h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

“Step right this way folks. Our next exhibit is… the Average American! Now, now ladies and gentlemen, please don’t ‘boo’. Yes, the American is best known as rich, obnoxious, uneducated, untravelled, ignorant about the rest of the world and intolerant of its differences when abroad. Indeed, this mildly paradoxical stereotype has not changed much in the past 200 years. But folks, today we’d like to take you beyond this improbable casting of an entire nation. We’d like to introduce you to the true Average American. You may be surprised to find, ladies and gents, that the Average American is actually quite a bit like…yourselves.
The Average American is actually well educated. This American has a Bachelor’s degree at least, and has very likely spent some time abroad, although not necessarily in Europe. The Average American makes a comfortable living, has 2.7 children, and can locate any given country on a map of the world. He tries to contribute the community and would like to make the world a better place. And just Like any Average Person, the American has some good habits and some bad ones. But the Americans most irritating habit/foible seems to be his national pride.
Yes, there’s no getting around it, the Average American is proud of his country. Proud of the amount it has accomplished in its relatively few years. Proud of its strength, of its democracy, and of its tolerance. Perhaps a bit… too proud. The American is Not trying to be arrogant or disrespectful. He truly appreciates every individual country for its unique contribution to the world. But the Average American, taking part in much of his nations business, begins to take its honor a little personally. Don’t be fooled though. While the Average American finds it hard to swallow an insult to his country, he quite probably agrees with it. Because Americans are well aware that their nation is not perfect. They complain about its educational system, grumble about its economics, and bewail its politics. Like most citizens, they don’t always agree with their government on many issues, ranging from gun control to capital punishment and war. And neither are they shy about expressing their protest. But Americans feel that their country's faults are something personal that they have to work to reform, not something for other nations to analyze and criticize.

ok.... ummm here
And just Like any Average Person, the American has some good habits and some bad ones. But the Americans most irritating habit/foible seems to be his national pride.
the LIKE is capatolized... it shouldnt be.... and on a NOT (three lines down in the second paragraph in the middle) is it capotolized... if you are emphasizing the not it should be NOT
and you should indent the seperate paragraphs
and the last thing i saw was the
And neither are they shy about expressing their protest. that sentence is just to wrong to correct...lol
cheers
ford

An interesting beginning, Leo-Alpha. A few comments:
<< mildly paradoxical stereotype >>
I am unclear about what you mean by this...
Also, you do seem to be a bit defensive, though I can inderstand this. And although you asked about pronouns, you've used 'he' throughout. I've noticed that Americans generally do use 'generic he', which can seem a bit odd to me, as a NZer, for one.
Overall, a good beginning!

Actually it's already very good, but you need to put a quotation at the end.

Missing word:

>> He tries to contribute the community... <<

Should read: He tries to contribute to the community...

I agree, it sounds a bit defensive, at the moment - I presume you're planning to counter this in the middle?

RF

I agree that it needs to have "he or she" throughout it, however annoying that is.
Also yeah...a little bit defensive, which is understandable because people are coming to the essay with prejudice. I suppose you're going to show examples of the stereo-type at some point?

Do a little more research than just asking opinions.

You mention that Americans are well travelled i have heard though Im not sure where that the "average american" is more likely to have been in prison than to have made a private trip abroad.

Though you can write an article that is purely based on opinion and personal observation you are best to make this clear not only at the start but whereever you make a point using either of them.

one love

OK, I kind of thought it might be defensive, but which part exactly comes across that way, and what "example" do you think I should give in middle?

dang. I hate "he or she his or her"ing.

Wonder where I can get statistics?

and i added some stuff I scribbled out this morning. Naturally not as good, (i seem to work best when reading the Whats Wrong with H2G2 reasearchers thread,) but maybe some advice on what goes over well and what I should leave out?

maybe you want to talk about the actual American who DO give us the impression that so many of us harbour about Americans? Maybe go over them and then show what minority or whatever they are in?

i thought of that. But can I really hand in an essay that says: The only Americans who can afford to visit Europe are the super rich and apparently, based on the things we hear, they are rude, pushy and obnoxious. ???
(which btw makes sense, since you have to be pushy to 'make it' in a market economy, or so they say. I dont think its worth selling my soul to become a CEO, but hey, that's why I'm not.)

I think I'm going to ditch the entire "we would really love to visit europe but cant because..." and replace it with

"...With this optimistic and slightly naïve view, the American embarks on his international travel, and is often baffled to discover that he is singled out for abuse based on his accent alone."

But then that doesn't address the pushy obnoxious millionaires ruining our rep in Europe, does it? HELP!

“Step right this way folks. Our next exhibit is… the Typical American! Now, now ladies and gentlemen, please don’t ‘boo’. Yes, the American is best known as rich, obnoxious, uneducated, untravelled, ignorant about the rest of the world and intolerant of its differences when abroad. Indeed, this mildly paradoxical stereotype has not changed much in the past 200 years. But folks, today we’d like to take you beyond this improbable casting of an entire nation. We’d like to introduce you to the true Typical American. You may be surprised to find, ladies and gents, that the Typical American is actually quite a bit like…yourselves.
The Typical American is actually well educated. This American has a Bachelor’s degree at least, and has very likely spent some time abroad, although not necessarily in Europe. The Typical American makes a comfortable living, has 2.7 children, and can locate any given country on a map of the world. He tries to contribute to the community and would like to make the world a better place. And just like any Typical Person, the American has some good habits and some bad ones. But the Americans most irritating habit/foible seems to be his national pride.
Yes, there’s no getting around it, the Typical American is proud of his country. Proud of the amount it has accomplished in its relatively few years. Proud of its strength, of its democracy, and of its tolerance. Perhaps a bit… too proud. The American is not trying to be arrogant or disrespectful. He truly appreciates every individual country for its unique contribution to the world. But the Typical American, taking part in much of his nations business, begins to take its honor a little personally. Don’t be fooled though. While the Typical American finds it hard to swallow an insult to his country, he quite probably agrees with it. Because Americans are well aware that their nation is not perfect. They complain about its educational system, grumble about its economics, and bewail its politics. Like most citizens, they don’t always agree with their government on many issues, ranging from gun control to capital punishment and war. And neither are they shy about expressing their protest. But Americans feel that their country's faults are something personal that they have to work to reform, not something for other nations to analyze and criticize.
The second most blatant trait of Americans is their national hospitality. The Typical American is an immigrant, or the child of an immigrant, and he welcomes all comers, no matter what their background and nationality. Indeed, you may have noticed, our Typical American has no face and no build. That is because the typical American is hard to pin down in respect to his appearances, preferences, and culture. The Typical American might be Sikh, might speak Bantu, or might eat with chopsticks at home. The Typical American might be short and blond or tall and dark. The Typical American may pray five times daily or worry about bad karma. All the varied people living within the borders of the United States are united only by their feeling and loyalty to the large nation that welcomed them in.
Still, there is no doubt that the very size of the country that the American is so proud of is often the largest obstacle to his or her understanding the rest of the world. With national news coming from an area roughly the size of the entire Europe, international news on TV often gets considerably downsized, leaving the American slightly less informed about the rest of the world than he might like. Its continental size means that the Average American has to travel around 500 miles to the nearest border if they’d like to do some international travelling. And their location across the ocean prevents them from travelling to Europe and Asia as often as they’d like. Possibly because of this degree of seperation, the American feels a cheerful freindliness toward the rest of the world. The Typical American sees no particular reason to resent other nationalities as a group or as individuals, or for others not to feel likewise. With this optimistic and slightly naïve view, the American embarks on his international travel, and is often baffled to discover that he is singled out for abuse based on his accent alone.