Although Mantsios does not focus on the Horatio Alger myth as does Harlon Dalton‚ both authors concern themselves with seeing beyond the myths of success to underlying realities. Compare the ways these two writers challenge the American mythology of success. Do these two authors complement each other or do you see fundamental disagreements between them? Whose approach do you find more persuasive‚ insightful‚ or informative‚ and why? For your post‚ you can choose to respond to any one of the above
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Audience Purpose and Tone Three possible entry points into assessing an essay—and important considerations for writers as well—are the identification of the essay’s audience‚ purpose and tone. “Audience” refers to the readership the writer is writing for—as best we can tell from reading it ourselves. An essay’s intended audience could be the entire world‚ or the entire English-reading population‚ or everyone in the United States‚ or readers of the Washington Post newspaper. It could be
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our society has perpetrated. Furthermore‚ Harlon L. Dalton‚ a professor and writer of “Horatio Alger” argues‚ “In a nutshell‚ my objection to the Alger myth is that it serves to maintain the racial pecking order”(3). Dalton is implying by ignoring the race issue and go solely off of merit‚ society is only reinforcing the racial caste system. Dalton continues to argue‚ “It does so by mentally bypassing the role of race in American Society” (3). Again Dalton is implying‚ by ignoring racism‚ society
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Straight to the Top." Rereading America. Eds. Gary Colombo‚ Robert Cullen‚ and Bonnie Lisle. Boston: Bedford/ St. Terkel‚ Studs. "Stephen Cruz." Rereading America. Eds. Gary Colombo‚ Robert Cullen‚ and Bonnie Lisle. Boston: Bedford/ St. Dalton‚ Harlon L. "Horatio Alger" Rereading America. Eds. Gary Colombo‚ Robert Cullen‚ and Bonnie Lisle. Boston: Bedford/ St. Hamblin‚ Ken. "The Black Avenger." Rereading America. Eds. Gary Colombo‚ Robert Cullen‚ and Bonnie Lisle. Boston: Bedford/ St. Kozol‚ Jonathan
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used in the future. The archetype that is described by Horatio Alger would be rising from nothing and becoming successful. This structure of having a goal about becoming successful and achieving this goal is called The American Dream. Horatio Alger created the first pattern of having a character go through tough situations. This character was named Rick. He was modest and dependable. Fitzgerald changes the original characteristics of Horatio Alger’s archetype by having Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby
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From Ragged to Richard Dick Hunter was a poor kid living in the streets of New York City. During his years on the streets‚ he had picked up some unhealthy habits such as smoking and gambling. Making a living shining boots‚ Dick only made enough money to feed himself comfortably every day but just under the amount to be able to purchase clothing or any other luxuries. Because there was nothing else to do on the streets‚ Dick would have to gamble or smoke to pass time but if he did‚ he would have
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the emphasis Horatio Alger Jr. places on Dick Hunter. The better qualities of Dick are constantly being reminded to the reader‚ giving them little room to disagree with Alger’s heroic portrayal of him. Horatio Alger Jr.’s preference to homosexuality also reflects his choice in excluding any useful female characters in his novel. Minor characters lack understanding from readers because information surrounding them is absent‚ causing them to be judged on face value alone. Alger writes Ragged
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Christian Silvia English 209 8/26/2012 Ragged Dick by Horatio Alger Jr. This book entails the struggles of young poor boys growing up in New York City through the eyes of Horatio Alger Jr. Although the author grew up comfortably under the roof of his family‚ he finds a particular calling in helping young boys‚ without the same privileges as he had‚ find a way to advance themselves in life. Horatio Alger Jr. was born in New England in 1832‚ later moved to the states with his family in
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reform efforts in the nineteenth century. A few major roadblocks were violent methods that monopolies used to combat the unions such as The National Guard‚ and Pinkerton Guards. Despite seeming like a positive aspect ‚ rags to riches stories by Horatio Alger significantly reduced change due to the fact that the poor still believed they too could be rich. The last major issue that blocked reform was the fact that unions were viewed as radicals and anarchists. The government support of the monopolies
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possessions. In today’s society‚ we all hope and strive for this dream‚ but how many actually achieve the American Dream? Is it a reasonable goal that Americans should strive for‚ or is it a myth that only leads to self-destruction? According to Horatio Alger and Toni Cade Bambara‚ they both believe the concept that the American Dream is a myth and prove these fundamentals through their writing. A single person or a small group does not create the notion of success‚ but it is created by our whole society
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