Works Studied
Title: Mammon and the Archer
Idea: Acceptance and the profound associations of money and the American dream
Learning: Perhaps the most obvious theme presented to the reader in Mammon and the archer is the contrast between money and love. However, this can also be represented as the extent that money has a control over our lives; whether good or bad is ultimately left up to the reader to decide.
Title: The Terminal Man by Michael Crichton
Idea: Personal choice is a key facet of how people in society approach their lives.
Learning: While the subject of my book is very analytically and scientific in nature, it delves into the implications of personal choice and how these choices can be affected by the actions or manipulations of others. While the protagonist in the story was a doctor essentially implanting a device that could control the brain of the patient (for a valid medical cure), a key issue of how often our own choices are reflective of our own personal thoughts was brought up. This can be related by saying that our decisions are often the result of what we have been told is the American dream and our perceptions based off of what we see.
ex) White collar family leads to a white collar career.
Title: I, Too, Sing America
Idea: American Dream and Immigrants
Learning: Those who are in the worst jobs and treated the worst, specifically immigrants, stay in those jobs so that they will become stronger and fulfill the American Dream by bettering their life in the future.
Title: Survey
Idea: The availability and purpose of the American Dream of teenagers compared to adults
Learning: Adults involve money in their life a greater amount than teenagers, but money defines adults so that they can provide for family and others while teenagers strive for money to provide for themselves.
Learning: A white-collar upbringing leads to a white-collar career.
Learning: Almost nobody is willing to say that there is nothing more important than money even if society often acts opposite to this in actuality.
Title: The Great Gatsby
Idea: The American Dream is Decaying
Learning: Drastic changes in culture that can lead to immorality can change the American Dream of the era--and not in a good way.
Title: "next to of course god america i"
Idea: The importance of maintaining a sense of reason and not being a blind patriot
Learned: This poem will be a great a counterargument for our thesis because it represents a criticism of people who blindly love their country. Patriotism is often considered a virtue - and it is - but it must be upheld within moderation. This poem effectively ridicules the abstract "blind patriot", the person who lives every line of the Star Spangled Banner without ever considering the negative qualities of our nation. Evidence taken from this poem will make excellent qualifying statements when addressing the prompt.
Title: The Andromeda Strain
Idea: Personal sacrifice and its impact on our social psychology and community.
Learned: Although my independent novel is realistic fiction, the theme and attitude of personal sacrifice represented throughout the book is extremely relevant to the American Dream. In the novel, people are dying and a group of adults are forced to put themselves in harms way for the good of the country. The concept of personal sacrifice, and Michael Crichton’s immersive representation of this idea, combines to portray the chain reaction personal sacrifice can set off. When we are discussing the American Dream, sacrifice is definitely going to come up. One of our crucial ideas when addressing this prompt is going to be that sacrifice is necessary in order to achieve our American Dream. Citing evidence from The Andromeda Strain will help explain this idea.
Idea: Acceptance and the profound associations of money and the American dream
Learning: Perhaps the most obvious theme presented to the reader in Mammon and the archer is the contrast between money and love. However, this can also be represented as the extent that money has a control over our lives; whether good or bad is ultimately left up to the reader to decide.
Title: The Terminal Man by Michael Crichton
Idea: Personal choice is a key facet of how people in society approach their lives.
Learning: While the subject of my book is very analytically and scientific in nature, it delves into the implications of personal choice and how these choices can be affected by the actions or manipulations of others. While the protagonist in the story was a doctor essentially implanting a device that could control the brain of the patient (for a valid medical cure), a key issue of how often our own choices are reflective of our own personal thoughts was brought up. This can be related by saying that our decisions are often the result of what we have been told is the American dream and our perceptions based off of what we see.
ex) White collar family leads to a white collar career.
Title: I, Too, Sing America
Idea: American Dream and Immigrants
Learning: Those who are in the worst jobs and treated the worst, specifically immigrants, stay in those jobs so that they will become stronger and fulfill the American Dream by bettering their life in the future.
Title: Survey
Idea: The availability and purpose of the American Dream of teenagers compared to adults
Learning: Adults involve money in their life a greater amount than teenagers, but money defines adults so that they can provide for family and others while teenagers strive for money to provide for themselves.
Learning: A white-collar upbringing leads to a white-collar career.
Learning: Almost nobody is willing to say that there is nothing more important than money even if society often acts opposite to this in actuality.
Title: The Great Gatsby
Idea: The American Dream is Decaying
Learning: Drastic changes in culture that can lead to immorality can change the American Dream of the era--and not in a good way.
Title: "next to of course god america i"
Idea: The importance of maintaining a sense of reason and not being a blind patriot
Learned: This poem will be a great a counterargument for our thesis because it represents a criticism of people who blindly love their country. Patriotism is often considered a virtue - and it is - but it must be upheld within moderation. This poem effectively ridicules the abstract "blind patriot", the person who lives every line of the Star Spangled Banner without ever considering the negative qualities of our nation. Evidence taken from this poem will make excellent qualifying statements when addressing the prompt.
Title: The Andromeda Strain
Idea: Personal sacrifice and its impact on our social psychology and community.
Learned: Although my independent novel is realistic fiction, the theme and attitude of personal sacrifice represented throughout the book is extremely relevant to the American Dream. In the novel, people are dying and a group of adults are forced to put themselves in harms way for the good of the country. The concept of personal sacrifice, and Michael Crichton’s immersive representation of this idea, combines to portray the chain reaction personal sacrifice can set off. When we are discussing the American Dream, sacrifice is definitely going to come up. One of our crucial ideas when addressing this prompt is going to be that sacrifice is necessary in order to achieve our American Dream. Citing evidence from The Andromeda Strain will help explain this idea.