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American Dream in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

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Picture this: A husband and wife, two kids, a dog, and a nice house with a white picket fence. This was the cliche American dream. It is what most people think of when they think of the American Dream. The definition of American dream is the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every american. Well does it exist? If people work hard enough towards the dream yes, it does still exist. Moving on from the big picture, two contributions of the American dream are personal happiness and material comfort. For example, material comfort and personal happiness in A Raisin in the Sun is Mama's dream of her buying a nice house with a yard Travis could play in during the summertime also with a nice little garden for herself and money gets put away towards Beneatha's school.(Hansberry 44) That is her dream that she will be able to achieve when the check arrives. But, she wants a nice house in a white neighborhood while she has a small apartments now. Mama wants a yard where Travis can play, not play with a rat in a concrete jungle. She also is going to pay for Beneatha's medical schooling which she couldn't pay for before the check arrived. Another example of personal happiness and material comfort is in the article ¨Dream Believer.¨ Milt Campbell was the ¨First African American to win Olympic decathlon... he had also been a noteworthy swimmer, professional football player, motivational speaker...and is known for positive attitude." Those were

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