Lin-Manuel Miranda captivates audiences worldwide with a unique modern-day twist illustrating the life of Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant who is in pursuit of success on the mainland. He eventually obtained this success and became one of the pillars of America but not without suffering along the way. In the piece “Alexander Hamilton”, Miranda depicts Hamilton as a Hispanic minority who overcame an abundance of struggles and hardships in order to obtain a better and more fruitful life. Although some readers might think that the song “Alexander Hamilton” is simply about Hamilton’s life and the adversity he has overcame, it is in fact symbolic of modern day immigrant’s desire to pursue the main land’s american dream along with the obstacles and oppression they must overcome to do so.
The song “Welcome to America” by Lecrea, conveys the double entendre of America. Lecrea demonstrates how America is a stage prediction that is set up to look picture perfect to the outside world, however, some may argue that America is not what it claims to be. Lecrea portrays three different characters, and their view on America. One character lives in poverty, the second character is a military veteran, and the final character is a foreign man whose dreams of coming to America. Lecrea’s tone is solemn, serious, critical and incredulous, he raises awareness of what America represents when it comes to their own, and people from other countries.
Using his Native American roots and experiences in life as guidance in his writings, Simon J. Ortiz became a poet who was widely known through the late twentieth century. He wrote about his struggles of attempting to fit in within American culture and society. During his career Ortiz received a variety of awards for his writings of the struggles Native Americans faced, and about his stories of Native American tradition. He also received recognition for accurately depicting life in an American society as told from an “outsiders” perspective. He expressed this concept in his poem “ Hunger in New York City,” published in 1967.
Individuals come to America for many different reasons. Some come for economic prosperity, safety, and freedom. Others for religious freedom, education, and opportunities. When they come, they are presented with something expecting. For example, a ''Clean Well Lighted Place'', someone who came from China and was expected typical American saying and things like the phases he stated in the story.
“Volar” is a short story about a Puerto Rican immigrant family written by Judith Ortiz Cofer. The family immigrates into the United States in order to have a supposed better life. , The American dream is often defined as that dream of a land in which dreams come true, and unfortunately and ironically enough this isn’t the circumstance that this Puerto Rican family is facing. I will analyze literary elements of symbols by using the dreams of the protagonist, the little girl, from Judith Ortiz Cofer’s “Volar” to demonstrate the theme of the impossible dream; which is that American dream that she will never be able to achieve due to her family’s circumstances.
Immigration during the 20th century led to to differences and cultural changes in the country spreading diversity. Immigrants have came to this country escaping the government from their country, looking for comfort,or chances and hope for their family. The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica written by Judith Ortiz Cofer, demonstrates the struggle of how immigrants wanted comfort the feeling of being accepted even as they speak a different language. The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica captures the struggle of immigrants as they were embedded into a new life a new culture. Take The Tortillas out of your poetry written by Rudolfo Anaya demonstrated how the poets that tried to add their culture into their poetry were rejected for having a different language.
Within Ellis Island by Joseph Bruchac, On Being Brought from Africa to America by Phillis Wheatley, and Europe and America by David Ignatow there are different views of what the American Dream is and what it means to immigrants. Each author writes about their own experience of immigration and life in America, which shapes their view of the American dream. The common theme between the three poems is the variable nature of the American dream and how it has different meanings for each person coinciding with contradictions between leisure and suffering.
Thus giving a small part of the American Dream. In comparison reading the poem "I hear America singing by Walt Whitman the tone
To everyone in the world, the American Dream is something so far, but somehow just out of reach. For “We Share Hope for the American Dream” many Caribbean immigrants desire to attain it, yet due to their color or some other reason for being discriminated, they can only attain a small piece “... We believe that you work hard for what you want, and are then rewarded with a piece of the American dream... We can’t become presidents, but our kids certainly will one day” (Thompson). With hope in hand, many Caribbean immigrants wait for the day when they will be seen as equal and be able to fully obtain the American Dream.
During this period, my parents emigrated from Thailand after fleeing the war. They lived in a refugee camp in Thailand for many years and came when the opportunity arise. Upon arrival, many of the people that sponsored my parents did not encourage education, instead, they told my parents that the welfare system is to help poor people and the more kids’ families have, the more help and money they receive. Being uneducated from a land of oppression, my parents knew no better. They came to America and had five children within less than five years.
The American Dream differs from person to person. Every dream consists of striving towards success for a better future. In The Tortilla Curtain, T.C Boyle delves into what the American Dream is to the middle class American family, the Mossbacher’s, and to the illegal immigrant family, the Rincon’s. Throughout the story, it becomes apparent that that the ability for the poverty-stricken Rincon family to achieve their dream is unrealistic. The American Dream is presented to be close to unobtainable to those who need it the most through the use of the coyote, the Arroyo Blanco community, and Cándido’s luck.
The Thorough Breakdown of Poem Immigrants After reading and studying the poem “Immigrants” by Pat Mora, one can see and identify a few literary symbolisms that are used to express the fearful tone of the poem. This poems three literary symbols that can be seen are, a sense of pride, acceptance, and of course sacrifice. The tone of this poem show how much an immigrant has to sacrifice in this country, in order to gain acceptance and, therefore, be proud Americans. Although, they can’t ever stop being who they are, they must try and sacrifice their own culture in order to be Americans.
American children that have food on the table, a bed to sleep in at night and not have to wake up and worry about if they will have food today or not, don’t know how other countries have to beg for food, shelter, money, and that things are a lot
Different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds take a massive toll on the American nation - in moral, civic and economic terms (Kopp 2012). In fact, children living in struggle during formative years affect their life and attitude (“Jonathan Kozol” 2012). Most family’s situation is too honest to have to panhandle in the street. The cruel fact caused that those poor children cannot accept a well education. It is a crucial reminder that most economically disadvantaged children will not overcome their circumstances unless we commit ourselves to systemic changes and eliminate the root causes, from poverty to segregation (Kopp 2012).
The American Dream is often known to be a great thing, giving new lives and jobs to immigrants, but are their lives really better in The United States? Chimamanda Adichie reveals how The American Dream is not what it seems to be in “The Thing Around Your Neck.” Her short story follows the life of Akunna as she deals with all of the hardships like stereotypes, racism, and the struggles of finding a comfortable life that come from moving to the United States. From all of these hardships, the reader thinks about whether The American Dream is still relevant, and about if The American Dream still takes place today. Through the characterization of Akunna’s boyfriend as an inconsiderate person on the inside and the symbolism of the fortune cookies, Adichie implies that The American Dream is an illusion and lie towards people coming in from other countries.
