Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe's life was pretty odd to me. I haven't read any of his literature that wasn't in the textbook, but I like his writing. It is very different than other writers because his writing was very suspenseful and mysterious. I did a quick google search to learn more about him, and I learned that before his early death at 40 years old, he was very poor, yet he still published short stories and wrote for magazines. What was really odd to me was the fact that at the age of 27, he married his 13 year-old cousin and also outlived her. Two years before her death, Poe wrote The Raven, a poem that went viral in newspapers. This poem was Poe's most famous work, and it became a bigger success after Poe's acquaintance, Rufus Griswald, wrote an obituary, attacking and accusing Edgar Allan Poe of being a bad person. He wanted revenge on Poe after he wrote negative things about his work and thought that his obituary would make the public forget about Poe, but it only drove sales of Poe's work higher than ever. I would like to read more of his work because I like his gothic-themed writing and how he makes the setting very spooky.

What is an American?

A·mer·i·can

  [uh-mer-i-kuhn]  Show IPA

adjective

1.

of or pertaining to the United States of America or its inhabitants: an American citizen.

2.

of or pertaining to North or South America; of the Western Hemisphere: the American continents.

3.

of or pertaining to the aboriginal Indians of North and South America, usually excluding the Eskimos,regarded as being of Asian ancestry and marked generally by reddish to brownish skin, black hair,dark eyes, and prominent cheekbones.

noun

4.

a citizen of the United States of America.

5.

a native or inhabitant of the Western Hemisphere.

6.

an Indian of North or South America.

7.

American English.

8.

a steam locomotive having a four-wheeled front truck, four driving wheels, and no rear 

truck.

This definition came from dictionary.com, and it formally defines American. I agree with the second definition. I think American can mean a variety of things, but to me, it means someone that inhabits the land of America. That includes North and South America. I think everyone in these continents can be considered American, technically. Within that name, there are more cultures and societies that name themselves different, depending where they live. For example, someone from Canada is Canadian. But in a more broad perspective, they are American too. No matter where someone lives, as long as its North or South America, they are considered American because they share the land that was named "America".

But if you really narrow it down, the inhabitants of the United States of America are called Americans because United Statesan sounds odd. But I could be wrong. So I guess American is our "name tag" to others, since our country is the United States of America and we live in North America. 

"American | Define American at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com - Free Online English Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2013. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/american?s=t>.