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The American Dream: A Look From Both Sides Of The Border

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Tracy Overman Josh Tucker ENGL 1020 3 May 2017 The American Dream: A Look from Both Sides of the border What is the American dream? The Library of Congress defines it with a quote from James T. Adams, “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless …show more content…

His conflict is turned inward, towards the end of his poem he shows this by speaking of “…loves that memory” and “Another voice speaks…” (18-19). Bruchac’s earlier lines where he unfolds his conflict, the reader sees his love and admiration for his immigrant ancestors struggle. He acknowledges his grandparents plight when he talks about “…the long days of quarantine, after leaving the sickness, …” (4-5). Bruchac identifies with his immigrant grandparents when he writes “Like millions of others, I too come to this island, …” (14-15). His conflict is an overshadowing voice that calls to him about his native ancestors and a loving memory of his grandparents. It is signified by “Another voice speaks of native lands within this nation” (19-20). In the final stanza Bruchac defines the reasons for his conflict, “Lands invaded when the earth became owned, …’ (22-23). Although Bruchac himself has indulged in the American dream as an arriving immigrant, he has an inner conflict that arises from having both native American and immigrant …show more content…

The definition of that dream is a concept that is in some regards left to the individual dreamer. It is ever changing and ever elusive. Where there are great dreams there is also conflict. Baca and Bruchac write about this conflict with different literary tones. Baca’s “So Mexicans are Taking Jobs from Americans” is angry, whereas in Bruchac’s “Ellis Island” the tone is more reflective with an inward conflict of love against disdain. Works Cited Baca, Jimmy Santiago. "So Mexiccans are Taking Jobs from Americans." The River Reader 2nd ed. Ed. Natalie Danner. New York: Pearson, 2010. 339-340. Print. Cellini, Don. Article: U.S. Latino Poetry: The 1960’s to the Present. 2012. Web. 1 May 2017. . Congress, The Library of. The American Dream. n.d. Web. 30 April 2017. . III, Joseph Bruchac. "Ellis Island." The River Reader 2nd ed. Ed. Natalie Danner. New York: Pearson, 2010. 336.

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