The American Paradox

the “American Dream” a dream that is unreal. The American dream was intended for people of

What does an ad say about a society? When viewing a product advertisement, many people never stop to think why the ad and product appeals to them. However, when a more critical look is taken, it’s easy to see precisely how ads are carefully tailored to appeal to trending values of a targeted demographic, and how that makes it easy to examine the society of those whom the ad is targeted at. In the analytic writing Advertisements R Us, Melissa Rubin provides an excellent example of this, as she crafts a logical and clear analysis of a 1950’s Coca-Cola magazine ad which thoroughly explains how advertisements can reveal quite a great deal about the society in which they were created.

America still to this day holds on to the idea of the “American Dream”. This is rather surprising in today’s society and the ups and downs that the nation is facing. The dream in the past was more about freedom and equality. Moving through the decades, this dream has morphed into something quite different. Instead of what America means for all of its inhabitants, the nation has become more individualized. Society has moved to interpret the dream of what America can do for the one. Instead of the unified nation, America has been known for in the past, a shift has started creating an inconsistency in who can realize the dream. The myth of the “American Dream” has been hugely affected by increased materialism, the gap in economic status, and the fantasy of “rags to riches” idea.

The Declaration of Independence grants the pursuit of happiness to all Americans. While at that time it might have been just for rich white men, the American dream has been spread out to all Americans no matter what race, religion, sexual orientation, or wealth. The United States is a huge melting pot of different races and ethnicity and if you work hard enough you can become successful. Although that path may not be easy, the outcome will be great. The American Dream means equal opportunity for all Americans and it is indeed still alive.

The American Dream is that the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.

This contradiction brings forth the purpose of these different advertisements, the audience in which it is intended for. For example, the “elite advertisements” are presented to American society on beautiful glossy stock paper within magazines, or in luxury car commercials where the extraordinary cars can be seen zooming along the coast or back roads enjoying the drive up to the cabin. With all these flashy advertisements one can only assume that an “...extraordinary car deserves an extraordinary advertisement, and that both [the] car and [the] ad are aimed [towards an] extraordinary consumer…” (Solomon 168). These elite advertisements start to scrutinize the audience's financial status. They do this to start determining if the advertised

The term “American Dream” is defined as an idea which believes that all people have the possibility of prosperity and success. The idea first came from James Adams, a noted American writer and historian. He claimed, “Life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability and achievement.” Therefore, the core concepts of the American Dream were closely linked to hard work and opportunity.

The American dream is the general belief that American Citizens all have an equal opportunity to succeed socially and economically, regardless of any predating circumstances. This idea has been accepted as possible by the majority of citizens in

From the time of the colonial period to the early national period, hardships came about because of differing opinions and views on peoples’ rights. Slavery was a major issue for African Americans along with issues involving equality, race, and liberty. Slavery mainly arose because of the high demand for crops and goods as the world evolved. In the articles by Morgan, Breen and Innes, Holton, Levy, and Rothman the issues dealing with slavery, liberty, and equality are discussed. The main issue over the course of time dealt with the American paradox and how slavery made such an impact on society.

The American Dream is one of equal opportunities and freedom to all in America. It is for even the poorest of people to have a chance to strike it rich and become prosperous. In his book James Truslow Adams states the American dream is “a dream of a 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,

The American Dream is a concept that is essentially older than the United States, dating back to the seventeenth century. It was then when people began to come up with hopes and aspirations for the newly discovered, unexplored continent. The “American Dream” is in essence the idea in that puts forward the notion that all people can succeed through hard work, that all people have the right to the pursuit of happiness, and be successful. The definition of the American Dream has been expanded upon and redefined over time. The concept of the American Dream has always been debated and put under criticism. There are many that believe the structure of American Society belies the idealistic goal of the American Dream. It points out examples of

“The American Dream” is advertised as being the act of a person having an idea, goal, or as the saying suggests, a dream, and then them spending time, energy, and money to make it come true. However, if you haven’t realized it yet, there’s a reason they call it a dream because it hardly becomes a reality. More and more people are realizing this so called “dream” is nothing but a hoax, and that the promises America assures and guarantees such as equal opportunity and equal success are nothing but pure manipulation. Furthermore, the American dream no longer stands by the virtue of discrimination and prejudice, overwhelming debt, and failed establishments.

A student will gain the ability to apply international food and culture knowledge, immediately, and to all facets of life. In this diverse world that we live in, to understand all that influences the choices of those individuals that we encounter, on a day to day basis, increases the students’ compatibility and empathy. Important global information is also useful to all students, not only providing the building blocks of culture and tradition, but also the struggles that are faced in nourishing the inhabitants of different areas of our country and the world.

The American dream can be defined as a national ethos which encourages freedom for all individuals regardless of their race, religion, colour or socioeconomic status. Through the theory of American Exceptionalism and the Declaration of Independence, “all men are created equal”, the American Dream presents itself as a system of equal opportunity and prosperity for all citizens. Author, Harper Lee, effectively draws attention to the hypocrisy of the American Dream in her enchanting novel “To kill a mockingbird”. Texts such as the front page of Malcolm X’s novel “By any means necessary” and Tupac’s song “White Man’s World” also reinforce

In this first advertisement, soccer great David Beckham is pictured looking through the camera at the viewer of the ad. This specific ad works well to reinforce the myth that one’s happiness depends on his or her social class. He is in a state of thought and is dressed in a suit with a watch sitting comfortably on his left wrist. The watch is the same as the featured watch to his right, the Bentley 05 Unitime, a watch that retails for just about ten thousand dollars. Behind the watch there is a Bentley, a luxury car available starting at around one hundred eighty thousand dollars. These two extremely expensive things represent the idea that one will become truly happy if they possess both the car and the watch, or at least just one of them. The ad is situated on what looks like to be the runway of what looks like a private airport enclosed by mountains on both sides. The clouds in the sky are a balance between dark and light. Also, the ad features lettering that identifies and describes the watch. The wording at the bottom left of the ad boasts about the watch’s quality by using words like; style, performance, luxury, accomplishment, class, etc. In today’s time and age, these words are synonymous with how happy a certain individual is. Society views people that have these or possess these qualities as happier than those who do not. Overall, this ad sends the message that the people with the most class, style,