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The viewer’s eyes are drawn to the center of the painting where white train workers dressed in colorful clothes are displaying their papers and pocket watches. They stand in close proximity to powerful iron girders, tanks, and a train engine which show the chugging along of the American economy. Ribbons of oil tankers crisscross the background, portraying an economy that has no means of slowing down. Walking by the workers is an African American soldier carrying a rifle. Unacknowledged by the workers, the soldier passes by.
In the poem, “ Let America be America again”, Langston Hughes asserts that America does not live up to what it actually should be. Hughes’ tone seems to be angry and [exasperated]. He implicates the perspective of one particular group, but many people. The poem represents that many people come here with high hopes and big dreams but they are let down. He states that [prosperity] is one of the reasons that there is an economic inconsistency where the rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer.
(Doc F) The American Progress was painted in order to promote the expansion process of Manifest Destiny. The Americans wanted to incorporate civilization and innovation across America by expanding westward. The angel is holding a book to represent education as a highly
The ethical expansion of territory through migration west for the chance
This painting, created by a Modernist, depicts modern life in America as a ‘new civilization’. This painting contradicted Fundamentalist beliefs, as they wished to preserve traditional values and the modern depiction departed these old
This inspired many and made them look for new land and a new economic
The United States became an opportunity to people, it gave them the one thing every looks for, hope. It gave us hope to do something with ourselves. That can be creating an invention to save lives, or finally having a job. “This success did not come without a price, however, industrial growth brought with it a host of environmental pollution problems.” (Document 3)
In Adam Gopnik 's piece “Caging of America,” he discusses one of the United States biggest moral conflicts: prison. Gopniks central thesis states that prison itself is a cruel and unjust punishment. He states that the life of a prisoner is as bad as it gets- they wake up in a cell and only go outside for an hour to exercise. They live out their sentences in a solid and confined box, where their only interaction is with themselves. Gopnik implies that the general populace is hypocritical to the fact that prison is a cruelty in itself.
Andrew Carnegie is the perfect example of what the American Dream is imagined as. He struggled in the beginning of his life, but through his hard work and intelligence, he was able to become one of the richest men in America. The industrial revolution would bring both positive and negative impact to individuals, but Carnegie learned to overcome these difficulties. He was forced to do hard labor in dangerous factories to keep his family afloat, but this would later prove beneficial to his business knowledge. Andrew Carnegie’s childhood was mostly spent in poverty due to the industrial revolution; however, this experience would teach him things that would eventually make him one of the richest men in America.
The painting “American Progress,” shows indians leaving their land and settlers behind them who seem to be pushing the indians away. There is also a woman with wings holding wire that is connected to power poles. She can be seen as a symbol of westward expansion because she is bringing power towards the west. The illustrator seems to be supportive of expansion, and believes the americans wanted to obtain all the land they could. The
By the 1860’s more than half of the American population was located west of the Appalachian Mountains. This area was known as the Far West or as many nineteenth century Americans called it, “The Great West.” This migration of people was caused by the West’s connection to political, transportation, and financial progress. All three of these aspects were extremely important in American migration to the Great West and they helped shape the structure for America as it is today. The Political need for new classes caused by industrialism and abolition of slavery, the opening of jobs and new business involving financial situations and the boost of transportation that would expand almost everything.
How has the American Dream changed from the 1920’s to now and how has the theme of the American Dream been supported by works of American Literature. We will see how the American Dream though time did not follow what the founding fathers set out for us in the declaration of independence and when they said, “The authors of the United States’ Declaration of Independence held certain truths to be self-evident: 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". We will see how the American Dream suffers, what an American Dream is centered on, and how, for some, the American Dream is unattainable. In "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman and in "Harlem" by Langston Hughes we see the American dream depicted, as the loss and utter death of a distracted corrupt American Dream, as the love of the American dream, and as the American Dream for Blacks in a time of segregation and discrimination.
The appeal of the American Dream is that each person has an equal opportunity to succeed through hard work and determination. The idea that “anyone” can achieve success holds Gatsby in a chokehold, due to his accomplished success, he believes his origins do not matter. What Gatsby could not grasp was that the American Dream is a facade, the truth is that his origins do matter and his wealth could not mask the real Gatsby: “He was never quite still; there was always a tapping foot somewhere or the impatient opening and closing of a hand. He saw me looking with admiration at his car. “It’s pretty, isn’t it, old sport?””
They can build themselves up from nothing in order to be acknowledged by by the world, but they will never be seen as equals in the upper class. This situation erodes the promise of the American Dream for the working class and diminishes their belief in the self-made man and social mobility. The Great Gatsby’s loss of faith in the self-made and social mobility is caused not by immigration but by Gatsby’s inability to transcend the barriers between social classes despite the achievement of the American Dream. Without the promise of social mobility through the American Dream, the working class loses faith in the idea of self-made man.
Gilded Age Immigrants from all over the world were looking for work, opportunity, and prosperity; the United States of America appeared to be the paradise they had long searched for. All that was heard of America was the rag to riches stories of foreigners striking it rich when arriving in the United States. It appeared to perfect on the outside, but on arrival in America, they were met with the exact opposite. Mark Twain described this time period as the “gilded age” since on the outside America appeared to be pure gold but when the people dug deeper, they realized that it was only skin deep. America was full of monopolies, poverty, and political corruption.