DREAMS

The American Dream

The American Dream - Ideas “All men are created equal”

“Work hard and prosper”

Freedom of religion and speech Freedom from want and fear

Does the American Dream Really Exist?

Read the critiques on the American Dream

In groups, discuss the main points that the author makes.

Do you agree with the author? Do you find the author’s argument to

be persuasive? Why or why not?

Dreams by Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams For if dreams dieLife is a broken-winged

birdThat cannot fly. Hold fast to dreamsFor when dreams goLife is a barren fieldFrozen with snow.

A Dream Deferredby Langston Hughes What happens to a dream

deferred?Does it dry up

like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore--

And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over-- like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

Martin Luther King, Jr

Non-violent resistance

“I Have a Dream”

Even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

“I Have a Dream”

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

Barack Obama

“My story is part of the larger American story. I owe a debt to those before me, and in no other country in the world is my story even possible.” -- Barack Obama

The fulfillment of the American Dream?