The American Dream In Letter To Coates

The American Dream The term “The American Dream” sounds appealing but it is really not what others make it seem to be. The meaning of the American Dream is the idea that every single US citizen should have the same equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. What is the true definition of hard work? Is hard work the same amount of effort for different type of people?

with egregious murder. Historically, death at the hands of a lynch mob would be reported in the presses as occurring “at the hands of persons unknown.” To Coates this repeated ignorance is intentional, as it is necessary to preserve “The Dream.” The Dream is a repeated theme in Coates writing. He argues that white Americans live a Dream where their successful lives are the natural result of grit, honor, and good works. He argues that in reality, the lives of white Americans are built on the back of African Americans.

The first argument that Ta-Nehisi Coates makes is about “the dream.” The history of the American Dream dates back to as far as when this country was created. He writes about how race is a social construction in which it’s purpose is to promote social order and hierarchy. Our country was built upon the inequalities of everyone who does not outwardly appear to be “white.” These people are falsely led to believe that they are white, when in reality they were once immigrants from another country. Coates writes, “This is the

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novels include the wealthy and the power they contain because of their wealth, especially in his astonished novel, The Great Gatsby. His texts always took place during the roaring twenties when the power of the wealthy was first becoming a glorified idea. Every person alive during this time era wished to become a rich person and to live freely as those around them, and Fitzgerald always followed these people through their adventure of their strive for money. In the short story, Winter Dreams, it follows a young boy’s life to adulthood, showing his build up in his successful career, and the heartthrob during his twenties. The boy, Dexter, was an interesting character to follow in Winter Dreams, because it was a young man who was expected to have a bland future, just like the other people in his social classes, but instead he grew to become an amazing young lad. Winter Dreams really follows the heartbreaking story of two young people who can’t seem to get their act together to stay in a true relationship, well, it is mostly on the girls side of the relationship. However, it also has great examples of how any person can achieve the ‘American Dream’, just like Dexter did, by working hard as a young man to gain pocket money, being able to say no and to make his own decisions, and lastly, by working hard to keep up a respectable name throughout his work area.

He was born to a poor American farming family living in rural North Dakota. Despising the poverty-stricken life he has, he runs away and serendipitously meets his mentor, a copper tycoon, who teaches him about wealth. After the death of his mentor, he is drafted for war and when returning from war, he lands upon the Jazz Age. He comes to know various gangsters, all of whom help him succeed at bootlegging. From this illegal business, he finally acquires the riches he has always wanted. He is able to buy a 22-bedroom mansion on the West Egg of Long Island and has enough resources to fund weekly soirees. This is the rag to riches story of Jay Gatsby from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.

My American Dream is either being on the silver screen or eating breakfast in Monaco, jumping on a plane, and landing in California in time for lunch. I plan to be living out my dream as either an actress or an international traveler. The thought of being stuck in one place for the rest of my life- working a nine-to-five job with people that I have come to strongly detest makes me physically sick. I’m positive that if I were ever in that situation I would lose my mind and come up with crazy scenarios for myself such as Gatsby. I feel as though my life lacks adventure and if I were to become an actress or traveler, my life would be so full of adventures and stories to tell that people would get sick of me.

Baseball is a rugged sport, uniquely American. Two Jewish boys meet during one of the most hotly contested baseball games of the high school season, in New York City during World War II. The teams’ rivalry—one team are Hassidim, the other orthodox—fuels intense acrimony between them until a freak accident during the game sends one to the hospital with an injury that nearly costs him an eye. The near loss of the boy’s eye creates a bond between the boys which develops into a deep and lasting friendship.

In the enlightening novel, Between the World and Me, Coates vocalizes his unpopular opinion on living the “American Dream”. He utilizes the symbolism between “black” and “white” as well as life stories to expound on the flaws and dangers of the “Dream”. Coates views the “Dream” as “an enemy of aft, courageous thinking” and banal “white fences and green lawns”. Asserting that those aspiring after the “Dream” are mislead or oblivious.Through his childhood experiences, he demonstrates the life and mindset of those living in the “valley”. Explaining their overwhelming desire to pursue the “Dream” in order to break free of the endless cycle of poverty, fear, and violence. They climb the metaphorical “mountain” but only end up trading a life of fear

The American Dream doesn’t have an actual definition but everyone seems to know what it takes to obtain this so called American Dream. The American Dream has been relevant for decades and still lives on because America is believed to be the land of opportunity; with America being a democratic nation and the idea of everyone is created equal which lends to equal opportunity and life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. All of the readings focus on how to obtain the American Dream or how they were living the so called American Dream. My goal for this reading response is to prove that everyone can’t have the American Dream.

The American dream is white picket fences, freshly cut bright green grass, the smell of homemade apple pie, fresh groceries from Whole Foods and a three story suburban house in a safe neighborhood. It is the worriless state of a financially secure career, marriage, and kids. The American dream as perpetuated in movies, television, shows and media is the story of rags to riches but not quite rich instead high middle-class. “...our media is national in nature and single-minded in purpose. This media plays a key role in defining our cultural tastes, helping us locate ourselves in history, establishing our national identity, and ascertaining the range of national and social possibilities” (610). The dream seems easily obtainable by a get rich easy planner business.