Research Paper On American Childhood

Not everyone has the same chance of achieving the American Dream. The phrase “American Dream” was actually put in a book by the famous historian James Truslow Adams. The book is called “ The Epic of America.” Fun fact, the book was actually written during the Great Depression. The American Dream has changed over time. How? Well before the American Dream was to leave behind their past and create a better one in America. An example of what they dreamt of was the social dream of equality (of opportunity) and a classless society. Now the American Dream is mostly about political and economic marketing strategies. Also now we want people to get away from selfish individualism and materialism, and to return to community spirit and social

David Kamp's 2009 Vanity Fair article "Rethinking the American Dream" focuses on the general perception of the ‘American Dream’ and how it has evolved throughout our nation’s history. It clearly states that as the average American household's lifestyle has become more and more consumer-oriented, the original spirit that invigorated and united its people from the age of western expansion to the Great Depression has begun to fade. The dream has been dampened as the vision of "success" has become more focused on gaining material/getting rich quick, rather than working hard all throughout one’s life to attain what they want and desire.

The American dream is large in the minds of the American public, and indeed, of people around the world. It has taken on somewhat of a life of its own, and its clear, powerful call has brought people from around the world to the shores of the United States for more than a century, each of them hoping to capture a little bit of the American dream for themselves. While some have (there are famous immigrants in history who have come to America with nothing and created ridiculously successful financial empires that even continue today), most have found that the proverbial American dream is far more myth than reality (Bambara

America still to this day holds on to the idea of the “American Dream”. This is rather surprising in today’s society and the ups and downs that the nation is facing. The dream in the past was more about freedom and equality. Moving through the decades, this dream has morphed into something quite different. Instead of what America means for all of its inhabitants, the nation has become more individualized. Society has moved to interpret the dream of what America can do for the one. Instead of the unified nation, America has been known for in the past, a shift has started creating an inconsistency in who can realize the dream. The myth of the “American Dream” has been hugely affected by increased materialism, the gap in economic status, and the fantasy of “rags to riches” idea.

American culture has been described as a “melting pot”. This means that everyone has incorporated their specific opinionated types of cultures and mixed it all into America. American culture was a slower-paced, slower communicating, and a better relationship filled culture. American culture has evolved into a faster communicating, better educated, and fast-paced culture. American culture is going to evolve into where we will barely talk in person and it will be less natural to talk face-to-face because of the many technological advances. As the future progresses, the “American Dream” begins to fade. In the “American Dream” it is stated that there should be “prosperity and success, as well as an upward social mobility for the family and

The idea of the “American Dream” seems to change from generation to generation. Our grandparents believed in working hard to make money to support your family. Our parents believed going to college and getting a good education so you can succeed in the world. Today’s generation- Well they believe in traveling and being free and seeing everything there is to see before you truly begin your life at around 30 years old.

Achieving the American Dream has been the ideal for people living in the United States for decades. People believed that the way to get there was through hard work, also known as the “Protestant work ethic”. The American Dream can vary depending on the person. Some people think that owning a house with a white picket-fence is the American Dream while others think that it is becoming a celebrity with a lot of money.

Anyone coming or currently living in the United States has a dream, or better yet known as the American Dream. What is the American Dream? Well, Brandon King, author of “The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold?” quoted James Truslow Adams, who wrote that the American Dream “is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability and achievement, regardless of coral class or circumstances of birth”(610). Everyone’s American Dreams are all different, but a majority of them all have a few things in common, that is becoming financially fit, acquiring a good education, and pursuing the opportunities that were not available. Brandon King expresses that the ideals and values of the American Dream are very much alive. However, Paul Krugman author of “Confronting Inequalities” bring up several excellent points as well, regarding that not all Americans can pursue the American Dream because of all the inequalities Americans currently possesses. Achieving the American Dream is not impossible, but it is harder to attain now than how it used to be with social, income, and racial inequalities being the primary cause. As of now individuals has to overcome many of bias barriers to reach the American Dream which used to be a lot easier to gain back in the 1940s-50s.

Geography Matters All throughout the world the geography in which a person lives can say deeply impact how a person behaves and it can say many things about the surrounding community. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald uses the geography of the Valley of Ashes to show how the valley and the people there are the bottom of the barrel for those who strove for the American Dream, despite how hard they worked for a better life. The idea of the American Dream has always been apart of American society since it was rooted in the Declaration of Independence. Over time the ideas behind the dream have changed through the course of history. In today’s society the American Dream has become known as the ability to achieve happiness and wealth through hard work.

The American dream has changed drastically thru our history. Back in the 1950 and 1960 the American dream was to have the house with the white picket fence and the 2 ½ kids. Now the dream for a lot of people is to be able to pay their bills and maybe have enough money to go out for a nice little dinner that you did not have to cook yourself. The American dream is dead, it is because the concept has changed from the idea that everyone can improve their life through hard work to the idea that everyone can become a millionaire through virtually no work. The United State at one point used to have everything you needed to make this dream happen. But since jobs have been moving over sees we have lost all of that. The American Dream is so

encountered by members of every level of society; however, most of all affected by this idealism

I think that even though the way of achieving “The American Dream” has become more and difficult saying “I have achieved my American dream” is heard not often, there is still a chance to really achieve it. All we have to do is forget about material success and live in the way our ancestors were living by finding a good husband or wife, by having kids and living from day to day. That was their dream, and we can always look and find that dream in our society.

For some, the American Dream still holds its true definition, but the majority maintains the later, materialistic version. Since the

The american dream is an allusion of greatness and achieving success through all time of struggling, and is know as starting new. Individuals laud america because of the way it changes lives and the way you are able to find a profuse amount of career success. The american dream still is alive, and it will continue. Individuals come to america to start a new chapter without being banal off someone else dream. Never giving up is what they believe and aiming for the zenith of success. The American dream has enthralled people to become something it is not dead, but it is still existing to individuals who come circumspect their

According to Goff (2014), Americans are beginning to challenge the ideas of the American Dream. There is still a very potent societal pressure on Americans to chase some version of a dream many may not even want, but have simply been told to pursue their whole lives. The American Dream is dead because no one cares about it anymore. So who cares about making it big anymore. As long as you live a joyous life and can support yourself, that is all that