Hispanic Heritage Essay Topics

Hispanic Heritage Essay TopicsHispanic Heritage essay topics are both the fruit of scholarly inquiry and community discussions and as such can be traced back to the earliest periods of Hispanic American history. But is a topic considered 'Hispanic' and deserving of essay writing credit truly 'hispanic' or is it merely an amalgamation of influences from many regions of Latin America? Or does it have a purely ethnic designation? And if so, what, if any, significance is there attached to that designation?Scholars of Hispanic history would agree that the term 'hispanic' is derived from a combination of two Latin terms, 'Hinter'inter' meaning 'between,' and 'a' meaning 'people.' So an ethnic designation that has no connection to geographic location or ancestry could be labeled 'Hispanic.' But at the same time, the historical reality is that so many cultures have been torn apart by slavery and expulsion that the term 'Hispanic' has become more a communal term. To use the analogy of 'civili zation,' the term 'the West' encompasses a variety of world cultures - it would be impossible to list all of them - but the fact is that it is largely composed of one culture.Race is not historically a factor in the history of the term 'Hispanic.' But in the context of identity, race is an important issue in Hispanic American life. In certain cases, the differences between people who profess the Christian religion and people who profess Islam (or any other religion) are marked, especially in the extreme case of minority groups. Yet even among that group, the differences are often very apparent.Ethnicity, according to this definition, is less a matter of race than the force of commitment to one's own cultural tradition. While many people in Latin America to identify with their families and their tribes, they identify their culture as part of their nation and see no reason to separate themselves from the vast tradition of civilization that stretches back hundreds of years.But what are the parameters that will provide the basis for assigning the right terms to the Hispanic heritage in scholarship and public discussion? The answer is that it depends on what one means by the term. Do we mean that people in Latin America have an ethnic identification that is somehow deeply rooted in a cultural heritage that is often varied and diverse? Do we mean that people in Latin America are members of one society, even though the degree of their identification with their ancestral homeland varies widely?There are serious problems with either of these definitions, in my opinion. In some cases, there is a very obvious link between ethnicity and culture, but there is no clear link between ethnicity and nationality. For example, many Roman Catholics in Latin America are members of nations that have historically been culturally quite different, yet they still consider themselves part of the European Union.But there are also cases where such a linkage may be illusory - a belief in on e's own views of a family's roots does not automatically mean that one is a member of that family. If there is a consensus that Americans would call Mexican Americans 'Mexicans,' and if they actually believe that their culture is identical to Mexico's, are they still American? Does their homeland belong to their soul, or to the country of Mexico?These questions require careful study, and it is not easy to distinguish between the cultural, ethnic, and national ties of a heritage scholarship. But when you try to do so, it is not difficult to conclude that Hispanic Heritage essay topics can be given true ethnic and cultural meaning only when it is clear that each person involved in the thesis statement understands what he or she is trying to say.