What Does America Mean

What does American mean?
Diana Casillas
ENG/492
May 21, 2013
Nora H. Barber

I. What does American mean? A. Qualities of an American 1. Randall Jarrell/ Thinking of the Lost World 2. Adrienne Rich/ Transcendental Etude II. Conclusion III. References

What does American mean?
When someone is called an American, it does not mean they were born in the American country. The nationality of an individual should be seen in their personality, experiences, way of speaking, and in their beliefs, rather than in their place of birth. Cultural, social, and traditional values are among the qualities that give a person their nationality and American authors most often reflect their nationality in their writing style.
An American must be authentically American at heart, mind, and soul. An American author not only writes about events, issues, culture, or traditions from this country, but they also identify with them. The author Randall Jarrell, spent a large part of his life writing about a variety of topics. A few of the topics he wrote about were the treatment of soldiers, children’s books, and fairy tales. In his poem, Thinking of the Lost World, he talks about California, Arizona, Daytona, as well as dinosaurs and Santa Claus; he describes life in Los Angeles “Back in Los Angeles, we missed Los Angeles. The sunshine of the Land Of Sunshine is a gray mist now, the atmosphere Of some factory planet: when you stand and look You see a block or two and your eyes water” (Franklin, Gura, & Klinkowitz, p. 2427). Jarrell describes Los Angeles as he has experienced it during the years he lived with his grandmother. At the end of the poem, Jarrell writes, My soul has memorized world after world (Franklin, Gura, & Klinkowitz, p. 2429), in which he is expressing that he has experienced more than just life living in Los Angeles.
Adrienne Rich was another American author that wrote about the true lives of American women expressing the expectations set for women since birth. She believed she had to write “directly and overtly as a woman, out of a woman’s body and experience” (Franklin, Gura, & Klinkowitz, p. 2620), to give the readers a look into the separation between men and women. As a feminist, Rich exposed feelings, experiences, and how much a women actual dealt with on a daily basis; some feelings and emotions no one often spoke of. In her poem, Transcendental Etude, she writes, And in fact we can’t live like that: we take on everything at once before we’ve even begun to read or mark time, we’re forced to begin in the midst of the hardest movement, the one already sounding as we are born (Franklin, Gura, & Klinkowitz, p. 2629). Here Rich is referring to the earlier comment of women’s expectations and responsibilities as soon as a female is born. American women were expected to grow up, get married, stay home, have children, and dedicate herself to cleaning, cooking, and taking care of the children and husband. In another line Rich writes, And we’re not performers, like Liszt, competing against the world for speed and brilliance (Franklin, Gura, & Klinkowitz, p. 26230), it merely means women also get tired of the way of life they have lead. American authors such as Adrienne Rich and Randall Jarrell, speak of realities happening in America in the majority of their writings. Jarrell’s and Rich’s experiences have been in this country and it is evident by reading their work. They both demonstrate the qualities and values of being an authentic American author. Therefore, being an American is demonstrating the nationality by heart, mind, and soul in the everyday experience.

References 1. Franklin, W., Gura, P. F., & Klinkowitz, J. (1993). Norton Anthology of American Literature (7th ed.). New York City, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc..