Value Of The American Dream

Words: 540

Pages: 3

Open Document

Everybody talks about the American Dream and its importance, but do we really know what it means? Do we fully realize its value? It was very important for Americans back then, but does it still hold its importance today? Passed in 1944, the post-WWII GI Bill enabled the American Dream to become a reality for Americans.

“The ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.” According to Google Dictionary, that is the definition of the American Dream. The idea is that the government is responsible for the protection of a citizen’s right to life, liberty, and happiness. It enables Americans to be able to reach their full potential without any setbacks due to the law (Amadeo, 2017). The Atlantic wrote an article with examples of people all across the country describing their idea of the American Dream. A large majority of people interviewed said they wanted their children to have strong values, education, and promising futures (Arnade, 2015). The American Dream is something many of us have but often take for granted. …show more content…
The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944—or GI Bill, granted veterans many benefits, such as access to free education and housing loans (Katz, 2015). They were given financial support for a year after the war until they could regain their footing and find a job. Any college in the US was open for veterans pursuing to further their education. Veterans who were African Americans or female were also given these rights, but because of discrimination, it was hard for many of them to receive their benefits (Khan

The Three Essay

The American Dream Since the founding of The United States, many have dreamed of coming to this great land to escape tyranny, persecution, and oppression. Over time, this desire has turned into The American Dream. The American Dream is different to everyone, and many authors express this dream through their novels. The Great Gatsby, Death of a Salesman, and The Catcher in the Rye all expose the faults of the stereotypical American Dream that success, material possessions, and unrealistic ideals will…

Words 1531 - Pages 7

Misguided American Dream

get closer to that American Dream of there being a pie cut up and shared. Usually greed and selfishness prevent that and there is one bad apple in every barrel.” Is the American Dream a misguided dream? Everyone has goals and aspirations. If a group of people were surveyed and asked what their idea of the American Dream is, chances are, the majority of the answers would be vastly different. Despite people’s personal opinions, there is a general idea of what the American Dream consists of; fame and…

Words 1479 - Pages 6

Lost Boys Essay

prove to be good or bad. The “American Dream” and the “Sudanese American Dream” are very similar. They are basically comprised of the same characteristics. The difference is more in how much they value each characteristic and also why they are valued so much. That is best shown through family, money, and education. The “Sudanese American Dream” values less material things more compared to the “American Dream”. The “Sudanese-American Dream” values family and education more than anything…

Words 432 - Pages 2

Summary Response 1 Essay

Traditional American Values and Beliefs Maryanne Kearny, Joann Crandall, and Edward N. Kearny write about traditional American values and beliefs in their book the American Ways. They mention the diversity in the United State, and how the early American recognized this variety of cultures as a fact of life. Furthermore, they explain how the American values attract immigrants from different country to immigrate into the North American Continent. However, the most significant issues from the…

Words 806 - Pages 4

Value Of American Culture

The Values of the American Culture What do Americans value most in today’s society? Individuals have placed a value on things they can measure and classify themselves by. Specifically, Americans value money, education, power, and social class and determine this using the “American Dream”. According to James Truslow Adams, the American Dream is “the dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement…”; however…

Words 1905 - Pages 8

Essay about The Great Gatsby Written

Venality of the ‘American Dream’ “Anyhow he gives large parties and I like large parties. They're so intimate. At small parties there's never any privacy.” (Jordan Baker Pg. 50) ‘The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald 1926 is one of the most effective, classical pieces of American literature. This novel is set in the period of the Jazz age and explores the corruption of the ‘American Dream’. Throughout this novel, Fitzgerald intertwines many motifs and symbols in order to demonstrate this. These…

Words 1239 - Pages 5

The Role Of Corruption In The Great Gatsby

“ To me, the American Dream is being able to follow your own personal calling. To be able to do what you want to do is incredible freedom. ” (Maya Lin). The roaring twenties delivered times of great optimism, wealth, and corruption. In The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald, The American Dream is established as the perfect recipe for achieving wealth and success, but later on turns into a force that inspires corruption. In the book we observe that the path to great wealth is not always a linear or…

Words 723 - Pages 3

King The American Dream Dead Alive Analysis

In King’s essay, “The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold?”, he redefined the American Dream in more modern terms and defended his perspective on the livelihood of it. The American Dream has evolved into a more modest version of itself according to King because it is characterized by a stable income rather than material wealth. King,then, enumerates each challenge the American Dream has faced, and he refutes each of them with logical appeals. For example, to disprove increasing minimum wages…

Words 298 - Pages 2

Poem assingment English Class Essay examples

beginning of 1950’s, African American were under the straggle of civil-rights movement. Harlem is one of highlighted cities related to the movement. I, personally, interpreted the poem “Harlem” expressed the will that they never gave up to achieve it, and the distress that they had a hard time to attain it for a long time. The author of the poem “Langston Hughes” started the poem as “What happens to a dream deferred?” In this context, ‘Dream’ means ‘civil rights’ for African American people. They made an…

Words 364 - Pages 2

Book Review Essay

The book, Honor and the American Dream: Culture and Identity in a Chicano Community, and the film, Salt of the Earth, both relay to their audience, the pursuit of happiness within the Chicano community in which they live. These works aim to show how Mexican-American immigrants fight to keep both their honor and value systems alive in the United States of America, a country which is foreign to their traditions. The Mexican-Americans encountered in these works fight for their culture of honor in…

Words 1065 - Pages 5