The American Dream : Slipping Away By Susan B. Neare

The United States of America has been known to be a land of opportunity and freedom with the persisting idea of the “American Dream”. The "American Dream" is defined as the equal opportunity for all citizens to become successful through hard work and determination. This guarantee of a better life has inspired many generations of immigrants to move to America in order to be included in the dream. Julia Alvarez, the Latina Leader Award winning author, reflects on her own personal experiences of immigrating and assimilating into American society in her novel How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. The novel is about the Garcia family’s life in America before and after they fled from the Dominican Republic to escape the tyrannical dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. Alvarez depicts the persistent struggles of racism, inability to find work, cultural identity, and rebellion of which all immigrant families faced while living in America. These struggles as a result can influence one’s perception of the meaning of being an American citizen. Alvarez accomplishes these changing perspectives within the Garcia family by writing the story in a form of a reflection within itself by the characters. The characters share their own perspectives of the meaning of being an American citizen, which indicates that outside influences have shaped each character differently. The Garcia Family 's views of being an U.S. citizen is divided individually based on the

To me the American Dream is something in the past, and it no longer applies to the present American society. The American Dream fueled our nation from the beginning. The American dream was in the mind of immigrants coming to America in search of a new and better life, a new beginning where you can start fresh and reinvent yourself and become successful. But now the Dream no longer exist in our nation, but it still exists in the mind of immigrants. America was a place where immigrants came to seek a brighter future not only for themselves but also for their children. The dream is still believed to exist by immigrants but their expectations are not met once they arrive here in the United States. The land of opportunity for everyone is now the land with opportunity for the few. So I personally do not believe that the “American Dream” still exists in this country, it is just a memory now.

One new experience can bring a whole other dimension. Viewpoints on life change, knowledge is gained through mistakes, and one may find themselves trapped in a maze-like situation that they need to find a way out of. However, making the best out of one’s position through determination, perseverance, and courage can slowly reverse the difficulty of handling it. Eventually, as strength is regained from tough obstacles, the desire to obtain their dreams escalates even further, which aids in working harder and striving to reach their goals. Barbara Ehrenreich, the author of Nickel and Dimed, depicts the financial struggles of single mothers who raise their families through minimum-wage jobs after the welfare reform affected their lifestyles. In the novel, Ehrenreich tests the limits of living in poverty by accepting any scarce job that was offered, and provides insight that although it was exhausting to balance her needs and her hectic work schedule, by diligently laboring, constantly persisting in seeking the better, and voicing out the wrongs, it can eventually lead to the attainment of the American Dream.

While the motivation of the American Dream may be materialistic or moralistic, it is based on the sole property of opportunity. As shared by Martin C. Jischke in “The American Dream,” “the American dream is the ‘dream of a land…with opportunity for each according to the ability or achievement’” (75). Because the qualities of an individual are unique, the measurement of success varies. Improvement in any sense must be sparked by a window of hope at a richer life. The American Dream is easily attainable when paired with opportunity and a strong work ethic. Without the necessary investment of time and labor, the skill sets and knowledge of those working towards the American Dream are laid to waste.

From the time our Founding Fathers introduced the idea of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, many individuals are now craving to achieve their idea of the American Dream. The American Dream has changed dramatically over the few centuries. During the Founding Fathers’ time, many believed the American Dream meant freedom, equality, and mutual respect. Time has changed this ideology of the American Dream, which is now seen as owning a million dollar mansion with multiple luxury cars. This isn’t the case for many immigrants who come to the Americas to have a better life for themselves and their family. To many of them, the American Dream is as simple as living in a house and being able to provide their children with an education and

" I made high-pitched noises like a crazed animal , trying to scratch out the face in the mirror ." . (Chunk 2 , Paragraph 14 ) In the excerpt " Two Kinds " by Amy Tan , it talked about a little girl , named Jing-mei , who would rebel against her mother because she knew she wasn't going to be a prodigy . Her mother believed in the " American Dream " , but Jing-mei didn't believe in such thing . Her mother left China with nothing , she had lost everything she loved back in China , and she heard about the " American Dream " . In the end , the mother died . She died because her daughter , Jing-mei , had completely ruined her pride and her chance of becoming part of an " American Dream " . Her mother became silent and pale and passed away 28 years later . She performed playing her piano and when her mother passed away she went back to the piece she played at the performance and realized that it was half of a song and when she looked at the other half she realized her mistakes . Not obeying her mother's orders because of a single rebellious , ignorant act . " Two Kinds " uses central conflicts between mother and daughter to develop the theme that anger changes a person in many unknown and unfamiliar ways that one didn't know existed . Firstly , the main conflict are caused in many ways . The problem of / with the mother and Jing-mei is external as shown in paragraph 27 , 'When my mother told me this , I felt as though I had been sent to hell . I whined , and then kicked my feet a

"It is not fair that other kids have a garden and new things. But we don't have," said Elizabeth. I wish that this school was the most beautiful school in the whole why world." This letter was written by Elizabeth to Jonathan Kozol, explaining to him that her school did not have a pleasing appearance and low resources. These are one of the few things Kozol addresses in his article, "Still Separate, Still Unequal: America's Education Apartheid" that affect students with their education. I agree with Kozol that due to poor financial resources and educational opportunities the American education system challenges the core belief of the American dream by not giving everyone equal opportunity.

Brandon King, the author of The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold?, wrote this essay to give his American readers hope after the economic hardships of the Great Recession. Unlike the previous essays that focused on the progress being made, King focuses on the ideals and values of the American Dream to promote a “big picture” way of thinking and to understand how things have changed in this country.

It is not hard to understand then how disadvantaged children may not aspire to complete school or attend University due to the unfamiliarity of the concept and lower family expectations. Economic disparity plays a large role in school outcomes wherein greater affluence can provide families with a wider range of education choices and activities to enhance curriculum understandings. In the scenario it is noted that Dexter’s parents want him to do well in school however they are constrained by economic realities. Poor families have less choice in their lifestyle and education selections which can impact on outcomes. Decreased access to resources such as books, educational materials, high quality early education and learning opportunities diminish their ability to start school on an equal footing with more affluent children. As well the poorest families struggle to find good schooling opportunities and have to accept what is offered to them (Ewing, 2013, p. 84). These factors are not so easily addressed at the school level and will require serious changes at the State and Federal levels to negate the influence of

Payne’s (2008) poverty contends that management of low-income families tends to focus on the natural development of their children with little of no regard to cognitive intervention. The poverty theory developed by Payne (1998) focuses on remediation of the economically disadvantaged to remediate their deficits. A latent effect of such miseducation of teachers and school leaders is that students will internalize the views of educational leadership within their schools, consequently resulting ion additional negative outcomes. It is arguable that individuals living in impoverished settings may hold mainstream values and ideas, but lack the resources to enact the values into their lives.

Since America’s formation over 200 years ago, anyone who immigrates or is born in the U.S. has hope to fulfil the American Dream. The rags to riches mentality is infectious and has seeped its way into every aspect American culture from literature to the workforce. Since the beginning America has been the land of opportunity; everyone has equal chances to succeed. A melting pot of cultures, religions, and ethnicities, America embodies equality and fairness, or at least it has claimed to. Since its creation, America has hidden behind the rouse of the American Dream; equal opportunities for everyone. However, for over 200 years it has failed. Through centuries of slavery, poverty, inequality, and war, the American dream has eluded its citizens,

The American Dream has long since been dead. At least not obtainable by everyone only the privileged and wealthy. Because it's thrown in their laps. The very thing that brought settlers here is falling out of our hands due to economic decline and exponential growth in the amount of wealthy persons that live on the planet. There are many supporting points that can prove the American Dream has been dead.

The correlation between low-income families and education has been overlooked by many including political leaders. They often believe that with better education, comes the less likelihood of poverty. The problem is that some children are already a part of a low-income family and have to work through all the conditions that it comes with. It’s highly more visible living in New Mexico than in our higher income counter states. As an educator and someone who is friends with other educators, it’s a problem we see all too often. A friend of mine works at an elementary that is predominantly low income and is constantly plagued with the difficulty it brings. Both behavioral issues and lower testing scores are apparent in

The American dream can be described by individuals whose life “should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement” (goodreads). Goodreads is a website full of authors and writers who work together to create a well-edited informative piece of writing. Adams view on the American dream is an outline for the general public, and it explains that everyone can have their dream based on their wants and needs as a human. Certain people will have a there own variation of the dream according to him or her; therefore, the American dream can change based on the time period or current events. When The American Dream came about in the 1800’s people weren’t concerned with a white picket fence,

USA Today article, written by Everett Rosenfeld on January 2014, proves different. “ A new study shows that a majority of Americans are living the American Dream, even if they largely don’t realize it.” This article explains that we may be living the American Dream, but based on our own perspective, we may not believe it. A senior fellow at Cato Institute, Daniel J. Mitchell, explains that he believes the American Dream will be continuous as long as the government keeps its boundaries: “Keeping government within its proper boundaries will be key to the American Dream.”(Mitchell, par.1) Mitchell is stating that the government may limit our growth in society. “ Why I believe the American Dream is still alive?”, an article composed by David Sokol,