What Does It Mean to Be an American? Writers like Julia Alvarez, Langston Hughes, and Amy Tan have used their literature to explore what it means to be an American. Consider your own thoughts about this topic.

What does it mean to be American? Historian Philip Gleason once said, "To be or to become an American, a person did not have to be any particular national, learning languages, religious, or ethnic background. All he had to do was to commit himself to the political ideology centered on the abstract ideals of liberty, equality, and republicanism. Thus the universalist ideological character of American nationality meant that it was open to anyone who willed to become an American." Essentially, what Gleason is saying is that all one has to do is act like an American and embrace the American way of life, but is this really what it means to actually be American? In this essay I will explore whether or not it is enough to embrace the culture, or if there is more to identifying yourself as an American by examining some key elements of American culture.

Julia Alvarez, Langston Hughes, and Amy Tan are all writers who use their personal experiences as Americans to inspire their writing. They have unique perspectives because they belong to racial and/or cultural minorities, so their lives and identities are shaped by both their citizenship as well as their different backgrounds.