...The story of the American Dream is as old as the Republic itself: come to America for a fresh start, work hard, seize the opportunities here to do better than your parents, and reach financial success for the benefit of your family. Does that American Dream still apply in today’s rapidly changing world, particularly in Silicon Valley? While my life so far looks like the culmination of an American Dream, I have been unaware that there are many people who do not live my lifestyle and who lack my opportunities. Many live hard lives of financial struggle, including my ancestors, as I only recently learned. Although I believe I have personally experienced the American Dream, I have begun to realize that many people around me and from my family’s...
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...that Travis Mills says in his book that really gets me in the heart. After reading this quote, it makes me want to work harder and do the best job that I can to be the best person that I can be and to allow me to become successful and happy in my life. After writing my I-Search and exploring my American Dream, I now understand what I takes to be in the military and the time and effort that goes into it. The moment I started the I-Search, I realized that this project will better help me understand what I want to achieve in life and how I want to do it. I also learned a lot about the skills I will need to gain. Hard work, dedication and never giving up, are some of the main lessons that I learned....
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...A stereotypical part of everyone’s American dream is the ability to go to a college or university and obtain a degree and further their lives. Since this idea was popular enough to become a stereotype, people must have a reason for including it. Mine is simple, I have a passion. My earliest memories of my obsession with the natural world stem from when I must of been four or five, waddling around my uncle’s backyard. I engrossed myself in every detail of his lakefront backyard, flowering bladderwort on the lake, tiny juvenile American toads hopping around my feet, and towering pitch pines above my head; I was in heaven. Next I start exploring the 171 acres of wildlife refuge known as Cedar Run, sitting right in my own backyard. Visiting the...
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...As a Mexican-American, it’s hard to know to wich world I should identity myself; I really feel Mexican when I eat spicy foods all days or when I dance banda in the party's, but that feeling goes away when I speak English in school or even in my house. As a Mexican, I feel myself a true, native, Mexican born American. So I am Mexican-American. Althought sometimes I feel confused as to wich world I belong to, for me there’s no question I’m first Mexican; I’m the result of my parents American dream, I use to live in Mexico and I know how to work and talk like all the Mexican people do, but when I speak english I reveal my obvious American nationality. Sometimes I feel really sad and angry when someone refers to me as an allien or...
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...“Between the World and Me” is a book by Ta-Nehisi Coates about the history of Americans taking advantage of the fact that they have created a system of oppression and discrimination against black people. The narrative is expressed in the form of a letter addressed to his son, through a collection of stories and experiences, from the author’s perspective as someone who lives under the repressive system. Coates’ principal message to the audience is that despite the fact that American society is set up in opposition to the success of black people, black people must not stop struggling to continue to fight for equality. The first takeaway I got from this book is that it has a largely negative focus on the relationship between “Americans who believe that they are white,” and black people. From my personal perspective, while it is important to understand the negative, Coates failed to provide the audience with a balance. There are some positive instances in the relationship between white and black people, in...
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...The Narrative Art of The Great Gatsby Introduction The Great Gatsby was written in 1925. The author, Francis Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) is one of the most outstanding writers in America. As a member of the “lost generation”, Fitzgerald made the short life of Gatsby epitome of the rise, boom and decline of the “American Dream” in “Jazz Age”. This novel shows us unusually rich literary and aesthetic connotation is has by its unique narrative perspective, the ups and downs of plot, superb accurate language, various rhetorical devices and vivid character images. To some extent, the reason why The Great Gatsby can become a famous classic work is that the author uses extraordinary narrative techniques in it. All the techniques are employed skillfully by Fitzgerald. The study of narrative art in this work has been highlighted in the research area in these years. Zhang Jinfeng(2001) analyzes the role of Nick in the novel from the its structure, themes and other aspects. Cheng Xilin(2009) uses the spatial narrative theory to discussed the space narrative art in The Great Gatsby from three aspects: the geography space, social space and the text space. Xiao Dongbo(2009) starts with the analysis on author and characters and expound the connotation of "American dream" and profoundly reveals the historical process of the formation, development and burst of the "American dream". Shang Guanghui(2011) analyzes The Great Gatsby from the narrators of the role and argues that the communication...
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...Over time the American dream has proven to be a unique perception in which Americans have connected through personal experiences and life narratives. The American dream is not established in origin, religion or some form of history the American dream is molded and defined by unified values. The American dream shows its true nationality identity in the world through principles and morals which are embedded in self-reliance, self-actualization and individualism. This three principles make it possible for Americans to achieve overall fulfillment in their destiny. They are self-reliant and believe in the promise that through hard work and dedication life can be better and different. The provable documentations of these values in relationship to...
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...It is common to classify “Hispanics/Latinos” into a single category; however, these people come from a variety of countries, have their own cultures, and can even speak a variety of languages. It is important to remember that these people are human beings like any other group of people and they have their own unique lives and stories. These stories are rather important as they tell us the harsh reality of immigration through personal narratives, and many Hispanic immigrants like sharing their stories to inform others and give themselves a voice. Personal narratives tell us that Hispanic immigration to the United States needs to be reformed promptly. These narratives tell us that immigration will never end despite the current US government’s...
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...Compare and Contrast American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis and The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro focussing on the topic of the unreliable narrator The unreliable narrator is a technique used by authors where a scenario is created in which the reader cannot trust the narration of the book usually done in the first person. In American psycho, Ellis explores the sinister nature of Wall Street yuppie culture by examining the sanity of the narrating protagonist Patrick Bateman using the unreliable narrator. Ishiguro also uses this, exploring ideas of regret and also self-justification in the character of Mr Stevens in The Remains of the Day. Unlike Ellis who examines Bateman during his early working years, in his mid-twenties and presenting a snapshot of his life, Ishiguro uses his take on the unreliable narrator to look at Stevens towards the end of his life using a series of flashbacks narrated unreliably, by Stevens. Both novels are comparable in the sense they examine the topic of failure using unreliable narrators that will do anything to escape the idea that they are failures. A popular debate regarding American Psycho is whether Patrick Bateman is a murderer or not, certainly Bateman describes in detail of murders he commits and why he commits them, however, certain factors bring Bateman’s reliability of narration into question. Bruno Zerweck argues that due to the lack of ‘detective framework’ and ‘unintentional self-incrimination’ the narration of the novel is...
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...Richard Sherman: The Rejected Embodiment of the American Dream If I work hard enough, I can do anything. If I put my mind to it, I can make all the money in the world. If I give it my all, I can get everything that I want and more. This rhetoric is what our great country is built upon: The American Dream. No matter who you are and where you come from, with determination and persistence, you can fulfill your wildest dreams. This concept represents several key American values: racial equality, capitalism, and an emphasis on merit over social status. Although the American community preaches equality for all, its racially-fueled disapproval of Richard Sherman’s “outburst” is a microcosm of Americans’ selective application of the American Dream, the tendency to view those who come from underprivileged neighborhoods as inherently and genetically unequipped with the cognitive tools required for academic and professional success. On January 19th, 2014, the day of the NFL NFC Championshp, the stakes could not have been greater; Richard Sherman was just thirty seconds away from his first Super Bowl. Sherman’s Seattle Seahawks led the San Francisco 49ers 23-17, leaving the 49ers with a final opportunity to win the game. The 49ers ran a play for Michael Crabtree, whom Sherman was guarding, who was making his way into the end zone. Sherman, the NFL’s best cornerback, leaped with Crabtree and tipped the pass towards a teammate in a historic play that ended the 49ers season and, in turn...
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...Bharati Mukherjee and the American Immigrant: Reimaging the Nation in a Global Context Leah Rang University of Tennessee - Knoxville, lrang@utk.edu Recommended Citation Rang, Leah, "Bharati Mukherjee and the American Immigrant: Reimaging the Nation in a Global Context. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2010. http://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/655 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact trace@utk.edu. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Leah Rang entitled "Bharati Mukherjee and the American Immigrant: Reimaging the Nation in a Global Context." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in English. Urmila Seshagiri, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Lisi Schoenbach, Bill Hardwig Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official student records.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Leah Rang entitled ―Bharati Mukherjee and the American Immigrant: Reimagining the...
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...Discovering African American Literature Rebekah Valcarcel Eng/301 November 30th, 2015 Dr. Julie Kares The art of storytelling invites readers into another world. Examining the literary conventions African American authors use allows readers to compare and contrast literary works. Harriet A. Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Terry McMillan’s The End and Maya Angelou’s Willie are significant literary pieces to discuss. It is important to consider factors such as historical, socio-political and cultural climate because these factors contribute and influence an author’s point of view as well as each author’s unique voice and message depending on the time period. Harriet A. Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, is a slave narrative. The literary conventions of the slave narrative define the work. Slave narratives echo biblical stories that often reflect persecuted groups attempting to escape to freedom. Jacobs’s piece details her struggle to escape her master from sexual abuse. Vivanco (2003), “The process from sin to rebirth in spiritual autobiographies is paralleled by the process from slavery to freedom in slave narratives. Slaves experience a change from chattel, enduring suffering, to man or woman living in the Promised Land, the North,” (para. 5). Further distinction of the slave narrative is how authors shape the story, often chronologically. Slave narratives illustrate an author’s personal experience though many share common themes of extreme...
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...foundations of a given community. These narratives can convey the ideals of this community and create or perpetuate inspiring heroic figures. In this case, the concept of myths and heroes then serves a more profound purpose in our culture than mere fictional stories. To illustrate this, I have chosen to focus my thought on people's successful careers, that is to say people who started from scratch and reach the top of the social ladder. How can myths and heroes influence people's careers ? Aiming at answering this issue, I will exhibit a rags-to-riches life which is a symbol of the American Dream. Then I will show that political heroes could inspire society as well. First and foremost, one cannot deny that society is based on founding myths, a collective identity forged around common landmarks and shared values. As elsewhere, but even more so the myths of “The American Dream” in the United States is a great example. Indeed it promotes the idea that not only is personal fulfillment due to honesty and hard-working but it is based also on God’s will. As a captain of industry and a generous philanthropist , Rockefeller is a case in point. He was a role model who likely fostered the American spirit of competitiveness, innovation and entrepreneurship. In the same token, we studied the rags-to-riches life of Oprah Winfrey in an article taken from the website onlineessays.com. Oprah Winfrey overcame the obstacles of being an African American girl in the South in the 50s and 60s to...
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...be answered through a compilation of archive footage and interviews with female students to understand how younger women aspiring in strong career paths feel about it – and also women that are already in the industry who experience the inequality first hand. This leads to my first contributor which will introduce narrative and to give the audience a strong storyline to follow: Carla Lacey is 46. She has recently graduated from Manchester University and wants to excel in her dream of becoming a successful screenwriter. She grew up always wanting to be a singer but suffered with heavy bipolar, restricting her from following her dreams. Carla wrote poems and two novels which are published in books and on the internet – with this not being good enough for her she researched into screenwriting and now aspires to work with many other female screenwriters in the industry. She is passionate about the empowerment of women and wants more material for women to work with in the industry as she feels there isn’t enough. (Carla and her two daughters on her graduation) In my film, Carla will travel to uptown New York to find herself and to involve her skills in the screenwriting lab funded and supported by American actress and three-time academy award winner ‘Meryl Streep.’ Meryl made a significant contribution to a new initiative nurturing female screenwriters over the age of 40. * Run by New...
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...My Antonia is important as a historical fiction because you get a little of life that happened in that particular time period of American history. Around this time, many immigrants were coming to America the home of the free to have the “American Dream”, they were coming from all over Europe. My Antonia had immigrants specifically from Bohemia. America was seen as the land of opportunity and we see this in Cather’s novel. Nebraska had a very low population so families like Antonia’s family would go there and make their living by farming. I believe Cather captures the life of people that went through this and wanted that American dream. We see two sides one being that Jim Burden becoming this New York Lawyer living his dream and then Antonia...
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