Upload
stephenehpets
View
585
Download
3
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Stephen Calkins
Jacob Miller
THE AMERICAN DREAM
THE AMERICAN DREAM
In the Beginning of the
THE AMERICAN DREAM
• Began with immigrants moving here for a better life
• Later popularized by writers of the 20th century who were not
happy with the way people had interpreted the Dream
• Many very successful business men
lived in luxury
• This shows immigrants with very little
trying to find their American Dream
19TH CENTURY
What people had What people could have
• Material goods, Black Rights, Social
Order
• Barely a job, low wages
20TH CENTURY
What people had What people wanted
THE AMERICAN DREAM
Main themes of the
MAIN THEMES• The American Dream has been interpreted many different ways
and is different for everyone
There are those, I know, who will say that the liberation of
humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is nothing but a
dream. They are right. It is the American dream.
-Archibald MacLeish
Edges and disjuncts, shattered, bitter planes,
a wedge of disconsolate memories to echo fame,
fear of the past, a future still to blame--
Multiple heavens, hells, nothing is straight.
You earn your money, then you wait
for so-called life to see that you get paid.
Tilt! Again it's all gone wrong.
This is a heartless, hopeless song.
This is an empty, useless song.
-Robert Creeley
MAIN THEME
THE AMERICAN DREAM
Reflecting on society with the
REFLECTION
• The American Dream is perceived as a struggle for material
goods
• Many people worked from the ground up to gain a materialistic
life
• Writers have disagreed with this for years
REFLECTION
• The American Dream has changed and many now look for “Get
Rich Quick”
• Work values for many have dramatically shifted
• “Rags to Riches”
• If you work hard then you will succeed
bringing wealth and God’s grace
• He won on “Who Wants To Be A
Millionaire”, well so can I
• Lottery
REFLECTION
REFLECTION
REFLECTION
• The lottery and game shows now target Americans desire for
money
• These lures make large amounts of money feeding off of
people’s naïveeity
AMERICAN DREAM
What is our
Stephen
Money
Big House
Car
Jacob
Babes
QUESTIONS?