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The american dream impact
The american dream impact
Movie music analysis
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“My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth.” (Abraham Lincoln) This quote is relevant to a dream from four directions: our 40th president, Ronald Reagan, solo singers Neil Diamond and Dierks Bentley, and a duo named Brooks and Dunn. They represent how great America is and how what they say relates to the time period, their backstory, purpose, style, and how they represent to us how we.
The time periods of America have made an effect on us today. Ronald Reagan announced his speech, “Miller Center,” to many young russian men and women. Neil Diamond said in “Coming to America” that we are the “eye of the storm” for the refugees that came here in 1991. In Brooks and Dunn’s “Only in America,” it was referring to the tragedy of 9/11 and all the people who had lost their lives. While Brooks and Dunn were expressing their emotion in 2001, Dierks Bentley contributed his thoughts in “Home” on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. All of their views have a background story behind them.
Their backstories are a reference to the American history. Reagan wanted the Cold War to end by speaking in “Miller Center.” Neil Diamond was separating the good and the bad in “Coming
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In “Miller Center,” Reagan wanted all young people all over the world to have freedom. Diamond’s “Coming to America” foretells us that America is free to everyone, despite race, religion, or anything else that segregates others by saying that “they only want to be free.” Brooks and Dunn said in “Only in America” that the children are the future, and they can marry anybody they desire, rich or poor, or by classes relating to “a welder’s son and a banker’s daughter.” Bentley shows in “Home” that he enjoys the beauty of America because of him saying it is a place “we all call
Folk singer and victim of the Great Depression Woody Guthrie, wrote the song “This Land was Made for You and Me” to express how U.S. citizens once viewed the nation as prosperous, now viewed the nation as desperate. In the song, Guthrie explains that the beauty and bounty of America’s land belongs to everyone. Poignantly, the song ends with “As they stood hungry, I stood there wondering if [God blessed America for me.]” This line stressed how confused citizens felt about their country during this time. Citizens did not know what to think about living in America anymore. Should they leave? Where would they go? What about the
Through many creative forms of literature one can see how authors such as John Cheever, Louise Erdrich, and John Updike present a variety of views on American Life. It is through short stories like “The Swimmer”, “I’m a Mad Dog Biting Myself for Sympathy” and “A&P” that authors put forth examples of how the American Dream means different things to different people. American politician Bernie Sanders once said, “For many, the American dream has become a nightmare.” Thanks to these stories it is possible to see how the American Dream is viewed and how the idea of freedom in this country affect people from all sorts of backgrounds. It could be argued that each story shows a struggle either while being at the pinnacle of success in terms of reaching the American Dream or while attempting to feel a sense of freedom within such a promising country. This is seen through Neddy’s struggle to get his life together after being hyper focused on artificial possessions that the American Dream often romanticizes, through the Native American narrator in “I’m a Mad Dog Biting Myself for Sympathy” struggling to accommodate and resist his displeasure with society via reckless behavior, and the group of girls in the A&P store who are displeased with Lengel’s remark on their attire or lack thereof.
America... land of the free and home of the brave; the utopian society which every European citizen desired to be a part of in the 18th and 19th centuries. The revolutionary ideas of The Age of Enlightenment such as democracy and universal male suffrage were finally becoming a reality to the philosophers and scholars that so elegantly dreamt of them. America was a playground for the ideas of these enlightened men. To Europeans, and the world for that matter, America had become a kind of mirage, an idealistic version of society, a place of open opportunities. Where else on earth could a man like J. D. Rockefeller rise from the streets to become one of the richest men of his time? America stood for ideals like life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. People in America had an almost unconditional freedom: freedom to worship, write, speak, and live in any manner that so pleased them. But was this freedom for everyone? Was America, the utopia for the millions of common men from around world, as great as the philosophers and scholars fantasized? America, as a society, as a country, and as a leader was not as picture perfect as Europeans believed. The United States, under all the gold plating, carried a burden of unsolved national problems, especially racial. The deep scar of slavery had left a dent in the seemingly impenetrable armor of the country.
Allan Ginsberg and James Agee have given us the idea that Americans have an image of a perfect American for its citizens that have caused a large amount of America's problems with racism, American dependence on media to form its own opinion, and war. This perfect American is usually white, male, middle class citizen, early thirties, and very successful at what it is that they do. Allan Ginsberg ferociously attacks American for conforming to this way of thinking instead of being a country that believes and respects individuals for their individuality and difference in opinion. James Agee does almost the same thing in his writing "America, Look at your shame" where he calmly recollects a story about a bus ride he had, which strongly portrays the prejudices that a person who doesn't fit the profile of the perfect American has to go through. Agee and Ginsberg both believe that in order for America to change the woes of its society, each citizen along with the government has to take a stand against racism, the perfect image of an American citizen, and war.
The tone of the short story “America and I” changed dramatically over the course of the narrative. The author, Anzia Yezierska, started the story with a hopeful and anxious tone. She was so enthusiastic about arriving in America and finding her dream. Yezierska felt her “heart and soul pregnant with the unlived lives of generations clamouring for expression.” Her dream was to be free from the monotonous work for living that she experienced back in her homeland. As a first step, she started to work for an “Americanized” family. She was well welcomed by the family she was working for. They provided the shelter Yezierska need. She has her own bed and provided her with three meals a day, but after a month of working, she didn’t receive the wage she was so
In his poem “America”, Mckay writes of being torn between dueling feelings of both love and hate. He wrote, “I love this cultured hell that tests my youth!” ( ). He uses the word cultured to display the vast duality of a country that stands
Those speeches drive the American people to show gratification of this beautiful nation and desire to be free from England's tyranny. Thomas Paine rallied every single American through his work, The Crisis, as he expressed that "tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph (Paine 89)." Consequently, the nation showed their joy of being Americans and hope for the "promised land" that the outcome of the war may bring. On that account, James Brown's Living In America fairly denotes that national pride that the American people were possessing at that time. The song displays the author's tremendous love for living in the United States with its beautiful scenery, people and life. The extremely aspiring lyrics, "You might not be looking for the promised land but you might find it anyway. Under one of those old familiar names, like New Orleans, Detroit City, Dallas.", would undoubtedly fuel the nation's fire and eagerness to create the "promised land" right within the American soil as the country would slowly transform itself into the "land of
Throughout the suffering, the hardship and the pain, America continued to strive for its unities, freedoms, growth and production. Much of the documentation of American histiory in this time and its diverse emotional inlook to the American individual is solely thanks to the extordinary talents and love of these modern artists. Without the visions and sacrifices of these remarkable artists, present day America may have never known, or come to appreciate the suffering that its predecessors underwent, and the growing consciousness
Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes were two great of America’s poets who believed in the American Dream. The American Dream was the ideal that every U.S. citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. The American Dream meant everything to Whitman and Hughes during that time. Whitman’s poem was titled “I Hear America Singing’’ and Hughes poem was titled “Let America Be America Again.’’ Although Whitman and Hughes agreed that America was the land of opportunity, they had very different perspectives on who had achieved liberty and success.
To do what makes oneself happy. The American Dream is represented in many different ways and every person lives and chases a different version of the American Dream. Chris McCandless lived his American dream by walking alone into the wilderness of Alaska. The song written by Toby Keith, “American Soldier”, shows the price some pay for their dreams and ours to come true. Jay Gatsby died trying to acheive his dream and get the girl he loved, but died happy because he had pursued her until his death. The band All Time Low wrote a song called “The Reckless and The Brave” that brings a new light to how we go about achieving our dreams. So I believe that the American Dream is all about doing what will make you the happiest in the end.
...America still is and will continue to be the place to accomplish the not just the American dream, but any dream.
After recently reading “I Hear America Sing” by Walt Whitman there are many thoughts that came to mind. The most outstanding line is “The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl swing or washing.” In this song the mother have passion and loving voice. It’s an in home wife cooking and cleaning all day long. This song is also preparing the wife for her future as she sewing and washing. The song is of those women whom gave birth to their grace bundle of joy, the wife that is happy to be married, and the young girl learning new things.
The years of 1975 to 1999 were very eventful for America. Times were filled with many different emotions, from hardship and loss to bright, cheerful days, many historical events occurred.
The American dream… A precept that has guided generations of the past, present, and soon enough, future. For me, These three words sew together what I always pictured my Grandma Helen and Poppy Art’s life as in their prime. With a son and a daughter, they made up the picturesque American family of four. In my imagination, I see my Grandpa and his briefcase coming home to my Grandma in her pearl necklace, with roast and scalloped potatoes hot on the table. He kisses her cheek and rockets his two children into the air, asking how their education treated them today. This was the goal of any man half a century ago -- coming home from a well paying job to a beautiful wife and kids. However, Poppy Art, just
Tales would sprout of the ‘unimaginable unity’ this country contained. Bewildering the eyes of those who have not seen what lay behind the curtains. Incidentally, Americans throughout history have attempted masquerading their repugnant actions they have caused individuals. Nonetheless, it is self-evident that society today and society back in the day are incommensurable. Be it as it may, similarities between