Pass / Fail By Linda Pastan

The American Dream is “a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position” (Adams, 1931). It is the guarantee that with hard work and passion anyone can achieve upward mobility regardless of their origin. Many Americans believe in this promise, hoping that one day their first circumstance will not dictate the outcome of the rest of their lives. However the American Dream can be elusive without any real he American Dream eludes The novel Ragged Dick; or, Street Life in New York with the

When I become a grandfather I will tell my grandkids about different types of success. The story “Failure is a good thing” is told by Jon Carroll, a father and grandfather. The number one type of success is failure and from failure you can learn how to do better for all the other times to come. Success is just a way to prove that you can do something that you already know you can do.

William Zinner’s “The Right to Fail” essay says it best: “and the right to fail is one of the few freedoms this country does not allow its citizens” (81). At first, the speaker’s idea seems rather intuitive to what one might originally think, however, what the speaker means is here in America, one never truly “fails” at anything. Just because one does not achieve an originally set dream, does not mean that they are forever doomed to getting nowhere. New and unfamiliar roads often lead to extraordinary

In the passage, Is The American Dream Still Possible by David Wallechinsky. The author, explains how unrealistic it is to believe that those who live in poverty can achieve the American Dream. The American Dream being described as “the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.” Has not been lived up to since the year 1931 when James Truslow Adams states "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement”. However, this is not the case in modern day. For example, when David Wallechinsky tells of the story of “Richard Oden, a married father of 5 who has worked for the same beer company for 23 years” (David Wallechinsky 65) and when Richard develops pneumonia and couldn't get back to work on a certain date, he was laid off and forced to dip into 401k funds. Although he was in a bad financial state he managed to get back on his feet. However as Richard states “For most Americans , it's still a dream- a pipe dream” (David Wallechinsky 65). With the American Dream as reached for by Richard is nearly impossible to achieve as a poor and even middle class person. Another example can be seen in the poem Europe and America. In the beginning the author writes “My father brought the emigrant bundle of desperation and worn threads”(David Ignatow 78) explaining to the reader that in the place before he had only enough to fill up a sack and that his clothes were torn and tattered. Furthermore from the boy's perspective ‘While i am bedded upon soft green money that grows like grass”(David Ignatow 78). Showing the luxury that the father is bringing his son. Emphasizing that when people came here to achieve the American Dream the parents of the kids were made to work endlessly to give their

If there was a favorable circumstance under which one could endeavour all their hopes and visions, wouldn’t one pursue it? The American Dream was introduced as an interpretation to cause the people of America in the early twentieth century to work tougher. The American Dream is the opportunity to reach the goals one sets for themselves. It is about having your dream job and life one has always fantasized about. The dream is also about having freedom and equality. In the novel, “Of Mice & Men”, John Steinbeck uses symbols and motifs such as the vicious slaughtering of virtuous animals, Crooks’ rubbish bunkhouse and Lennie and George’s deception of an ideal farm to exhibit the perception that materialistic success results in happiness is a major flaw in our thinking about the American dream, and it is this thinking which makes the dream unattainable for many.

There is much competition to achieve success, the American Dream isn’t easily handed over so you’ll have to work hard to achieve it. In the poem,

While becoming a valedictorian can be an honor to those who receive the title, others are debating whether or not valedictorians should continue to exist, or if it should switch from being exclusive to one person in a high school senior class to multiple high-achieving students with similar scores, GPAs, and effort shown throughout their high school tenure. In “Best in Class” by Margaret Talbot, the author emphasizes the idea that having only one valedictorian motivates students due to the prestige associated with the title, as shown through her use of logos and ethos throughout her essay.

Top students across the nation compete for the title of valedictorian each year, although very few actually receive it. Much to the detriment of the students, the competition can become sophomoric and pointless yet remaining intense and cut throat. In her article, “Best In Class”, Margaret Talbot conveys the message that the competition of valedictorian has unfavorable consequences through her use of diction and testimonies.

Before any point can be made, we must ask ourselves, what is the American Dream? According to William Zinsser in his essay, “The Right to Fail”, “The American dream is a dream of getting ahead” (Zinsser 93). To get ahead we have to learn, persevere, and achieve. For most Americans, we live our lives day to day and go through routine after routine.

Aspirations of success often drive individuals toward success. However if one only focuses on their dreams and not on working to achieve their goals, they will not be successful. Charles Dickens and John Steinbeck in their respective novels Great Expectations and Of Mice and Men, use their main characters failures in manifesting their aspirations to warn about the dangers of aspiring about the future and not focusing on success in the present.

With that, came the American dream. The dream that each person should achieve prosperity through strenuous work and dedication. There has been several works of literature that denounced the American dream as a false prophecy, as only coming true for a undoubted narrow majority of the nation. That is true that the American dream does not come by often. Although when it does, people cherish this nation and call it “ The land of the free and the home of the brave”. American history showed that in this nation, nothing is impossible, resembling what Einstein said “ Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is

The author claims that everyone had faith in the American Dream “the land of opportunity”. He uses an example of how in 1867 when Horatio Alger published a novel about Ragged Dick, someone who works his way up from poverty to a position of respectability. Which is what the American Dream was all about in the 1800s, working your way up the success ladder. In the pass everyone knew the American Dream and that was the goal in life. The American Dream was an opportunity for growth and achievement. Everyone

The reality of the American Dream is that people are capable of succeeding. Success, though, requires one to work hard and be dedicated to

However, we must remember an important fact: our generation of American faces the same wall of hopelessness that stood before those who lived through the Great Depression – and they overcame it. What we can take from them, is that we can succeed if we accept the simple fact that we must do what must be done, even if it isn’t desirable. If we graduate with a degree in fashion marketing and fail to secure employment, we work at a retail store in order to pay rent and get the bills paid. Running around for hours to work in a store takes grit; being underemployed takes gut; learning from experience and applying it to one’s life creates character. And one day, we grow. That in my belief is “the Dream.” For too many versions of “the Dream” equate prosperity to happiness, happiness I feel is not so simple. This makes it seem that the American Dream may always remain tantalizingly out of reach for some Americans, making the dream more like a cruel joke rather than a genuine dream. Perhaps, what our generation needs is to

For a brighter future, Washington is aware of people failing at times. He suggests to the audience to “fail big”. To fail big, a person should have the courage to take risks. Everything may not go as planned, but it will never be determined if not attempted. People have to learn from those mistakes. Washington believes people should do what they are most passionate about. If a person fails at something that he loves to do, then he would keep trying until he gets it right. How a person reacts after a failure is what determines that person’s future.