The American Dream

The American dream is about people dreaming of success through hard work to pursue happiness or a better life with financial wealth. This expression has been used for centuries and is still used today but the society is changing and the American dream is no longer, what it used to be. We are going to answer to problematic: Is the American dream is still alive today. At first, we will talk about why the United States is attractive. In second time, we going to evoke the reality behind this dream.

I) The United States is attractive

A) The statue of liberty: the attractive icon for immigrant

• Welcoming sight to immigrant arriving from abroad + Quote of Emma Lazarus poem on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. “Give me your tired, you poor. I lift lamp beside the golden door..”

• Farah Naficy was born in Iran and spent her childhood during the revolution. They want to try their luck in the USA. All chose this destination because the American Dream attracts them. James Truslow Adams invented this concept in 1931. It is the idea that everybody can succeed in the USA as long as this person is courageous, hardworking and determined. No matter where this person was born or what his social background is, as soon as he has these qualities, he can become rich and successful.

B) “Land of milk and honey”

• Declaration of independence “ We hold truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unamiable right, that among these life, liberty and the pursuit happiness”

• Andre Carnegie: like most of the immigrant with industrial revolution, he worked in steel factory. He realized the economic potential of the steel and built his own empire in the whole USA. He symbolized the authentic and the real conception of the American dream, were the most accessible riches are availed for any hard work.

II) Reality behind the American dream

A) Being an immigrant is not as easy at it’s seems

• Cartoon of Joe Heller: Law in Arizona State of 2010: any person suspected of being illegal immigrant may be arrested and detained for further questioning.

• Nelly Rodriguez : This student, without papers, of Latin American origin, arrived in the USA as a child. However, she cannot obtain a title of legal residence even if she lives in the USA since numerous years and becoming integrated and the exchanges between communities are rare.

B) People who does not pursue the American dream

• The Great depression is a stock market crash and causing steep declines in industrial output and rising the level of unemployment.

• Marget Bourke-White, the Louisville Flood.

In conclusion, we can say that some people still believed in the American dream, and USA with its greatness still gives immigrants the opportunity to improve their life and to have a shot at the American Dream but it’s becoming a myth because with the evolution of the society.

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