Response to "On Being an American"

Ashley G

Professor Zoller

Life Narratives

11/1/12

Response to “On Being an American”

                I found this essay to be particularly confusing. Reading the first paragraph of it I assumed that the author was not American, in fact I turned back a page to see what country he hailed from. I found that he was in fact an American. Confused I decided to just read the rest of the essay. The author made the interesting choice to talk about Americans as if he was not an American. Perhaps it would have been easier to read if I had not known he was an American.

                The author spends much of the piece commenting on American politics and at one point makes the comment that American politics are the best. However he cites them as being the best because American politics are the most entertaining. I’ve never really thought of our politics as amusing. Truth be told I didn’t think that non- Americans (even though the author is American, he’s coming at the essay from the perspective of a non- American) really cared very much about our politics.

                I was slightly offended by some of the author’s comments about Americans. He makes us seem to be clowns running around like crazy children for the entertainment of the world. He calls us young and says that we act like youths, “It is easy to excite them. It is easy to fool them.” That is not the way that I would describe Americans.