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Definition Essay: The True American Dream

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The True American Dream Is it possible to know how long the American dream has been around? Would it be possible to find the person who started it all those decades ago? The simple truth is that there is no one person that began the dream for greatness, no one person who came up with the idea of making a better life for themselves, and the fact is that the American dream was around long before America came to be. The true American dream does not just belong to Americans, but it is called the “American” dream for a reason. America is the land of the free, where all people can shoot for the stars and dream as big as they would like. In the United States of America people are able to follow the true American dream, which is simply stated as unalienable …show more content…

When most people think of the ideal lifestyle, they think of what would make them the happiest. It could be argued that since this aspect of the American dream is so different for each and every individual, and in most cases the hardest part of the dream to attain, that the American dream is not actually possible to achieve. This is stated rather plainly stated by American comedian, critic, author, and actor, George Carlin when he says, “It’s called the ‘American dream’ because you have to be asleep to believe it.” It’s doleful to think that many people actually believe this, when in reality happiness is a choice. Keeping an optimistic point of view is not always easy but it does make life better. Being able to push through hardships and continue to chase dreams is important. Sometimes when a certain dream has been imagined so much that the real dream is no longer attainable, it’s important to either get a reality check or chase a new dream. The character Jay Gatsby from F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby was not able to move past his dream of having the love of the married Daisy Buchanan, and his obsession with her and his fantasy he had created in his head may have ultimately been the cause of his downfall. This lesson is exemplified when Fitzgerald closes the book with the famous quote, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year

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The American Dream has a different meaning from what it once was, but according to Brandon King it is still alive. His beginning question, “What is the true state of the so-called ‘American Dream’ today” (Page #610, Para. #1) appeals to his audience’s own thoughts of his or her own personal beliefs for their futures. Most people have an idea of what they want in life, and their dream may not be the rags to riches dream of yesteryear, but is uniquely theirs.

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The American dream is not as easy as people say it is. The American Dream is being able to afford the necessities you need, without having to struggle and suffer just to put food on a table for their families. People think it’s easy to live the American Dream, but little do they know that there are people out there struggling to support their family. The American Dream is difficult to achieve but very possible if people could find the opportunity and available to them.

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The American Dream is simple, it is to be able to provide for yourself and your family. The dream is still attainable, but due to a lack of motivation and because the dream has become blown out of proportion, most Americans believe that they have not achieved it. The American Dream has been built up to be obtaining large sums of money and numerous material possessions. The actual dream, though, is to be able to provide a comfortable living for yourself and loved ones. In the last one hundred years, the dream itself has not changed, rather people’s attitude toward the dream has changed.

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In this time period, the American dream has been highly debatable. People see it as an old-fashioned way of achieving goals or being normal. Now it may be seen as financial stability, when in fact it is so much more than money. Is it possible? The American Dream, being complete comfort and stability in one's life, is still achievable through hard work towards one’s goals and determination towards a comfortable life style.

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908 Words | 4 Pages

The American dream at one point was what drew people to American; the right to life, liberty, and the happiness. The American dream is the hope to acquire currency, large homes, raise a middle-class family, and pursue what brings people joy in life. But in the year 2016, the American dream becomes hard to believe in. The American dream may still exist, but it is not equally accessible to all Americans. This is true because the American dream is not affordable for everyone, it is not available to everyone from different degrees of education, and race and ethnicity creates large social barriers.

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The American dream is a term used in a lot of ways. Although research has shown that American dream can’t be attainable by most people, closer examination shows that it can be attainable by the following reasons. As Daniel J. Mitchell stated in New York Times im January 1st, 2015 “The United States is not a perfect country, but the American Dream is still a reality.” By that he meant that even with America’s Grow rate, poverty, unemployment rate in the past years and still going Americans can still chase their American dreams If we look at the history and the definition it shows that infact it is possible to attain it.

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239 years ago, our fore fathers described the American dream in one phrase: “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” The American dream was not about how much money they had, it was about living a free, happy life. Since then, the so-called American Dream has changed substantially. People have said the American Dream is achievable by anyone with a little hard work, and determination. Yes, maybe 100 years ago that was true because our nation was expanding at such an exponential rate that someone could achieve the dream through many career pathways.

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1142 Words | 5 Pages

The American Dream Is Achievable And Is Alive To begin with, for majority of the people it is an idea that every U.S citizen should have an equal opportunity to succeed and achieve through positive outcome such as hard work, determination, and initiative. What it means to me is everybody flourishing on the dreams they have in mind and living the life they want. For instance, the author, Adam Shepard, of the book “Scratch Beginning” had succeed on the american dream through positive outcomes when facing many adversity such as living in poverty. On the other hand, there are those who do not believe the american dream is achievable.

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The American dream is beneficial to the American people, it symbolises a better life. It’s a goal that every American wishes to achieve to present hope and a positive future. For example “Americans have always believed in possibilities. And they have consistently said over time that they can start poor in the country and become rich, regardless of the economy or their circumstances.” (Seelye, May 2009).

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1622 Words | 7 Pages

The American Dream has been present ever since the birth of America. Over the years, the definition has been heterogeneous. For many, it has been to earn a comfortable wage and provide for their families; for others, it could be to start a business or to simply help others. Only some have dreamed of riches or fame. In the 1930s, the American dream was on a much smaller scale, due to the terrible and unstable state of the US economy.

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Introduction: Back in 1972 a case was brought up on behalf of 7 students between the ages of 8 and 16, who lived in Washington D.C. These students were students with disabilities. They were excluded from their public schools, and educational services were denied to them. The children were denied entrances to public schools in the District of Columbia due to their mental retardation, emotional issues, ADD, and ADHA (Waddy, 1972). Though the school system did acknowledge that an estimated 12,340 students would not receive schooling due to their disabilities just in the 1971-72 school year (Martin, Martin, & Terman, 1996). The school systems had stated that they could not afford to provide these students with special education unless they

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1188 Words | 5 Pages

The American Dream is so essential to our country as it is an honor to reach your goals and make it a reality. The American Dream is the national ethos that people’s lives would be better and abundant with many opportunities. The American Dream was more accessible to attain back in the days, however, changed over the years. Although the “American Dream” is still possible, many people, minorities are affected by the lack of improvement in social mobility in our society. The American Dream is still alive by being able to live a middle-class lifestyle and by obtaining it through perseverance and hard-work.

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1630 Words | 7 Pages

The American Dream is still alive and available to everyone today, although it is different for everyone. The American Dream is what each individual believes it to be and does not have a set definition, it is whatever the person believes it to be and it still possible for everyone. America still provides access to opportunity for everyone from the people who are born in poverty to the people that are born into wealth. While lately there has been much debate over whether the American Dream is still alive and well and many people believe that it is dead, there are considerable proof and evidence that the American Dream is developing and thriving. First of all, in the American Constitution, it states “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

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Chalmers, Shakira English 096 Prof. Lisa Helrich 8th December, 2016 American Dream People say that they want the American Dream but what exactly is the “American Dream”? The American Dream means the idea that every U.S citizen should have equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work determination and initiative. It’s a term used for the “way of life”. The question now is that “. Is this dream attainable”?

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“We all know, of course, that the American Dream exists because we live in a nation founded on certain extraordinary principles. Much as we take them for granted, deep down inside, every American knows that they are especially fortunate to live in a land where they are accorded an enduring right to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. While most of us are very clear about what Life and Liberty mean, however, there is some confusion about the pursuit of Happiness. And it’s that misunderstanding which causes us to misperceive the American Dream.” So now many believe that we all should try to bring back a stronger belief in this concept and then everyone will know that the american dream is

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