Littig 1
Lauren Littig
Mrs. McDonough/ English 31
September 10th, 2017 Period 2
Ideological claims of American Culture : Baseline Synthesis Essay While other countries build their culture off of the religion, ethnicity, or race which is unique to them, America pridefully stands behind a different idea of originality, which holds just as much value to it’s citizens; a widely diverse society which can be seen as a ‘melting pot’ of different races, ethnicities, and religions which integrate to create the nationality they so proudly call their own; American. Three seemingly contradictory texts; “Why Superman is the Greatest American Hero,” “Why I Love a Country That Once Betrayed Me,” and “The Meaning of the Super Bowl”, together reveal the truth about the ideologies of American culture. While being three seemingly contradictory texts, together they illustrate the importance of diversity, sense of community, and history which play an immense role in the makeup of the American culture. An immense part of what makes up their nationality as a whole comes from their differences, which when intertwined, forms the American culture. Americans came to be what they are today through their ancestors who came to America from their native country, bringing with them their own culture consisting of their own particular religious beliefs, languages, ethnicities, and traditions that they shared with others upon arriving in America. In “Why Superman is the greatest American Hero”, Superman’s “crash-landing in a cornfield as a baby and being raised by two Kansas farmers is, in a way, the story of the American immigrant” (Truitt). A role model to American society, Superman himself was an immigrant and brought new ideas to improve the American lifestyle. Superman is the symbol for all Americans, as “his story is the story that all of us share in one way or another, depending on how far back you go in our genealogy” (Truitt). Every American’s genealogy can be traced back to their ancestors who were from another country with its own individual culture, and that culture was brought to America to make the American nationality the way it is today. Littig 2 In addition, George Takei mentions in his TED talk speech, he is “the grandson of immigrants from Japan who went to America, boldly going to a strange new world, seeking new opportunities”. His grandparents, along with all the other Japanese immigrating to America, brought along pieces of their native Japanese culture, influencing the American culture in which they had immersed themselves. Takei also notes that he has worked with “people from all over this world, many different races, many different cultures, many different heritages, all working together”. There is emphasis on the word together, how a group of people coming from such different backgrounds were able to use the skills they knew to work together. Just like how Superman was a symbol for immigrants, the same can be said for these people, coming from such different backgrounds and by working together, creating one team, or in another sense; nationality. While American culture …show more content…
American football has been a huge tradition for generations, and whether one's family follows football or not, chances are they will end up watching the Super Bowl, the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL) each year. Watching the superbowl has become such a big tradition in American culture, to put it into perspective, “Americans consume more food on the day of the Superbowl than on any other day of the year, except Thanksgiving… In the United States, more money is bet on the Superbowl than on any other event” (Mandelbaum). The Super Bowl creates a reason for Americans to gather with friends and family and celebrate something which has become as significant a holiday in their culture as Thanksgiving, or any other …show more content…
As pointed out in the article “Why Superman is the greatest American Hero”, by Brian Truitt, “Superman is protecting everyone and he sees everyone as equals” (Truitt). These contradictory texts, when analyzed, can be seen to aid each other in revealing the truth about America. Similarly to how Superman sees everyone as equals, Takei reiterated this idea in his telling of when there was a manpower shortage, and the military was opened up to include Japanese-Americans for service, “they said that they were going to fight… because
Lauren Littig
Mrs. McDonough/ English 31
September 10th, 2017 Period 2
Ideological claims of American Culture : Baseline Synthesis Essay While other countries build their culture off of the religion, ethnicity, or race which is unique to them, America pridefully stands behind a different idea of originality, which holds just as much value to it’s citizens; a widely diverse society which can be seen as a ‘melting pot’ of different races, ethnicities, and religions which integrate to create the nationality they so proudly call their own; American. Three seemingly contradictory texts; “Why Superman is the Greatest American Hero,” “Why I Love a Country That Once Betrayed Me,” and “The Meaning of the Super Bowl”, together reveal the truth about the ideologies of American culture. While being three seemingly contradictory texts, together they illustrate the importance of diversity, sense of community, and history which play an immense role in the makeup of the American culture. An immense part of what makes up their nationality as a whole comes from their differences, which when intertwined, forms the American culture. Americans came to be what they are today through their ancestors who came to America from their native country, bringing with them their own culture consisting of their own particular religious beliefs, languages, ethnicities, and traditions that they shared with others upon arriving in America. In “Why Superman is the greatest American Hero”, Superman’s “crash-landing in a cornfield as a baby and being raised by two Kansas farmers is, in a way, the story of the American immigrant” (Truitt). A role model to American society, Superman himself was an immigrant and brought new ideas to improve the American lifestyle. Superman is the symbol for all Americans, as “his story is the story that all of us share in one way or another, depending on how far back you go in our genealogy” (Truitt). Every American’s genealogy can be traced back to their ancestors who were from another country with its own individual culture, and that culture was brought to America to make the American nationality the way it is today. Littig 2 In addition, George Takei mentions in his TED talk speech, he is “the grandson of immigrants from Japan who went to America, boldly going to a strange new world, seeking new opportunities”. His grandparents, along with all the other Japanese immigrating to America, brought along pieces of their native Japanese culture, influencing the American culture in which they had immersed themselves. Takei also notes that he has worked with “people from all over this world, many different races, many different cultures, many different heritages, all working together”. There is emphasis on the word together, how a group of people coming from such different backgrounds were able to use the skills they knew to work together. Just like how Superman was a symbol for immigrants, the same can be said for these people, coming from such different backgrounds and by working together, creating one team, or in another sense; nationality. While American culture …show more content…
American football has been a huge tradition for generations, and whether one's family follows football or not, chances are they will end up watching the Super Bowl, the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL) each year. Watching the superbowl has become such a big tradition in American culture, to put it into perspective, “Americans consume more food on the day of the Superbowl than on any other day of the year, except Thanksgiving… In the United States, more money is bet on the Superbowl than on any other event” (Mandelbaum). The Super Bowl creates a reason for Americans to gather with friends and family and celebrate something which has become as significant a holiday in their culture as Thanksgiving, or any other …show more content…
As pointed out in the article “Why Superman is the greatest American Hero”, by Brian Truitt, “Superman is protecting everyone and he sees everyone as equals” (Truitt). These contradictory texts, when analyzed, can be seen to aid each other in revealing the truth about America. Similarly to how Superman sees everyone as equals, Takei reiterated this idea in his telling of when there was a manpower shortage, and the military was opened up to include Japanese-Americans for service, “they said that they were going to fight… because