American Dream

My American Dream

For many years people have always been living in America but do not really know what the American Dream really is. I feel that the American Dream can vary on what it means because most people think very differently. To me though the American Dream means what I have accomplished in life, how I make my life decisions, and the way I am able to live life to the fullest. I have read and seen many different scenes in life that have made me to make the definition on what the American dream means to me. Even though people may tell me to do other things in life I will always try to keep a straight mind set towards what God has told me to do and what I really need to do with my life. Many Fellow Americans and I strive for the American dream in life, for this reason I will keep on trying to accomplish what the American dream means to me.
The Declaration of Independence was written for Americans to stay united, have freedom, and to fight together arm in arm. The three words that really stood out to me in the document were "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" these words many different meanings but I have my own meanings for them. Life is really hard to put a straight definition to but to me I feel that it means what I need to do for myself and why I was born. Liberty means to me that I can live any way I want to and nobody is able to stop me no matter what the consequences are. Happiness is really how I feel about my life and how accomplish I am. These three words all have a part in what the American Dream means to me. In "America the Beautiful" by Katherine Lee Bates, she also uses very powerful words like the “Declaration of Independence” I am able to see a part of the American Dream to

me when Bates uses "O beautiful for patriot dream / That sees beyond the years". When I hear for patriot dream I see that it is a free dream not a dream that was made for me but I can make my own. That sees beyond the years makes me feel that my dream will be there for years and I am the one in control of it. These two lines in "America the Beautiful" give me the sense of how my dream can be anything I want it to be. In "I have a dream" by Martin Luther King Jr. he quotes this to show how there is not much freedom but more segregation "When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city". This shows me that the American Dream is also about freedom for myself and everyone which is a big part of the American Dream. Segregation really affected much of how America was and how it really did not accept many other races other than white men and women. For the reason of segregation I feel that the American Dream is for everyone not just one individual. Rosa Parks is a very strong and thoughtful just like King and it shows in her story "Rosa Parks: My Story" "I said, "No." He said, "Well, I'm going to have you arrested." Then I said, "You may do that."". This really shows how I need to stand up for the right thing and what I want to do in life instead of not standing up for myself. Since Rosa Parks was such an inspiring person I feel that she wants anyone to keep striving for what they want in life. During Chief Dans George's speech he also uses his words like Rosa Parks in this very powerful part of his speech "I am a chief, but power to make war is gone, and the only weapon left to me is speech. It is only with tongue and speech that I can fight my people's war.". This gives me the feeling

that I can do anything with not much but just my thoughts to get me through life as long as I believe in my goals. I have always thought that words are very strong to keep me firm on the ground and to fight in what I believe in. Paul Laurence Dunbar was a great poet and expressed his feelings on segregation like King, from his poem “Sympathy” it shows me how it was like to be an African American “I know why the caged bird beats his wing / Till its blood is red on the cruel bar;”. I feel as if the African Americans had no put in on what they could do and they could not have their own American Dream as I do. I have the power at least in me to figure out what I would want to do but the African Americans could do nothing about how they felt and could not fight their freedom like I can. Many people have fought for what they have wanted and I will keep on trying to achieve my goals in life and to also do better than what I expect. My American Dream that I have thinking of these past few years is planning out the way I have hoped and I am hoping that it will continue this way for the rest of my life. Like KIng I am hoping that my dream will turn into a success and I will be able to prosper in my life. If I want my American Dream to turn into a great success I will need to stay grounded and be able to fight in what I believe in. If I am not able to maintain a steady life I can easily be put onto the wrong path and mess up what I really wanted to happen to me in the long end. And I also need to keep on believing in my American Dream to keep on pursuing it and never having to rethink on why I need to do what is set out for me. I also need to be as determined as Chief Dan George to let me get through hard challenges and to endure them. If I am confident enough in myself I can take the harder challenges so it will pay off to me in the end of chasing my American Dream. My endurance will have to stay with me wherever I go so I can be able to overcome my obstacles and keep on my course to pursue my American Dream with nobody ever getting in my way. The fights that I am going to have to make to become the man I really want to be is that I will have to speak for myself and not have a person to speak for me but to stand up for myself. Parks was a great woman and always stood up for what she believed in because she knew what was right and what would have to be done in order to have the situation be ended. The accomplishments that Parks made were made because she was a strong woman and stood up for what she believed in. I will need to have this skill to accomplish my American Dream today and in the next following years. This skill will help me very much because I will be outgoing instead of being a very shy person and not take the more challenging and complicated roles in life. Dunbar was a quiet man but would know on how the world treated him and how painful it was to get through during segregation. The feeling of hard work will be very painful but it will help me to get ready for the tougher challenges that will be put in front of me when the time comes in my life. When I know that it will be very exhausting and I will probably be very weary I will know that I am not the person who took the path that was easier but I took the path that needed some work to be put in to get that extreme goal that I will be looking forward in my life. Many Fellow Americans and I strive for the American dream in life, for this reason I will keep on trying to accomplish what the American dream means to me.

All of the American population all have different American Dreams but I for sure will know what my American Dream is. The people who I have quoted are the people that have shaped my American Dream into what I now believe in. So because of these people I am able to have my goals in my American Dream. These people are very inspiring to me and I will try to show people on how they have changed this world. When I have my American Dream completed it will be a very great accomplishment for me. The American Dream that I believe in is helping me get through everyday life and teaching me to learn from mistakes that I have made in my life. I will keep on striving for my American Dream no matter what difficulties I will be put to test on and I will overcome these to be able to believe in what I believe in.

Works Cited
Bates, Katharine Lee. America the Beautiful. 1910.
Dunbar, Paul Laurence. “Sympathy.” Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2002. 292.
George, Chief Dan. “There Is a Longing.” Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices,
Timeless Themes. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2002. 170.
King, Jr., Martin Luther. “I Have a Dream.” Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices,
Timeless Themes. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2002. 164.
Parks, Rosa. “Rosa Parks: My Story.” Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices,
Timeless Themes. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2002. 168.
United States Congress. Declaration of Independence. 4 July 1776.