In Archipelagic American Studies, Roberts and Stephens provide a new definition for the archipelago that goes beyond its commonly known perception as a geographic entity where the ocean and land meet. For them, the cultural form of the archipelago, which is often overlooked, is equally as, if not more, important to its understanding. The archipelago “emerges as neither strictly natural nor as wholly cultural but always as at the intersection of the Earth’s materiality and humans’ penchant for metaphoricity” (Roberts and Stephens 7). In the text, they mention New York City as an archipelago due to its archipelagic geography (the five boroughs) and cultural contingency. This expansion of what an archipelago is offers a new, broader perspective on island geography but it also makes it more challenging to understand what would then be included in this definition.