...burning in every American’s heart; Is the American Dream, the thing many died in hopes of, still alive today? Many would say no, that we are in recession and that no one is born in equal opportunities, but those people forget the fundamental principles behind the dream. The American Dream is the idea that everyone has the ability to have equal opportunity and lead successful lives, and that idea is still alive because we still have the same laws protecting our rights and the only thing that could rob us of the dream is our own attitudes towards it. The United States Constitution has gone through a few changes over the years, the addition and revision of the first ten amendments and other clarifications being examples. However, every U.S...
Words: 657 - Pages: 3
...Jeremiah Mertz American Lit Is the American Dream Still Alive F. Scott Fitzgerald and William Faulkner are commonly considered two of the best writers of the twentieth century. Their novels depict the lives and struggles of people and give insight into the life of the early 1900's. Their stories often concern the American Dream. In these stories it seems that both these authors are saying that the usual concept of the American dream does not result in happiness and is false. Many people associate accumulating wealth, power, and status as the American dream. In Faulkner's and Fitzgerald's stories this is not the case. Their stories state that the dream is not about accumulating wealth, power, and status as this does not make a person happy, but that creating close relationships and spending time with loved ones creates true happiness and that is what the American Dream truly is. Faulkner's story "A Rose for Emily" centers around the character of Emily Grierson. Emily Grierson was the only relative left of an aristocratic old southern family. These families had wealth, power and status. They were the families that controlled most of life in the old south. Despite the old south falling, Emily still had her wealth and status. She was well known around her town and everyone respected her. The town tried to support her the best they could after her father had died and even remitted her taxes as a sign of respect. Yet Emily was not happy. After her father's death she was seldom...
Words: 1935 - Pages: 8
...Critique: “The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold?” Although the idea of the “American Dream” may be outdated to some,Brandon King’s The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold effectively represents and explains the truth behind the american dream, and why people feel that way. Many liberals believe that the dream is dead because the income gap known as “income inequality” but despite the fact that liberals have that belief, income inequality actually helps people acquire the “American Dream”. Income inequality acts as a motivation for the less fortunate, or even a wake up call. So this gap is what help humans gain this area of success in life known as “The American Dream”. The “American Dream” is more than just making money or having a job, it...
Words: 1294 - Pages: 6
...Views over the American Dream In the articles “The American Dream is Alive” and “Restoring the American Dream” the authors explain in detail their views over the American Dream. In the reading . In the reading, “Restoring the American Dream” Zakaria Fareed explains her view points on the American dream, and shares her solution on how to restore it. In the article “The American Dream is Alive” the American Dream well defined. The term ‘American Dream’ was coined during the Great Depression by James Adams to give people hope and a goal to be prosperous. It is the dream that everyone will have the opportunity to have a life better than the poverty of the Great Depression. It is the dream that a land can reverse poverty. The main idea of the definition of the American Dream is that all citizens have justice and freedom. In the article “Restoring the American Dream” the American Dream is similarly defined. The...
Words: 1160 - Pages: 5
...Theresa Gbekia World history Reimers Williams 10 January 2014 ALIVE Although a plan of 45 people crashed in the Andes, sixteen of them made it alive. Those sixteen faced extremely harsh weathers, loneliness and hunger. On the Andes tops there was no Singh of a living thing, so how did the sixteen men stay alive? The men used the torn up plan as shelter. They accompany each other to wear of loneliness. And yes for food they eat those who did not stay alive! I believe that the overall question of this book is; what will one do to stay Alive when driven from civilization? The sixteen men did an outrageous thing eating their friends. They came to many explanations to make the act righteous. That action of man tells a great fear for live! The men feared for their life and did what they had to do to stay alive. A technological cause that helped answered the question was science .To science; the eating of human flesh simply provides protein just like any other animal meat. The human body does not hold any kind of poison, therefor is edible. A political cause in this book was that the leader/the men that took charge reasoned that God had the bodies there for them to stay alive. The leaders, who were the strongest and healthiest felt responsible to care for the weaker friends and made sure that they were fed. At the end of recuse, none of the sixteen survivors were held in poison for the cannibal act they committed. In fact, some of the victim’s families had no angry words. They...
Words: 954 - Pages: 4
...Alyse Tait Anna M. Mertz DRE 097 2 October 2014 Benefits of Long Distance Relationships For many people, dreams are the most interesting subject to think about. They have many underlying messages that are due to feelings that people hide in the back of their minds. There are many different types of dreams. According to Micu they are, “Revealing unconscious desires, primitive anxieties, archaic conflicts, and dreams can often be their metaphorical elaboration, but other times they can be a symptomatic manifestation” (Micu, 80). There are multiple positive assets that come from knowing what a dream is symbolizing, three of the most important are knowing how to deal with repressed emotions or memories, learn coping strategies, and increased individual happiness. As Micu points out, “The dream characterizes a very particular state of mind when the individual’s consciousness is suspended. This doesn’t make them any less credible in the message they convey but it does make them more difficult to decipher and often harder to accept, taking into account that part of the message of the dream was once conscious but it was repressed, and the other part never made it to consciousness” (Micu, 80). Dreams are very complex but are like a whole other world to people. Some look at dreaming as an escape from reality, others are terrified to fall asleep due to nightmares and even night terrors. Micu shares, “Perhaps one of the most significatnt ideas conducted by Frued was that “nothing...
Words: 877 - Pages: 4
...My most recent dream that I can remember was about three weeks ago. I was dreaming about animals I can’t remember what animal but I do recall it being big and furry. In my dream the animal was chasing me and I didn’t have anywhere to run so I jump on top of a car and just stood there screaming. When I woke up I was in my bed screaming and jump out the bed because I thought the animal was in my bed. I ran into my sister’s room turn on her light and started jumping in her bed. When my sister woke up she was asking me what was wrong and I told her there was a brown furry animal in my bed. We went in my room and it was my brown furry blanket. I always seem dream about animals or anything that I afraid of in real life. I believe that if I can conquer my everyday fears my dreams will not be so real to me because I always wake up scared. Psychoanalytic perspective I keep having dreams about animals because of my fear or them but I believe if I can conquer my fears in my dreams maybe I will not be as afraid in real life. Biological perspective I believe this dream happened because I am always thinking that palmetto bugs or any time of bug is in my house or room. I think for a cognitive perspective this dream is trying to help me deal with my everyday experiences because I have a fear of all type of animals and bugs. I have noticed since I relocated to Charlotte from New York I have been having these dreams more. I find myself dreaming of Palmetto bugs all the time and I am...
Words: 324 - Pages: 2
...What role does nature play in John Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men? Set in the Salinas Valley of California, Of Mice and Men features George and Lennie, two old-time friends setting off to work in a ranch after being kicked out of their last one. Their dream is to own a piece of land on their own, where they're free to do whatever they want. By chasing this dream, the duo will face many obstacles in their path and see new things, many of which will be reflected through the nature and landscape throughout the story. Steinbeck's diction of the natural world creates an atmosphere of peace, eeriness, and forewarning, all of which symbolize events that happen in the story. The story begins with a description of an area surrounding the Salinas...
Words: 967 - Pages: 4
...An Unusual Dream I had a dream this morning. You know the kind of dreams you have right before you wake up that seem so very real… In my dream, a friend of mine and I were, for some inexplicable reason, working late in a restaurant and having difficulty closing up. As is often the case in my dreams, there was a task to be done and infinite problems continually got in the way of completing the task. But, after what seemed like hours in my dream, we finally finished the task and left the restaurant…late for some sort of get together. As we crossed the parking lot toward my truck, casually chatting, I began to notice someone in the parking lot moving to intersect with our course. I paid little attention to this man, but could see that he was deliberately moving to meet us. I continued to ignore him as he stepped in front of my path and I even attempted to move out of his way. The man, intent on getting my attention, stepped in front of me again now nearly bumping in to each and other I finally looked up to see what he wanted. The rest of the dream was stripped away as I looked into my father’s face. He was younger than I remember him, before he began working as a correctional officer. He was thin like he was when I was in High School and his hair was longer and he wore his typical beard. He was dressed casually, as I would expect him to dress now for any normal afternoon in public. He smiled his broad smile at me and his eyes were bright and alive with laughter. I...
Words: 614 - Pages: 3
...ictionary ictionary D D KINGSTON’s KINGSTON SOTELO I LIFE Let me ask you a question. In your own point of view, what is life? It’s a simple question yet, hard to explain. Well son I’ll tell you, life for me ain’t been no crystal stair. Is it familiar to you? Haha well it’s from a famous poem written by Langston Hughes. And it’s true. Life is not that easy, there are many challenges to meet. Well for me, life is… a word of course. Let me tell you a story. Hi! I’m Kingston and I’m going to tell you the story of me. Before we go to the end, we start from the beginning right? Okay? Okay. There was a little boy born in the city Vigan. He was the cutest and the most… haha lol just kidding. Okay here’s the real one. My life wasn’t that easy. I always got bullied in school and always be the last one to be chosen in all the activities. I think that my classmates hate me. It’s true but there’s this guy who can accept who am I, the name is Warren Jay Parada. He was my best friend since the last summer for maybe how long? Ohm… 7 months? Yeah well he was the happiest person I’ve met yet, he had the most incurable pain. Why? Well you’ll know this in the next chapter. So Let’s go back to the story… I always got bullied it’s true and the one started it was my so called “FRIEND”, Mr. Rei Christian Presto. Oh, what a nice name but wait it’s the exact opposite of the attitude, personalities, and the face! And all other things. Well he was best friend actually, but since...
Words: 2021 - Pages: 9
...story is hard to understand for me. It seems like a split personality patient telling me a story about how he talked to himself. He said it was a dream. But even in a dream, in my experience I can’t have two of myself at the same time. If I am in the dream as a character, (Sometimes I dreamed about others and I didn’t even show up in my own dream) most of the time I knew I was dreaming. The pictures in my dreams are black and white. So if I am in a world without any other color, I will know I am dreaming. But there is a scary question I am wondering. Like what the narrator said, “Who is dreaming whom? I know I am dreaming you, I do not know if you are dreaming me. ” What if we can share our dream at the same time? For example, I was dreaming about my mother who is thousands miles away from me and we have the time difference, 12 hours+. I know she was in my dream and we talked about the tuition of Berklee is getting much higher than before. Then my mother had the same dream at the same time. So when she called me, she said she was dreaming about me, and I realize we were dreaming about each other. But we can’t leave any message in our dreams before we talk to each other and we appeared both of our dreams. But the narrator’s dream is scary too. His another himself wanted to suicide. Why he is still alive? If they really share the dream, once the dreamer died, the character would die too. That’s the logic. But anyway. That’s what I thought from the story. The Daughters of the...
Words: 786 - Pages: 4
...A Dream, a vision, a goal, a desire, these are all things most of us know we need when we are working towards success but have somewhere along the line, forgotten why it is so important we follow them through. The 16 Reasons Why It Is So Important To Follow Your Dreams 1. The secret of living is giving, if you follow your dreams then you will have something 5. Dreams can distract you from the negative events in life. You will weigh up what is more important, your dreams or the drama. Drama seems obsolete when you are passionate about following your dreams. 6. It gives you something to share and inspire your kids with, you have led by example that anything is possible when you put your mind to it. 7. Through accomplishing your dreams you will come to appreciate the experience of failure and know that failure is just part of success and that it wasn’t really all that bad as it was all worth it in the end. 8. Regret is a terrible thing, and a dream is powerful enough to bring you regret if you don’t take the chance to at least follow it. 9. Because you are never too old to dream. Age means nothing when we know what we want. 10. You become an interesting person, you show others you have meaning, direction and purpose. 11. The unknown of following your dreams may spark a little fear, this is okay though because a little fear is known to make you feel more alive. 12. It is fun proving the world wrong, so why would you follow the status quo? 13. The more you chase and accomplish...
Words: 1760 - Pages: 8
...In Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, a young shepherd boy goes on a journey after having a recurring dream about treasure at the Egyptian Pyramids. He comes across many hardships along the way, but he follows through with his goal and finds his treasure in the end. In the novel The Alchemist, Coelho conveys the importance of not only having dreams, but also actually pursuing them. Santiago’s trust in his mentors gives him the knowledge and ability to chase after his aspirations and fulfill his Personal Legend. King Melchizedek tells Santiago that the world’s greatest lie is “that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate” (18). Santiago could have disagreed with the king and believed in the ideas of his book, but instead he trusts King Melchizedek. By doing so, Santiago learns that he must struggle to meet his goals instead of sitting back and allowing fate to control his life. He realizes that he can’t stay in his comfort zone of books and sheep, and must go out and explore the world. When the stranger in Tangier asks him if he has enough money to cross the Sahara desert, Santiago thinks that this is a strange question, but “he trusted in [King Melchizedek], who had said that, when you really want something, the universe always conspires in your favor” (36). Despite the fact that he lost all his money to the thief, Santiago’s trust in King Melchizedek taught him to be smarter and to view the world in terms...
Words: 766 - Pages: 4
...Thesis Statement: Understanding how dreams occur, how they affect our lives and what they mean help us grasp what dreams actually are. Intro: I. (Attention Getter) Have you ever dreamt that you were walking along the side of a road or along a cliff and suddenly you trip? You’re falling for what seems like forever, but before hitting the ground, you wake up? This is considered to be a falling dream, and ironically, falling dreams occur when you are falling asleep. They are usually accompanied by muscle spasms and twitches of the entire body. Although these dreams occur while we are falling asleep, they interpret a completely different meaning. Falling can mean you are insecure, you are losing grip, or you simply have fears that need to be faced. Patricia Garfield, the author of Creative Dreaming states: “there is some problem that is making you feel helpless like you have no support, so next time when you wake up startled from a falling dream, ask yourself what upcoming events do I fear I will fail?” II. (Introduce Topic) Since the beginning of time, people have been trying to understand the different functions of the human body, how we move, talk, and even act. Many of these physiological behaviors have been explained to some extent. However, one area of the human body that has baffled researchers, is that of the mind. Many things that go on inside the mind that don’t make sense, and serves no real explanation as to why or how things happen. One of the most fascinating...
Words: 1735 - Pages: 7
...Running head: Dreams and Meditation Dreams and Meditation Student Name Allied American University Author Note This paper was prepared for Introduction to Psychology, Module 3 taught by [INSERT INSTRUCTOR’S NAME]. Part 1. In the dream, I am asleep in my room, when all of a sudden a nuclear bomb explodes. The ground starts to shake and debris begins to crash through the windows. Just as I am about to be obliterated, a vortex opens up and a group of scientists and soldiers grab me and pull me into the vortex, thereby saving me from destruction. I am now 50 years in the future. In my mind’s eye I see a group of scientists talking, while I am being hooked up to a strange chamber full of wires and a glass door. The scientists are discussing how they are going to remove a code from my brain. When they finally lock the chamber, with me inside, I start to get a strong sensation of pleasure as I feel myself hovering and swirling through a colorful array of shapes and structures. I also begin to feel like a weight has been lifted off of me and I can now think much clearer. The scientists explain to me that my migraines and head pain have been due to an overload of information due to the code implanted in my head. The scientists show me what has happened after the nuclear bomb hit. Cities with buildings in rumble and barely standing in place. Metal scraps everywhere. Broken and melted concrete jetting out from the foundations...
Words: 1655 - Pages: 7
