What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?"
In my opinion America has two epics that mean the same thing just like the llied and the odyssey. The familiar song above is the first verse to the National Anthem. This is sung by many right before a popular sporting event, or elegant function. The National Anthem in full tells how we got to America and the lengths we took to earn our freedom. To portray our freedom on a more casual level we recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
" I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
It may have been awhile since you heard the pledge. I noticed that it is more commonly recited in K-12 schools. Regardless of how often you say it you never forget it. For a while, there was some controversy about taking out the one nation, under god. Would god rein as America's epic hero?
America's hero to me is not God. But everything that God created. God created people to get us to the places we need to go and to achieve what is meant to be achieved. It is the individuals under God, that become Americas epic hero. We are the story. We are America, one nation under God.
To me, the bits and pieces of our lives, imaginations, and creativity have shaped America to what it is today.
Here is a far off example of how i have helped shape America. When i was a kid i used to read a magazine called The Friend. I guarantee you that thousands of kids just like me, read this magazine. In this magazine there was stories and activities. I loved doing the activities, but hated ruining a page of the story. To solve this problem i tried to express my concerns in a simple written note to the editor of the magazine under the suggestions column. Believe it or not, they listened. The following month my simple plea note, was showed in the magazine. The activities now appeared on a separate page than the stories. Now, i'm not sure if this change lasted beyond my childhood years. But for those few moments in time, someone listened. A child pleaded and a change was made. As small and insignificant as this may sound, many kids probably appreciated this and America ( at least according to the magazine) was changed.
America was not built on a soul one founder. America was built upon the founders of this great country, our fore fathers.These in essence where some of our hero's. Some of these founding father hero's include Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington.
Our constitution was signed and framed by many. It didn't just include the important named men but the politicians, statesmen, jurist, diplomats, ordinary citizens, and soldiers. I would like to focus on the part about ordinary citizens I am an ordinary citizen and one day i would like to leave my small mark upon history. That history that we leave helps create America and re-defines it's standards everyday. The generations we leave behind, or the generations we impact, will one day change America. Someone had to be your first humanities teacher. They left an impact on you, and you have taught and impacted others. Many of those people, like me will go on to further in the realm of humanities. Their humanities career and could potentially change the course of America.
Betsy Ross made and sewed the American Flag. The American Flag defines America. It symbolizes who we are with its 50 stars and stripes. It was citizens like Betsy just trying to help, who created one of the greatest American symbols ever. No one will change our flag, she used her SKILL to define America.
AMERICA IS GOVERNED NOT BY ONE, BUT BY THE MANY PEOPLE WHO INFLUENCE THE NATION ON A DAY TO DAY BASIS.
America is made up of many strengths and weaknesses. I notice most the time in America like many other things in life, our strength is our weakness or vice versa Look at politics for example. People of Americas hero's . They keep us away from communism. Help us govern our choices, and keep a strong political fair process. In the effort of keeping government strong, they destroy it. The nation going into debt and many jobs lost, is just one example. America is pulling out of it though. Americas people become their own hero/ American epic. They are STRONG, show SYMPATHY towards others, try to do the HONEST noble thing, go to school to become SMARTER so that they can build upon Americas future.
Each individual in America has a special characteristic god has endowed them with. This characteristic can be used to help exemplify America. The bundle of these characteristics when we all work together, brings us as one nation under God. America has many hero's because it's a complex environment and place. We get to write our own Heroic journey as we live in America and try to build a stronger kingdom like the Greeks.
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