The American Dream Analysis

The American dream is an example of a national spirit that represents different ideologies. The set of ideas may be of democracy, equality matters, liberty, rights, and opportunities. The American dream believes in freedom for prosperity and success for its citizens. The idea suggests that upward social mobility for individuals can be achieved only through hard work. In a story done by George Saunders, the American dream is exemplified in several instances. The author, George, tells the story of contemporary America through a diary. The main character in the story is a father to three daughters. The family’s struggles are examples of how individuals will go extra miles just to provide for their families and also

The American dream is a rhetoric of hope and mobility to reach the heights of economic sustainability that you wish to achieve. The idea is that the amount of effort you put forth will emanate the amount of success you can produce as a byproduct of American society. This concept however couldn’t be further from the truth, as many have tried to work up for years but only got slightly better at best then they say what they were nearly a decade ago. Many researchers have demonstrated that not only has the American Dream often times been influenced by our socioeconomic roots, but that to progress out of it is like a dime in a dozen. Since education provides students the material to move onto the larger job industry, and because the disparity between high school graduates and college graduate has increased so drastically, Americans are clamoring for college now more so than ever before. Student debt has been an issue that has kept many Americans in the lower end of the social class spectrum to miss out on utilizing college resources. Many financial aid programs have been established to attempt to decrease this tendency, particularly the Pell grant having the most success. Unfortunately, despite the initial success of the Pell grant program, it still has its limitations on how much help it can provide to underprivileged students. An incentive based scholarship program such as the Performance-based scholarships where attendance rates, passing classes, and student involvement

In a country that is based around the idea that you can be anyone and do anything, one would think that most Americans all want the typical “American Dream.” Many would agree that when we think American Dream, we think fancy yachts, designer clothing, and big buildings, but is that really what the dream is all about? By definition, the American Dream is defined as, “the idea that every U.S. citizen should have equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work and determination” (“American Dream”). It is the idea that someone that comes from the very bottom can make their way to the top through determination and persistence. But what is considered to be “the top” is hard to

What is the American Dream? Is it home ownership, gaining fame or wealth, having a great family or is it gaining a peace of mind? Many people have different versions of what the American Dream is, some people believe the dream is lost, and some people are right in the middle and still believe the American Dream is still alive. “The American Dream” by Brandon King debates about what the true state is left in the American Dream now. Throughout the essay, King asks if the American Dream is dead, alive, on hold or just changing due to economic hardship. King believes that the American Dream is still alive even though there are people who believe it's not, and is defined today as the ability to work hard, plan for the forthcoming and have a

The American Dream was a well thought idea during the creation of the Declaration of Independence; in fact, the original belief of the American Dream was that all Americans could pursue “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (McQuade and Atwan). Furthermore, today the American Dream is an ideal thought to the overall strive for success. According to Kimberly Amadeo, a well-known author, she elaborated in her article What is the American Dream Today “… a focus on more of what really matters, such as creating a meaningful life, contributing to community and society, valuing nature, and spending time with friends and family” (Kimberly Amadeo). Creating the American Dream, controlling decisions, and building a life that can carry out success

David Kamp's 2009 Vanity Fair article "Rethinking the American Dream" focuses on the general perception of the ‘American Dream’ and how it has evolved throughout our nation’s history. It clearly states that as the average American household's lifestyle has become more and more consumer-oriented, the original spirit that invigorated and united its people from the age of western expansion to the Great Depression has begun to fade. The dream has been dampened as the vision of "success" has become more focused on gaining material/getting rich quick, rather than working hard all throughout one’s life to attain what they want and desire.

The American dream has many meanings but only one that matters, which is having a job that you enjoy and appreciate and for your freedom to be known. The Public Broadcast Service published videos that explored the daily realities of the New York working class. One video followed the experiences of Walid Abdelwahab. He is a well known cart vendor working on the streets of New York city he traveled all the way from Egypt to succeed and have a better lifestyle. Walid has been vending all of his life to help support his family; however, he has faced many rigor moments but he still continues to work with a smile on his face, no matter what happens. This supports the existence of the American dream because he moved from a different country leaving everything behind so that him and his family can live a happy life.

In her 1961 essay “What Has Happened to the American Dream?”, Eleanor Roosevelt stated that “no single individual and no single group has an exclusive claim to the American dream...but we have all a vision of what it is, not merely as a hope and an aspiration, but as a way of life, which we can come ever closer to attaining its ideal form if we keep our belief in its essential value”. The belief of pursuing the American dream is one that has been instilled since the formation of the country itself, and with those beliefs come those who pursue it. Unfortunately, achieving this dream is not without difficulty, and those who realize the true obstacles in front of them turn to other ways to sustain themselves in this nation. Not everyone has an equal opportunity to pursue the American dream because of social exclusion, the government prioritizing the wrong issues, and economic gaps, which has thus led to organized crime, however some say that all citizens do have the equal opportunity.

The American Dream is something many Americans desire. The desire to the mind – set or belief that anyone can be successful if they worked hard for what they’ve been yearning. It is considered to be a ‘perfect life’; it can be full of money, contentedness or even love. There are many divergent opinions given by people. Walter Younger from Lorraine Hansberry’s ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ and Willy Loman from Arthur Miller’s ‘Death of the Salesman’ both have their own views on the American Dream and how it can be achieved. Walter Lee Younger, a

“What is the true state of the so-called “American Dream” today? Is it still around, waiting to be achieved by those who work hard enough, or is it effectively dead, killed off by the Great Recession and the economic hardships that many Americans have come to face?” (Brandon King) King’s article focuses on the thought of if the American Dream is dead or alive. The American Dream is described as the potential to work for a secure lifestyle. King believes that the American Dream is still alive, however, Krugman believes that the American Dream is practically dead for most. It is also a belief that despite, the rules of the American dream not being taught, they can still have the possibility of working.

As time has went on the meaning of the American Dream has altered. When Adams trademarked the term the American Dream, the idea of it was for people to become “better and richer and fuller,” (Adams 412), but now as 20th century inventions have been introduced to society the dream has changed. People want what others have and what is portrayed as glamorous and prestigious. A prime example is Gary Soto’s recollection of his childhood obsession with wanting to be like the families he saw on the television saying, “I very much wanted to imitate [the families from Leave It to Beaver and Father

For many years, many people have thrown around the term the American Dream. The American Dream can be defined as the perfect life. By achieving this dream, it can be said that an individual has it all. However, for a majority of people, achieving the American Dream is one of the hardest things in life. For some, it seems impossible to achieve. This was very relevant in the time period known as the Roaring 20’s (1920s-1930s). An author that emerges from this time is a man named F. Scoot Fitzgerald. His main thought on this idea was that it was a very complex thing. LuElla Putnam states in her article, “American Dream”, that, “The Great Gatsby depicts the lure of the American Dream as being a destructive force rather than a beneficial one” (Putnam para. 4). In his writings, he likes to compare and contrast the different lifestyles of people trying to accomplish this goal by using their backgrounds, setting the stage, and the interactions between people. F. Scott Fitzgerald shows in The Great Gatsby

In the article “The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold?” Brandon King states that even though The Great Recession had a huge effect on the nation’s economy and each person’s life, he believes that the American Dream is still living, and it is a significant solution of recovering the economy. King begins his article by providing two contrasting ideas of the American Dream, which are about the existence of it or not. Then, he continues to give the new definition of the phrase “The American Dream,” known as having comfort and security instead of working hard to achieve success. The author goes on to write about the fragile economy nowadays, and he believes that the economy is having a hard time to recover because of difficulties from the Great Recession: the price of housing goes down, people get jobs slowly, and it is not easy to get money immediately. After making note of this, King continues to discuss that the government’s solution currently does not work for everyone. He states that the result of raising minimum wage does not help poorer become richer. Furthermore, King agrees that we should plan by saving more and enacting policies that sustain economic growth that will keep the American Dream alive. After reading this article, my point of view is opposite with the author’s idea that the American Dream nowadays does not exist like before the Great Recession happened, which was in 2008. It is shown through the debt of new graduated students

Some people who became American didn't always have the perfect life, especially when it is taking place by individuals who struggled their whole life in a disadvantaged society. As a matter of fact they migrate to the United States so they can live their dream and to be able to acquire being called an American. Not only do they move, but also abandon everything in their old home, and move to the United States to start a new life. Sometimes children are left behind so their parents can come to the land of dreams. Due to that the many children are left without their parents in their life's. Therefore, the American dream is necessary for them because they don't have many things in their hands, such as clothing, wealth, an opportunity in life and a different lifestyle. They also look at many Americans in some countries and assume everything is simpler in the United States. Therefore, the desire of being an American can provoke into having various emotions. Occasionally when they don’t feel like they have reached their target, they may receive it in as their way of life is gone and turnover on their dream. But that’s not what an American is, an American is someone who is hardworking, shows patriotism to their country and freedom.

The American Dream is surely based on the concept of “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” but it is above all, a matter of ambition. James Truslow Adams, an American writer and historian, in 1931 states: "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement”, which not only points towards a better standard of living for Americans but also denounces a degree of greed in the US society. Ambition not only “killed the cat” but killed relationships as well in texts like Sister Carrie and Death of a Salesman. While the American Dream was supposed to be a collective success at its initial stage, ambition, along with a pinch of greed and materialism were perfect ingredients