Generational Theory And Its Impact On American Society

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Recommended: Introduction about the development of the american dream

When the Dream is Impossible: American Society shaping the American Dream
The term “American Dream” was wrought by James Truslow Adams in the book The Epic of America from 1931, where the expression was defined as an equilibrium between material wealth and moral freedom (Students - Procedure - The American Dream - Lesson Plan | Teacher Resources - Library Of Congress). Throughout the years, however, this concept has changed a lot, achieving the apex of its popularity worldwide representing the hope for an economically stable-or even privileged-life.
The goal here, nonetheless, is to consider the American Dream in its literal meaning, analyzing the definitions of ideal life given by members of the American society in different times in history. In order to section American society throughout history, so to simplify the study of historical facts that could potentially affect people`s understanding of the Dream-or the ideal life-, the study of generational cohorts was employed: Generational Theory. …show more content…

The theory links facts of the American history with behavior patterns of the cohort of people living at that time, developing a profile for the generation and analyzing the impact their characteristics could cause in future generations. According to the Strauss-Howe`s studies, each generation had a predominant mind set, which affected the American society (Center for the Critical Study of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements).
As many say, our personal opinions are a reflection of our experiences and such a statement makes the Theory very reasonable. Still, it has faced numerous amounts of critics since its creation for not accounting for more specific aspects of society-such as gender, ethnicity, and

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