Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject American Studies - Miscellaneous, grade: 1,0, TU Dortmund (Anglistik & Amerikanistik ), course: The Image of America in German Language Literature, language: English, abstract: The reason why I decided to focus on this topic is simple: There are

innumerous images and concepts of America1, written down by an equally

uncountable number of writers from all around the world, also including

citizens of the United States themselves. Moreover, I tend to believe that

there is no other country in the world, which had inspired more authors to

deal with it in their literature. This might be a result of the well-known

picture of America as the land of unlimited opportunities, which spread

around peoples minds ever since the New World had been discovered in

1492.

As many people still regard America as the promised land, there

surely developed Images of this country, which might not always be true,

or at least not as positive as some dreamers might think. Therefore, I

decided to base my essay on the books of two quite critical authors, Paul

Watzlawick and Bill Bryson, who present America in a questioning way and

do not simply glorify its social, economical and political structures.

Nonetheless, both authors succeed in drawing a rather sympathetic Image

of America. This literary contrast encouraged me to compare both: authors

and novels, but most importantly, the development of their Images of

America.