Synthèse american dream

        Synthèse.

        I'm going to deal with notions « myth and reality». A myth can be defined as a story about gods or heroes, it can be a popular belief or a tradition or a false notion. A hero can be a mythological figure, a person who is admired for his or her achievements, a superhero or maybe a role model or an icon.  In class we studied two documents which illustrates this notion and our topic which is The « American Dream ». The American Dream it's the belief that everyone in the US has the chance to be successful and happy if they work hard.  The first is « America » one of lead songs of the famous musical « West Side Story » which tells about conflict between a gang of white Americans and a Puerto Rico rival gang in New York city in the 1950s. The second is « why the caged bird sings » an article of the newsweek published on September the 10th 2001 which tells the story of Ana, an immigrant in US and comes from Mexico. The question is if the American dream really exists. To answer it we will first see that the myth exists with some heroes and then see that the myth is broken through many negative points through these same heroes.

        Firstly, in the song « America » song of the musical « West Side Story », we can see that girls are praising the US. This illustrates what the American dream is. Girls say they have a good life in America saying « I like to be in America » or « life is alright in America ». So it's a good way of life for them. In fact, they praise the country's good economy, wealth and new industry. The economy is put forward when they say « Buying credits is so nice », the same for wealth when they say « everything free in America », and for the new industry when they say « I got my own washing-machine ». All these elements make West Side Story girl the symbol of the American dream which is a way of life that makes you want. Ana of the article « why the caged bird sings », also shows the good side of the American dream that she decided to follow by migrating to the United States illegaly. In fact, Ana shows his keenness to live in the US saying that « Mexico is a strange country to me now ». Mexico being her home country it shows that she likes her new way of life. Ana earns money by working hard for these kids and makes new friends as she wanted by migrating. Working hard is part of the definition of the American dream seen previously.
        These two documents and therefore these two types of heroes who represent the American dream shows the positive sides of it, it is now a matter of showing through the same documents the negative points.

        To continue, the boys of West Side Story sing the opposite of what girls think. For them, America is not really what it suggests. The song « America » through the words of the boys, also shows the negative sides like racism, discrimination and the expensive life. In fact to show racism they answer « if you're all white in America » when girls say « life is alright in America ». This suggests that non-white people lead hard lives. The same is illustrated when they say « better get rid of your accent ». Ana in « why the caged bird sings » also shows the broken myth throught all the negative points of her illegal immigration. In fact, she can't see these childrens, she has difficult working conditions (works a lot for little monney) and is undocumented and therefore at any times risks sending her home (at Mexico). All of this, shows how difficult it is to follow the American dream and can prove that it does'nt really exist through all these bad points that the heroes of the two studied documents shows us.

...