American Persona

A persona as commonly known to many people is a social role played by a character. With all the kind of immigration that continuously takes place in America it is not easy to clearly distinguish who is an American. An American persona in a general perspective refers to someone whose origin is America. In history an American refers to the Red Indians; now they are refered to according to the political nomenclature Native Americans. Ironically, they have been reduced to almost an extinct community in their own country. Is it possible for one to clearly define an Italian, a British or a German? The America we live in has a Paris in Texas, a Moscow in Idaho and a Birmingham in Alabama. Even bigger cities and states in the world have changed their old cities names to others like New York, and New Jersey. Several Asian and American countries have changed the names adopted during the colonial era to others which match their customs and traditions. This is not the case to American personalities. After a whole 200 year period of being a free Nation, America is really content to remain residing to the areas where their parents, grandparents and other relatives had left behind. They are not destined to come up with other names that are not American. When someone talks about an American it is almost obvious that an ethnic prefix will be added before the word American for instance: Italian American, Russian American and Polish American. The single ethnic group who do not use these prefixes include the one whose ancestors were originally from British. That is why it is rare to here that one is an English American. The United States of America is a land that is known for its richness in diversity and cultures. In American history the natives, settlers and immigrants have learned a lot and passed through several challenges here and there. Generalising the nation for specific characteristics may not be very simple. The reason as to why this is so is because this society has several other communities in it with which have their own distinct characteristics. Whereas the Native American society has a tendency of being hardy, the settlers introduced versatility in the utilization of America’s rich resources and the colonists are uniquely associated with the introduction of scope for restraint and amalgamation of the diverse nature of America. The other source of uniqueness of Americans include the size of the nation and its climatic changes; ranging from winter, autumn and summer. The variation of the geography of the region has a great impact on the ethnic communities in the region. If variety is the secret answer to spicy life then America has it. The range in diversity goes all the way from the Atlantic region up to the Pacific area. Americans are known to the whole world for the value and respect of their individuality. The kind of spirit they poses that can never be doubted in the eye of the storm of the worldwide contradiction. People of America embrace resilience and equality among themselves and even other people with whom they live. Even though they did not adopt these aspects as a result of suffering and forcefulness, but they learned them very fast in a quick and thorough way. Like they battled with American civil war and colonisation, they also fought to bring down racial differences with strength and vigour of character. Their decisions always relied on the fact that they respect the underlying unity of thought, deeds and actions. In regard to fearlessness, they believe that as a nation they establish their own destiny. They have never acted in fear when they want to speak up. They have in various circumstances voiced their values and opinions freely. The attribute of not fearing anyone makes them able to express their opinions regarding politics without fear and abide by the liberties bestowed upon them as a society by the US constitution without fear or favour. The fact that they are fearless makes them able to refrain from collecting class distinctions or conscience (Burnett et al. ) According to their concern attribute, they are friendly to everyone in nature and can take their friendship to the next level genuinely. That is why they take part as forerunners in the United Nations. On the attribute of being informal and realistic, Americans are most comfortable when they are informal; this is not only confined to dress code and manners, but to all aspects of their lives. They are known for being able to break the fetters and find their way to the rooftop. In terms of being realistic they may or may not assume that their acquaintances are also their close friends. It is obvious that their variation in English language is strange all over but this does not hinder people from accepting them the way they are. The differences in spelling and pronunciation make more sense. It is not easy for a person who is not born in America to develop a system that is distinctly American. America’s foreign policy affects each and every person in the world in terms of prices, taxes, supply of gasoline, and the lives of our soldiers also depends on how we associate with US. This country can bring hope to the lives of the poorest people in the world. It is because of their persona that they are able to respect the lives of others who are not even their own. Most American citizens believe in embracing their values, justice, fairness, democracy, a helping hand when there is need and hard work. Their values are applied from their households, to community and to the rest of the world. The middle path of foreign policy requires that people work together with their allies, reward individuals who share American values and join arms against hatred (Alan and Steve). It would not be right to say that the American persona needs to be changed and not adopted, yet it is embraced by all Americans and is composed of very good attributes that should apply to every other nation in the rest of the world. Americans may be guided by the fact that ‘time is money’, though when they decide to unwind, it is difficult to compare to any other. To them being punctual is a virtue and a form of professionalism and life is as easy as a personal one. They accept that they are materialistic, but accept it and do not shy away from that. Works Cited Rebbecca, Burnett. , Elizabeth, Foster. , and Judith, Stanford. American Persona: A creative approach to writing. Littleton, MA: Sundance Press. 1998. Print. Alan, Dobson and Steve, Mash. US Foreign policy since 1945. New York: Routledge Press. 2002. Print.

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A Look At Greek Lyric Poetry And John Cage Essay Example for Free

A Look At Greek Lyric Poetry And John Cage Essay Music goes beyond language barriers; it speaks no language but that of the heart. However, like all art forms it has tenets and principles as to what is good music and what is simply noise. How about when artists claim that their works are music when it seems that these are perceived to be avant garde, not the kind of music that dominates the cultural period and worse, does not come from tradition? This paper seeks to take a look at the music in Hellenistic Greece, in particular a lyric by one of its known muses, Sappho, with her only surviving complete work, Ode to Aphrodite, and compare it with what is considered to be experimental composition from John Cage, his 4’33†. Both pieces were meant to be performed – although how these are performed also raised questions. Ancient Greece is revered to be a center of learning, where arts and culture flourished. It was one of the places where the earliest treatises on the different art forms were written, and they were keen to what constituted good and bad art, giving raise even to debates as to what is the function of art. Plato was known to promote the arts that will inspire people’s thinking, not their emotions, for he considered human emotions a weakness, and also because during that time musical scales developed from the study of the harmony in the universe, the mathematical equations used by the Pythagoreans (Henderson, 1957). It was because of this that he did not approve of the poets’ lyrics, because it deviated from the musical modes they were used to and relied on what sounded good to the ear, making music became accessible to the people (Anderson, 1966). Sappho was one of those poets whose lyric poetry when sung communicated the love and sensuality it contained, as with her work Ode to Aphrodite, deviating from their traditionally highly mathematically composed melodies where people were supposed to be quiet and listen to rigidly, for her lyric love poems were made to be felt and inspire emotion. In this way, Sappho, and her contemporary poets at the time helped create a turn for Greek music. Like Sappho, John Cage contributed to music with his compositions, characterized as avant-garde especially his chance pieces. However, his work that challenged perceptions and definition of music is his notorious 4’33†, a piece where for four minutes and thirty-three seconds the orchestra plays nothing. John Cage wrote this piece when he realized that there will always be sound, and deliberately wrote â€Å"Tacet†, to instruct the musician not to play. What Cage wanted for the audience to hear was the different sounds that occur during the interval the piece is played – all the various sounds that one does not pay attention to because they listen to something else. This is different from silence, unless the figuratively the sound of silence, since Cage’s point was that there is always sound if one listens intently (Cage, 1973). Both Sappho and Cage’s music differed from one another in that Sappho was expressing herself through her poetry, while Cage was making the listener turn to his environment. Although created in different environment and cultures, both musical pieces can be interpreted in a personal way, making it a unique experience. Sappho’s Ode to Aphrodite can mean something else to a modern listener than it used to in ancient Greece, and of course Cage’s 4’33† would always conjure something unique for each individual. What this shows us is that although music is made in a certain era, it can transcend the boundaries of time as long as it resonates with what is human and universal, as an appreciation for the sounds around us and those that speak of love, and that although music is governed by principles of what makes it good, it will always be a matter of personal experience. SOURCES: Anderson, W. (1966). Ethos and Education in Greek Music. Cambridge, HUP. Cage, John. (1973). Silence: Lectures and Writings, Wesleyan Paperback. Henderson, Isobel (1957). Ancient Greek Music in The New Oxford History of Music, vol. 1: Ancient and Oriental Music, Oxford, Oxford University Press. http://homoecumenicus. com/ioannidis_ancient_greek_texts. htm, Accessed on June, 15, 2009. http://www. greylodge. org/occultreview/glor_013/433. htm , Accessed on June 15, 2009.