ideas for an american dream essay

103 American Dream Essay Topics & Examples

If you’re in need of American dream topics for an essay, research paper, or discussion, this article is for you. Our experts have prepared some ideas and writing tips that you will find below.

📃 10 Tips for Writing American Dream Essays

🏆 best american dream essay topics & essay examples, 👍 catchy american dream topics, ❓ american dream research questions.

The American dream is an interesting topic that one can discuss from various perspectives. If you need to write an essay on the American dream, you should understand this concept clearly.

You can choose to present the American dream as a miracle that one cannot reach or depict a free and wealthy nation. In any case, the American dream essay is a good opportunity to reflect on the concept and learn more about it.

There are many topics you can choose from while writing your essay. Here are some examples of the American dream essay topics we can suggest:

• The true meaning of the American dream
• The image of the American dream in the Great Gatsby
• Is the American dream still relevant in today’s society?
• The role of the American dream: Discussion
• Americans’ beliefs and values: The American dream
• Can we achieve the American dream?
• The American dream in today’s world and society

Remember that you do not have to select one of the American dream essay titles and can come up with your own one. Once you have selected the topic, start working on your essay. Here are ten useful tips that will help you to write an outstanding paper:

• Start working on your essay ahead of time. You will need some time to study the issue, write the paper, and correct possible errors.
• Do preliminary research on the issue you want to discuss. The more information you know about the question, the better. We advise you to rely on credible sources exclusively and avoid using Wikipedia or similar websites.
• Check out the American dream essay examples online if you are not sure that the selected problem is relevant. Avoid copying the information you will find and only use it as guidance.
• Write an outline for your essay. Think of how you can organize your paper and choose titles for each of the sections. Remember that you should include an introductory paragraph and a concluding section along with body paragraphs.
• Remember that you should present the American dream essay thesis clearly. You can put it in the last sentence of your introductory paragraph.
• Your essay should be engaging for the audience. Help your reader to know something new about the issue and include some interesting facts that may not know about. Avoid overly complex sentences and structures.
• Make your essay personal, if it is possible. Do not focus on your opinion solely but provide your perspectives on the issue or discuss your concern about it. You can talk about your experiences with the American dream, too.
• Provide statistical data if you can. For example, you can find the results of surveys about people’s perspectives on the American dream.
• The concluding paragraph is an important section of the paper. Present the thesis and all of your arguments once again and provide recommendations, if necessary. Remember that this paragraph should not include new information or in-text citations.
• Do not send your paper to your professor right away. Check it several times to make sure that there are no grammatical mistakes in it. If you have time, you can put the paper away for several days and revise it later with “fresh” eyes.

Feel free to find an essay sample in our collection and get some ideas for your outstanding paper!

• Pros and Cons of the American Dream The American dream is one of the most revered ideals of the nation and it has become a part of the American national identity.
• The American Dream by Edward Albee Play Analysis The American Dream play is an apologue of how American life has turned awry under the pretext of the American Dream.
• Michelle Obama American Dream Speech Analysis – Michelle’s purpose was to introduce her husband as man who was more concerned about the common citizens’ concerns and who was willing and able to help everyone to realize his/her American dream because he himself […]
• American Dream: “Fences” by August Wilson The American dream makes it clear through its guarantee of the freedom and equality with the promise of prosperity and success as per the ability or personal achievements of every American citizen.”Fences” reveals the obstacles […]
• American Dream in “The Pursuit of Happiness” Film In America today, there is a general belief that every individual is unique, and should have equal access to the American dream of life “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”.
• American Dream After World War I People lost vision of what this dream was supposed to mean and it became a dream, not of the vestal and industrious, but of the corrupt coterie, hence corrupting the dream itself.
• The American Dream in The Great Gatsby After spending some time in this neighborhood, Nick finally attends Gatsby’s exuberant parties only to realize that Gatsby organizes these parties to impress Daisy, Nick’s cousin, and wife to Tom.
• The Tortilla Curtain: American Dream – Characters, Summary & Analysis The cultural difference between the two families is introduced by the author as a theme describing the role of gender in the community.
• Femininity and the American Dream in Works of Chopin, Gilman, and Williams Even though the general understanding of the American dream was advertised to everyone, the idea was more applicable to the male members of the American society, which is reflected in Chopin’s “The Story of an […]
• The American Dream in Arthur Miller’s Plays Willy has a distorted vision of the American Dream, and he has such blind faith in this inaccurate vision that it leads to his mental disturbance when he is not able to accept how the […]
• American Dream and Reality for Minorities The topic of our concern is the reality that is faced by women, blacks, and war veterans who are associated with the American army.
• Meritocracy and the American Dream In the perception of such people, the American Dream is directly connected to meritocracy, i.e.a judgment on people on their individual abilities rather than the connections of the families, and in that regard such perception […]
• The Corrupted American Dream and Its Significance in “The Great Gatsby” The development of the American dream and its impact on the society of the United States is a pertinent topic of discussion for various authors.
• Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’, Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ and the American Dream “The America Dream’ is a longstanding common belief of the American population that in the United States, people are free to realize the full potential of their labor and their talents and every person in […]
• Portrayal of the American Dream in the 20th Century Theatre However, different analysts criticized the use of the amelting pot’ in the play to show the pursuit of the American dream terming it as unrealistic in the sense that the term amelting’ creates a picture […]
• American Dream and Unfulfilling Reality Living the American dream is the ultimate dream for most of the American citizens and those aspiring to acquire American citizenship.
• The American Dream and Its Roots The tension between the ideals of the American Dream as espoused by the Puritans and the realities of American life has been a recurrent theme in American history.
• The American Dream: Franklin’s and Douglass’s Perception The objective of this paper, therefore, is to discuss the topic of the American dream and how both Franklin and Douglass, each exemplify this dream.
• Music Talent Shows and the American Dream Talent search shows, like American Idol and The Voice, have suffered a lot of criticism for different reasons. Stanley says the main reason for this cynicism is the failure of such shows to focus on […]
• Social Status Anxiety and the American Dream The pain of a loss and the status anxiety that came with being inferior to other students at Harvard instigated the urge to revenge and brought a desire to achieve success.
• Fitzgerald’s American Dream in The Great Gatsby & Winter Dreams To my mind, Winter Dream is a perfect example of the American Dream, since the main hero, Dexter, implemented each point of it, he was persistent and very hard-working, he was a very sensible and […]
• The American Dream, Social Status and Hierarchies The persistence of social status and hierarchies in modern-day America undermines the possibility of realizing Winthrop’s ideal community as a goal for the current American Dream, considering his argument of wouldivinely ordained’ holds no traction […]
• Tensions in the American Dream The imbalance can lead to debates and discussions about the meaning and purpose of the American Dream, as well as a conflict between the ideals of freedom and agency and the desire for a more […]
• Support of the American Dream Act of 2001 In contrast to many supporters of the American Dream Act, some individuals claim that the policy promotes the entrance of illegal immigrants.
• The Possibility of Realizing the American Dream Thus, according to the author, the American dream is only a fantasy. Returning to the ideas of Krugman, Cox and Alm, and Dalmia, it seems necessary to highlight some aspects.
• Reflection on the American Dream Concept The vision of the American Dream can be different for individuals, and people create their interpretations according to their specific experiences.
• Reaching the American Dream From Scratch For example, the experience of a person coming to the United States from Haiti is one of poverty, under-resourced communities, and a complete disillusion with the promise of a good life.
• The American Dream Based on “Re Jane” by Patricia Park The main difference is that Jane had a chance to live her dreams in New York than in Seoul. Nina is an example of Jane’s friends who want her to succeed and understand the flaws […]
• The American Dream in Boyle’s The Tortilla Curtain The personal experience of the characters can be explained by their varying life conditions and, hence, are linked to the notion of the American Dream, which can be achieved by everyone while the efforts differ.
• Whitman, Hughes, and the American Dream Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes, two prominent figures of American poetry of the past, are of them.”I Hear America Singing,” “I, Too,” “Harlem,” and “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” are the emotional responses to the […]
• Color Adjustment: False Image of American Dream The documentary tells the story of white, well-dressed people advertising the American dream, completely ignoring that the U.S.is not only a country of the white race.
• The American Dream and Success One of the most pertinent topics associated with the American Dream is taking the courage to act and seize the opportunity.
• The Concept of American Dream: Examples of Columbus and Bradstreet Bradstreet’s other dream was to be able to secure a position in the ‘New world’ and still be seen as a woman who cares for her family.
• Racial Wealth Gap and the American Dream The speaker evaluates the accumulative wealth of Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites in America and arrives to the conclusion that race plays a role in financial burdens that many people of color experience.
• American Dreams: The United States Since 1945 Although the major idea of the book is a critical one, the author’s intention does not concern analyzing approaches to the American social evolution in order to define the most adequate one.
• History of Achieving the American Dream James Truslow Adams who wrote the book “The Epic of America” defined the American dream as “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity […]
• The American Dream in the 21st Century It is the labor of these people that allowed the country to afford to build its industry and set up a base for fulfilling the American Dream.
• American Dream of Early Settlers He did not tell the settlers of the difficulties they were going to face in moving from Europe to the land of honey that is America.
• Willy Loman and the American Dream As a result of his boasting, a great deal of what his family knows about Willy is based upon the image he feels he must portray of himself in order to bring himself in line […]
• American Literature and the American Dream The difference in how the dream is defined lies in how one sees the shape and color of the concoction, whether the texture is just right for the shape of the taste buds assessing the […]
• Richard Rodriguez’s Opinion on Migration and the American Dream American seems to refer only to the citizen of the United States and does not include the rest of the people in the continent!
• American Dream and Socialism in the Book “The Jungle” by Sinclair The main idea of the book lies in upholding the Marxist belief of the inevitable collapse of capitalism and the accession of the proletariat, or industrial working class.
• American Dream Is Not a Myth The paper is based on the argument, a simplified definition of the American dream: the American dream can be defined as “the achievement of economic and social advancement through hard work and determination”.
• The Immigrant Experience and the Failure of the American Dream The fates of the heroes of the book amaze with their tragedy, and this is the story of slaves of wage labor.
• Tycoons and Their American Dream The American Dream as Rockefeller, Carnegie, Morgan, and others saw it and forged it to be seen by others contributed meaningfully to the values of the American people and the priorities of a nation.
• Is the American Dream Still Alive? The topic of discussion in this setting would be the American dream and the factors associated with the quest. They would talk about the cost of living, the cost of education, and the fact that […]
• American Dream in Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” The play Death of a salesman is indeed an anatomy of the American dream especially because the plot of the story revolves around some of the basic material gains that individuals in the American society […]
• “American Dream” of English and Chinese Immigrants My family decided to move to the US from England because of the low wages in our town. My intentions were to explore the new opportunities of the West and to earn more money than […]
• The American Dream and Working Conditions In fact, it might be said that it is due to their efforts that the American Dream still exists as a piece of reality.
• American Dream and Equity of Outcome and Opportunity The American dream is one of the most famous declarations of the world and the American subsequent governments have kept the dream alive for the last hundred years.
• Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream This is one of the drawbacks that should be taken into account by the viewers who want to get a better idea about the causes of the problems described in the movie.
• American Dream in Hansberry’s and Miller’s Tragedies Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” and Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” tell the stories about how people can perceive and be affected by the idea of the American Dream, how they choose wrong dreams […]
• Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream – Movie Analysis It can be taken as the national ethos of the citizens of the USA. The basis of the American society is broken and it is not united anymore.
• Michelle Obama’s Remarks on American Dream She added that the main goal was to secure the blessings of liberty and to bring about the fulfillment of the promise of equality.
• The American Dream’s Concept The American economy is also likely to improve as a result of realizing the American dream 2013 since most of the residents are likely to indulge in productive activities as stipulated in the American dream […]
• The Dilemmas of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby is a story of a young man in the early twentieth century who seems to know what he wants in the way of that dream and what to do to achieve it.
• The Concept of Progress or the Pursuit of the American Dream The concept of progress or the pursuit of the American Dream since 1930s has been a matter of concern for many immigrants who believe that they can achieve much in the US than in their […]
• The Book American Dream by Jason DeParle From the name of the book, it is clear that the cardinal theme of the book is the American dream. This is contrary to the fact that she was pregnant and in a crack house.
• The Definition of the Great American Dream: Hearing Opportunity Knock Although the concept of the American Dream is very recognizable, its essence is very hard to nail down, since it incorporates a number of social, economical and financial principles; largely, the American Dream is the […]
• The American Dream Negative Sides and Benefits The United States is thought of as the land of opportunity and there are many people who want to live “The American Dream”.
• Role of Money in the American Dream’s Concept Many people lack the meaning of the American dream because they are always looking forward to find opportunity and fail to realize that the opportunity to succeed is always around them in the work they […]
• The Reality of American Dream The government encouraged the immigration of the population whose labor and skills were required in the United States. The housing in the urban was overcrowded with very unsanitary conditions, and some of the immigrants did […]
• Francis Scott Fitzgerald & His American Dream In the novel “Tender is the Night,” Fitzgerald describes the society in Riviera where he and his family had moved to live after his misfortune of late inheritance.
• Is the American Dream Still Alive? The American Dream can be defined as a summation of national values entrenched in the culture of the United States. In this regard, the minority groups in the United States are often on the receiving […]
• American Dream: Is It Still There? It is a dream for immigrants from the Middle East to be in America; a country where discrimination is history and where no one will prevent them from achieving their dreams in life.
• The American Dream: Walt Disney’s Cinderella and Ron Howard’s Cinderella Man This is attributed to the fact that the original ideas and the fundamental principals that founded the dream are quickly fading away given the changing fortunes of the average American.
• The Death of the American Dream It is the moral decay that leads to the loss of freedom, the very essence of the founding of the American dream.
• Inequality and the American Dream It is only after the poor workers are assured of their jobs that the American model can be said to be successful.
• A Response to the Article “Inequality and the American Dream” It has drawn my attention that other world countries embrace the “American model” since the super power has enormous wealth and its economic development is marked by up-to-date juggernauts of globalization and technology.
• In Pursuit of the American Dream: An Analysis of Willa Cather’s O Pioneers The experiences of the characters in the novel portray the endeavors of the early immigrants’ pursuit of the American dream. The instinct to forgo the comforts, which a home country offers by default and then […]
• How Did Ben Franklin Exemplify the American Dream?
• Does Fitzgerald Condemn the American Dream in “The Great Gatsby”?
• How Do Benjamin Franklin and Frederick Douglass Represent the American Dream?
• Has America Lost Its Potential to Achieve the American Dream?
• How Has Disney’s Social Power Influenced the Vision of the American Dream?
• Does the American Dream Really Exist?
• How Does the Great Gatsby Portray the Death of the American Dream?
• What Does “The Great Gatsby” Have to Say About the Condition of the American Dream in the 1920s?
• How Does One Achieve the American Dream?
• What Are the Greatest Obstacles of Full Access to the American Dream?
• How Has the American Dream Been Translated Into Popular Film?
• What Does the American Dream Mean to an Immigrant?
• How Does Arthur Miller Through “Death of a Salesman” Deal With the Theme of the American Dream?
• What Must Everyone Know About the American Dream?
• How Has the American Dream Changed Over Time?
• What Is Infamous About the American Dream?
• How Does Millar Portray His Views of the American Dream Using Willy Loman?
• When Did American Dream Start?
• How Has the Media Changed the American Dream?
• Who Would Think the American Dream Isn’t Possible?
• How Does Steinbeck Present the American Dream in “Of Mice and Men”?
• Why Will Equal Pay Help Women Achieve the American Dream?
• How Might the Disadvantage of Immigration Affect the Chances of Having That American Dream?
• Why Is the American Dream Equally Given and Registered To All Citizens?
• How Does Extreme Inequality Make the American Dream Inaccessible?
• Why Is the American Dream Still Alive in the United States?
• How Are Millennials Redefining the American Dream?
• Why Is the American Dream Unattainable?
• How Does Society Influence the Idea of the American Dream?
• Why Must the United States Renew Opportunities to Achieve the American Dream to Reform Immigration Policy?
• Success Ideas
• Social Security Paper Topics
• Wealth Research Topics
• Inequality Titles
• Materialism Topics
• Declaration of Independence Paper Topics
• Happiness Research Ideas
• US History Topics
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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American Dream Essay: Guidelines for an A+ Paper

• Icon Calendar 9 July 2024
• Icon Page 4108 words
• Icon Clock 19 min read

The American Dream is a recurring controversial topic in modern society. Individuals have developed different arguments to deconstruct what an American Dream essay is in a particular context of day-to-day life. In an academic setting, learners who engage in this discourse hold a particular weight of a proper expression of their arguments. Further on, a structured essay and its format are analyzed with a focus on an introduction, main body, and conclusion of a five-paragraph template. Moreover, a unique process of topic selection, outline development, and structured writing is exemplified using an essay titled “The Promise of the American Dream.” Other recommendations on narrow-scoped topics in order to explore a concept are provided as a starting point that students can use when writing their papers.

General Aspects

In contemporary discourse, there is much controversy over a simple meaning of the American Dream. Basically, people hold different positions on multiple aspects of such a concept in their essays and research papers. During schooling years, it is important to acquire writing skills and benefit significantly from reflecting on a particular influence of students’ recently acquired knowledge on their position regarding controversial topics. Upon completing a reflection essay process, a particular expression of one’s newly defined position is a next step in order to obtain writing skills. As such, a common format of an American Dream essay is presented to introduce readers to basic principles behind a concept. Moreover, a typical structure of a five-paragraph essay is explored with a valid support of an outline and a template. Finally, students may include different ideas in their compositions and need to avoid common mistakes.

What Is an American Dream Essay and Its Purpose

According to its definition, an American Dream essay explores unique ideals and aspirations that define a particular concept of the American Dream, which is rooted in a belief that anyone, regardless of background, can achieve success and recognition through hard work, determination, and initiative. The main purpose of writing an American Dream Essay is to critically examine a unique concept of the American Dream from various perspectives, considering its meaning, historical origins, evolution, and current relevance (Rogers, 2024). Such a composition involves analyzing social, economic, and political factors, and they shape people’s ability to achieve their goals and possible opportunities and barriers that some of them may face. In writing, an American Dream essay aims to offer a deeper understanding of what the American Dream means to different individuals and communities and encourages readers to learn about its impact on their lives and society in general (Cogni, 2019). In terms of pages and words, the length of an American Dream essay depends on academic levels and specific writing requirements, while general guidelines are:

High School

• Length: 2-4 pages
• Word Count: 500-1,000 words

College (Undergraduate)

• Length: 4-6 pages
• Word Count: 1,000-1,500 words

University (Advanced Undergraduate)

• Length: 6-10 pages
• Word Count: 1,500-2,500 words

Master’s

• Length: 14-24 pages
• Word Count: 3,500-6,000 words
• Length: 24-52 pages (as part of a dissertation or another research paper)
• Word Count: 6,000-13,000 words

Note: Some sections of an American Dream essay can be added, deleted, or combined with each other, while a particular number of body paragraphs depends on writing instructions. In turn, to start an American Dream essay, authors begin with a compelling introduction that defines a particular concept of the American Dream, presents its significance, and introduces their thesis statements, setting up a stage for a thoughtful exploration of a given topic.

Steps on How to Write an American Dream Essay

To write an American Dream essay, people thoroughly research a particular topic, develop a clear thesis, support their arguments with historical context, valid examples, and credible evidence, address various perspectives, and conclude by summarizing key points and reflecting on an actual relevance of success today.

• Choose a Particular Focus: Decide on a specific aspect of a quest for success to write about, such as its definition, historical evolution, or relevance today.
• Conduct Research: Gather information from credible sources, like books, academic articles, and reputable websites to support your essay and its writing.
• Develop a Thesis Statement: Provide a clear, well-structured, and concise thesis statement and cover your main argument or perspective on a pursuit of opportunity.
• Create a Brief Outline: Organize your main points and supporting evidence into a structured outline to guide your writing.
• Write an Introduction: Introduce a particular concept of the American Dream, provide some background information, and present your thesis statement.
• Compose Body Paragraphs: Write detailed paragraphs, each focusing on a specific aspect of a vision of success, supported by evidence and analysis.
• Include Personal Examples: If applicable, incorporate personal examples or experiences to illustrate your points and make your essay more personal.
• Address Counterarguments: Consider and address opposing viewpoints to strengthen your argument and provide a balanced perspective.
• Write a Conclusion: Summarize key points discussed, restate a thesis in light of the evidence presented, and offer final reflections.
• Edit and Revise: Review your American Dream essay for clarity, coherence, and grammatical accuracy, making necessary writing revisions to improve an overall quality.

Characteristics

The American Dream is a widely known concept, but there are some characteristics that can be identified as correct, comprehensive, and precise. For example, the American Dream is a complex national ethos that represents a unique belief that anyone, regardless of their roots or circumstances, can achieve success and recognition through hard work, determination, and initiative, reflecting ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity (Strain, 2020). Basically, freedom and opportunity are the most critical aspects of an essay on the American Dream to write about. In this case, freedom is essential to achieving goals because it provides an individual with a unique space to live freely without any oppression from their peers or the government (Wolak & Peterson, 2020). Moreover, equal access to opportunity allows each individual to pursue happiness and prosperity regardless of social class, gender, race, and other social or cultural factors that stratify society. Therefore, this concept may be defined as a set of beliefs, and they explain specific experiences of lives many people are expected to have in an ideal situation where their freedoms are protected, while no opportunity barriers exist (Mortimer et al., 2019). In turn, some examples of sentence starters for beginning a good American Dream essay include:

• The American Dream, often considered a symbol of hope and opportunity, represents a specific belief that anyone, regardless of background, can achieve success through hard work.
• From its historical roots in the early days of a nation to its modern interpretations, a quest for success supports positive aspirations and ideals of a diverse and dynamic population.
• In a country built on essential principles of freedom and equality, a unique pursuit of opportunity has served as a powerful motivator for countless individuals seeking a better life for themselves and their families.
• For many immigrants, a pursuit of happiness is a light that draws them to the United States (US), promising a chance to build a prosperous future through dedication and initiative.
• At its essence, a success quest embodies a unique idea that, with hard work and ambition, anyone can find a successful path above their circumstances and achieve their fullest potential.
• While a unique vision of opportunity has been a guiding force for many individuals, its interpretation varies widely, reflecting diverse experiences and aspirations of people across a nation.
• A whole evolution of a dream of prosperity over time mirrors social, economic, and political changes that have shaped the United States, revealing both progress and persistent challenges.
• In today’s world, a real relevance of a national aspiration and an ability to achieve such a goal are subjects of intense debate, prompting a reevaluation of its meaning and implications.
• Exploring historical origins of the American Dream provides more insight into how this powerful concept has influenced a nation’s identity and inspired many generations of US citizens.
• Despite facing numerous obstacles and setbacks, an ongoing attraction to a pursuit of happiness continues to inspire individuals to strive for success and contribute to a broader narrative of people’s experiences.

Unique Experiences

People are born into families that provide them with a unique starting point for their pursuit of desired goals. For example, a particular financial capability, level of education, and cultural beliefs of an individual’s parents define a foundation on which a person begins to achieve desired goals (Hoyt et al., 2021). As a result, all people may be pursuing the same ideas when writing essays. In turn, it is not a level playing field because some individuals may find themselves in better circumstances than others. Furthermore, it is differentiated at a personal level because individuals with relatively similar starting points may have distinct outcomes (Mortimer et al., 2019). Based on this perspective, it is highly unlikely that any two individuals can attest to going through identical experiences when writing an essay. In turn, an example of a good hook for an American Dream essay might be: “Imagine a place where limitless opportunities await anyone willing to dream big and work hard — this is a real essence of the American Dream.”

Belief Systems

Besides particular circumstances of starting points, an individual’s belief system plays a significant role in their strategy of achieving desired goals. For instance, happiness and prosperity are broad terms that have contrasting meanings for individuals because there is no standardized scale for measuring happiness or prosperity (Strain, 2020). Moreover, one person may consider owning a car and house to be a sign of prosperity to write about. In contrast, another person may believe that providing his or her children with a college education is prosperity. Hence, these beliefs are imposed on desires and goals, which results in variations in a concept’s meaning for each individual to be covered in an essay. In turn, desires and goals are affected to a large extent by an individual’s beliefs regarding the things that make them happy or prosperous (Wolak & Peterson, 2020). Finally, an example of a good thesis statement for an American Dream essay might be: “The American Dream, while historically rooted in ideals of freedom and opportunity, reflects contemporary aspirations and challenges, making it a complex concept that continues to shape a nation’s identity.”

Topic Selection

Challenges of Topic Selection

The American Dream is a concept that people can examine from a variety of perspectives, which makes a particular selection of an essay topic for an American Dream paper quite challenging. During a possible selection of an essay topic, it is essential to remember that no point of view is superior or more correct than another (Cogni, 2019). In this case, a particular weight of a single claim proposed in an American Dream argumentative essay is dependent on a writer’s ability to explain a position logically and convincingly. Moreover, in a presentation of a specific argument in any essay, it is important to adequately consider competing counterarguments that may arise in audience’s minds when writing essays (Rogers, 2024). In turn, a common failure to evaluate counterarguments critically may undercut an authority of an author, especially when writing for an academic audience.

Equally important, writers should select a topic that has a link with their personal experiences. For instance, an argument concerning an essay about the American Dream gains a sense of authenticity when writers discuss an issue that resonates with their beliefs (Cogni, 2019). It is essential because some passion is embedded in an essay. Furthermore, as a starting point for identifying an essay’s topic, writers may identify a “main concept” under review, such as equal opportunity. They can also think through their life experiences and single out events they consider invaluable in a particular position taken concerning a main concept (see an example of a simple brainstorming template). Finally, people should settle on writing a unique topic that is specific and can be argued out entirely within potential constraints of essay’s requirements.

Simple Brainstorming Template

• State a main concept.
• How has it affected you?
• How has it affected other people in your life?
• Do you think the events mentioned above are in line with the American Dream?
• Specify an issue.
• Describe an ideal situation while writing.
• Can this situation be improved?

3-Part Outline

Part 1: Introduction (Approximately 10% of the Word Count)

• It is a first statement in an introductory paragraph.
• A statement should capture an attention of a reader, like, a unique fact about an assigned topic.

Overview of a Topic

• It comprises of two or more sentences.
• Some statements should contain adequate detail for a reader to understand a thesis statement.

Thesis Statement

• It is a single statement that appears at the end of an introductory paragraph.
• This statement provides an answer to an essay prompt in a form of writing a single argument, which summarises a provided evidence or rationale presented in a main body.

Part 2: Main Body (Approximately 80% of the Word Count)

A typical creation of paragraphs in this section is based on a separation of ideas to ensure each paragraph presents one original idea. In turn, writing each paragraph in this section must follow a sandwich rule, which dictates a specific organization of paragraph elements:

• Topic sentence – States a main idea in a single paragraph.
• Evidence – Provides specific information that is crucial to a paragraph’s idea.
• Evaluation of evidence – Explains an actual relevance of the evidence and offers an interpretation of a cited information.
• Transition statement – Summarises a single paragraph and links it to a thesis statement or a next paragraph.

Part 3: Conclusion (Approximately 10% of the Word Count)

Restating a Main Argument

• A first statement in a concluding paragraph should repeat a main argument presented in a thesis statement.
• It should not contain the same words as a thesis statement, but keywords can be reused.
• Provide a detailed overview of essay’s main points logically.
• Demonstrate an actual value of main points in answering an essay’s prompt.

5-Paragraph Template

Introduction

Paragraph 1

• Hook: Besides common differences in American populations, they are similar because they pursue the same dream.
• Overview of a topic: Outline some of the differences in American populations.
• Thesis statement: Creating equal opportunities allows individuals to achieve upward mobility.

Paragraph 2

• Topic sentence: Breaking down social mobility and its quantification.
• Evidence: Definition and measures of social mobility.
• Evaluation of evidence: Write about how upward social mobility is achieved while referring to potentail measures.
• Transition statement: Introduces a real need for self-improvement and social mobility to occur.

Paragraph 3

• Topic sentence: Opportunity is a requirement for social mobility.
• Evidence: The role of education in equipping an individual to utilize opportunities.
• Evaluation of evidence: Write about a direct link between education, access to jobs, and an ability to improve an individual’s quality of life.
• Transition statement: Recognize that there are socially constructed limitations on an accessibility of opportunities.

Paragraph 4

• Topic sentence: Discriminative practices affect an individual’s access to opportunities for social mobility.
• Evidence: Identify some forms of discrimination and explain a particular occurrence of discriminative practices.
• Evaluation of evidence: Write about an actual value of government and organization’s role in managing discriminative practices using policies that uphold equality.
• Transition statement: Stress a centrality of equality in an argument for opportunity access and upward mobility.

Paragraph 5

• Restating a main argument: Emphasize a real importance of equality in securing opportunities for upward mobility and an attainment of a quest for success.
• Summary: Allude to possible measures of social mobility, an interaction between discriminative practices and opportunities, and a particular relief provided by policies on equality.

American Dream Essay Example

Topic: The Promise of the American Dream

Although we are different, we share a single dream. In this case, the American population is composed of people of different genders, races, education levels, religions, and disability statuses. Nonetheless, each American is entitled to a unique opportunity to make themselves better regardless of their underlying differences. Thus, an American Dream thesis statement is that it is founded on a particular promise of equal opportunity for upward social mobility.

Social Mobility

Social mobility is a multidimensional concept. It can be assessed using a variety of measures that attempt to quantify a particular change occurring in an individual’s life. For example, an ability of an individual to move along a specific social hierarchy may be described as social mobility. In turn, there are different measures of social mobility. However, each one is focused on a specific aspect of an average American’s livelihood:

• Health Status – A susceptibility of an individual to diseases.
• Education – An individual’s highest level of education.
• Homeownership – A capability of an individual to acquire permanent housing.

Upward social mobility implies people can improve their position in a social hierarchy by improving their performance on any of the measures of social mobility. Therefore, upward social mobility is a desired outcome of a successful pursuit of desired goals because it suggests some form of self-improvement.

Opportunity

A real opportunity for upward mobility is vital in pursuing desired goals. Basically, access to opportunity is facilitated by some factors, such as access to quality education. In this case, an individual who has attended school and acquired necessary skills has a higher likelihood of securing a well-paid job. If people acquire jobs, it becomes easier to secure health insurance, buy homes, and improve an overall quality of life for their families. Moreover, they can only attain what they want if they are provided access to basic education, which prepares them to maximize any opportunities. However, it is difficult for an average individual to pursue opportunities without the government’s efforts to increase an ease of access to basic needs.

Equality Policies

Many barriers affect an average American’s ability to access positive opportunities, and they manifest in a particular form of discriminative practices in society. In this case, discrimination in society may occur based on a variety of issues, like gender, disability, religion, and race. Basically, personal biases create ideological differences regarding superiority in a social hierarchy. It pushes individuals to deny others access to opportunities and necessary skills to exploit those opportunities. Moreover, state and organizational policies against discrimination are created and enforced to maintain equality among Americans. These laws serve to eliminate potential barriers that exist between hard-working people and the American Dream. Consequently, equality among individuals ensures all individuals can take advantage of opportunities regardless of their gender, disability status, religion, race, and other social differences that tend to create boundaries between social groups.

Equality is crucial in a typical pursuit of the American Dream because it provides each individual with a unique opportunity to move up a social hierarchy. In this case, people can access upward social mobility by using various measures, which quantify an individual’s quality of life. Moreover, opportunities may exist, but individuals need to be assisted in developing themselves to a level where they can utilize the available opportunities. Hence, equality policies are useful in curtailing an actual power of discriminative practices in reinforcing social mobility barriers.

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What to Include

Common Mistakes

• Lack of Clear Thesis: Failing to present a clear and concise thesis statement, which must guide an essay’s argument.
• Insufficient Evidence: Not providing enough supporting evidence or examples to back up main points.
• Ignoring Historical Context: Overlooking historical origins and evolution of a path to prosperity, which are crucial in case of understanding its current meaning.
• One-Sided Perspective: Presenting a biased view by not considering multiple interpretations or counterarguments when writing about a quest for success.
• Vague Definitions: Offering an unclear or overly broad definition of the American Dream, leading to a lack of focus in an essay.
• Neglecting Structure: Failing to organize an essay into clear sections, such as introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion, which can confuse readers.
• Overgeneralization: Making sweeping statements about a promise of prosperity without acknowledging different experiences and perspectives to write about.
• Ignoring Current Relevance: Not discussing how a national aspiration applies to contemporary society or its relevance to today’s issues.
• Poor Use of Sources: Relying on unreliable sources or not properly citing references, which undermines an essay’s credibility.
• Grammar and Spelling Errors: Allowing grammatical mistakes and spelling errors to distract from an essay’s content and weaken its overall writing quality.

A typical capacity of a person to participate in a discourse on a controversial essay topic is nurtured through a continuous practice of structured essay writing. Basically, a particular concept of the American Dream may be approached from a different perspective, depending on the individual’s beliefs and personal experiences. Nonetheless, a written presentation of these points of view is achieved through a correct use of structured essays. In turn, a five-paragraph American Dream essay example examined in this article is a useful tool for a valid expression of any argument on such a topic.

Cogni, M. (2019). From sentences to essays: A guide to reflective writing through reflective thinking . Vernon Press.

Hoyt, C. L., Burnette, J. L., Forsyth, R. B., Parry, M., & DeShields, B. H. (2021). Believing in the American Dream sustains negative attitudes toward those in poverty. Social Psychology Quarterly , 84 (3), 203–215. https://doi.org/10.1177/01902725211022319

Mortimer, J. T., Mont’Alvao, A., & Aronson, P. (2019). Decline of “The American Dream”? Outlook toward the future across three generations of Midwest families. Social Forces , 98 (4), 1403–1435. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soz130

Rogers, D. (2024). Writing better essays: A rhetorical guide to writing and revision . Equinox Publishing Ltd.

Strain, M. R. (2020). The American Dream is not dead: (But populism could kill it) . Templeton Press.

Wolak, J., & Peterson, D. A. (2020). The dynamic American dream. American Journal of Political Science , 64 (4), 968–981. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12522

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Essays About The American Dream: 7 Interesting Topics to Discuss

American Dream has main themes: hard work and equal opportunity create a better life over time. Discover essays about the American dream topics in this article.

The concept of the American dream includes many ideas, including those outlined in the Declaration of Independence: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Professional writers, high school students, and many people have worked to outline the meaning of the American dream in essays and research papers.

Many United States citizens operate under the assumption that working hard can elevate their financial and social status. Many people in American society grapple with whether the idea of the American dream is an attainable reality for those born into less-fortunate circumstances. While some argue that social mobility—meaning changes in social class based on effort and hard work—are at the core of the American dream, others argue that those who are born into a preferable situation may have an easier time achieving the dream, disputing the notion of an equal playing field.

Here, we’ll discuss 7 interesting essay topics on the American Dream that you can use in your next essay.

For help with your essays, check out our round-up of the best essay checkers

1. Is The American Dream Still Alive?

2. the american dream is still alive: these people are proof, 3. the american dream defined, 4. the american dream in literature, 5. what does the american dream look like for immigrants, 6. how has the american dream changed over time, the final word on essays about the american dream, what literary works discuss the american dream, what should be considered when writing an essay on the american dream’s existence.

A topic of much debate, it can be tough to figure out whether the American Dream continues to exist as it did half a century ago. Many people question whether the American Dream is a reality for that outside of the American family depicted in 1950s television and print ads—largely white, upper-middle-class families.

Suppose you decide to write about whether the American Dream still exists. In that case, you’ll want to consider the inflation of the cost of a college education that has made it impossible for many students to work and pay their way through college, resulting in debt that feels impossible upon graduation. Rather than a fresh start in life, many graduates face low-paying jobs that make it difficult to handle daily living costs while also paying back high-interest student loans.

As you write about why the American Dream is currently a struggle for many, include success stories that show how the American Dream is still being achieved by many. You may want to touch on how the traditional idea of the American dream is changing with time. You can do this by highlighting studies that explain how successful Americans today feel regarding the American Dream and how the tenants of a successful life are changing for many people. 

Want to show your audience that the American Dream is still alive and well? Highlighting the stories of people who have achieved success in their lives can be a great way to convey proof of the existence of the American Dream to others. 

As you write your essay, it’s important to share how the definition of the American dream has changed over time. Today, many people feel that the American dream has more to do with a sense of belonging and community than making a certain amount of money or living in a certain type of home. Research shows that across the United States of America, people generally shared a positive feeling about the possibility of achieving the American dream. Most felt that they either had achieved the dream or were on their way to achieving it.

As you write your essay on proof of the existence of the American Dream, be sure to highlight people from different backgrounds, sharing the different challenges they’ve faced throughout their lives. You’ll want to show how Americans achieve success despite challenges and different starting points and how they’ve enjoyed their success (despite having different definitions of what it means to achieve the American Dream).

In years past, the definition of the American Dream was clear: rising above circumstances, developing a successful financial portfolio, owning a home, and having kids in a successful marriage. Today, however, many people define the American Dream differently. In an essay on defining the American dream, it’s important to consider viewpoints from different cultures and how a person’s socioeconomic starting point affects their view of what it means to have “made it” in America. 

When defining the American Dream, you may want to touch on how social and economic issues in America have made the American Dream a more realistic possibility for some groups than others. Social programs, discrimination, and civil rights issues have made it tougher for some minority groups to climb above the standing they were born into, making it harder to achieve financial stability and other aspects of the American dream.

In your essay about defining the American Dream, you may also want to touch on the importance of being able to take risks. This can be easier for people whose parents and other relatives can provide a safety net. People who are dependent on their savings to support new business ventures may find it harder to take risks, making it more difficult to achieve the American dream. 

When defining the American Dream, be sure to touch on how the Dream can be different for different people and how one person’s financial stability might not be the same as someone else’s. If possible, include anecdotal quotes and stories to help your reader connect to the way you’re defining the American Dream.

Many pieces of classic American literature work to show what the American Dream means to various groups of people. In writing an essay about the American Dream in literature, you’ll want to discuss several different classic works, including The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson. 

When discussing the theme of the American Dream in literature, there are a few different approaches that you can take to show your readers how the American Dream has changed in novels over time. You may want to work through a timeline showing how the American Dream has changed or talk about how real-life social and economic issues have been reflected in the way that authors discuss the American Dream. 

When writing about the American Dream, you may also want to touch on how each author’s social standing affected their view of the American Dream and whether the achievement of the Dream was feasible at the time. Authors born into difficult circumstances may have a different view of the American Dream than authors born into a more affluent lifestyle. 

Growing student debt, a lack of high-paying jobs, and increasing living costs have made it difficult for people to keep their faith in the American dream. Economic research shows that many first- and second-generation Americans experience economic mobility upward in immigrant families, but this mobility eventually stalls in future generations. According to some researchers, t’s possible that first- and second-generation immigrants feel more of a push to be a success story in an attempt to erase the negative connotations that some American citizens have with the word “immigrant.”

People who are new to the United States face different challenges than people who have lived in the country for their entire lives. Writing an essay about how the American Dream is different for people born in other countries can enlighten many of your readers about how the Dream is different for people in different circumstances.

The American Dream has not remained stagnant over the years, and what people once believed to be the American Dream is something that many Americans no longer want. Writing an essay about how the American dream has changed over time can be an interesting way to explore how the ideals of America have changed over the years. 

The wealth gap has changed over time in the United States, making it increasingly difficult for people born into a lower socioeconomic status to build their wealth and achieve the American dream. Research shows that more than 40% of people born into the lowest part of the income ladder in the United States stay there as adults. Talking about how economic challenges in the United States have made it difficult for many people to go through college or start businesses can be a jumping-off point to discussing changes in the American Dream. 

For many people, the ideals associated with the American dream—marriage, family, kids, a job that provides financial stability—are no longer as desirable. Some people don’t desire to get married, and it’s more acceptable in society to stay single. Some people have no desire to have kids, and some people prefer to work in the gig economy rather than going to a 9-5 job every day. Discussing these changes in American society and how they relate to changes in the American Dream can help your reader see how the Dream has changed over time.

In the eyes of many, the American dream is often associated with homeownership. Skyrocketing mortgage rates in the U.S. make it hard for many people to afford a home, relegating them to rent or living with family members. If you decide to talk about the difficulties of becoming a homeowner in today’s economy, do your research on the latest mortgage news. Many people who once qualified for mortgages struggle to get approved due to skyrocketing interest rates. Including recent financial news can help help your readers connect recent events with the reality of the American Dream.

Opinions on the American dream differ, and when writing about the topic, it’s important to keep your audience in mind. While some people have experienced at least part of the American dream, others have struggled despite hard work due to an unequal playing field from the start.

FAQs About Essays About The American Dream

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller is well-known for their takes on the American dream.

When writing a persuasive or argumentive essay on the American dream, it’s important to consider social mobility, interest rates, homeownership rates, the cost of education, and other factors that contribute to creating a lucrative financial life.

If you’re still stuck, check out our general resource of essay writing topics .

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Writing a Powerful American Dream Essay: Examples, Tips, and Topics

By: Tasha Kolesnikova

Living in the United States is inseparable from the idea of the American dream. The term first appeared in a 1931 bestseller by James Truslow Adams called "The Epic of America". The book was issued during a dark time in American history known as the Great Depression and discusses the questions of democracy. Using an expressive term, the author of the book mentions " the American Dream of a better , richer, and happier life for all our citizens of every rank". Later on, this phrase developed into an ideology of the entire country.

American Dream Argumentative Essay Sample

Introduction, american dream essay topics.

No wonder that an American Dream paper is a common assignment at high schools, universities, and colleges. If you are clueless about how to get started with such a task, you've come to the right place. At Studybay, we have prepared samples and tips to help you write an essay to describe the iconic concept of the American dream. Read on for all the information!

The story of the Great Gatsby is often used in connection with the American Dream as a topic for research papers and essays. Suppose you received the following prompt:

Argue whether F. Scott Fitzgerald presents the idea of the American dream as revolving around money and status or equal opportunities for all in his novel "The Great Gatsby".

Below, you will see an essay example written by Mia, a high school student from Texas, followed up by effective tips on improving it.

At first glance, F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel "The Great Gatsby" may seem to be a beautiful love story and nothing more. However, the author does not focus only on the romantic side of the plot. Fitzgerald's masterpiece talks about the pursuit of happiness, beauty, human flaws and even tackles the concept of the American Dream.

In my opinion, the American Dream means achieving as much wealth as possible in the story about Jay Gatsby. Fitzgerald manages to showcase the difference in perception of the American dream depending on the person's social status. Gatsby himself has been growing in a poor environment yet built up his affluence and spent the rest of his life as a rich person in West Egg. He chose to spend his money extravagantly to reconnect with his long-lost love.

The people living in the industrial Valley of Ashes like George and Myrtle wished to reach a better life. While Geroge believed it could be done through hard work, Myrtle was trying to achieve it through making connections with people from a higher social class, such as Tom.

The Buchanans, on the other hand, were living in East Egg, a part of New York where people born into wealth stayed. They are a bright example of spending selfishly as much as they wanted on whatever they desired as an integral part of the American dream.

However, regardless of the area where they lived and their goals, "The Great Gatsby" characters' American Dream was connected with wealth.

How to Make This American Dream Essay an A+ Written Work?

You have just read a good example of an American dream essay. However, it is not likely to receive an excellent grade. Before we focus on the downsides of Mia's text, let's take a look at the positive features of this essay:

• Interesting analysis of the topic
• A clear opinion with substantial arguments
• An evident knowledge of the novel's plot and characters
• A logical flow

These positive aspects create a basis for a great essay. However, some parts of Mia's written work still need improvement.

The main downside of the introduction of Mia's essay is that it is not quite clear where it ends. The structure is extremely important when it comes to essay writing. Therefore, it is crucial that the introductory paragraph hooks the reader, gives short general information on the topic, and provides a straightforward thesis statement. Here is how it could be done in Mia's essay:

F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel "The Great Gatsby" allows the reader to dive into the bustling atmosphere of the Roaring Twenties. Apart from a beautiful representation of the Jazz Age and a touching love story, Fitzgerald's masterpiece tackles topics, such as beauty, human flaws, and the pursuit of happiness. However, what we know as the American dream does not appear as the concept of equality and a better life for everyone in the novel but rather as a race for wealth and extravagant spendings.

This introduction is engaging for the readers, gradually taking them from the novel's setting to the essay's thesis.

The main body of an argumentative essay must consist of points supporting the thesis statement. Mia's essay is successfully featuring such paragraphs. However, her arguments are lacking facts to prove the opinion expressed. For instance, a more persuasive essay part could look like this:

Even though Myrtle and George both lived in the Valley of Ashes, each of them had a different version of the American dream in mind. While George was focusing on hard work to earn his way to wealth, Myrtle says the following about her husband: "I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn't fit to lick my shoe." To her, social status is of utmost importance, and her idea of the American dream lies in having influential connections and spending money on luxurious items.

This argument is more weighty than the one in Mia's example because it contains a quote from the novel and its brief analysis.

It is vital to ensure that the essay's conclusion proves the point mentioned in the thesis statement. The final paragraph of Mia's statement doesn't contain a powerful message and seems to cut off the text without wrapping it up logically. Here is an example of a better conclusion:

Therefore, regardless of the character's social status, their American dream was far from Martin Luther King's idea of a land where all ethnicities are treated equally. It also has nothing to do with Arthur Miller's ideology of equal chances of succeeding in life. The American dream in the post-World War setting of "The Great Gatsby" is all about a quest for money and acquiring wealth for oneself.

This version of a conclusion demonstrates comparison with renowned ideas and confirms the thesis from the beginning of the essay, leaving the reader space for thought.

Using the mentioned tips and examples, you will be able to produce excellent written work. Read on for a selection of the most interesting topics for your American dream essay.

If you don't have a clear prompt and have the freedom of choosing the topic of your American dream essay yourself, this list is perfect for your inspiration:

• Martin Luther King's Idea of the American Dream
• The Modern Concept of the American Dream
• Arthur Miller's American Dream Ideology
• What Made the "American Dream" a National Ethos
• The Most Influential Ideas on the American Dream Concept
• The American Dream as Described By James Truslow Adams

Select the topic that makes you the most excited to do research or come up with an essay theme of your own! However, if diving into such a fundamental subject seems too overwhelming, you can always rely on essay help . Our expert writers are happy to help with brainstorming, proofreading, editing, and writing your essay .

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It's so interesting to observe how the definition of american dream changes throughout history. From the free land where everyone has equal opportunity to the land where everyone just cares about making money and their social status. Thanks guys here!

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American Dream Essay: Samples, Guide, Outline Structure, Topic Ideas

Updated 19 Jun 2024

American Dream essay can easily be compared to a personal reflection paper that provides sufficient arguments regarding not only the term itself but also the research and analysis that was conducted by the essay writer. Most college and high school students in the United States often feel stuck when it comes to writing about what the American Dream means to them, as it is way too easy to use cliches and even risk academic integrity. Still, this essay type is important because it requires much more than reflective outlook, but knowledge of one’s country, culture, people, economics, history, and social processes. In our handy guide, we provide clearer definitions, outlines, topic examples, and samples of an actual American Dream paper.

Why is the American Dream a Popular Essay Topic?

In order to understand what is the American Dream essay, one has to approach it as a classic research paper. After all, no reader would like to see a generic paper talking about wealth or living a fine life in the Land of the Free. Quite the opposite, the American Dream essay aims to inspire high school and college students to do additional research and analysis of their own lives and those who surround them. College professors use this type of work to see critical thinking skills, writing capabilities, structure, grammar, punctuation, and logic. Of course, content does matter as well, so it’s crucial to consider these tips before one starts writing:

• Decide on good and catchy topic that reflects your personality and proves to be an interesting, inspiring essay on the American Dream.
• Do additional research on family’s ancestry, traditions, cultural customs in the United States.
• Using a hook sentence in the beginning, remember to start with an interesting fact or assumption about the American style of life or something that has deeply impacted you.
• Avoid discussing sensitive and religious topics when you write my essay .
• Since American Dream essay is similar to argumentative essay, ensure to backup all information that is not common with reliable sources.

What makes American Dream writing assignments so popular is social connection between generations and difference in perception of same ideas related to culture, wealth, things that seem obligatory in life, right for education, and basic freedoms. Comparing views of modern American students to papers of past decades, college professors and Sociology researchers can combine information and track diverse socio-cultural trends.

Moreover, successful essays can also apply for scholarships or financial aid, according to college policies. Do best to provide unique topic and follow clear structure that is dynamic and logical.

Read also: How to Write a Critical Analysis Quickly & Correctly?

How to Structure an Essay on American Dream?

If good topic has already been found, it is right time to think about essay structure. In this particular case, it contains following elements:

• Introduction. Intro should always start with strong hook sentence, something that inspires readers to read further. Examples of good hook sentences are unusual facts, elements of history, culture or even stories from family life. Likewise, if you are an international student, mention it and speak of things learned.
• Thesis Statement. American Dream thesis should include a clear position and speak of what the topic means per se and how it is perceived. Nevertheless, it should not be generic like “I think it is money, having nice car, girlfriend, good grades at college...” Even if one truly thinks so, such paper aims for deeper thought and analysis as to why certain income is possible or why fancy car is important.
• 3-5 Body Paragraphs. Start each body paragraph with topic sentence. It means that once a certain reason is given for justification of the thesis, it should be mentioned right at the paragraph’s start. Remember of plagiarism risks when citing external sources or mentioning recent media events. A rule of thumb here is to cite each source accordingly, based on format requirements. In most cases, students have freedom not to use any references, yet if good research has been made, it is obligatory to note it correctly.
• Conclusion. In this part, one has to summarize each idea mentioned in body paragraphs but do it in a condensed way, connecting each point with the thesis statement. Do not introduce any new ideas here. For closure, it is recommended to create a call to action and provide food for thought, based on essay topic. It has to be either hopeful or demanding for justice if the paper is written in a specific tone. In either case, conclusion is as important as thesis statement because it shows what author has argumented for with his or her work.

Here is American Dream essay outline example:

“4 Freedoms for All”

1. Intro. Roosevelt once said that there are 4 freedoms: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Thinking of what American Dream means to me, I base my life upon these four freedoms.

2. Thesis: My greatest wish is to achieve these important four freedoms not only for myself, but for people all over the world because freedom has to be shared and this is what I dream of.

3. Body Paragraphs. Topic sentences. Freedom to express one’s thoughts and beliefs in the United States is what makes country so strong as different opinions work together…

Religion and faith conflicts lead to most armed conflicts these days, therefore, I wish that people learn on American example where people of different nations and cultures cooperate and live in peace.

Thinking of wealth and glory that most people usually name, writing such essays, I do not think it is what makes America great…

Determined and patient, I always try to get rid of fear and insecurity, turning to voluntary work and sports.

4. Conclusion.

Thesis restated: America is so powerful as it does not keep its greatness and wisdom to themselves, but shares it with others, helps people achieve freedom and knowledge.

Call to action: It is important for each person to think of what can be done to make American life meaningful, based on hard work, knowledge, and mutual respect.

Read also:  NHS Essay Examples for Students for High Grades

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10 Successful American Dream Essay Topics

A Sum of Cultures and Common Strengths. Speak of how different cultures and people make America strong and united.

Success is Always Hard Work. Focus on personal achievements, your family or friends who work hard to live successful lives.

Living Martin Luther King Way. Mention Martin Luther King or any other historical personality to speak of how strong leaders have made certain dreams come true.

Nursing for Entire World. Idea for international students, studying in the United States.

Thing of Past Gone. For negative thinkers. Include analysis and argumentation.  

Power of Education. Focus on access to education and learning benefits.

America, My New Home. Suitable American Dream essay example for exchange students.

Peace and Safety For All. Mention global issues and how America helps to resolve them.

Then and Now: Comparison. Compare what American Dream meant to your parents or Grandparents and what it means to you.

Power to People. Think about how people can become an anticipated change.

Read also:  Gun Control Topics for Each One, Who Wants to Write an Exciting Essay

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115 American Dream Essay Topics

🏆 best american dream essay titles, ✍️ american dream essay topics for college, 🎓 interesting american dream topics for research papers, 💡 simple american dream titles for essays, ❓ research questions about the american dream, ✨ good american dream argumentative essay topics.

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• Stratification and Social Mobility and its Impact on the American Dream According to Kerbo, social stratification includes a ranking of people in a society. It is more concerned with systematic inequalities other than individualistic differences.
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• The Problems of American Dream and Race For a long time, many people have been coming to the United States to realize their goals. The cultural and social phenomenon of the American dream was formed.
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• Cruel Optimism: Karl Marx’s Ideas and the American Dream The work provides a summary and an analysis of the work of Berlant L. “Cruel optimism: On Marx, loss and the senses” in regard to Karl Marx’s ideas and the American Dream.
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• Crumbling American Dream: The Thrive of Capitalism The notion of the American dream has now become a universal matter. The thrive of capitalism has made the American dream a desirable state of things unachievable in the near future.
• The Concept of the American Dream The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of the American Dream and discuss how Americans of European descent utilized the land and labor of others to realize it.
• The American Dream and Social Disorganization American Dream is the belief that everyone in the state can attain success due to the uniqueness of the U.S society and environment.
• Recession and the American Dream for Education This paper analyses the ill effects of the recent recession which has occurred and the terrible consequence which families, students, and children in America are currently facing.
• Fleeing to U.S., the American Dream for Cubans From time immemorial Cubans have been moving to America in search for greener pastures. This eventually worked for the formation of American-Cuban connections around the United States.
• Youthful View of the American Dream During Uncertain Economic Times The American Dream for youth is now all about helping the country reclaim it’s rightful place of leadership in the world.
• American Dream in the XXI Century The understanding of the concept of the American dream today and several decades or even centuries ago is quite different.
• Conception of “The American Dream” in US “The American Dream” means living a better life. Americans have different opinions on describing this better life. Though some may express this issue as an illusion, it can become real.
• The American Dream: Civil Rights and Opportunities Civil rights have much to do with citizens having an opportunity to achieve the American dream. Discrimination is a massive obstacle that prevents the country from economic growth.
• American Dream, Religions and Sikhism The USA represent a unique cultural phenomenon. On the one hand, it is a country of many cultures, nationalities, and religions co-existing in the same area.
• Social Studies: The American Dream’s Concept The American dream focuses on making life better for its citizens and immigrants. It entails the aggressiveness instilled in the residents of America.
• Concepts of American Dreams Historically Americans have been seeking to achieve the American dream of fame, success and immense wealth through changes and much effort.
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• What Is at the Heart of the American Dream?
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• How Does the Rising Cost of Education Affect the American Dream?
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• Is the American Dream Real or Purely Imaginary?
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• Has Gatsby Achieved the American Dream?
• Keeping the Dream Alive: Perpetuating the American Dream in Changing Times
• Reimagining the American Dream: Cultural Pluralism and Identity
• The American Dream and Economic Inequality: Bridge or Divide?
• The Dream Project: Assessing the Impact of Public Policies on Achieving the American Dream
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• Is the American Dream Still Achievable?
• Consumerism and the American Dream
• The Shifting Landscape of the American Dream in the 21st Century
• Environmental Sustainability and the Future of the American Dream
• Addressing the Counterclaim: Crafting a Roadmap to Ensure Equality in Dream Attainment
• Perspectives on the American Dream Across Age Groups and Generation Gap

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Best Analysis: The American Dream in The Great Gatsby

Book Guides

The Great Gatsby is a tragic love story on the surface, but it's most commonly understood as a pessimistic critique of the American Dream. In the novel, Jay Gatsby overcomes his poor past to gain an incredible amount of money and a limited amount of social cache in 1920s NYC, only to be rejected by the "old money" crowd. He then gets killed after being tangled up with them.

Through Gatsby's life, as well as that of the Wilsons', Fitzgerald critiques the idea that America is a meritocracy where anyone can rise to the top with enough hard work. We will explore how this theme plays out in the plot, briefly analyze some key quotes about it, as well as do some character analysis and broader analysis of topics surrounding the American Dream in The Great Gatsby .

What is the American Dream? The American Dream in the Great Gatsby plot Key American Dream quotes Analyzing characters via the American Dream Common discussion and essay topics

Quick Note on Our Citations

Our citation format in this guide is (chapter.paragraph). We're using this system since there are many editions of Gatsby, so using page numbers would only work for students with our copy of the book.

To find a quotation we cite via chapter and paragraph in your book, you can either eyeball it (Paragraph 1-50: beginning of chapter; 50-100: middle of chapter; 100-on: end of chapter), or use the search function if you're using an online or eReader version of the text.

What Exactly Is "The American Dream"?

The American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of race, class, gender, or nationality, can be successful in America (read: rich) if they just work hard enough. The American Dream thus presents a pretty rosy view of American society that ignores problems like systemic racism and misogyny, xenophobia, tax evasion or state tax avoidance, and income inequality. It also presumes a myth of class equality, when the reality is America has a pretty well-developed class hierarchy.

The 1920s in particular was a pretty tumultuous time due to increased immigration (and the accompanying xenophobia), changing women's roles (spurred by the right to vote, which was won in 1919), and extraordinary income inequality.

The country was also in the midst of an economic boom, which fueled the belief that anyone could "strike it rich" on Wall Street. However, this rapid economic growth was built on a bubble which popped in 1929. The Great Gatsby was published in 1925, well before the crash, but through its wry descriptions of the ultra-wealthy, it seems to somehow predict that the fantastic wealth on display in 1920s New York was just as ephemeral as one of Gatsby's parties.

In any case, the novel, just by being set in the 1920s, is unlikely to present an optimistic view of the American Dream, or at least a version of the dream that's inclusive to all genders, ethnicities, and incomes. With that background in mind, let's jump into the plot!

The American Dream in The Great Gatsby

Chapter 1 places us in a particular year—1922—and gives us some background about WWI.  This is relevant, since the 1920s is presented as a time of hollow decadence among the wealthy, as evidenced especially by the parties in Chapters 2 and 3. And as we mentioned above, the 1920s were a particularly tense time in America.

We also meet George and Myrtle Wilson in Chapter 2 , both working class people who are working to improve their lot in life, George through his work, and Myrtle through her affair with Tom Buchanan.

We learn about Gatsby's goal in Chapter 4 : to win Daisy back. Despite everything he owns, including fantastic amounts of money and an over-the-top mansion, for Gatsby, Daisy is the ultimate status symbol. So in Chapter 5 , when Daisy and Gatsby reunite and begin an affair, it seems like Gatsby could, in fact, achieve his goal.

In Chapter 6 , we learn about Gatsby's less-than-wealthy past, which not only makes him look like the star of a rags-to-riches story, it makes Gatsby himself seem like someone in pursuit of the American Dream, and for him the personification of that dream is Daisy.

However, in Chapters 7 and 8 , everything comes crashing down: Daisy refuses to leave Tom, Myrtle is killed, and George breaks down and kills Gatsby and then himself, leaving all of the "strivers" dead and the old money crowd safe. Furthermore, we learn in those last chapters that Gatsby didn't even achieve all his wealth through hard work, like the American Dream would stipulate—instead, he earned his money through crime. (He did work hard and honestly under Dan Cody, but lost Dan Cody's inheritance to his ex-wife.)

In short, things do not turn out well for our dreamers in the novel! Thus, the novel ends with Nick's sad meditation on the lost promise of the American Dream. You can read a detailed analysis of these last lines in our summary of the novel's ending .

Key American Dream Quotes

In this section we analyze some of the most important quotes that relate to the American Dream in the book.

But I didn't call to him for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone--he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was from him I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward--and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. (1.152)

In our first glimpse of Jay Gatsby, we see him reaching towards something far off, something in sight but definitely out of reach. This famous image of the green light is often understood as part of The Great Gatsby 's meditation on The American Dream—the idea that people are always reaching towards something greater than themselves that is just out of reach . You can read more about this in our post all about the green light .

The fact that this yearning image is our introduction to Gatsby foreshadows his unhappy end and also marks him as a dreamer, rather than people like Tom or Daisy who were born with money and don't need to strive for anything so far off.

Over the great bridge, with the sunlight through the girders making a constant flicker upon the moving cars, with the city rising up across the river in white heaps and sugar lumps all built with a wish out of non-olfactory money. The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world.

A dead man passed us in a hearse heaped with blooms, followed by two carriages with drawn blinds and by more cheerful carriages for friends. The friends looked out at us with the tragic eyes and short upper lips of south-eastern Europe, and I was glad that the sight of Gatsby's splendid car was included in their somber holiday. As we crossed Blackwell's Island a limousine passed us, driven by a white chauffeur, in which sat three modish Negroes, two bucks and a girl. I laughed aloud as the yolks of their eyeballs rolled toward us in haughty rivalry.

"Anything can happen now that we've slid over this bridge," I thought; "anything at all. . . ."

Even Gatsby could happen, without any particular wonder. (4.55-8)

Early in the novel, we get this mostly optimistic illustration of the American Dream—we see people of different races and nationalities racing towards NYC, a city of unfathomable possibility. This moment has all the classic elements of the American Dream—economic possibility, racial and religious diversity, a carefree attitude. At this moment, it does feel like "anything can happen," even a happy ending.

However, this rosy view eventually gets undermined by the tragic events later in the novel. And even at this point, Nick's condescension towards the people in the other cars reinforces America's racial hierarchy that disrupts the idea of the American Dream. There is even a little competition at play, a "haughty rivalry" at play between Gatsby's car and the one bearing the "modish Negroes."

Nick "laughs aloud" at this moment, suggesting he thinks it's amusing that the passengers in this other car see them as equals, or even rivals to be bested. In other words, he seems to firmly believe in the racial hierarchy Tom defends in Chapter 1, even if it doesn't admit it honestly.

His heart beat faster and faster as Daisy's white face came up to his own. He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God. So he waited, listening for a moment longer to the tuning fork that had been struck upon a star. Then he kissed her. At his lips' touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete. (6.134)

This moment explicitly ties Daisy to all of Gatsby's larger dreams for a better life —to his American Dream. This sets the stage for the novel's tragic ending, since Daisy cannot hold up under the weight of the dream Gatsby projects onto her. Instead, she stays with Tom Buchanan, despite her feelings for Gatsby. Thus when Gatsby fails to win over Daisy, he also fails to achieve his version of the American Dream. This is why so many people read the novel as a somber or pessimistic take on the American Dream, rather than an optimistic one.  

...as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors' eyes--a fresh, green breast of the new world. Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby's house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder.

And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night." (9.151-152)

The closing pages of the novel reflect at length on the American Dream, in an attitude that seems simultaneously mournful, appreciative, and pessimistic. It also ties back to our first glimpse of Gatsby, reaching out over the water towards the Buchanan's green light. Nick notes that Gatsby's dream was "already behind him" then (or in other words, it was impossible to attain). But still, he finds something to admire in how Gatsby still hoped for a better life, and constantly reached out toward that brighter future.

For a full consideration of these last lines and what they could mean, see our analysis of the novel's ending .

Analyzing Characters Through the American Dream

An analysis of the characters in terms of the American Dream usually leads to a pretty cynical take on the American Dream.

Most character analysis centered on the American Dream will necessarily focus on Gatsby, George, or Myrtle (the true strivers in the novel), though as we'll discuss below, the Buchanans can also provide some interesting layers of discussion. For character analysis that incorporates the American Dream, carefully consider your chosen character's motivations and desires, and how the novel does (or doesn't!) provide glimpses of the dream's fulfillment for them.

Gatsby himself is obviously the best candidate for writing about the American Dream—he comes from humble roots (he's the son of poor farmers from North Dakota) and rises to be notoriously wealthy, only for everything to slip away from him in the end. Many people also incorporate Daisy into their analyses as the physical representation of Gatsby's dream.

However, definitely consider the fact that in the traditional American Dream, people achieve their goals through honest hard work, but in Gatsby's case, he very quickly acquires a large amount of money through crime . Gatsby does attempt the hard work approach, through his years of service to Dan Cody, but that doesn't work out since Cody's ex-wife ends up with the entire inheritance. So instead he turns to crime, and only then does he manage to achieve his desired wealth.

So while Gatsby's story arc resembles a traditional rags-to-riches tale, the fact that he gained his money immorally complicates the idea that he is a perfect avatar for the American Dream . Furthermore, his success obviously doesn't last—he still pines for Daisy and loses everything in his attempt to get her back. In other words, Gatsby's huge dreams, all precariously wedded to Daisy  ("He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God" (6.134)) are as flimsy and flight as Daisy herself.

George and Myrtle Wilson

This couple also represents people aiming at the dream— George owns his own shop and is doing his best to get business, though is increasingly worn down by the harsh demands of his life, while Myrtle chases after wealth and status through an affair with Tom.

Both are disempowered due to the lack of money at their own disposal —Myrtle certainly has access to some of the "finer things" through Tom but has to deal with his abuse, while George is unable to leave his current life and move West since he doesn't have the funds available. He even has to make himself servile to Tom in an attempt to get Tom to sell his car, a fact that could even cause him to overlook the evidence of his wife's affair. So neither character is on the upward trajectory that the American Dream promises, at least during the novel.

In the end, everything goes horribly wrong for both George and Myrtle, suggesting that in this world, it's dangerous to strive for more than you're given.

George and Myrtle's deadly fates, along with Gatsby's, help illustrate the novel's pessimistic attitude toward the American Dream. After all, how unfair is it that the couple working to improve their position in society (George and Myrtle) both end up dead, while Tom, who dragged Myrtle into an increasingly dangerous situation, and Daisy, who killed her, don't face any consequences? And on top of that they are fabulously wealthy? The American Dream certainly is not alive and well for the poor Wilsons.

Tom and Daisy as Antagonists to the American Dream

We've talked quite a bit already about Gatsby, George, and Myrtle—the three characters who come from humble roots and try to climb the ranks in 1920s New York. But what about the other major characters, especially the ones born with money? What is their relationship to the American Dream?

Specifically, Tom and Daisy have old money, and thus they don't need the American Dream, since they were born with America already at their feet.

Perhaps because of this, they seem to directly antagonize the dream—Daisy by refusing Gatsby, and Tom by helping to drag the Wilsons into tragedy .

This is especially interesting because unlike Gatsby, Myrtle, and George, who actively hope and dream of a better life, Daisy and Tom are described as bored and "careless," and end up instigating a large amount of tragedy through their own recklessness.

In other words, income inequality and the vastly different starts in life the characters have strongly affected their outcomes. The way they choose to live their lives, their morality (or lack thereof), and how much they dream doesn't seem to matter. This, of course, is tragic and antithetical to the idea of the American Dream, which claims that class should be irrelevant and anyone can rise to the top.

Daisy as a Personification of the American Dream

As we discuss in our post on money and materialism in The Great Gatsby , Daisy's voice is explicitly tied to money by Gatsby:

"Her voice is full of money," he said suddenly.

That was it. I'd never understood before. It was full of money--that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals' song of it. . . . High in a white palace the king's daughter, the golden girl. . . . (7.105-6)

If Daisy's voice promises money, and the American Dream is explicitly linked to wealth, it's not hard to argue that Daisy herself—along with the green light at the end of her dock —stands in for the American Dream. In fact, as Nick goes on to describe Daisy as "High in a white palace the king's daughter, the golden girl," he also seems to literally describe Daisy as a prize, much like the princess at the end of a fairy tale (or even Princess Peach at the end of a Mario game!).

But Daisy, of course, is only human—flawed, flighty, and ultimately unable to embody the huge fantasy Gatsby projects onto her. So this, in turn, means that the American Dream itself is just a fantasy, a concept too flimsy to actually hold weight, especially in the fast-paced, dog-eat-dog world of 1920s America.

Furthermore, you should definitely consider the tension between the fact that Daisy represents Gatsby's ultimate goal, but at the same time (as we discussed above), her actual life is the opposite of the American Dream : she is born with money and privilege, likely dies with it all intact, and there are no consequences to how she chooses to live her life in between.

Can Female Characters Achieve the American Dream?

Finally, it's interesting to compare and contrast some of the female characters using the lens of the American Dream.

Let's start with Daisy, who is unhappy in her marriage and, despite a brief attempt to leave it, remains with Tom, unwilling to give up the status and security their marriage provides. At first, it may seem like Daisy doesn't dream at all, so of course she ends up unhappy. But consider the fact that Daisy was already born into the highest level of American society. The expectation placed on her, as a wealthy woman, was never to pursue something greater, but simply to maintain her status. She did that by marrying Tom, and it's understandable why she wouldn't risk the uncertainty and loss of status that would come through divorce and marriage to a bootlegger. Again, Daisy seems to typify the "anti-American" dream, in that she was born into a kind of aristocracy and simply has to maintain her position, not fight for something better.

In contrast, Myrtle, aside from Gatsby, seems to be the most ambitiously in pursuit of getting more than she was given in life. She parlays her affair with Tom into an apartment, nice clothes, and parties, and seems to revel in her newfound status. But of course, she is knocked down the hardest, killed for her involvement with the Buchanans, and specifically for wrongfully assuming she had value to them. Considering that Gatsby did have a chance to leave New York and distance himself from the unfolding tragedy, but Myrtle was the first to be killed, you could argue the novel presents an even bleaker view of the American Dream where women are concerned.

Even Jordan Baker , who seems to be living out a kind of dream by playing golf and being relatively independent, is tied to her family's money and insulated from consequences by it , making her a pretty poor representation of the dream. And of course, since her end game also seems to be marriage, she doesn't push the boundaries of women's roles as far as she might wish.

So while the women all push the boundaries of society's expectations of them in certain ways, they either fall in line or are killed, which definitely undermines the rosy of idea that anyone, regardless of gender, can make it in America. The American Dream as shown in Gatsby becomes even more pessimistic through the lens of the female characters.  

Common Essay Questions/Discussion Topics

Now let's work through some of the more frequently brought up subjects for discussion.

#1: Was Gatsby's dream worth it? Was all the work, time, and patience worth it for him?

Like me, you might immediately think "of course it wasn't worth it! Gatsby lost everything, not to mention the Wilsons got caught up in the tragedy and ended up dead!" So if you want to make the more obvious "the dream wasn't worth it" argument, you could point to the unraveling that happens at the end of the novel (including the deaths of Myrtle, Gatsby and George) and how all Gatsby's achievements are for nothing, as evidenced by the sparse attendance of his funeral.

However, you could definitely take the less obvious route and argue that Gatsby's dream was worth it, despite the tragic end . First of all, consider Jay's unique characterization in the story: "He was a son of God--a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that--and he must be about His Father's Business, the service of a vast, vulgar and meretricious beauty" (6.7). In other words, Gatsby has a larger-than-life persona and he never would have been content to remain in North Dakota to be poor farmers like his parents.

Even if he ends up living a shorter life, he certainly lived a full one full of adventure. His dreams of wealth and status took him all over the world on Dan Cody's yacht, to Louisville where he met and fell in love with Daisy, to the battlefields of WWI, to the halls of Oxford University, and then to the fast-paced world of Manhattan in the early 1920s, when he earned a fortune as a bootlegger. In fact, it seems Jay lived several lives in the space of just half a normal lifespan. In short, to argue that Gatsby's dream was worth it, you should point to his larger-than-life conception of himself and the fact that he could have only sought happiness through striving for something greater than himself, even if that ended up being deadly in the end.

#2: In the Langston Hughes poem "A Dream Deferred," Hughes asks questions about what happens to postponed dreams. How does Fitzgerald examine this issue of deferred dreams? What do you think are the effects of postponing our dreams? How can you apply this lesson to your own life?

If you're thinking about "deferred dreams" in The Great Gatsby , the big one is obviously Gatsby's deferred dream for Daisy—nearly five years pass between his initial infatuation and his attempt in the novel to win her back, an attempt that obviously backfires. You can examine various aspects of Gatsby's dream—the flashbacks to his first memories of Daisy in Chapter 8 , the moment when they reunite in Chapter 5 , or the disastrous consequences of the confrontation of Chapter 7 —to illustrate Gatsby's deferred dream.

You could also look at George Wilson's postponed dream of going West, or Myrtle's dream of marrying a wealthy man of "breeding"—George never gets the funds to go West, and is instead mired in the Valley of Ashes, while Myrtle's attempt to achieve her dream after 12 years of marriage through an affair ends in tragedy. Apparently, dreams deferred are dreams doomed to fail.

As Nick Carraway says, "you can't repeat the past"—the novel seems to imply there is a small window for certain dreams, and when the window closes, they can no longer be attained. This is pretty pessimistic, and for the prompt's personal reflection aspect, I wouldn't say you should necessarily "apply this lesson to your own life" straightforwardly. But it is worth noting that certain opportunities are fleeting, and perhaps it's wiser to seek out newer and/or more attainable ones, rather than pining over a lost chance.

Any prompt like this one which has a section of more personal reflection gives you freedom to tie in your own experiences and point of view, so be thoughtful and think of good examples from your own life!

#3: Explain how the novel does or does not demonstrate the death of the American Dream. Is the main theme of Gatsby indeed "the withering American Dream"? What does the novel offer about American identity?

In this prompt, another one that zeroes in on the dead or dying American Dream, you could discuss how the destruction of three lives (Gatsby, George, Myrtle) and the cynical portrayal of the old money crowd illustrates a dead, or dying American Dream . After all, if the characters who dream end up dead, and the ones who were born into life with money and privilege get to keep it without consequence, is there any room at all for the idea that less-privileged people can work their way up?

In terms of what the novel says about American identity, there are a few threads you could pick up—one is Nick's comment in Chapter 9 about the novel really being a story about (mid)westerners trying (and failing) to go East : "I see now that this has been a story of the West, after all--Tom and Gatsby, Daisy and Jordan and I, were all Westerners, and perhaps we possessed some deficiency in common which made us subtly unadaptable to Eastern life" (9.125). This observation suggests an American identity that is determined by birthplace, and that within the American identity there are smaller, inescapable points of identification.

Furthermore, for those in the novel not born into money, the American identity seems to be about striving to end up with more wealth and status. But in terms of the portrayal of the old money set, particularly Daisy, Tom, and Jordan, the novel presents a segment of American society that is essentially aristocratic—you have to be born into it. In that regard, too, the novel presents a fractured American identity, with different lives possible based on how much money you are born with.

In short, I think the novel disrupts the idea of a unified American identity or American dream, by instead presenting a tragic, fractured, and rigid American society, one that is divided based on both geographic location and social class.

#4: Most would consider dreams to be positive motivators to achieve success, but the characters in the novel often take their dreams of ideal lives too far. Explain how characters' American Dreams cause them to have pain when they could have been content with more modest ambitions.

Gatsby is an obvious choice here—his pursuit of money and status, particularly through Daisy, leads him to ruin. There were many points when perhaps Gatsby ;could have been happy with what he achieved (especially after his apparently successful endeavors in the war, if he had remained at Oxford, or even after amassing a great amount of wealth as a bootlegger) but instead he kept striving upward, which ultimately lead to his downfall. You can flesh this argument out with the quotations in Chapters 6 and 8 about Gatsby's past, along with his tragic death.

Myrtle would be another good choice for this type of prompt. In a sense, she seems to be living her ideal life in her affair with Tom—she has a fancy NYC apartment, hosts parties, and gets to act sophisticated—but these pleasures end up gravely hurting George, and of course her association with Tom Buchanan gets her killed.

Nick, too, if he had been happy with his family's respectable fortune and his girlfriend out west, might have avoided the pain of knowing Gatsby and the general sense of despair he was left with.

You might be wondering about George—after all, isn't he someone also dreaming of a better life? However, there aren't many instances of George taking his dreams of an ideal life "too far." In fact, he struggles just to make one car sale so that he can finally move out West with Myrtle. Also, given that his current situation in the Valley of Ashes is quite bleak, it's hard to say that striving upward gave him pain.

#5: The Great Gatsby is, among other things, a sobering and even ominous commentary on the dark side of the American dream. Discuss this theme, incorporating the conflicts of East Egg vs. West Egg and old money vs. new money. What does the American dream mean to Gatsby? What did the American Dream mean to Fitzgerald? How does morality fit into achieving the American dream?

This prompt allows you to consider pretty broadly the novel's attitude toward the American Dream, with emphasis on "sobering and even ominous" commentary. Note that Fitzgerald seems to be specifically mocking the stereotypical rags to riches story here—;especially since he draws the Dan Cody narrative almost note for note from the work of someone like Horatio Alger, whose books were almost universally about rich men schooling young, entrepreneurial boys in the ways of the world. In other words, you should discuss how the Great Gatsby seems to turn the idea of the American Dream as described in the quote on its head: Gatsby does achieve a rags-to-riches rise, but it doesn't last.

All of Gatsby's hard work for Dan Cody, after all, didn't pay off since he lost the inheritance. So instead, Gatsby turned to crime after the war to quickly gain a ton of money. Especially since Gatsby finally achieves his great wealth through dubious means, the novel further undermines the classic image of someone working hard and honestly to go from rags to riches.

If you're addressing this prompt or a similar one, make sure to focus on the darker aspects of the American Dream, including the dark conclusion to the novel and Daisy and Tom's protection from any real consequences . (This would also allow you to considering morality, and how morally bankrupt the characters are.)

#6: What is the current state of the American Dream?

This is a more outward-looking prompt, that allows you to consider current events today to either be generally optimistic (the American dream is alive and well) or pessimistic (it's as dead as it is in The Great Gatsby).

You have dozens of potential current events to use as evidence for either argument, but consider especially immigration and immigration reform, mass incarceration, income inequality, education, and health care in America as good potential examples to use as you argue about the current state of the American Dream. Your writing will be especially powerful if you can point to some specific current events to support your argument.

What's Next?

In this post, we discussed how important money is to the novel's version of the American Dream. You can read even more about money and materialism in The Great Gatsby right here .

Want to indulge in a little materialism of your own? Take a look through these 15 must-have items for any Great Gatsby fan .

Get complete guides to Jay Gatsby , George Wilson and Myrtle Wilson to get even more background on the "dreamers" in the novel.

Like we discussed above, the green light is often seen as a stand-in for the idea of the American Dream. Read more about this crucial symbol here .

Need help getting to grips with other literary works? Take a spin through our analyses of The Crucible , The Cask of Amontillado , and " Do not go gentle into this good night " to see analysis in action. You might also find our explanations of point of view , rhetorical devices , imagery , and literary elements and devices helpful.

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American Dream Essay Examples

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The American Dream Essay – Free Example, with Outline

Published by gudwriter on May 25, 2018 May 25, 2018

The American Dream Essay 

Write a historical analysis of the factors you see as leading to the development of the American dream as a concept. Try to show how the American dream grew out of specific aspects of American history and if you have any difficulties grasping the concept do my history homework for me is here to help out at an affordable price.

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Here is a sample essay that tries to answer the above question.

Essay on the American Dream Outline

Introduction

Thesis: The American dream grew out of specific aspects of the American history defined by the fore-founding fathers and America’s greatest leaders.

Paragraph 1:

In 1931, there was the first public definition of the phrase in the book the Epic of America authored by James Truslow.

• In his description, he maintained that the Dream is characterized by a situation where every individual desires his or her life to be more vibrant and fuller.
• There are five major pillars of the American dream including, the idea of a free market economy, embracing free trade agreements, embracing government protection of companies, and the idea that countries should replicate America’s development.

Paragraph 2:

Upon its inception, the American Dream only applied to white property owners.

• As people began embracing the idea of equal rights to every American despite their color or origin, the laws were extended to include other individuals including non-property owners and women.
• In the 20’s, the American Dream started acquiring a more profound definition characterized by obtaining material items.
• In the new definition, there were elements of greed that finally led to woes in the stock market and the Great Depression.

Paragraph 3: 

Prominent American politicians have continuously defined the American Dream.

• One of the greatest supporters of the Dream was President Lincoln who upon becoming president was quick to accord equal opportunities to slaves.
• Another champion was President Wilson who maintained and pushed forward for accordance with voting rights for women leading to the 19 th Amendment in 1918.
• President Johnson pushed forward for the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that led to an end of segregation in many Public schools.
• President Obama promoted the accordance of equal rights to married people regardless of their sexual orientation giving a voice to the LGBT community

Paragraph 4:

President Roosevelt pushed for the idea that attainment of individual freedom requires maximum economic security and independence.

• Roosevelt protected the US from different elements such as communism, socialism, and Nazism.
• Through the Second Bill of Rights that the issue of domestic security was addressed and later pushed forward by Truman’s administration.
• President Obama is the most recent president that redefined the American Dream to include affordable health care, employment opportunities, student loans and government aid.

Paragraph 5: 

In the American society of today, The American Dream may be taken to mean being able to exist in a free and equal society.

• This is a society where an American is hesitant to impose their cultural values on others but always ready to join fellow Americans in pushing for their common socioeconomic interests.
• They are concerned about protecting the right of another person and not on the cultural background of that individual.

American history has continuously shaped the American Dream. Although there has been a disagreement on what constitutes the Dream, the founding fathers and the American Presidents have made efforts to define the American Dream as equal opportunities for all.

What is the American Dream Essay Outline

Thesis:  The American Dream is based on the argument that every American citizen regardless of where they are born, their color, their religion, their sexual orientation or their political affiliations can become successful in life by taking risks and working hard and not by chance.

The first American to coin the term American Dream was James Truslow in his book the  Epic of America  in 1931.

• Therein, he argues that the Dream is not merely a dream of high wages and cars but a dream of social order.
• The American Dream is more of a charm of anticipated success as put across by a French Historian Alexis de Tocqueville.
• The charm and the desire has attracted thousands of immigrants to the American shores and set a high bat for other nations across the world.

Ever since the inception of the American Dram, it has acted as a guideline to help Americans pursue their dreams, happiness and attain their maximum potential.

• In essence, it is all about helping individuals shape their destiny.
• The basic concept of the American Dream is that success is not guaranteed but rather offers Americans a chance to overcome obstacles to achieve their inner most desires.

Paragraph 3:

The Dream supports commitment to a common set of values and ideals.

• It makes people acknowledge that a person can be American irrespective of their linguistic, cultural, religious, or ethnic background.
• All a person has to do so as to be considered an American is to show true commitment to the political ideologies of equality, republicanism, and liberty.

The elusive and difficult nature of the American Dream makes many Americans skeptical on the prospect of achieving it.

• In a statement made by George Carlin , he posited that it is referred to as the American Dream since one has to be asleep to believe it.
• Although Carlin interpreted the concept of the American Dream in a loose sense, it is without a doubt that it offers salvation for those who achieve it or damnation for those who fail to achieve it.
• Those who record success bear a legacy of positive influence while those that fail to achieve it bear a legacy of failure.

Paragraph 5:

The concept of the American Dream highlights the importance of optimism in succeeding in life but it offers no guarantees.

• As many Americans succeed due to their hard work, optimism and determination, others fail despite having put a lot of hard work towards achieving their dreams.
• The American Dream is crucial when it comes to fulfilling the American culture.
• The American culture is one that embraces the concept of success and working towards full potential.
• The beauty of the entire concept is that it guarantees nothing other than hope.
• While many are damned towards the course of its fulfillment, many have walked down the path of success and fulfilled the American Dream.

The American Dream is not about a destination but rather a journey towards success. Every American or individual within the borders of the United States has equal opportunities and chances to work his or her way up towards fulfillment of the Dream. It is a guiding light that has helped many attain their dreams.

What is the American Dream Essay Sample 2, with Outline

The beauty of every nation lies with its people’s ability to maintain universal ideals and philosophies. In the United States, there is the standard American Dream concept that guides every right-minded citizen. It is an ideology or a set of ethos that govern American citizens as they go through life or as they build the nation. The American Dream is based on the argument that every American citizen, regardless of where they are born, their color, their religion, their sexual orientation, or their political affiliations, can become successful in life by taking risks and working hard and not by chance.

The first American to coin the term “American Dream” was James Truslow in 1931. Therein, he argues that the Dream is not merely a dream of an extremely expensive life and cars but a dream of social order where every American can become successful regardless of their origin or color. It is more of a charm of anticipated success as put across by a French Historian known as Alexis de Tocqueville. The charm and the desire have attracted thousands of immigrants to the United States and set a high bar for other nations across the world.

Ever since the inception of the concept, it has acted as a guideline to help Americans pursue their dreams and happiness, and attain their maximum potential. In essence, it is all about assisting individuals to shape their destiny. It is important to highlight the fact that the basic idea behind the American Dream concept is that success is not guaranteed but that each American has a chance to overcome obstacles and achieve their innermost desires.

The Dream supports commitment to a common set of values and ideals. It makes people acknowledge that a person can be American irrespective of their linguistic, cultural, religious, or ethnic background. All a person has to do so as to be considered an American is to show true commitment to the political ideologies of equality, republicanism, and liberty. It is through this commitment that one can play their part towards ensuring that the American society exists in a free atmosphere where individuals can pursue their businesses and life dreams without fearing being sanctioned by anybody. However, the manner in which a person pursues their life dreams should not infringe into the rights of another person.

The elusive and challenging nature of the American Dream makes many Americans skeptical about the prospect of achieving it. In a statement made by George Carlin, he posited that it is referred to as the American Dream since one has to be asleep to believe it. Although Carlin interpreted the concept in a loose sense, it is without a doubt that it offers salvation for those who achieve it or damnation for those who fail to realize it. Those who record success bear a legacy of positive influence while those that fail to realize it bear a legacy of failure.

The concept of the American Dream highlights the importance of optimism in succeeding in life, but it offers no guarantees. Therefore, even as many Americans succeed due to their hard work, confidence, and determination, others fail despite having put a lot of hard work towards achieving their dreams. It is without a doubt that the American Dream is crucial when it comes to fulfilling the American culture. The American culture is one that embraces the concept of success and working towards full potential. The beauty of the entire idea is that it guarantees nothing other than hope. Therefore, while many are damned towards the course of its fulfillment, many others have walked down the path of success and fulfilled the American Dream.

In summary, the American Dream is not about a destination but rather a journey towards success. Every American or individual within the borders of the United States have equal opportunities and chances to work his or her way up towards the fulfillment of the Dream. Although there is a lot of disagreement over the definition of the term, one thing is for sure: the American Dream is a guiding light that has helped many Americans realize their dreams.

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Chasing the Dream: Researching the Meaning of the American Dream

• Resources & Preparation
• Instructional Plan
• Related Resources

In “ Paradox and Dream ,” a 1966 essay on the American Dream, John Steinbeck writes, “For Americans too the wide and general dream has a name.  It is called ‘the American Way of Life.'  No one can define it or point to any one person or group who lives it, but it is very real nevertheless.”  Yet a recent cover of Time Magazine reads “The History of the American Dream – Is It Real?”  Here, students explore the meaning of the American Dream by conducting interviews, sharing and assessing data, and writing papers based on their research to draw their own conclusions.

Featured Resources

• The American Dream Project : This assignment sheet, which is directed to students, explains the three-part nature of this project and paper.
• Steinbeck John. American and American and Selected Nonfiction . Susan Shillinglaw and Jackson J. Benson, eds.  New York: Penguin Books, 2012: In this 1966 essay, Steinbeck presents a picture of Americans as paradoxical and asks if the American Dream is even possible.  An edited version of this essay can be found at http://politicalsystems.homestead.com/ParadoxAndDream.html
• Sidel, Ruth. On Her Own: Growing Up in the Shadow of the American Dream .  New York: Viking, 1990: Sidel explores the impact of the American Dream on young women in the 1980’s and 1990s.

From Theory to Practice

In her book Genre Theory:  Teaching, Writing, and Being , Deborah Dean describes writing “mini-ethnographies,” saying, “Ethnography is a way to look at a culture; Wendy Bishop describes it as ‘a representation of the lived experience of a convened culture’ (3).  Reiff, citing Beverly Moss, explains that ‘the main purpose of the ethnographic genre is ‘to gain a comprehensive view of the social interactions, behaviors, and beliefs of a community or a social group’’”(“Meditating” 42).  This lesson allows students to explore this idea of shared beliefs within a culture and to then use genuine research (one-on-one interviews) to produce a paper that examines the shared belief in the American Dream.  As Dean states, “…conducting research for ethnography requires students to use genres for authentic purposes, which provides them with clear connections between genres and contexts and helps them see genres as actions more than forms.”

Further Reading

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

• 1. Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
• 3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
• 4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
• 5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
• 6. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
• 7. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
• 9. Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles.
• 12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Materials and Technology

• “Paradox and Dream” in America and Americans by John Steinbeck
• “The New American Dreamers” (particularly pp. 15-25) in On Her Own – Growing Up in the Shadow of the American Dream by Ruth Sidel
• " Keeping the Dream Alive – The American Dream: A Biography ” by Jon Meacham
• “ The American Dream: Is it slipping away? ” (September 27, 2010): This article examines the results of an ABC News Poll on the validity of the idea of the American Dream today.
• “ Waking Up From American Dreams ” (February 12, 2010): This short article explores contemporary cultural connections to the American Dream and the effect of class on the Dream.
• “ In a Sour Economy, What Happens to the American Dream? ” (May 7, 2009): This article explores how the definition of the America Dream changes in the time of a recession.
• A sample student paper and a sample student interview (audio) are included for teacher reference.
• “ The American Dream Project ” assignment sheet for students
• Discussion starters - sample questions for “The New American Dreamers”
• Sample Interview Questions
• Sample Student Paper

This website, The Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies, is a university archive focusing on Steinbeck’s life and work and offering a variety of materials for teacher interesting in teaching Steinbeck’s work .

This article discusses how the idea of the American Dream has changed society and  traces the history of the American Dream.

Preparation

• Familiarize yourself with the concept of the American Dream and its history.  An excellent resource is “ Keeping the Dream Alive ” by Jon Meacham ( Time , July 2, 2012 Vol. 180  No.1).
• Prepare student copies or plan access to the two readings listed above by Steinbeck and Sidel and prepare discussion starters.  ( Sample starters for the Sidel reading are included.)
• Make class copies of the assignment sheet The American Dream Project .
• Determine the appropriate number of groups to divide the class into.  ( Note: there should be a minimum of 4 students per group, but 5-7 is optimal.  If class size is too small to allow for six groups, one for each decade 1950 – present, it is best to omit the most recent decade where interviewees often offer less material.)

Student Objectives

Students will:

• develop an understanding of the meaning of the concept the American Dream through readings, discussion, and authentic research.
• practice interviewing skills, including formulation of questions, listening and response skills, and notetaking.
• learn to work cooperatively with other students to pool data and draw conclusions.
• demonstrate the ability to present thoughtful and well-documented conclusions in a formal paper.

Session One

• Ask students to define “the American Dream.”  Brainstorm as a class, listing on the board all ideas, words, and phrases that students offer. (Examples: financial security; a home, a job, two kids and a dog; happiness; freedom to do and be what you want; being better off than your parents; a house with a white picket fence; being able to pursue your dreams, the chance to succeed, etc.)
• Is the idea of the American Dream unique to Americans, or is it a “Human” Dream?
• Do you believe the American Dream has changed over time?  If so, how?
• Do all US citizens have equal opportunities to achieve the American Dream?  What do you based your opinion on?
• Is the belief in the American Dream necessary to society?  Why/why not?
• How do you personally define the American Dream?
• Read aloud in class Steinbeck’s “ Paradox and Dream ” from America and Americans .
• Immediately after the reading, ask students to freewrite briefly about their reactions to the piece, focusing in particular on what Steinbeck says about the American Dream.
• Ask students to share their freewrites.  Use their responses to refine the definition and meaning of the American Dream on the board.  (Note: The term “The America Dream” was first coined by James Truslow Adams in his book The Epic of America in 1931.)  Although there is no one definition of the American Dream, students often come to the conclusion that it is the freedom and opportunity to achieve one’s goals through hard work.
• Ask students to read Ruth Sidel’s “The New American Dreamers” before the next session.

Session Two

• If students were able to read the Sidel piece for homework, begin class with a discussion of “The New American Dreamers”  (see attached discussion starters ).  If students were not able to read the piece for homework, share it with them in class.
• “Professional success is important to women today.”
• “The old dream of a husband and a family isn’t important to all women anymore.”
• “If I ever do get married, I want my relationship to be 50-50.  I don’t want to be the only one responsible for taking care of the house and kids.”
• “Money and independence are really important to women now.”
• “Women can do and have whatever they want, just like men."
• “…she is convinced that if she plans carefully, works hard and makes the right decisions, she will have success in her chosen field; have the material goods she desires; in time marry if she wishes; and, in all probability, have children.  She plans, as the expression goes, to ‘have it all.’”  (p.15)
• “No matter what class they come from, their fantasies are of upward mobility, a comfortable life filled with personal choice and material possessions.” (p. 18)
• “A key message that the New American Dreamers are both receiving and sending is one of optimism—the sense that they can do whatever they want with their lives.” (p. 24)
• “To many of them, an affluent life-style is central to their dreams; they often describe their goals in terms of cars, homes, travel to Europe.” (p. 27)
• Invite students to share their freewrites.  Use their responses to continue to refine the definition and meaning of the American Dream.  Ask students to compare Sidel’s conclusions with Steinbeck’s comments on the American Dream
• Discuss the format and voice of the Sidel piece.  Ask students to point out how she uses specific data from interviewees to draw her conclusions.  Have students note how she implements direct quotations from the interviews to illustrate specific points.
• Introduce students to the idea that they will be conducting their own interviews on the meaning of the American Dream.  Explain to them that they will be choosing interview subjects who represent particular decades from the 1950’s to the present.
• Pass out The American Dream Project assignment sheet and read it aloud with students.  Note in particular the three stages of the paper: interview summary, conclusions on a decade, and personal reflection.
• Discuss the idea of coming of age (i.e. the time when a person becomes independent of his/her parents) to make sure that students understand the concept.
• For homework, ask students to make a brief list of people they know who came of age in each particular decade (1950’s to the present).  These should be people they would be able to interview, preferably in person though possibly in a phone conversation.  Students may not be able to come up with a person(s) for each decade; however, this list will help to expedite student choices in the next class session.

Session Three

• Choose decade groups, using the lists of potential interviewees which students created for homework.  This works best if students have input into choosing which decade they will interview a person from.  Remind students that they do not have to know their interviewee well, and that in fact, in most interview situations, the interviewer does not know the interviewee.   Be sure to have an equal number of people in each decade group so that they all have roughly the same amount of material to work with.
• Brainstorm a short list of possible interview questions (see attached sample list ), and discuss strengths and weakness of potential questions.  (Note:  Remind students that, when interviewing, they should not follow the list precisely but instead allow the interview to “take on a life of its own.”  This is a reason for creating a fairly short list of questions so that students have to take the initiative to come up with questions suitable for their particular subject.)
• If necessary, suggest that students refer back to “The New American Dreamers” to see questions Sidel asked interviewees and how questions built upon one another.
• Review with students general guidelines for conducting an interview (i.e. courtesy, concerns about confidentiality/anonymity, use of tape recorders, etc.).  If necessary, allow students to “practice” mock interviews with one another.  Addtionally, you may choose to share the sample student interview (audio) with the class so that students have a better understanding.
• Remind students of the specific date when the two-page interview must be completed and brought to class (see assignment sheet ).  Emphasize the importance of having the paper in class on that day since students will be sharing their data.

Session Four

• Ask students to sit in small groups according to decade (i.e. the 1950’s group includes those students who interviewed someone who came of age in the 1950’s).
• Ask each student to read the interview portion of the paper aloud to the group while other group members take notes on what they hear.  After each group member has read his/her interview, students may decide that they need to hear parts of the papers again.  Allow sufficient time for this reading and for students to ask questions of one another.
• When all interviews have been presented, tell students to discuss the data and begin to draw conclusions about the meaning of the American Dream for that particular decade.  Encourage lively and thoughtful discussion, and remind students to not settle for easy conclusions but to think deeply about the data.  Students may find the Venn Diagram tool helpful to use to see similarities and differences in their subjects’ responses.
• Explain to students that not everyone in the group will necessarily draw the same conclusions, and that that is a function of interpretation of data.  Depending on the size of the groups, note that students may focus their conclusions on different “sub-groups” (i.e. gender, class, region, etc.) within their larger group.
• While students are working in groups, circulate the classroom to help guide student discussion and to assure that the interview pieces are written in the correct style and format.
• If, at the conclusion of class, students feel they need more data, allow time for them to reconnect with their interviewees and then share that additional material with their group during another class session.
• Remind students of the due date for the entire paper (all three sections) as noted on the assignment sheet .

Session Five

(Note : This is the session during which the students will hand in their completed papers, so this session might be a week or so after Session Four.)

• Ask students to again meet in their small groups according to decade and share their final conclusions as presented in their papers.
• Give each group a piece of chart/poster paper on which to list the key points they agree on that would define the meaning of the American Dream for their particular decade.
• Hang the posters and ask each group to present their findings to the entire class. Encourage them to support their findings with data from their interviews.
• Conduct a class discussion on how the American Dream has or has not changed throughout the decades from 1950 to the present. Ask students to consider the Time Magazine questions: “Is It Real?”
• Encourage students to share their own definition of the American Dream as expressed in the final page of their papers.  Ask them to compare and contrast their responses.
• At the conclusion of the class discussion, collect all student papers (all three parts).
• If time and technology allows, students may be interested in viewing the powerful 1988 documentary American Dream at Groton which focuses on the challenges eighteen-year-old Jo Vega faces as a scholarship student at Groton Academy, a Massachusetts prep school. Vega was born in Spanish Harlem and struggles in her pursuit of the American Dream in a very different social milieu.
• Students interested in music might want to explore music that focuses on the American Dream.  An excellent selection of songs can be found on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website .
• In an abbreviated form, this lesson might be used in connection with literature that explores the American Dream such as The Great Gatsby , A Raisin in the Sun , and Death of a Salesman.

Student Assessment / Reflections

• The complete, three-part paper can be graded as any other research type paper.  The requirements for each section are outlined in the assignment sheet and can be graded accordingly.  (A teacher might choose to weight the three sections as follows: Interview - 40%, Conclusions drawn from data - 40%, Personal statement on the American Dream – 20%. )  Emphasis should be placed on use of solid and specific data that support the writer’s conclusions.
• Students might also write a short reflection discussing their reaction to the design of the project in terms of conducting interviews, collaborating in small groups, and using authentic research to draw conclusions.
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This interactive tool allows students to create Venn diagrams that contain two or three overlapping circles, enabling them to organize their information logically.

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The Ever-Evolving Concept of the American Dream

This essay about the American Dream explores its historical roots and evolving definition. It highlights how the traditional vision of success—homeownership stable employment and a happy family—has been challenged by economic inequality high living costs and job market shifts. The modern interpretation includes personal fulfillment social justice and equal opportunities for all. The essay underscores education’s crucial role and the impact of a diverse population on redefining the dream. Ultimately it emphasizes the American Dream’s adaptability and relevance in contemporary society.

How it works

American Dream native stones of the American culture took in a captivity imaginations and tucked in a fuel ambitions beginning from the beginning national. It is entered to Declaration of Independence that declares inseparable rights on “life freedom and pursuit of happiness” American Dream presented an idea historically that anybody without regard to a background can take success and bloom from a fag and determination. However as society evolved so also has interpretation and reality of this dream doing then a dynamic and multifaceted concept.

Traditionally American Dream was summarized by the picture of modest house with the white fence of picket proof work and by happy family. This vision did an accent on homeownership financial safety and to social upward mobility. For many immigrants America symbolized earth of possibility where they were able to avoid poverty and pursuit to build the best life itself and their descendants. The second economic boom of post-world War cemented this ideal in addition as a bloom 1950 – ? allowed many to attain this standard of living.

However American Dream is not static; she beats back economic social and political landscapes of replacement of country. In recent decades a few factors exposed to the doubt the traditional concept of American Dream. Economic inequality rose considerably with the riches concentrated among the little percent of population. Cost of stay especially in municipal circumferences flew up doing homeownership and financial stability all anymore and more elusive for many. Additionally the market of work moved with the decline of productive works and increase of economy of cabriolet what is created by uncertainty and instability for workers.

These changes have took to more wide and interpretation of American Dream concludes moreover. For something then now contains the achievement of the personal implementation and happiness exceptionally instead of material success. This moving removes growing recognition that riches and possessions not necessarily equate with meaningful and satisfying life. In exchange American Dream can be about the exposure of the passion assisting society and arriving at balance between the working and personal life.

Moreover the American Dream now includes aspirations for social justice and equality. Movements advocating for racial gender and LGBTQ+ rights have highlighted the systemic barriers that prevent many individuals from reaching their full potential. The American Dream in this context involves creating a society where everyone has equal access to opportunities and can pursue their dreams without facing discrimination or prejudice. This evolving definition aligns with the nation’s foundational values of liberty and justice for all expanding the dream to be more inclusive and equitable.

Education continues to be a crucial component of the American Dream. Access to quality education is seen as a key pathway to upward mobility and personal development. However disparities in the education system such as funding inequalities and achievement gaps pose significant challenges. Efforts to reform and improve education aim to ensure that all individuals regardless of their socioeconomic status have the opportunity to succeed academically and professionally.

The American Dream’s evolution is also influenced by the changing demographic landscape of the United States. The country is becoming increasingly diverse with immigrants from various parts of the world contributing to the fabric of American society. This diversity enriches the American Dream adding different cultural perspectives and redefining what it means to achieve success and happiness. The stories of immigrants who have overcome significant obstacles to build successful lives in America continue to inspire and redefine the dream.

In conclusion the American Dream remains a powerful and enduring concept but it is no longer a one-size-fits-all ideal. It has adapted to reflect the complexities and challenges of contemporary society. While the traditional markers of success such as homeownership and financial stability remain important for many the dream now also includes personal fulfillment social justice and equality. The American Dream’s resilience lies in its ability to evolve and remain relevant offering hope and inspiration to all who seek to achieve their own version of success in America.

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Some Ideas for Your American Dream Essay

What were our great grandparents thinking about when they were moving to America? What were they dreaming of? Why were they leaving their native countries? Most of them were probably thinking about the great American dream – cloudless and prosperous life.

And now here you are – writing your American dream essays, trying to understand and interpret this “American dream” in your own words, from your own perspective. In other words, the American dream is something elusive and different for each new generation, and this is the idea you should start with while writing your American dream essays.

Organizing your American dream essay should not be a problem for you: you start with Introduction, moving on to the Main Body, summarizing your American dream essays with Conclusion. However, the problem is to fill the body of your American dream essay with the right information – arguments that support the thesis idea of your American dream essays.

Where can you find some useful examples for your American dream essays? Surely, you might visit the library, go through some relevant websites – but the best idea for writing your American dream essays is to combine literature materials with your own examples, your experience, and your vision of the American dream.

How can you know what the American dream means for each US citizen?! You are not supposed to know each person’s opinion, but you are expected to describe what this American dream means for you: what do you dream about? What do you hope for? What do you believe in?

The answers to these questions should be the focus of your American dream essays. As for the conclusion of your American dream essays, you should try to find the connection between your own vision of the American dream and how other people understand it.

The last American dream essay advice for you – never stop dreaming – it makes our life so much more pleasant and enjoyable!

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Americans are split over the state of the American dream

“The American dream ” is a century-old phrase used to describe the idea that anyone can achieve success in the United States through hard work and determination. Today, about half of Americans (53%) say that dream is still possible.  

Pew Research Center asked Americans about their views of the American dream as part of a larger survey exploring their social and political attitudes.  

We surveyed 8,709 U.S. adults from April 8 to 14, 2024. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATP’s methodology .

Here are the questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and its methodology .

Another 41% say the American dream was once possible for people to achieve – but is not anymore. And 6% say it was never possible, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey of 8,709 U.S. adults.

While this is the first time the Center has asked about the American dream in this way, other surveys have long found that sizable shares of Americans are skeptical about the future of the American dream .

Who believes the American dream is still possible?

There are relatively modest differences in views of the American dream by race and ethnicity, partisanship, and education. But there are wider divides by age and income.

Americans ages 50 and older are more likely than younger adults to say the American dream is still possible. About two-thirds of adults ages 65 and older (68%) say this, as do 61% of those 50 to 64.

By comparison, only about four-in-ten adults under 50 (42%) say it’s still possible for people to achieve the American dream.

Higher-income Americans are also more likely than others to say the American dream is still achievable.

While 64% of upper-income Americans say the American dream still exists, 39% of lower-income Americans say the same – a gap of 25 percentage points.

Middle-income Americans fall in between, with a 56% majority saying the American dream is still possible.

Race and ethnicity

Roughly half of Americans in each racial and ethnic group say the American dream remains possible. And while relatively few Americans – just 6% overall – say that the American dream was never possible, Black Americans are about twice as likely as those in other groups to say this (11%).

Partisanship

While 56% of Republicans and Republican leaners say the American dream is still possible to achieve, 50% of Democrats and Democratic leaners say the same.

A 57% majority of adults with a bachelor’s degree or more education say the American dream remains possible, compared with 50% of those with less education.

Age and income differences within both parties

Age and income differences in views of the American dream persist within each political party.

Clear majorities of both Republicans (64%) and Democrats (67%) ages 50 and older say achieving the American dream is still possible.

In contrast, just 38% of Democrats under 50 and 48% of Republicans under 50 view the American dream as still possible.

In both parties, upper-income Americans are about 25 points more likely than lower-income Americans to say it is still possible for people to achieve the American dream.

Do people think they can achieve the American dream?

Americans are also divided over whether they think they personally can achieve the American dream. About three-in-ten (31%) say they’ve achieved it, while a slightly larger share (36%) say they are on their way to achieving it. Another 30% say it’s out of reach for them. These views are nearly identical to when the Center last asked this question in 2022.

White adults (39%) are more likely than Black (15%) and Hispanic adults (19%), and about as likely as Asian adults (34%), to say they have already achieved the American dream.

Black (48%), Hispanic (47%) and Asian adults (46%) are more likely than White adults (29%) to say they are on their way to achieving it.

Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say they have achieved the American dream (38% vs. 28%). But Democrats are somewhat more likely than Republicans to say they’re on the way to achieving it (38% vs. 34%). Democrats are also more likely than Republicans to view the American dream as personally out of reach.

Income and age

Older and higher-income Americans are more likely than younger and less wealthy Americans to say they have achieved or are within reach of the American dream. These patterns are similar to those for views about the American dream more generally.

Note: Here are the questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and its methodology .

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Gabriel Borelli is a research associate focusing on U.S. politics and policy at Pew Research Center .

Income inequality is greater among Chinese Americans than any other Asian origin group in the U.S.

The state of the asian american middle class, the state of the american middle class, is college worth it, 7 facts about americans and taxes, most popular.

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Watch CBS News

Pew finds nation divided on whether the American Dream is still possible

By Kate Gibson

Edited By Anne Marie Lee

Updated on: July 2, 2024 / 6:23 PM EDT / CBS News

About half of Americans still think the American Dream — the idea that anyone can get ahead through hard work and determination — is achievable, according to findings released Tuesday by Pew Research Center. 

While 53% say the American Dream remains possible, another 41% believe the life of relative economic security the notion once conjured up is now out of reach, the survey of 8,709 U.S. adults found. That divide roughly held regardless of race, ethnicity, partisanship and education of respondents, the nonpartisan think tank found . 

The gap proved wider by age and income, with older and wealthier Americans more likely to declare the American Dream to still be feasible, Pew stated. 

Americans 50 and older are more likely than younger adults to say the American Dream is still possible, with about two-thirds of those 65 and older, or 68%, expressing this view, as did 61% of those 50 to 64, according to Pew. Younger adults are less optimistic, with only four in 10, or 42%, under 50 saying it is still possible to achieve the American Dream. 

Sixty-four percent of upper-income Americans say the dream still lives, versus 39% of lower-income Americans — a gap of 25 percentage points. At the center, 56% of middle-income respondents agree the American Dream continues, Pew said.

While relatively few, or 6%, voiced the view that the American Dream was never possible, that number nearly doubled to 11% among Black Americans surveyed.

The findings may illustrate wishful thinking on the part of some respondents, depending on how one calculates what it takes to be living the American Dream. An analysis late last year from financial site Investopedia found that  the American Dream costs about $3.4 million to achieve over the course of a lifetime, from getting married to saving for retirement. 

That estimate would put the dream out of reach for most folks, given that the median lifetime earnings for the typical U.S. worker stands at $1.7 million, according to researchers at Georgetown University.  

Further, multiple studies have shown that geography is key to a person's future success, with where you start out in life largely determining where you end up . Growing up in a more affluent neighborhood offers advantages such as a better education and access to healthier food, for instance. 

Kate Gibson is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch in New York, where she covers business and consumer finance.

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Six immigrant stories tell the promises and pitfalls of the American dream

• Deep Read ( 15 Min. )
• By Sarah Matusek Staff writer

July 3, 2024 | Reporting from Colorado, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Alabama, and Utah

Munib Zuhoori was hungry to learn English as a teenager in Kabul, Afghanistan. He scavenged imported mango crates along the road, which used foreign newspapers to pad the fruit. With the help of a dictionary, he used them to teach himself English.

When the American military and other workers arrived after 9/11, his self-taught skills landed him work as an interpreter. Today, Mr. Zuhoori holds a Special Immigrant Visa because of his work for the American government. He lives in a Pittsburgh suburb, working as a refugee case manager. He is often the first face fellow Afghans see when they arrive.

Why We Wrote This

America is often called “a nation of immigrants.” On the national July Fourth holiday, we share stories of those who experienced the yearnings behind the idea of the American dream.

The idea of the American dream has been woven into the country’s self-understanding. It is a national myth that expresses part of the country’s deepest values about class mobility, the value of hard work, and the promise that here, in the United States, owning a home or a business is a real possibility like nowhere else.

The country has not always lived up to this ideal. Many have long felt uneasy about immigrants, especially those arriving across the U.S. southern border today.

Despite this ambivalence, Americans often refer to the country as “a nation of immigrants.”

Ahead of America’s national holiday, the Monitor interviewed six people across six states about their immigration stories – citizens, native-born and naturalized, as well as recent arrivals.

“Now, I think, this is my community. This is my home,” says Mr. Zuhoori, who also volunteers at his daughter’s school. “I’m trying to be a useful person.”

Phung Luong still loves wandering the aisles of Truong An Gifts, a sprawling shop in Denver she runs with her daughter Mimi. She likes to take the time to touch the merchandise in its carefully spaced rows of shelves, on which an array of gifts sits with all the colors of thrown confetti.

Red-and-gold firecracker decorations dangle over green stalks of bamboo. Her fingers graze a glittery hairpin, butterfly shaped, and she adjusts a couple of rabbit figurines with button noses. Happy Buddha statues laugh, bellies round and gold.

“In my heart, all the things have feeling, have life,” Ms. Luong says. “They’re happy with you. They bring you business.”

For over 40 years, the life of this refugee from Vietnam has been devoted to building small businesses. That’s a classic part of what is often called the American dream, the idea that anyone, from anywhere, can work hard and find success within the country’s rungs of wealth and homeownership. 

Ever since her childhood in Vietnam, Ms. Luong was organized. The eldest of eight children, she oversaw the budgeting and buying of food for her family. This helped prepare her as she became a determined if struggling small-business owner in America.

“You cannot go back,” Ms. Luong says. “You need to build your dream here.”

When she was a teenager, she and her family waited a few years after the 1975 fall of Saigon before they found a way to leave. Her family first fled to Hong Kong, securing passage on a boat. The young Ms. Luong clutched only what she could bring: a pillowcase of clothes – and an address in Denver.

Her cousin slipped her the address of a family from Colorado. It belonged to his best friend’s family, Vietnamese refugees who’d already settled in the state. Within a year, this family became Ms. Luong’s family, too. She married one of her host’s cousins, a grocery-store stocker with an ambition to match her own. 

Americans were nursing moral bruises from the Vietnam War. Ms. Luong felt alienated, unable to express herself. It was difficult to learn new ways. Even simple things, such as how burritos look like, but are not, egg rolls.

But at the same time, she worked hard. She helped her husband and his brothers run a specialized Asian grocery store. She worked as a hairstylist for a while. And then she opened a business of her own, a video store that her daughter Mimi called the “Asian Blockbuster.” Like other American business owners, she struggled after going bankrupt when business ventures didn’t work out.

But now, a naturalized citizen, Ms. Luong has become a literal part of American history. Her extended family’s small businesses eventually became an entire shopping plaza in Denver’s Little Saigon district, which they named the Far East Center. Earlier this year, the state of Colorado placed the Luong family plaza on its Register of Historic Properties, noting it has “significant cultural resources worthy of preservation.”

For decades, generations of Denver residents have stepped up to the plaza’s counters – including here at Truong An Gifts, Ms. Luong says.

“If you’re not happy, no problem,” she says. “Come to my shop.”

“A nation of immigrants”

The idea of the American Dream has been woven into the country’s self-understanding. It is a national myth that expresses part of the country’s deepest values about class mobility, the value of hard work, and the promise that here, in America, owning a home or a business is a real possibility like nowhere else. 

A historian popularized the phrase on the heels of the Great Depression, says Sarah Churchwell, chair of public humanities at the University of London. At first, it didn’t really connote the immigrant experience. But after World War II, many began to use “the American dream” to express the country’s economic values and contrast them with its communist rivals. 

The phrase was a “particular version of capitalist, liberal democracy as a land of opportunity ... a story about how we have always welcomed immigrants,” says Professor Churchwell. 

Of course, this Cold War narrative, she adds, dismissed a century of anti-immigrant, restrictive policies that “got written out of the popular story that we told about ourselves.” From 1875 to 1965, for example, most immigrants from Asia, people like Ms. Luong and her family, were refused entry and largely forbidden to become naturalized citizens.   

This side of American history includes the forced removal of Native American people from their lands to make way for European immigrants, as well as the forced migration of enslaved Africans. Beginning in the 19th century, immigrants from Ireland and Italy and others from the eastern parts of Europe were often met with prejudice, if not determination to stifle their efforts to build a life for their families.

The country has not always lived up to the bronze plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty – “Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Many have long felt uneasy about these huddled masses, especially those arriving across the U.S. southern border today.

Many Americans rank immigration as a top issue heading into the 2024 election. The issue feeds into white-hot partisan politics. Historically high numbers of unauthorized immigrants during the Biden administration have brought costs and safety concerns to many communities. And in an era of political polarization, the collaborative spirit needed to pass major immigration reform has eluded Congress since the 1990s.

Yet despite this ambivalence, Americans often refer to the country as “a nation of immigrants.” Today an estimated 45.3 million people in the United States were born abroad, as of 2022 estimates. That’s over an eighth of the country. More than half of these have become naturalized citizens. And according to a March poll from NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist, two-thirds of the country still views the American dream as attainable.

However many generations removed, many Americans still celebrate their ethnic heritage. They still tell stories of their immigrant forebears, and the sacrifices they made. How relatives arrived years, decades, or even centuries ago. How they arrived on the country’s shores and built a life their children and grandchildren and all those who came after could continue.

“The mainstream changed quite a bit because of the contributions that immigrants made,” says Tomás Jiménez, a sociology professor at Stanford University. He calls assimilation “not some kind of melding into a monolithic host society, but a process of mutual change.” 

Ahead of America’s national holiday, the Monitor interviewed six people across six states about their immigration stories – citizens, native-born and naturalized, as well as recent arrivals. As each voice attests, the pursuit of this mythic “American dream” takes time, takes trust, takes grace.

Gathering for Irish  céilí  dancing

Steve Laverty, his hair swept into a low ponytail, walks into a wood-paneled room, ready to dance. His black dress shoes have leather soles that slide just right for Irish céilí dancing. 

Every Wednesday night in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Mr. Laverty gathers at a bar with a group of friends to celebrate his heritage. He’s done it for years – a welcome respite for a few unburdened hours.

Music swells to the walls, hands hold to form a circle, and bodies spin like the ceiling fans. Laughter spills across the room as they clap in time. As their feet trot toward the center of the room, Mr. Laverty lets out a yelp of joy, for what is work without play? 

Some six decades ago, Mr. Laverty shared a room with three brothers. They each got a single dresser drawer for their clothes. “We were happy,” says Mr. Laverty, then a kid in 1960s Chicopee, Massachusetts. “We didn’t know any different.” 

But their father modeled hard work, he says. He’d work eight-hour shifts at a hand-tool factory on his feet all day. Mr. Laverty’s family arrived from Ireland four generations earlier. Growing up, Mr. Laverty says his immigrant heritage didn’t mean much to him. 

Though he held his father’s work ethic in high esteem, he knew he didn’t want to toil away in a factory. His father, who didn’t study past high school, still earned enough to help pay for his college education. After getting a degree in mechanical engineering, he joined the Air Force and has served the government nearly ever since in national security jobs.

Still, despite his gains, he shoulders student loan debt, like an estimated 43 million Americans. But as his father did with him, he helped his own four children pay for college.

He started becoming interested in his heritage decades ago. Prompted by his wife, he searched through Ancestry.com and found cousins in Ireland. He met them there in 2007.

Moving to New Mexico soon after that, he became even more curious about his history. He witnessed how many Native Americans in the state continue to revere their own ancestral roots. “The culture has become more interesting to me as I get older,” says Mr. Laverty. He goes Irish dancing twice a week, and attends a Celtic festival every year. 

Beyond this focus on his own family history, he’s contemplated his identity in other ways. The racial justice movement that emerged from the pandemic – including protests over the killing of George Floyd – brought him a new empathy for people who may confront racism he’s never known.

“I’m white, and I think that does open doors for you that may not be available to other people,” says Mr. Laverty. “I didn’t always make a lot of money, or enough money, but I always had employment.” 

Afghan refugees find a home

Munib Zuhoori was hungry to learn English as a teenager in Kabul. At the start of the millennium, he couldn’t yet access books in the language in Afghanistan. So he scavenged imported mangoes sold in crates along the road, scanning the newspapers used for padding to learn foreign words.

He used them to teach himself English, using a dictionary he had. Then, when the American military and other workers arrived after 9/11, his self-taught skills landed him work as an interpreter. He built relationships, made connections. Mr. Zuhoori needed these connections in 2021, soon after the Americans left and the Taliban retook control, and the longest war in U.S. history came to an inglorious end.

Mr. Zuhoori recalls with rapid words his years working with the U.S. Agency for International Development. His projects focused on rule of law and elections, and the work was dangerous. He says 10 of his Afghan colleagues, including members of his family, have been killed since 2021. One of his American contacts, however, helped him, his wife, and their two daughters to fly to Qatar, and then on to the U.S.

Mr. Zuhoori holds a Special Immigrant Visa because of his work for the American government. He now lives in a Pittsburgh suburb, working long hours as a refugee case manager at a local nonprofit. He is often the first face fellow Afghans see at the airport when they arrive. Then he retreats home to a quiet street, where deer saunter by. 

While he misses his extended family back home, his American dream is to go to law school. For now, however, that’s on pause. “I have to work; I have to pay my bills. ... I have a big responsibility,” he says in his living room. 

He worries about his children losing their Afghan heritage, even though he is eager to build a new life here. After almost three years in the U.S., one of his daughters is starting to lose her native tongue, Dari. Earlier this year, he heard his first grader, Maryam, say the word for “sky” in Dari, but the English words “star” and “moon.” To him, it was bittersweet.

Maryam sits with a folder of sketches on her lap. She displays her drawings of a rainbow and a snowman, and a picture of people in a red car. Another sketch shows two famous Americans: Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

From past smudges to present joys

Ashley Taylor Ames, when she was a baby, used to point at the bluish smudge on Grandma Betty’s arm, her grandmother says. 

Today Ms. Ames calls Grandma Betty “the most important person in my life.” The stylish millennial works as a nurse practitioner at a Manhattan cancer center and lives in New Jersey. Her grandmother still inspires her, she says, especially with her boundless emphasis on family and on always trying to be joyful. 

The smudge on Grandma Betty’s arm is a tattoo branded on her at Auschwitz.

While in the Nazi camp, Grandma Betty was tasked to sort through the luggage of arriving prisoners. It was here, too, that members of her family were sent to gas chambers to die.  

After the war, now a refugee from Hungary, she sought refuge in Sweden and then in the U.S., where she settled in Connecticut. She trained as a hairdresser, learned English, and raised an American family. Aromas of her paprika-spiced potatoes and matzo ball soup greeted Ms. Ames at the front door. She still visits her every couple of weeks. 

“Everything that I do is to make her proud,” she says.

Following her grandmother’s example, she tries to recast her most difficult challenges as opportunities. In 2017, for example, she was struggling as she juggled graduate school, a full-time job, and training for the New York City Marathon. Recalling her grandmother’s resilience kept her grounded.

Sometimes at work, where she wears a white-gold Star of David, she comforts patients who receive hard news. Some of her longtime patients ask for news about Grandma Betty, too, since she talks about her all the time.

The two women have had respectful generational differences over faith and feminism. Ms. Ames keeps a kosher home but will sometimes drive on Shabbat. And while she’s felt pressure from family to marry, she’s proud of who she is as a single 30-something. She’s financially independent, at peace. She’s grateful for her upper-middle-class family’s help paying for college. 

“My grandparents and my parents worked very hard to provide a good life for the next generation,” Ms. Ames says. That conjures the Hebrew phrase l’dor vador , “from one generation to the next.” 

Along with the freedom to practice her faith, that’s the spirit of the American dream, she says. 

“We want to do good for ourselves, but better for the next generation,” she says. 

Out of Sudan to a home in Alabama

Raga always had to hide two decades ago when she was a young woman in Sudan. The Janjaweed militia in her area was known for spreading terror and raping women, so when they passed through she would bury herself under clothes, blankets, or whatever she could find. 

In the early 2000s, she joined countless other Sudanese who fled to an infamous camp for displaced people in Darfur. It offered little shelter from the horrors of war.

Born in 1988, Raga, who asked to use only her first name for privacy, lived in relative peace. Her father hung a swing from a tree. Her mother made orange juice. Without electricity, the moon shone so brightly that children could play games outside at night. They’d toss a coin or a bone, something that would shine, and then see who’d find it fastest on the moon-white ground.

For a decade she waited in the Zamzam camp in Darfur. For seven more years she waited with her husband in Jordan. They registered with the United Nations as refugees. In 2022, an agency resettled the couple and their two young daughters in the U.S. A place called Alabama. 

They were excited when they first heard. But “when we first came, I wanted to leave,” Raga says in Arabic. She didn’t know anyone, and she was scared. 

With the help of a local resettlement agency, Inspiritus, the refugee couple secured a home and a few months of financial assistance. The nonprofit helped connect her to volunteers, and they grew into something like family, she says. When she and her husband struggled to get to the grocery store, one of their new friends gave them a gift: a used car.

The car guzzles a lot of gas, Raga says. “But we say, ‘Thank God.’” 

The weather in Sudan and Alabama, as it turns out, feels similar. The heat, the heavy rains, the lightning that cracks the sky. All the city lights in the Birmingham suburbs, though, dull the moon glow here. 

She feels happy and safe in the U.S. But once again, Raga finds herself waiting.

Learning English is a long-term goal. She dreams of opening a salon or a restaurant, but she knows that will take time. Her husband works, but their expenses outpace his modest income. She aches for her family members still in Sudan, worrying about their lack of food and medicine. She’s heartbroken that she’s unable to send them money, and that the violence endures. 

Raga finds solace in her Muslim faith. When she used to work at a church-run food pantry, she says her fellow workers didn’t object when she excused herself to pray, which she does faithfully, five times a day. 

“Religion doesn’t have a place or time,” she says. “You can do it anywhere.”

They face struggles, but Raga hopes that she and her husband can build a life in the U.S. that gives their young children a safe place to flourish. “I hope, God willing, I have all the strength to give them anything that they wish for,” Raga says. That includes a good education. 

She plays with her daughters, always addressing them in Arabic, and offers homemade orange juice to guests. The drink is sweet and silken on a warm spring day.

“I thought after being here a few months, I would be able to achieve all my dreams,” she says with a laugh. Two years have passed. “We try as hard as we can to stand on our own feet.” 

Yasmeen Othman contributed Arabic interpretation for Raga’s interview. Ms. Othman works for Inspiritus.  

Shaking off “imposter syndrome”

Marco Escobar was itching for a job at age 14. The shy Utahan wanted to buy a new jacket, a new pair of shoes, something cool. But he didn’t want to bother his cash-strapped parents. 

Then his parents dropped the truth. “We have something important to tell you,” he recalls them telling him.

Marco wasn’t an American. In fact, he was living in the U.S. illegally. His family brought him into the country as a small child in the 1980s to join his mother, who was already here. She was seeking a better future, financially, for her son. Three decades prior in 1954, an American-backed coup overthrew the country’s leader, tilting Guatemala into chaos. 

“As a 14-year-old, you already don’t belong,” Mr. Escobar says. “Here, you’re being told that you literally – technically – don’t belong.” 

The “earth-shattering” news deepened his feelings of difference. Kids at school teased him because of his secondhand clothes – and his accent, which he worked hard to change. There was also the shame of walking down the hall to claim his free meal tickets. Marco felt small next to American boys. 

Beyond the shame, however, he also remembers the generosity he experienced. Like the surprise bounty of Christmas gifts, from what may have been a youth church group. Mr. Escobar prized the orange Hot Wheels car he received that night. It proved to him, he says, “people’s goodness.”

Despite being a straight-A student, the high schooler sacrificed dreams of college. He feared that applying might somehow expose his status to the government. But he did have a love for computers, nurtured in a special high school class. Mr. Escobar brought his knack for technical troubleshooting to a job at a local car dealership, even though he was hired as a seller. Relationships he built helped him land his first tech job.

As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he says his faith helped him to be grateful as he strove to find success. 

Eventually, with the help of lawyers, he says he was able to get an employment-based green card through his father’s employer. He continued on to jobs in software and met his wife at work. In 2016, he became a citizen. 

Now in cloud software sales, he shares a spacious house with his wife and four children in mountain-flanked Herriman, Utah. He also welcomes new immigrants, many Venezuelan, as he volunteers with local nonprofits.

He still feels a kind of “imposter syndrome,” he says, a shadow he can’t shake. But he measures his success by the pairs of shoes he owns – now over 10. And he funnels a portion of his paycheck, every month, into a college fund for his kids.

“I have learned to live the American dream, even though a broken process existed for me,” Mr. Escobar says.

He eventually lost, and then replaced, the Hot Wheels car, that small engine of hope. Earlier this year, moved by hearing Mr. Escobar’s story, a neighbor bought him a mini orange convertible, too. Mr. Escobar treasures both toys – placed on his desk with pride.

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Home — Essay Samples — Economics — American Dream — Is the American Dream Still Alive?

Is The American Dream Still Alive?

• Categories: American Dream

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Words: 712 |

Published: Jan 30, 2024

Words: 712 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, history of the american dream, economic perspective on the american dream, social perspective on the american dream, cultural perspective on the american dream, personal perspective on the american dream, counterarguments to the american dream, references:.

• Kelly, P. (2020). The American Dream. Forbes.
• Gallup. (2020). Americans Still Believe in the American Dream.
• Kochhar, R. (2016). The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold? Pew Research Center.
• Wilhelm, H. & Schulte, B. (2020). Is the American Dream Dead? Global Young Voices.
• Delgado, R. & Stefancic, J. (2001). Understanding Words That Wound.

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