...To the unaware reader, “Winter Dreams” is a simple story about lost love and the coming of age. However, the message portrayed by author F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a lot deeper than what most perceive it as. “Winter Dreams” tells us the tale of a young man, Dexter, and his struggle to escape his middle-class life, and become one of the elites of society. One summer while working as a caddy, Dexter realizes his one real chance at becoming a man of influence. That key to success is the beautiful Judy Jones, and marriage to her would grant Dexter everything he has ever wanted. This journey to power and wealth follows the age-old concepts of the Marxist theory on American Dream, the ideology that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what...
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...Salesman, Willy Loman not only ruins his life but also affects people closest to him by escaping to a virtual world. The effects that the older generation has on the younger one is also seen in the book. Because of Willy’s deception, the lies he has been telling himself, but most importantly his sons causes them to view the world in a wrong way. A habit that is shown throughout the book was Willy’s tendency to slip into his dream world whenever things are not going as he likes. Another important deception that Willy has which affect his sons is his altered view of the American Dream, in which being well-liked and and attractive will bring ultimate success. In the end, Willy is the one who is hit the hardest by the destruction of his well built dream work. When Willy was growing up he met a successful salesman named Dave Singleman, whom was able to become well liked even though he worked from his hotel room. After learning how much success Dave was able to achieve, he believed that this was the American Dream and the future of America. Looking back, he keeps telling himself that he should have chosen to follow his brother Ben to Alaska. His belief that it was his poor decision which is the cause of his misfortunes is skewed. He realizes that the American Dream is not working out for him, but chooses to ignore the signs and keep struggling as a salesman. This internal struggle Willy experiences is seen clearly as he first mentioned how great his car was, but later on view his car...
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...Cedars" by Charles W. Chesnutt Charles Waddell Chesnutt was born in Cleveland, Ohio. His parents were both free African Americans who moved to Cleveland from Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1856. Chesnutt was of mixed race -- both of his grandmothers were African American while both of his grandfathers were white. Though he self identified as African American, he often referred to an extensive white ancestry and claimed that the issues of his mixed race had a profound impact on him as a young man. Themes of complex heritage and racial identity would be characteristic of Chesnutt's writing in his novel, "The House Behind the Cedars", as well as his other work. The overriding theme in "The House Behind the Cedars", written by Charles W. Chesnutt, is the problem or deception that comes with "passing" or posing as a white person and its consequences on both African Americans and whites in the South. The book places a strong emphasis on color, class, and alienation. Lost and recovered identity are also present in this book as I believe a type of double-consciousness. Each character in "The House Behind the Cedars" seems to have a "sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his two-ness, - an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength...
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...Andrew Fishman American Prison Willy Loman, the main character in Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman, wants to live the American dream. He is consumed with his own misguided beliefs regarding success, which causes his life to be similar what Wyoming Senator Craig L. Thomas said about the American Dream: “You stuff Someone into the American dream, and it becomes a prison.” Willy’s obsession with the American Dream, believing that being well liked equates with success, keeps both he and his sons in a state of emotional immaturity. These beliefs causes the American Dream to be a prison. The Loman family’s American Dream becomes their prison, constructed of deception and false pride. They cannot escape their immature behavior of manipulating, lying, and bragging, never realizing that this behavior prevents them from success. The Loman Family is so caught up on the American Dream that they give up happiness for the business world, they do this even though the do not like to be in business. Throughout the book Willy is so concentrated on teaching his kids the American Dream that he and his kids fails to recognize their aspirations which causes them to continually be stuck in their American Dream prison. As Willy and Happy are locked up in the prison Biff realizes that he is not a business guy and that allows him to be happy. Willy is too stuck in the idea of the American Dream and the narrow minded approach of success to do what he wants. One example of this...
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...Kennedy Nabors Mrs. Dale AP English IV 24 November 2012 The Odyssey of Realism All throughout literature and script has been used as a means to describe or make a point to an audience. In American literature, the focus of these devices has become the use of language, aesthesis, truth, expression, fiction, and affectiveness. In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller’s stylistic devices convey not only bitter deception and bleak despair, but also hopeless despondency and forlorn anguish to display the realism and iniquity of the common man. As a representative form of American realism, Death of a Salesman portrays the use of language to convey a feeling of acrimony that demonstrates the relationship between the ideas of Willy Loman and the American common man. Willy Loman as the protagonist and the antagonist of his own story creates the sense of language that develops the idea of being “liked and you never will want” stating the façade of the Willy’s society (Miller 21). While communicated to the audience through a form of realism, his language functions as the crevice between the real and non-real. As development of language continues sometimes Willy Loman’s clichés “rise to the level of pure poetry” (Roudane 369). The use of language constructs poetic symbolism and closes the gap between non-realism and realism. Throughout the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain utilizes a poignant sense of diction reciprocating the slang the common man used in the Antebellum South...
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...The third Intermediate Conclusion is Bernard understands that the American dream is just a dream and he knows that without hard work he cannot be successful. Bernard will not follow the “get rich easy” motto as his works very hard to become who he turned out to be near middle of the play. The Symbol that I chose is the Supreme Court as well. In the play Bernard who was once a nerd, then becomes a very successful lawyer, his father Charley said "he is going to argue a case in front of the Supreme Court” (Miller 95). This is ironic as Willy himself said Bernard would never be successful and Biff would be fantastic. When it turns out Bernard is super successful Willy is confused as to why Bernard was successful and Biff not. Bernard’s success is difficult for Willy to accept because his own sons’ lives do not measure up. From Bernard’s super ego, he is humble, reserved and honest. He actually has some self-confidence, unlike Willy; Bernard doesn't need to brag to everyone to make himself feel better. At one point in the play, Willy is shocked to find that Bernard ends up being a lawyer in his adulthood and goes off to argue a case before the Supreme Court. The Quotes are “Biff, where are you? You’re supposed to study with me today” (Miller 32). “Biff, Listen Biff, I heard Mr. Birnbaum say that if you don’t start studyin’ math he’s gonna flunk you and you won’t graduate. I heard him!” (Miller 32). “Just because he printed University of Virginia on his sneakers...
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...The wealth of these people was earned either legally or in some cases illegally. Because they don't come from the American aristocracy, they are considered unrefined and lacking in the proper manners and social graces. This is where Gatsby lives. In the novel, the West Egg is described as being “vulgar, gaudy, ostentatious, and lacking in social graces and taste.” Ironically, many East Egg people show up at Gatsby's parties to escape. Although Gatsby is wealthy as described by his mansion, clothing and lavish parties he will never stand up to the ways of the East Eggers. Because he lacks the family background, education, and manners to pass the test. His display of wealth is too gaudy and gosh. This is typical of the way of life displayed by many of the West Egg residences. Because of this, Gatsby or any West Egger for that matter will never be accepted by...
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...Fariha Haque Block 5 LA LIT 3 Ms. Gladstone The American Reality The American Dream, a repetitious theme found in literary works dating as far back as the 1600s, was a common misconception. People have held on to these ideals that manipulate and deceive rather than open limitless possibilities. The American Dream prompted people to believe that America was a country that expressed liberty and freedom. The American Dream originated from the Declaration of Independence in which it claimed that “all mean are created equal.”(Academia) and that they are "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights" including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." (Academia) While embedded into America’s charter, the American Dream makes the country seem more attractive to foreign lands. However, there were many perspectives on how people perceived the “optimal style of living.” Some believed everyone strived to be rich and were able to live in coexistence. These perspectives were further broken in down in “The Death of a Salesman.” Immigrants entered through the gates of Ellis Island throwing away their home country’s established social hierarchies and caste systems. With high hopes, they created schemas of the elite population versus the poor population. Though, through passing generations, they are only met with disappointment. They cling onto the possibility that life will become normal again and remain in a constant cycle of false hope. These multiple realities have...
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...a self obsessed world while making adolescent decisions about love; all these people care about is living in the now. They lie, cheat, and deceive. This was a time when the economy was booming, spreading prosperous jobs in big town cities. This era saw the large-scale diffusion and use of automobiles, telephones, motion pictures, electricity, and unprecedented industrial growth. People dreamed big, and expected better. Everyone was breaking traditions and experimenting with advanced and diverse goods. Fitzgerald depicts Nick Carraway as a moral guide throughout a novel infused with lies and deception. Fitzgerald utilizes many themes throughout the book; truth versus lies, illusion versus reality, or compassion versus apathy. Within the novel, virtually all of the main characters are dishonest to others or to themselves, which exposes each character’s true self to the reader. Deception is a common trait in The Great Gatsby. Nick Carraway, the narrator in The Great Gatsby, spends the entire novel trying to judge and associate himself with other people. Nick reveals that the woman he loves, ‘Jordan’, is a dishonest woman and a careless person. James Gatz, also known as Jay Gatsby, is fond of Daisy Buchanan, but she had not seen Gatsby for over 5 years. Tom Buchanan is...
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...Congress. The DREAM Act (abbreviation for Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) permits unverified migrant scholars to recompense in-state instruction percentages if they graduated from a secondary school or obtained a GED in Texas. Moreover, these students are obliged to have resided in Texas for a minimum of three years and put one’s signature on an affirmation sustaining that they are requesting licit nationality. Furthermore, proponents of this bill contend that this piece of legislation would not craft an exoneration agenda; rather it would foster an array of societal and fiscal doles, whereas detractors argue...
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...American Beauty to this day remains one of the most brilliant satires ever made in film cinema in its heartbreakingly honest depiction of the social disillusionment behind the notion of obtaining the “American Dream.” This concept varies considerably depending on the context under which one assumes in examining this so vastly desired commodity, yet what American Beauty brings to the drawing board is the underlying deception inherent in the meaning that so many us in our consumer-driven culture fail to realize. Kevin Spacey is undoubtedly in one of his most groundbreaking roles to date as Lester Burnham, whom paints a portrait of a desperately yearning middle-aged husband and father having lived a great deal of his existence—mediocre at best—under the distorted pretense that material things measure one’s overall happiness. The entirety of the conceptualization driving the storyline is to completely disintegrate these illusive pre-conceived notions pertaining to this phenomenon of organized conformity and offers some semblance of hope to everyone fighting their own individual but similarly constraining plights. Deeper, intricate meanings are illustrated from all different angles and constantly multi-faceted; what this film achieves to do that so many others strive to but lack in their conviction is that it gives viewers a window into our own true selves and the instinctive desires that are inherent within all human beings. We are not necessarily made whole by the sum of money...
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...of statements or theory’s left open to interpretation. If the exercise consists of a dialogue, read it several times, each time for a different purpose. First, read it to understand the discussion in its entirety. Then read each person’s comments individually, noting the progression of his or her thoughts and the degree of logical consistency. Finally, read for implications and assumptions; these are ideas are not stated directly but are nevertheless identifiable by what is stated directly. Both men were heavily involved in the creation of Massachusetts law, government, and the creation of a free United States of America. Both of these men had to spend hours of their lives examining dialogue regarding the laws and the forming of the American government. Reading documentation of this magnitude cannot be read just once therefore these men had read through material several times with different purposes in mind. They had to keep in mind everyone’s wants and...
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...“The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. A full-time minimum wage employee earns $15,080 annually. In 2012, the poverty threshold for a single person was $11,945. For a family of four with two children, it was $22,283” -University of California-Davis. In Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, Barbara Ehrenreich tells a powerful and tenacious story of the day to day survival of low-income workers in America. Her story transcends the disparity that exists between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat society and uncovers the dark truths that lie hidden beyond the popular portrayal of the “American dream”. The book gives the reader an insiders’ view into the world of the proletariat society, a peculiar place to which majority...
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...Christian Dream Interpretation Author Barbie Breathitt, described as a “respected teacher of the supernatural manifestations of God,” has just released a new book entitled “Dream Encounters,” in which she claims Christians can have access to a secret dream language that God uses to reveal “hidden knowledge” to believers. In this book Breathitt tells believers they will be enabled to use the “revelation” obtained from God through their dreams in order to unlock their “destinies” and live lives in which they are “productive, responsible, successful, prosperous, loved and fulfilled” (p. 138).i According to Breathitt, this is done by decoding information that God has “embedded” into our dreams and through which he continues to communicate with us in personal, ongoing revelation. But there are three significant problems with what Breathitt teaches, and I will attempt to develop why these issues are unsupported by Scripture. The three problems are as follows: 1. Breathitt’s teaching is more in alignment with a pagan and superstitious—even New Age— worldview than Christian 2. Breathitt puts forth the idea that each believer has a “destiny” waiting to be unlocked, accessed, known and lived out, an idea that is contrary to the teaching of Scripture—that, as Christians, we have no “rights” to our lives. And finally, 3. Breathitt's teaching about ongoing, personal revelation from God goes against the clear teaching of sola scriptura, which is that God speaks to us through scripture alone...
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...From the beginning of the novel, the readers can see the light in which Nick portrays Gatsby. In Nicks mind, "[Gatsby] represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn...foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men" (6). It is clear that Nick does not approve of Gatsby’s way of life but he uses the word temporarily because at first he did see some intriguing things about Gatsby. But, as he got to know Gatsby he realized that Gatsby has a futile side and that was much more interesting to Nick. It is obvious that Fitzgerald perceives the rich as arrogant people and he uses the title “great” as irony, because he obviously does not approve of Gatsby’s sole goal: to become wealthy. Fitzgerald portrays Gatsby as ultimately powerless and desperate human. Nick narrates as Gatsby is shown trying to rekindle an old love and describes Gatsby as, "pale as death, with...
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