Didion's "Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream"
In "Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream," the author Didion uses fiery
imagery to parallel the San Bernardino Valley to hell. It is a place where the
"hills blaze up spontaneously," and "every voice seems a scream." (p.3) Didions
hellish descriptions of the geography reflect the culture of San Bernardino
Valley. It is "where the hot wind blows and the old ways do not seem relevant,
where the divorce rate is double the national average." (p.4) In this culture,
the importance of the "old ways," such as a long-lasting marriage, are
devalued. It is a society where the "dream [is] teaching the dreamers how to
live," (p.17) and where reality doesnt hamper peoples obsessions and greediness.
In the essay "Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream," the San Bernardino Valleys
self-indulgent culture devaluates societys morals and ethics such as religion,
law, love, and life.
In the San Bernardino Valley, tele-evangelism, Christian gospel spread
through television, is prominent. It is "the California where it is easy to
Dial-A-Devotion, but hard to buy a book." (p.4) It is a society where anyone
with money can buy a devotion to God with the dialing of a number. The usage of
religion as a money-making business defiles the sanctity of societys most sacred
and cherished belief. However, money is made so morals and ethics are ignored.
Another example of this immorality is Edward Foley, Lucilles Millers attorney.
He sa...
Being raised in the rural, rolling hills of West Virginia provides a childhood that is unforgettable. Being able to see the four different seasons and how they always change so beautifully into each other is beautiful. The hills are sprinkled with timbered forest of many types of trees, accompanied by different types of wild flowers and wild life. Passing through all of the small towns and hollers, you can still see the small farms that have been passed down from generation to generation within the families.
Based on your viewing of "Gold Mountain Dreams," Becoming American: The Chinese Experience, what were the major factors that caused men to leave their villages in China and come to California and other parts of the United States? The major factors that caused Chinese men to leave their villages was because of a great flood that destroyed their villages in China and also at the time there was a civil war was going on that kilt 30 million people in there home land. These were the two main factors that drove young men leave head to the seaports to leave China. The men knew they had an obligation to their villages and families to provide and leaving China to go to America provided them the opportunity to take care of their families. There was
Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore– And then run?" (Langston Hughes). It is important to never lose sight of one’s dream. Dreams are what keep people moving in life, but if they are ignored, they may morph and lose their prevailing form. This is evident in Lorraine Hansberry’s "A Raisin in the Sun", as Walter’s, Beneatha’s, and Mama’s dreams become delayed, distorted, and blurred.
America, since its conception, has been known as the "promised land." America is where one goes to escape persecution or achieve a dream that would be hard or impossible to achieve in their current location. This is essentially the "American Dream." The American Dream is to be able to create a better life for yourself, or any life you want, no matter who you are or where you are from. Walter and Frederick have two very different approaches to their American Dream. Walter's drive for money consumes him and complicates his relationship with his family while Frederick's passion for reading made him a more intelligent slave. The lives of the two men had different outcomes, but followed the same ideal of the American Dream.
Seated in his fire-filled chair, the devil dominates the bottom-center of the painting. With the very dark lighting the mood towards this half of the painting is dark, gloomy, lonely, and unpleasing. Frankcen illustrates the true biblical message of hell. What is very interesting about this painting is how hell is extremely large, filled with a mass of people, and takes up about half of the painting. However, some of the people are babies. This alludes to the fact that some people are could possibly be born evil and that their fate is inevitable. A majority of the people set in hell are still looking up worshiping heaven while regretting their mistakes. The painter is trying to illustrate how many people do not make the right choices and end up miserable. The way Fans paints hell in this picture is very similar to the way Dante describes hell in this book The Inferno. Even though there are not nine layers of hell in this painting the descriptions are quite similar. The people standing in line waiting for their punishments, the dark gloomy vibe, and a mixture of young and old souls, are represented in the painting and in Dante’s story (1614-1702). Francken’s goal when interpreting hell is to not only make his viewers fear it, but come to the realization that is where a majority of people end
In this week’s reading the book had a couple key points throughout the section. This was about the birth of the DREAMers and how they were taking a stand against other political groups. It talks about how youth come out of their shells creating a social movement for a different path of American citizenship. It discusses the “good” immigrant verses the “bad” immigrant.
The author used “firey pit” to put the image of burning inside of unconverted sinners head when
People who work hard enough become successful and build a good life for themselves and their family. Millions of Americans and others who admire America have believed this for generations. However, is this still true? Brandon King debates his interpretation of the American Dream in his published work, “The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold?” During his essay, the speaker highlights how important the American Dream is to the economy and providing a distance from inequality. The speaker emphasizes his belief that the American Dream is still alive within America and that people must work hard to achieve it. When discussing the American Dream, King will agree that the idea is alive and thriving in the minds of Americans; yet, I argue that the idea is on hold within American society due to lack of upward social independence and economic mobility.
I read the novel these things really stood out to me, because we could have our own “Valley of
...he Inferno or the story of Hell, another one being the symbols of human’s sins which reinforce the poet Dante’s allegory.
The American Dream was the ideal goal for most common people across 1920’s America. These citizens, regardless of their social status and family history, strived to become accomplished first-class socialites. Even though they struggled to grasp this materialistic dream, high class citizens- specifically those born into wealth- already reached this heavenly goal. Truly, this makes the wealthy ultimately the American Dream themselves because of their granted status that the common people desired. This concept is incorporated in Fitzgerald’s American Classic The Great Gatsby : a fiction work that describes a poor young man named Gatsby and his relationship with the rich and beautiful Daisy Fay Buchanan. Although at first glance, the plot is mainly a love story, it describes what the American Dream is. The storyline frequently mentions Daisy’s status and how she was born into money as well as her carelessness-- similar traits that the American Dream has. Due to this, Daisy’s wealthy background, her mysterious demeanor, and her irresponsible actions ultimately make her the embodiment of what the American Dream is.
Another aspect of hell that surprised me was that the devil was standing on a frozen lake. This isn't the picture of Larson's Far Side hell scenes, nor is the devil the cool, rebellious bad boy of Milton's Paradise Lost.
Inferno, the first part of Divina Commedia, or the Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri, is the story of a man's journey through Hell and the observance of punishments incurred as a result of the committance of sin. In all cases the severity of the punishment, and the punishment itself, has a direct correlation to the sin committed. The punishments are fitting in that they are symbolic of the actual sin; in other words, "They got what they wanted." (Literature of the Western World, p.1409) According to Dante, Hell has two divisions: Upper Hell, devoted to those who perpetrated sins of incontinence, and Lower Hell, devoted to those who perpetrated sins of malice. The divisions of Hell are likewise split into levels corresponding to sin. Each of the levels and the divisions within levels 7,8, and 9 have an analogous historical or mythological figure used to illustrate and exemplify the sin.
A Dream Deferred in A Raisin in the Sun and Harlem In Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun, the author reveals a hard-working, honest African-American family struggling to make their dreams come true. Langston Hughes' poem, "Harlem," illustrates what could happen if those dreams never came to fruition. Together, both Hansberry and Hughes show the effects on human beings when a long-awaited dream is thwarted by economic and social hardships. Each of the characters in A Raisin in the Sun has a dream for which they base their whole happiness and livelihood on attaining. However, the character of Lena Younger, or Mama, differs from the other members of her family.
The ideology of the American Dream can be traced back to the flood of immigration in the early twentieth century. Families from European Countries sailed on boats from months to read the great promise America held. They left their home countries and everything they had to lead successful and prosperous lives in the US. Another form of the American Dream arose in the 1950s after the US successfully win World War II. Young men came back to their young wives and had many children, hence the name “baby-boom generation.” Soon Levittowns sprung up around the country, cookie-cutter houses divided by pristine white picket fences, to handle the population increase. In Arthur Miller’s 1949 classic, Death of a Salesman, the antagonists American Dream is to retire comfortably, pay off the house he raised his family in, and for his sons to have a steady job and settle down with a woman. His dreams are much like those of elder parents who want not only the best for themselves, but also the best for their family. My American Dream is different then those listed about though being prosperous and happy is a theme that ties them all together. Instead of the perfect conforming dream of the 1950s, I would have a more Cosmopolitan twist to it. Though everyone’s American Dream is different, they all have the some underlying tone: to be successful, comfortable, happy, and prosperous.