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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 7 page paper which examines why Superman should be regarded as an icon, what it reveals about American life and culture, and whether one should be an iconoclast or iconodule when observing American culture. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
Page Count:
7 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TG15_TGsuprman.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
and even inspired its own science, known either as iconography or iconology (Reynolds 381). This study "addresses itself to the elusive underlying cultural principles of representation. Its implied direction
involves discovering how meaning becomes expressed in a specific visual order" (Reynolds 381). Because Americas history is relatively recent and its society reflects not a singular culture but many,
it is increasingly dependent upon ever-changing fads. However, despite the shifting trends, there have been images or icons that have remained steadfastly affixed to the American cultural landscape.
There is none more definitive of America than Superman, the hero who fights tirelessly for "Truth, Justice, and the American Way" (Westfahl 17). What Superman does so well that
qualifies him as the quintessential American icon is, according to Gary Engle, author of the essay "What Makes Superman So Darned American?" that appears in the text, Signs of Life
in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers, that he interweaves "a pattern of beliefs, literary conventions, and cultural traditions of the American people more powerfully and more accessibly
than any other cultural symbol of the twentieth century, perhaps of any period in our history" (Engle). In order to develop an insightful perspective of Superman, an understanding of Engles
essay is essential. He reiterates the story of Superman, as who is transported to Earth by his parents to save his life when his native planet of Krypton explodes.
The orphaned Kal-El (his birth name) quickly finds himself in small-town America not coincidentally named Smallville and is adopted Jonathan and Martha Kent, who teach him the middle-class values
he is sworn to uphold later as Superman (Engle). It is his status as an orphan and an immigrant that, in Engles view, endears him to the American public.
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