American Creed Essay
Summary
With this essay, we were able to explore for ourselves what it means to be an American, which is impactful for every person. When I write I incorporate quotes to find meaning. So I leave you with this: “Life itself is a quotation” - Jorge Luis Borges
Often times, we see America as a set of ideals we have to live up to. Those ideals are what make up the American Creed, and those values are what it means to be American. To me, the American Creed is understanding and accepting that all Americans have certain rights and responsibilities.
“...All men are...endowed...with inherent and inalienable rights.” This is a quote from the Declaration of Independence that starts to describe the ‘rights’ portion of the American Creed. Americans and America itself is/are known around the world as free. We are free in speech, in press, in assembly, in petition and even in religion. These rights are half of what makes Americans, Americans.
The other half, the harder half, is the responsibilities. The government uses fancy words like ‘civic duty’ to try to mask what it truly is, responsibilities. Don’t get me wrong, responsibilities of the people are definitely a fair and good thing. In the words of our own Lyndon B. Johnson, “Nothing comes free… especially not good.” Just like that, our rights all come with responsibilities such as taxes and voting.
In conclusion, the American Creed is accepting that being an American means having certain rights that come with responsibilities.
“With great power, comes great responsibility.”
- Peter Parker
New Tech High at Coppell Critical Literacies 2017-2018
This is the freshman level blended class of English I taught by Mrs. Bence and Digital Media taught by Mrs. Kat Saucier. We hope you enjoy our learners' multi-modal compositions responding to the various invitations to create.
