How to Write a Good ‘What Makes America Great’ Essay?

When writing your ‘what makes America great’ essay, you need to demonstrate not only your best writing and analytical skills but also your passion and hard work. To impress your reader and get a good mark, you need to organize the writing process thoroughly. Undoubtedly, a good strategy for writing a ‘what makes America great’ essay includes selection of a good topic. Such a topic is very broad, so you need to choose one or two perspectives and describe them. For instance, we recommend you to select one of the areas mentioned below:

• Culture;
• Society;
• Art;
• Economics;
• Military.

No matter which area of the US life you are going to cover, you need to be clear and specific supporting your words with sound evidence. Regardless of the topic chosen, you need to conduct in-depth research to find out the opinions of other scholars about your topic.

Consider following the suggestions given below to create a great essay about America:

1. Sort out interesting facts from US history to understand which one should be included in your essay;
2. You need to start your ‘why America is great’ essay with a good introduction that will include a thesis statement;
3. Use your best analytical skills to create a strong thesis statement;
4. When including important terms, make sure to explain them to your reader;
5. All quotes used in your essay should be valid and relevant;
6. Do not forget about writing a good concluding paragraph that will re-address your ideas;
7. Make sure there are no repetitive ideas in your essay.

How to Write a ‘What Makes America Great’ Essay Outline?

A good outline for an American essay includes the key points that will be discussed in the essay. Indeed, writing an outline is the simplest way to ensure that all the important issues will be included in an essay. All your ideas will depend on the nature of your essay. For instance, if you are writing a compare-contrast essay, you need to compare the distinctive features of two or more things. When you are writing a persuasive essay, you need to choose some position and support it by using your best persuasive skills.

‘What Makes America Great’ Essay Introduction

Your introduction is your first chance to make an impression on your reader, so you need to make it sound interesting and engaging. In your introductory paragraph, you need to present your subject and provide background information so that your readers could follow the flow of your ideas easily.

‘What Makes America Great’ Essay Body

• The main body of your paper should include the arguments that will develop your topic;
• Include enough evidence such as statistical data, expert quotes, well-known facts, and others to back up your arguments;
• Include a concluding sentence in each of the paragraphs.

‘What Makes America Great’ Essay Conclusion

In your conclusion, make sure to add valuable comments on your topic but do not introduce new details. Remember that your conclusion is your chance to tie your topic with a broader discussion. As such, depending on your purpose, you may finalize your essay with a thought-provoking quote, a restating of your conclusion, or a call to action.

What Makes America Great Essay Sample

The French political thinker Alexis de Tocqueville said, “America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great” (Tocqueville 20). These words emphasize the social and cultural values of America that made it an outstanding country. Many writers and philosophers argued about the opportunities offered by America and the source of its greatness. One of them was Ralph Emerson, who in his work “Self-Reliance” highlights the importance of individual thought for the achievement of the American Dream. This paper will discuss Emerson’s vision of the prosperity of America in relation to Tocqueville’s words.

According to Emerson, the way to the greatness of America lies in the realization of the opportunities and the power of the internal genius of a person (Emerson 23). The conception of the American Dream involves the efforts of an individual to achieve prosperity. Besides, it ensures the greatness of the whole country, since individuals are satisfied with their way of life. The process of finding the inner genius requires searching for individual freedom and truth. In “Self-Reliance,” Emerson emphasizes that individuals should always trust themselves and believe in the goodness and rightness of the choices they make (Emerson 25). Moreover, they should be confident in their abilities to reach their dreams and desires.

Same as Tocqueville, Emerson is convinced that ethical and moral values are highly important for the development of the personality and the internal genius. He claims, “Let a man then know his worth, and keep things under his feet. Let him not peep or steal…” (Emerson 26). For example, he argues that honesty is one of the most needed values in human relationships. Since humans are highly social creatures, they are forced to have interpersonal relationships. Hence, the honest treatment of a person leads to the successful achievement of the set life goals. Another important factor in the achievement of the American Dream is the following of own inner voice. The society has many intermediaries that could impose the stereotypes and opinions that are not negative, but the usage of these makes a person an average individual without any original basis (Emerson 33). For example, such an intermediary as church could convince a person that the inner genius is not important to lead a normal life. In such a case, an individual may lose confidence in personal potential and substitute it by the already formed stereotypes of behavior. In turn, a person will not try to reach any goals, which will decrease the greatness of the society in general. Hence, self-reliance has a crucial impact on personality. The author stresses, “Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles” (Emerson 39). Thus, self-reliance enables humans to believe in their internal potential and to concentrate on the individual development.

Ralph Emerson stresses that there are factors that discourage individuals from the achievement of the American Dream, which, in turn, impacts the greatness of the society. Among these factors are the fear to disappoint the closest ones, honoring the past, and conformism. The presented obstacles have the mutual source that is the pressure of the society or a particular social group on the personality of an individual. According to Emerson, the presented reasons are the essence of all failures of an individual as well as the society in the achievement of prosperity (Emerson 38). Therefore, just like Tocqueville, Emerson thinks that if a person loses the notion of the inner genius’s power, then the whole America will cease to be great. However, by overcoming these obstacles, humans will get rid of the pressure of the society, gain the power over their destiny, and promote the greatness of America.

In conclusion, according to Emerson, the way to the greatness of America lies in the realization of the opportunities and power of self-reliance. In “Self-Reliance,” Emerson emphasizes that individuals should always trust themselves and believe in the goodness and rightness of their choices. Just like Tocqueville, Emerson claims that ethical and moral values are highly important for the development of personality. Such elements as the fear to disappoint others, conformism, and respect for the past are the factors that decrease the inner potential of a human.