Bell Work

• What do you know about the American Dream already?

• Write down some words that you think of when you hear American Dream?

• If you finish, begin reading “Background Essay”

Agenda

• Bell Work• Homework• Explanation/Review of how to set up a

Dialectical Notebook Entry Setup• Lecture: What is the American Dream and

its origins? • Group Discussion

HW: DIALECTICAL NOTEBOOK ENTRY SETUP

How to set one up

Journal: “Dialectical Notebook Entry”[Copy Notes as you see fit; Time: 6 min.]• Draw a vertical line about 1/3 of the page in your JOURNAL• Label the two columns:

– “Quotation”– “My Reaction”

• Copy the (5) most important quotations from the assigned reading into the left-hand column (the skinny side)

– CITE THE PAGE/LINE /ARTICLE for the quotation• Respond to the quotation in the right-hand of the column

– Write a Minimum 4 complete sentences• AFTER you write a response, DRAW a horizontal line beneath the

quotation & your response• Techie option: Do the assignment on your computer, print it out,

and tape it into your journal!

Example of a Dialectical Notebook Entry

Quotation My Reaction

“He had to prove his superiority to the offensive minx…” (Confederacy of Dunces 91)

Ignatius is talking about Myra, again. It’s so odd to me that he refers to her as offensive, given that (a) he is oddly obsessed with her, and (b) she is the only person who seems to appreciate him for his strangeness. If anything, Ignatius should appreciate Myra’s friendship and concern, as misplaced as her sympathies may be. The supreme irony, of course, is that Myra could care less what causes Ignatius is inventing in New Orleans—she seems to just want him to be happy.

What is “THE

AMERICAN DREAM”?

Powerpoint adapted by Suzanne Conti

Is FREEDOM?

EQUALITY?

INDIVIDUALISM?

MOBILITY?

AMERICAN DREAM• Land of Opportunity• Rags to Riches—Anyone can become rich,

famous, and powerful.• Jobs and education are available to all who

want them.• Meritocracy (rewards) = skill + effort.• Through hard work, courage and

determination, one can achieve prosperity. Americans can live better than their parents did.

Emma Lazarus is best known for "

The New Colossus", a sonnet written in 1883; its lines appear on a bronze plaque in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty[1] in 1912.

• "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the

• homeless, tempest-tossed • to me, I lift my lamp beside • the golden door!"

Coming to America

• America is called the “Melting Pot” because of the immigration here from all over the world. Even though immigrants spoke different languages, had different cultures, and held different beliefs, the one thing they all had in common was to pursue the “American Dream”…life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

• The American Dream is the dream of a land where all people can succeed through hard work. It is also an idea that suggests that all people have the potential to live happy, successful lives.

• Originally, the focus was on hard work and religious freedom. Today, however, the focus seems to be on material prosperity and fame.

• The American Dream is deeply rooted in American society.

• Several critics have pointed out that this dream is not attainable to all because of the inequality rooted in class, race and ethnic origin.

• The phrase “The American Dream” came into the American vocabulary starting in 1867 when writer, Horatio Alger came out with his book “Ragged Dick.” It was a rags-to-riches tale of a poor orphan boy in New York City who saved his pennies, worked hard and eventually became rich.

• It became the model that through honesty, hard work and strong determination, the American Dream was available to anyone willing to make the journey.

Dream Makers

• “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hour”.

- Henry David Thoreau

Arnold was born to a police officer and housewife in Austria, and later emigrated to the U.S. speaking no English He went to community college and started acting. Now he is a multi-millionaire, married into one of the most elite families in America—the Kennedys, and is governor of CA. He has said “In this country, it doesn't make any difference where you were born. It doesn't make any difference who your parents were. It doesn't make any difference if, like me, you couldn't even speak English until you were in your twenties.”

Ralph Lauren—maker of Polo; son of Russian immigrants who became a fashion mogul billionaire, started working in his teens to buy fashionable clothing.

Oprah, raised by her grandmother in rural poor Mississippi, is a billionaire with a book club, television show, several charities, and many other endeavors.

Benjamin Franklin, a founding father of the U.S., was famous for his Witicisms and for discovering electricity using a kite. He was born the son of a candle maker (one of 17 children) and came to stand before kings and Presidents. He is also on our $100 bill.

Finally, Tei Fu Chen is a Taiwanese immigrant who went from living in his car to building a billion-dollar herbal foods empire.

The Declaration of Independence was written in 1776 by Thomas Jefferson.

The general sentiment is that people are better off than their parents and that it is possible to start out poor and work hard to become rich.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable

Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”

It all begins with a Dream . . .

• You see things and say, “Why?” But I dream things that never were and I say, “Why not?”

• ~George Bernard Shaw

Group Discussion

• Get in groups 2-3• Assign a group role for everyone• Discuss questions in small groups• Review as entire group