Thesis: “Even American’s can’t afford the American dream” and “Is the American dream dead?” both convey that the American dream is dead since people cannot afford the dream therefore a poor society emerges. Body Paragraph: Transition+Topic Sentence: To begin, one way American’s cannot afford the American dream is that everything is too expensive now. Context (5 W’s): Soergel, author of the article “Even American’s can’t afford the American dream” talks about how prices going up increasingly for things and stagnant pay wages blunder the fantasy of having the American dream. Integrate+Source #1 Quotation and citation: As said by Sorgel, “Rising home prices in the U.S….list their properties at higher values...Amid rising uncertainty and still modest income gains, not to mention rising rates, consumers face potentially more difficult times affording and financing a large-ticket purchase such as a new home (Soergel). Analysis of Quotation #1: Step 1 (summary): Andrew Soergel talks about how the American is unreachable with rising rates and still being paid the same amount of money. Step 2 (Analyze diction--explain how these words/phrases prove the topic sentence): When …show more content…
He talks about how homeownership rates have dropped and the number of renter households has grown. Integrate+Source #2 Quotation and citation: The other goes on to say, “That while no state, county, or major city in the United States has enough affordable housing for its poorest residents, it’s not just those families who are forced to rent. Even Americans employed full-time are now struggling to find affordable rental housing… (“Is the American Dream Dead”? Analysis of Quotation #2 Step 1 (summary): The author talks about how people that are homeless or very poor cannot afford to live in houses and how people must rent instead of
‘“It used to be that if you stayed with your job, you would be rewarded… now there is no guarantee.” (62). Randy and Cherie are a couple who had worked for airlines for 26 years and for them to get pensions lower than they deserve shows how many blame business or the government in this situation. ‘“These words ‘retirement’ and ‘vacation’ are not in our vocabulary.”’ (62) Simone and Miguel both share a garage door system business and believe economy has a huge play in their earning. They both agree that, ‘“The American Dream is a bygone thing.”’ (62) and believe that it’s not easily achievable. The American Dream is to have freedom, liberty, opportunities, and be successful. Both couples have freedoms, liberty, and opportunities which means their living part of the American Dream. The other part is their interpretation of the American
In the United States there is an idea many pursue called the American dream, which differs from person to person. The American dream according to americanradioworks.publicradio.org is “a revolutionary notion: each person has the right to pursue happiness, and the freedom to strive for a better life through hard work and fair ambition”. Yet it has been said there is no real definition of American dream, instead it merely proves that it has an unconscious influence in American mentality (Ştiuliuc 1). The American dream is different for each person because everyone yearns for things that will they hope will in return make them happy. Whatever that may be, each person goes through different struggles to obtain what they want. According to Frederic Carpenter, the American dream “has never been defined exactly, and probably never can be. It is both too various and too vague” (3). The Madonnas of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse depicts the different interpretations on what the American dream actually is through the opinions and actions of Hector Esperanza, Efren Mendoza and Mrs. Calhoun.
In the book “They Say I Say”, Brandon King writes an essay bringing multiple perspectives on what Americans golden way of living is. The “American dream” is what most American citizens all strive for. Early settlers came in to try to achieve “the dream”. Those who already lived in America choose to stay because of its grand possibilities. The United States of America is the only place in the world where you have the rights to freedom of speech. What is the American dream? It used to be said that you could come to America and go from rags to riches; you could come with nothing and achieve everything you ever wanted. Take a second and think. We all ponder upon, is the so called “American dream” dead or alive? This has been a steamy topic
In the article, “What is the American Dream in 2016”, by Sean Bryant, he writes about how the American dream barely exists. “The American Dream is still alive as we head into 2016. But it has changed
As the lease of my apartment is coming to an end it had me thinking of achieving my own American Dream of home ownership but as I do my research I find the dream is far from coming true. I am sure that the issue of housing prices and rent rates are what most of us Bay Area residents talk about and debate. It is an issue that needs to be addressed by the officials of the area, city mayors, affordable housing committees, social justice activists,lawmakers, and even employers. Skyrocketing prices, low inventory, and investors’ bidding wars are not only pushing the middle and lower classes out of San Francisco and the Bay Area out but will completely eliminate them.
The American Dream is known to be a hope for a better, richer, happier life for all citizens of every class. For almost all Americans, this entails earning a college degree, gaining a good job, buying a house, and starting a family. Although this seems wonderful, a large amount of the American population believes that the Dream has changed immensely because of increased prices in today’s society, the price of tuition being highly unaffordable, as well as the unemployment rate skyrocketing and weaker job growth. While some American citizens believe it has changed, others believe that the American Dream has not changed, but point out it is harder to obtain.
“The American Dream: Out of Reach?” America Press 10/3/2011: Pages. Vol. 205 Issue 9, p6-6. 8/9
In the 1950's the "Baby Boomers" perfect American Dream focused primarily on being financially comfortable and stable to support their family. By the 1970's another shift "people without culture or education [having] the money to not only indulge their passions, but flaunt them" (McClelland 550) no longer exists. Currently, in todays society majority of Americans work long hours to have a place to call home regardless if they have a family or not. While, others must depend on support from the state and federal government just to survive and basic needs.
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.
... continuous injustice in financial prospect because the top dogs are too occupied with new ways of making money for themselves while the rest of America are focused on putting a roof over their heads or feeding the entire family. For few fortunate individuals, they will be able to accomplish their ultimate American Dream; however, most Americans will often shun away for the life time of financial progression. Like George Carlin, a comedian once said during his stand up show about the American Dream, “The owners in this country know the truth, it is called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.” In reality, when the prospects of the American Dream is ignored by our society, dreams often become unfilled and expectations for superior life turn out to be a sham, an enduring nightmare for most people in the pursuit for their American dream.
In today’s society, The American Dream is hard to achieve. For some, it is given to them the moment they are born, and for others, they need to work very hard to fulfill their dream. The American Dream is still alive today. Evidence of this is shown in the poem “Ellis Island” by Joseph Bruchac, a keynote address by Barack Obama in 2004, and The Declaration of Independence. Although these all help argue that the American Dream is still available, some obstacles can make it very difficult to accomplish the American Dream such as financial challenges.
Tran, Lynda. "Losing the 'American Dream'." USNEWS.com. N.P., 13 May 2013. Web. 12 Mar 2014. .
The American Dreams means to be “middle-class” or live a comfortable lifestyle. But these days, that lifestyle is harder to achieve. In “Is the American Dream Still Possible?” an article in Parade, writer David (56) urges, “The traditional American Dream is based on the belief that hard working citizens can better their lives, pay their monthly bills without worrying, give their children an even better life and still save enough to live comfortably until they retire. But many average Americans are struggling--squeezed by rising costs, declining wages, credit card debt, and diminished benefits, with little left over to save for retirement.” It’s tough choosing sides because his argument is also true, because he focuses on how money is the problem we have. There's situations where people live from paycheck to paycheck, fear of job loss, and that’s scary. The general argument by Wallenchinsky is that the dream is no longer possible due to the economy problems that America has. More specifically, he argues that it has gotten harder to achieve the middle-class lifestyle. He surveyed U.S. household residents earning between $30,000 and $99,000 a year and more than 64% agreed that they lived in a comfortable lifestyle, are in good health and have satisfying religious or spiritual life. They also own one or two vehicles and a home- overall, they live a good life, a life of prosperity. In this passage,
In 2003, a report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development stated that 5.1 million American households “pay more than 50 percent of their income for rent and utilities” (“Habitat for Humanity”). Known as severe rent burden, this is a major issue faced by the urban poor. With extremely small incomes, the burden of paying a majority of their earnings out for housing leaves little money left to pay for other expenses, such as food. Consequently, many families must choose between eating and having a roof over their heads, which often leads “to housing instability resulting in frequent moves and, for some families, periods of homelessness” (Crowley).
Homelessness is a crucial factor as to why Americans don’t achieve the ideal “American Dream”. Homelessness is a social issue that affects a widespread group of people, ranging from single individuals to families each year. Many of those who are currently homeless, don’t choose to be homeless, but are forced into living on the streets for reasons such as a financial crisis, divorce, unemployment, mental illness, drug or alcohol abuse, or even a natural disaster that triggers the rising problem of how these individuals will survive. Annually, 3.5 Americans experience an episode of homelessness. That is 75,000 people experiencing homeless each night that others of more comfortable means will never have to experience. (Thompson). Homelessness