The American Dream, defined by Google, is the ideal by which equality of opportunity is available to any American, allowing the highest aspirations and goals to be achieved. It seems like everyone in America is fascinated by this idea. This is extremely reasonable because America was built on this principle. Immigrants come to America for a better life and to set up their family for a better future by leveraging the American Dream. The American Dream is a great thing because it limits nobody. If you work hard, effectively, and efficiently, it seems like you can accomplish anything. America is the only country where this can happen to the scale it does. However, with this dream comes a harsh reality for many. Many people are never satisfied with what they have, which leads to feelings of entitlement and ungratefulness. Willy, for example, believes that he doesn't have what he deserves, when in reality, he has more than a lot of others. He has a family, a car, a house, there's not much more that anyone can reasonably ask for. However, he doesn't realize this and continues to chase after this dream that he has created in his mind and cannot take a step back to see what is happening. This is unfortunate, but also the reality for a lot of Americans, but maybe not to this extreme. If Americans who think they don't have much and are chasing their version of the American Dream went to a different country they'd be able to see how fortunate they really are. With the American Dream, a lot can be achieved, but a lot can also be wanted. An example of this is Pablo Escobar. He made a fortune that could've lasted generations and could've stopped then. However, he wasn't satisfied and kept wanting more and more. Although this example is extreme, the principle is the same. In my life, I try to appreciate everything I have and be happy with it, but also never settle and not reach my full potential. I want to be happily dissatisfied by working to my goals and be high achieving, but also appreciating what I already have.
This week in class we read a piece called Show and Tell by Scott McCloud. This piece showed (and told) the importance of pictures in readings. It started off with a short anecdote of this kid in front of his class explaining how his robot toy transforms into an airplane. He uses a mixture of words and plain showing how it does what it does. This develops the author's main argument that "words and pictures have great powers to tell stories when creators fully exploit them both," (McCloud 809). I believe that images in books don't make a work of literature any less intellectual. If the content is meant to be intellectual, pictures aren't going to make it any less. Actually, images bring a different dynamic and can allow for more intellectual content. If an author were to include a statement where there could be many interpretations, that would be considered intellectual, but if you add an image to that and turn it into a comic, there could be an infinite amount of i...
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