Is Texas Usa Molly Ivins Analysis

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Molly Ivins’s essay, “Is Texas America?” states various points in her essay about Texas politics, demographics, geography, and education. The “Is Texas America?” essay is according to the author’s perspective about Texas. There are various statements within Ivins’s essay that are supporting and contradictory to the modern-day Texas. The reason there is a difference in the number of supporting and contradicting statements about Texas within Ivins’s essay is because Texas is changing over time where the contradicting statements may have been true in the past. The contradiction within Ivins’s essay relates to the idea of low education within Texas; the three statements about Texas that support Ivins’s essay are state individualism, population …show more content…
According to Ivins, she presents in the essay “Is Texas America?” is “Texas retains an exaggerated sense of state identification, routinely identifying themselves when abroad as Texans, rather than Americans or from the United States” (785). The quote means Texas has an overemphasis on their status as a state by using various methods rather than generalizing themselves as part of the United States of America. In addition, Ivins states in the essay advertising companies present the idea the company is trying to convey to the audience in a Texas theme or pitch (785). One example to support the idea from Ivins’s essay that Texas is exaggerating their status as a state rather than generalizing Texas as part of the United States is the “Don’t Mess With Texas” commercial. The “ George Strait –Don’t Mess with Texas” commercial depicts George Strait bargaining with the director about wearing various Texas clothing with brands of the slogan “Don’t Mess With Texas.” In the end, George Strait just throws a paper and states to don’t litter and the slogan “Don’t Mess With Texas.” The advertisement is an example of Texas exaggerating their status as a state rather than generalizing Texas as part of the United States because “the four-word, trademark slogan of the state’s litter prevention program often doubles as a Lone Star statement of pride”(Strayhorn 12-13). The quote agrees with the “Don’t Mess With Texas” commercial with George Strait because the commercial shows the director negotiating with George Strait concerning what Texas clothes he would wear in the commercial which indicates Texas pride about anti-littering in Texas. The “Don’t Mess With Texas” commercial is exemplifying a sense of Texas individualism to stress the fact that Texas won’t tolerate litterers within the

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