The Non Existent American Dream - 1374 Words

The Non-Existent American Dream Why is America never America? â€Å"America never was America to me† is a line repeatedly written in the poem ‘Let America be America Again’ by an African American poet Langston Hughes. This poem was published in 1936, when being African American was one’s greatest sin. African Americans were treated as things that elite whites can own rather than free- willed humans. In this poem, the pain and suffering of colored Americans, who were considered less than humans, is reflected clearly. Despite being written by an African America poet, the poem ‘Let America Be America Again’ does not represent African Americans only. Minority groups including economically disadvantaged whites are represented in this poem. For these people America is not America. It is a sleepless night where dreams are not allowed. They never get freedom in the land of the free. They never get opportunity in the land of opportunities. They never ge t justice and equality in the land of the justice. America is not America they want to see, and the poet Langston Hughes repeatedly mentions, â€Å"America never was America to me†. In 1936, when the poem was first published, being colored immigrant was the same, or even worse than being a murderer, justice was never served, and there was no equality. The privileged elites had all the America to them but to the lower racial groups and immigrants, American dream never existed. Despite the fact that the poem ‘Let America beShow MoreRelatedMartin Luther King Speech Analysis989 Words   |  4 Pagestime. His words sparked change for an entire nation and was an enormous factor in contributing to the African American Civil Rights movement. During the time of Martin Luther King Jr’s speech, the country was in a great state of distress regarding equal rights and equal opportunity for people of color. Riots, protests, and chaos seemed to be taking over the country as African Americans began to demand their deserved equality. Martin Luther King Jr stepped up through all the madness going on andRead MoreThe American Dream828 Words   |  4 Pagesand believe me, we are trying our best to change this stereotype. The American dream has always been what everyone desires- a little perfect family, house, and neighborhood. The American dream is what our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents have always wanted. Everyone always desires owning their own home; this concept of the American dream has a symbol of stability attached to it. However, isn’t the â€Å"American dream† itself just another stereotype? I am tired of my generation being tiedRead MoreThe Great Gatsby - Demise Of The American Dream883 Words   |  4 PagesThe Great Gatsby - Demise of the American Dream The Great Gatsby (1925) is a highly symbolic novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald on 1920 s America, an era of great prosperity and material excess. Its theme mainly deals with the disintegration of the American Dream due to decayed social and moral values. The American Dream is a set of ideals in which freedom includes the right for prosperity, success, and social upward mobility for all Americans which can be achieved through hard work and dedicationRead MoreThe American Dream801 Words   |  4 PagesThe American Dream has a different meaning today as opposed to fifty-years ago. The American Dream once meant: marrying the love of your life, buying a home in the suburbs with a white picket fence, two to three children, and obtaining a job one could retire from in twenty years. That dream has vanished and disappeared with the advent, development, and advancement of technology, higher costs of living, and rising expenses of student loan debt. The heavy burden of paying off loans fr om attainingRead MoreHarlem A Dream Deferred Analysis762 Words   |  4 Pagesbecomes their dream, but people do not always fulfill these dreams. There are obstacles that come in the way of people being able to fulfill their dreams. In â€Å"Harlem [A Dream Deferred]† Langston Hughes uses imagery and rhetorical questions in order to demonstrate what happens to a dream. The theme that appears through Langston Hughes poem is the theme of not pursuing a dream. Through Hughes poem, this theme is demonstrated and the imagery helps in conveying the idea of having a dream postponed. Read MoreEssay on Modernism at Its Finest in Literature756 Words   |  4 Pagesof society and impacted more American lives than ever before. During the American modernism period of literature, authors, artists, and poets strived to create pieces of literature and art that challenged American traditions and tried to reinvent it, used new ways of communication, such as the telephone and cinema, to demonstrate the new modern social norms, and express the pain and suffering of the First World War. With new modernist American literature, Americans lose faith in their traditionalRead MoreThe American Dream Is The Forefront Of Many Beginnings For Citizens And Immigrants Alike943 Words   |  4 Pages The American Dream is the forefront of many beginnings for citizens and immigrants alike. Achieving this idea has proved to be unfair in certain circumstances due to many factors. The ability to reach the American Dream is not entirely realistic to a handful of people and is highly refutable. Having the chance to accomplish the American Dream is a freedom that most people desire. The American Dream is in fact real, and many have reached this set of ideals with success. However, the diversity thatRead MoreThe Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. LeGuin Essay568 Words   |  3 PagesSometimes your dreams seem better than reality; sometimes they can be worse than your nightmares. In Ursula K. LeGuin’s The Lathe of Heaven, we follow the character George Orr as his dreams alter the reality of his dystopian world. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. After an attempt to control his subconscious with drugs, George Orr is forced to attend sessions of psychotherapy with a man named Dr. Haber, the antagonist of the story. He discovers Orr’s ability to dream a new realityRead MoreWhy Do People Come America? For Corn Dogs?1332 Words   |  6 PagesCorn Dogs? The Statue of Liberty? To be deported? If you were to ask someone who immigrated to America why they came they would not respond with any of those answers. People come to America for a chance at the â€Å"American Dream†, but what exactly is the â€Å"American Dream†? The American Dream is the belief that everyone has an equal opportunity to achieve success through hard work and determination. Through this there would be little to no class system permanently fixing someone to a definite status meaningRead MoreIn literature, symbols are used to add deeper meaning to the story or hint at an emotion or600 Words   |  3 Pagesthere was an old faded billboard of the eyes of T.J Eckleburg, Nick describes the billboard as â€Å"Blue and gigantic- their retinas are one yard high.they look out of no face,but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a non-existent nose.†(Fitzgerald 23).The Eyes of T.J Eckleburg symbolizes the corruption of society and also acts as a witness to the loss of spiritual value in America.During Wilson’s an d Myrtle’s argument â€Å" spoke to her (Myrtle),† â€Å"I told her she might fool

Language needs African American Language Free Essays

The difficult part of the Ebonics controversy is an extremely old problem in the United States that the status of African American as American and their dialect. It was greatly makes it difficult to develop a state national level educational policy for using it in the classroom as a way to move toward Standard American English that was long to implementation is local. It was probably standard when it we proposed for the state or in national, we run in to problem of identifying exactly what is the meaning of it. We will write a custom essay sample on Language needs African American Language or any similar topic only for you Order Now This problem can be Avoid by addressing the issue in less effective as â€Å"home language†. If in practice the policy were, directed generally at all home languages the special needs of African American Vernacular English speakers would be unaddressed. however, the policy were expanded to national educational policy directed at the African American Vernacular English there would be strong pressure to identify or even develop a standard version for African American English in order to properly implement. Which would continue to neglect those who do not speak the new standard, and worse it would result in the need for African Americans to learn two standards. The Standard English and African American English were the two standards that the African American needs to know. The validity and systematically of the home language is reasonable However, the use of contrastive analysis ends up sending exactly the message that the resolution was intend to eliminate. If the student’s home language is allowed in the classroom and then systematically translated by the teacher of Standard American English and then no matter what the language or method used there is the implication that what is being corrected is an mistake, the home language is in error. In this, such of way, the decision could result in even greater stigmatization of the African American Language than already exists. The proposal to use Bilingual education methodology to move one language system to another has intrinsic logic that there are systematic differences between two languages and the methods and materials have already been develop and tested. However, the message sent here in practice would be one that is consistent with the intent of the Ebonics Resolution. By classifying African Americans among immigrants populations and the implication is that, immigrants they remain outsiders until they were assimilate themselves to another language or culture. In effect there us an implication that African American do not gain their full citizenship by birth but earn the assimilating to American culture which by implication is a culture that is not their own. The status of the home language of African Americans is controversial even among those whose sociopolitical goals are one and the same providing equal opportunities for employment and education to a minority group that has historically received less that its fair share of the American trance. The issue remains contentious because nobody agree the use of their language variety towards African Americans. The United States continues to struggle with two worthy but often contradictory ideas in integration and the celebration of diversity. At the end, little was clarified or even changed by the Ebonics resolution but the African Americans continues to underachieve in the United States educational system nearly guarantees another discussion of this matter.    How to cite Language needs African American Language, Essay examples

Henry James Writings, Particularly ‘The Portrait Of A Lady’ Essay Example For Students

Henry James Writings, Particularly ‘The Portrait Of A Lady’ Essay I read this book out of interest for another Henry James piece, liking Daisy Miller so much. I found that this book, as in Daisy Miller, has a female point of interest throughout. Isabel Archer is a young American girl brought to Europe after her father has died in America. Isabel is an independent girl, easily noticed by many others in her circle. I felt that Isabel was a woman in her time, in that she took notice of things that she wouldn’t have without certain without the opportunities she was given. In America she would have see and done other things, but in Europe she saw so much opportunity. I like the carefree attitude she had, but with the regard for her elders and common courtesy. The example in the book about being a proper young lady when it was not looked at very well that she stay up ‘alone’ with her cousin and another young man. She had asked her aunt to help her and tell her when she is doing, or about to do something saw as improper. I admired that . I think nowadays young women would revolt against proper if it meant something they did not wish to do. We will write a custom essay on Henry James Writings, Particularly ‘The Portrait Of A Lady’ specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Henry James’ writing was interesting to me in that he gave these characters a real life, with real life struggles and even consequences. I enjoy reading his work, very much like I enjoy watching and reading Jane Austen pieces as well. The time period is interesting to me and what is proper of a lady. That is a large piece of the world I do not understand. I am very much happy to see a woman and a man as equals. Of course there are things in society that women don’t do, or just aren’t a part of, but I am not one to be against that. What’s else interesting in the reading of ‘The Portrait of a Lady’ is that Isabel fell to something she would have been totally against if she had known the creature from another experience. The man she married was awful, and yet she married him with the idea that she was happy and that he was wonderful. He was exactly the type of man that, I think, kept her from getting married at all in the beginning. But, yet as a woman she felt the obligation to follow her husbands interests and thoughts, even though she was very much against them. Henry James initially describes a character as they enter the piece, but throws bits and pieces out as the book progresses to give the reader more to chew as they read. I like this strategy because it keeps the reader interested in what is going to happen or become of their favorite/least favorite character of the piece. The best is that all while the book the reader is told that Pansy’s mother has died and that she was raised by Mr. Osmond her entire life along with the convent. Pansy is a quiet girl, listens to her father, in fact obeys her father’s every wish. She does not want to disappoint father by doing anything he has forbidden. I find it interesting it is not until almost the very end of the book that we find out that Pansy is the daughter of Mrs. Merle and Mr. Osmond, during a 7-8 year affair. This is a character that James does not reveal much about, Mrs. Merle, only that she is a widow and a friend of Mrs. Touchett. I feel this information was key to the ent ire plot of the book, because knowing such things may have swayed the decision of Isabel to even be aquanted with either Mr. Osmond or Mrs. Merle in a friendly fashion. .ub762320efe154cf71af1d915971323df , .ub762320efe154cf71af1d915971323df .postImageUrl , .ub762320efe154cf71af1d915971323df .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ub762320efe154cf71af1d915971323df , .ub762320efe154cf71af1d915971323df:hover , .ub762320efe154cf71af1d915971323df:visited , .ub762320efe154cf71af1d915971323df:active { border:0!important; } .ub762320efe154cf71af1d915971323df .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ub762320efe154cf71af1d915971323df { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ub762320efe154cf71af1d915971323df:active , .ub762320efe154cf71af1d915971323df:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ub762320efe154cf71af1d915971323df .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ub762320efe154cf71af1d915971323df .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ub762320efe154cf71af1d915971323df .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ub762320efe154cf71af1d915971323df .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ub762320efe154cf71af1d915971323df:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ub762320efe154cf71af1d915971323df .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ub762320efe154cf71af1d915971323df .ub762320efe154cf71af1d915971323df-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ub762320efe154cf71af1d915971323df:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Gonorrhea EssayI see a character transition of Isabel, from a bright young vibrant adventurous lady, to a wife and mother to Pansy, with worries and responsibilities. Throughout the reading several characters note on how she has ‘changed’, which I don’t think she sees herself, until the day with her cousin when he is dying. Until that day, she knows she has made a terrible decision and will live with it, but does not tell anyone about it nor recognize the changes she has gone through in her journey. The cousin speaks to her of his mistake and how he has brought all this on her, because of the inheritance and apologizes, but Isabel fesses up to the mistakes she has made marrying Mr. Osmond. She also confesses that Mr. Osmond only married her for her money. This, I feel, is a real transition for Isabel to speak of. I feel that she only spoke of it because it was her best friend that she was talking to and that she truly loved her cousin, from the beginning as he did her. We will never know what has happened to Isabel, Pansy and the rest as all we know is Isabel went back for Rome. I feel this ending to be perfect. Those of us who want to, can believe that she went back, got Pansy and told Mr. Osmond off like she should have a long time ago. That’s probably not what she did though, knowing the time and what was expected. Also knowing that she did not want to be improper, changes what I wish she would have done, being in current time. I’d like to think that something did happen to Mr. Osmond to make him suffer the way Isabel has. I really enjoyed this book and will recommend it to anyone who enjoys Henry James or even the time period of the Jane Austen novels. I know that these types of pieces are considered realism, but I see some romanticism in it also. I see it in the idea of who will marry and to the person they will marry. The idea of being arranged to marry someone is also true in this piece. The thought of who and when to marry these days is a different sort of decision, most of the time. Then in that day, it was who was rich, important in society and maybe a good looking catch. But, now it’s about love and relationships and I don’t know how things have changed so much. Sometimes I wish that I’d been born back in those times, even if I don’t believe in some of the behavior. I will definitely buy another book from Henry James or another author similar to the pieces done by Henry James. I really enjoyed the thoughts I came upon while reading this book. The world was definitely a different place and women were definitely viewed and treated very differently than today. They were also treated differently than before this time, when they might have just gone along with what was expected of them. Women of this time had a certain independent nature, which they wished to explore whether they acted it out in such as way as Isabel Archer, Daisy Miller or another literary figure of that time. I think it was crucial to the development of society that is today and to the women’s movements of the past, present and future.