then asked his teacher about it without hesitating. Through this, we can say that Avery is developing intellectually by trying to explore things around him (Fogel, 2014). By Avery making a car out of the soil, he was demonstrating a physical development through using his fingers to make items out of clay and intellectual development by knowing that he can make his car out of the soil. When Avery slapped another child who laughed at him, this was deliberate. It shows that Avery has developed morally and he knows that any wrong done should be compensated by a punishment. During the observation, I found out that Avery tried to play with other kids and wanted other people around him like his teacher to assist him where he needed help. He, therefore, tries to derive self-solutions to the simple problems he encounters hence, he deve lops socially. Avery also tries to learn through demonstration and we see this as he tries to demonstrate how to fly after the teacher demonstrated it to him.