American Dream: The Idea That Pervades Society
Jeffery Zou
Mrs. McCarthy
AP Language and Composition Period 6
10 March 2013
American Dream: The Idea that Pervades Society
The American dream is the longing of success that means a happy family and equal opportunity to go from rags to riches, through hard work. This idea is scene in a lot of places. On the picture by Margaret White, the poster proclaims: World’s Highest Standard of Living-There is no way like the American Way”. Or the headline of the newspaper story is “The American Dream, the subtitle is Doing Well by Doing Good.” Examples of the American dream are almost invisible when looking at average Americans. In the photograph, there are hungry people carrying buckets. None of them are white and none of them look remotely happy …show more content…
Sometimes, aggression may be necessary to get this “equal opportunity” due to circumstance. “At the time, most southern blacks could not share a water fountain, a beach, a bus seat, a school room, or a voting booth with southern whites.” (Moser, and Watters) This barrier to civil rights meant that many were considered inferior and could not succeed because they were separate from the average American. This shows that the American dream is unrealistic for blacks. Langston Hughes states how America should be a land “where Liberty is crowned with no false patriotic wreath, But opportunity is real, and life is free, Equality is in the air we breathe.”(Hughes) However, he later asserts that “America never was America to me, And I swear this oath-America will be!” (Hughes) This reiterates how this equal opportunity will be there in the future. Thus, showing how the American dream is currently unrealistic for them. Immigrants who were not American tried to go from rags to riches as well. “Education was free. That subject my father had written about repeatedly, as comprising his chief hope for us children, the essence of American opportunity, the treasure that no thief could touch, not even misfortune or poverty.” (Antin) This shows his belief in the equal opportunity in America. In the end, many of this people did not fully realize the dream and may have ended up in a worse financial situation than before. The Antin’s wound up losing everything after the storm on Crescent Beach. They could not achieve the success that the American dream entitled. Her father was “master of no art, of no trade; that even his precious learning was no avail, because he had only the most antiquated methods of communicating it.” (Antin) They did not expect this would matter but being immigrants put them at a disadvantage. It is clearly not achievable for the poorer Americans and immigrants who probably worked very hard but
Mrs. McCarthy
AP Language and Composition Period 6
10 March 2013
American Dream: The Idea that Pervades Society
The American dream is the longing of success that means a happy family and equal opportunity to go from rags to riches, through hard work. This idea is scene in a lot of places. On the picture by Margaret White, the poster proclaims: World’s Highest Standard of Living-There is no way like the American Way”. Or the headline of the newspaper story is “The American Dream, the subtitle is Doing Well by Doing Good.” Examples of the American dream are almost invisible when looking at average Americans. In the photograph, there are hungry people carrying buckets. None of them are white and none of them look remotely happy …show more content…
Sometimes, aggression may be necessary to get this “equal opportunity” due to circumstance. “At the time, most southern blacks could not share a water fountain, a beach, a bus seat, a school room, or a voting booth with southern whites.” (Moser, and Watters) This barrier to civil rights meant that many were considered inferior and could not succeed because they were separate from the average American. This shows that the American dream is unrealistic for blacks. Langston Hughes states how America should be a land “where Liberty is crowned with no false patriotic wreath, But opportunity is real, and life is free, Equality is in the air we breathe.”(Hughes) However, he later asserts that “America never was America to me, And I swear this oath-America will be!” (Hughes) This reiterates how this equal opportunity will be there in the future. Thus, showing how the American dream is currently unrealistic for them. Immigrants who were not American tried to go from rags to riches as well. “Education was free. That subject my father had written about repeatedly, as comprising his chief hope for us children, the essence of American opportunity, the treasure that no thief could touch, not even misfortune or poverty.” (Antin) This shows his belief in the equal opportunity in America. In the end, many of this people did not fully realize the dream and may have ended up in a worse financial situation than before. The Antin’s wound up losing everything after the storm on Crescent Beach. They could not achieve the success that the American dream entitled. Her father was “master of no art, of no trade; that even his precious learning was no avail, because he had only the most antiquated methods of communicating it.” (Antin) They did not expect this would matter but being immigrants put them at a disadvantage. It is clearly not achievable for the poorer Americans and immigrants who probably worked very hard but