Sophs #1 Journal-- The American Dream
THIS IS THE FIRST JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT OF THE SECOND QUARTER.COMPLETE AND POST COMMENT BEFORE MONDAY, NOVEMBER 8.
You've studied the early colonists and then the early Americans. Both groups of people had visions of the greatness of America. The Puritans envisioned a religious "city upon a hill" nurtured and protected by their God. America's founding fathers constituted a democratic republic that would encourage other governments throughout the world to also engage in a social contract with its citizens, ensuring a protection of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. America was created to be a model of government for the rest of the world.
A Frenchman, Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur, emigrated to the colonies in 1755. He married a American-born women, raised a family, and farmed in Orange County, NY. Life was going well until the Revolutionary War broke out. Unwilling to choose between the revolutionary and the Tory cause, de Crevecoeur fled to England, leaving his wife and children. When the war ended, he published a book in 1782, Letters From an American Farmer, adapting the pseudonym of an American farmer, James, and writing back in epistles to his brethren in England. The book told of the promise of the good life in America; it is one of the first written statements of the American Dream.
The notion of the American Dream (even today) represents a romanticized ideal of the hope and promise of America. For de Crevecoeur, the American Dream promised these new and exciting gifts to all who dared to call themselves, Americans:
1. America is an asylum, a refuge for Europe's poor and downtrodden
2. The American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe
3. The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.
4. The American is free to worship as he pleases, and religion demands little of him.
5. Americans are the western pilgrims, bringing the best of Europe to this new land, and making it better. Americans are looked upon as leaders of the world.
Throughout America's history, there is no doubt that the American Dream has been realized by millions of successful people. There is also little doubt that reality of America did not always live up to the Dream. Undoubtedly, millions of people experienced failures, too--nightmares, not dreams.
Look over the five aspects of deCrevecouer's Dream listed above.
Write about how any one of those ideas either rewarded OR failed an individual. Ideally, I'd like you to relate a personal story about a relative or someone you closely know. However, if you absolutely cannot think of someone, you are free to write about someone else. In that case, provide your information source at the end of your writing.
REMEMBER, WRITE A MINIMUM OF 25 BLOG LINES OR 200 WORDS.
posted by JTF @ 7:42 AM
85 comments
85 Comments:
The one aspect that I would like to talk about is the one where he says the hard working get a chance to get ahead. This is a very strong comment and may not always work out as well as he suggests it does. Many people work hard in the United States and yet by the end of their lives they have nothing to show for it. The story I would like to tell about is one of my father's friend. He was a carpenter who worked his whole life. He would be what you would call a workaholic and he never stopped to take a break from what he was doing. He made pretty good money and he had a wife, kid, and a beautiful house to show for it. But when America's economy turned south he was in a lot of trouble. He had already retired and hoped to live a life of relaxation. He had all of his money that he would use for his retirement in stocks and when the economy went bad so did the stocks. This financially ruined him and his whole family where they had to sell their house to move into an apartment and they could barely make a living on the money had. They didn't see any way out of this because the husband had retired from his work and his wife wasn't pooling in enough money to provide for his family. This many was only in his 50's and he is basically ruined for the rest of his life. As this shows that everyone who works hard doesn't always recieve a chance to get ahead but in matter of fact sometimes things just go wrong and they fall behind. Saying all these things about America are exaggerated, it is a truly amazing place but it is not the Heaven that everyone thinks it is. We are in a truly bad time right now and unless we get our act together we could all fall behind.
For this journal I choose number five, which said “Americans are the western pilgrims, bringing the best of Europe to this new land, and making it better. Americans are looked upon as leaders of the world.” This was true at that time and a little after. However, I believe this to be false today. American has more obese people then any other country in the world as well as the worst economy. America makes only a few things in it’s own territories but has other countries giving stuff to it, helping those countries. Now America gets what others have made better instead of making our own and helping people get jobs. But the worst part is that unless something interferes with this, then America will continue on this path. One thing that could help stop this is if we become pioneers for green energy and we completely eliminate our carbon footprint. We would become a symbol to other nations, thus increasing our wealth.
For my journal I decided to do number three on the list “The American economy rewards the harder worker with a chance to get ahead.” This statement is not true. The story I am going to tell is not a personal story, but it defiantly relates to the topic. Re financing your mortgage for a lower rate is a common thing for Americans to do. About 2-3 years ago banks started introducing new, very low interest rates you could re finance at. Most people decided to take advantage of that by re financing their mortgage. But what they didn’t know is that that if they were even late on one payment the rates would go through the roof. People didn’t know that because banks hid that information in the fine print. So all these people would re finance and if they were late on a payment the interest rates would get so high that they wouldn’t be able to pay their mortgage and their house would get foreclosed. So these people worked hard their whole life just to lose everything because the rich CEO’s just wanted to make a couple extra bucks. Its no accident that the richest 10% own 80% of all the countries wealth, its because all the rich want to do is make more money and they will even take away everything from people who worked hard their whole life to do it.
The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead. This is one of Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur’s aspects of the American Dream. My grandfather, on my dad’s side is a good example of this principle. His name is Arthur Francis Zimmerman. He was born on September 27th, 1927. His parents were Arthur and Elizabeth Zimmerman. They were married in the mid-1920’s.They lived in Scranton Pennsylvania. My grandfather had a brother named George, who was three years younger. Their mother, called Liz, was a stay at home mom. Their father left high school at age 15 and lied about his age to join the Navy. After their father was finished serving he worked as a State Trooper with the motorcycle patrol. Neither of my grandfather’s parents were college educated. But when my grandfather was growing up the two top principles in their house were the Catholic Church and education. He was raised in a working class environment with little money. When my grandfather was very young he became extremely sick. He had terrible asthma. He eventually got well enough to return to school. He could not play sports because of his asthma, but he realized he was intelligent. He decided to commit to his studies. He knew from a very early age that he wanted to become a doctor. My grandfather graduated from Clark Summit High School. He was accepted to the University of Scranton on a full scholarship. He completed college in less than three years. He worked extremely hard to achieve this goal. After college he was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania Medical School once again on a full scholarship. After he graduated he completed his residency. After his residency he joined the Army in the Medical Core. In 1959 he started to practice medicine in north Wilmington. In 1963 he moved to Dover and joined a private practice. In 1995 he retired. He served 35 years as a general surgeon. He is now happily living as a retired doctor. This is an example of how America offers all people opportunities to accomplish their dreams no matter what type of background they came from. My grandfather came from a middle class family and accomplished something that is normally obtained by the child of a wealthy family. But through hard work, dedication and prayer he achieved his goal. My grandfather accomplished his dream thanks to the opportunities our country can offer.
The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead. This is one of Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur’s aspects of the American Dream. My grandfather, on my dad’s side is a good example of this principle. His name is Arthur Francis Zimmerman. He was born on September 27th, 1927. His parents were Arthur and Elizabeth Zimmerman. They were married in the mid-1920’s.They lived in Scranton Pennsylvania. My grandfather had a brother named George, who was three years younger. Their mother, called Liz, was a stay at home mom. Their father left high school at age 15 and lied about his age to join the Navy. After their father was finished serving he worked as a State Trooper with the motorcycle patrol. Neither of my grandfather’s parents were college educated. But when my grandfather was growing up the two top principles in their house were the Catholic Church and education. He was raised in a working class environment with little money. When my grandfather was very young he became extremely sick. He had terrible asthma. He eventually got well enough to return to school. He could not play sports because of his asthma, but he realized he was intelligent. He decided to commit to his studies. He knew from a very early age that he wanted to become a doctor. My grandfather graduated from Clark Summit High School. He was accepted to the University of Scranton on a full scholarship. He completed college in less than three years. He worked extremely hard to achieve this goal. After college he was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania Medical School once again on a full scholarship. After he graduated he completed his residency. After his residency he joined the Army in the Medical Core. In 1959 he started to practice medicine in north Wilmington. In 1963 he moved to Dover and joined a private practice. In 1995 he retired. He served 35 years as a general surgeon. He is now happily living as a retired doctor. This is an example of how America offers all people opportunities to accomplish their dreams no matter what type of background they came from. My grandfather came from a middle class family and accomplished something that is normally obtained by the child of a wealthy family. But through hard work, dedication and prayer he achieved his goal. My grandfather accomplished his dream thanks to the opportunities our country can offer.
This blog post hits very close to home. The third fact that says that an American worker willing to work hard will be rewarded, this relates closely with my grandfather who emigrated from Cuba. My Abuelo (grandfather) came to the United States when Fidel Castro took over as a communist leader. He knew that coming to a new country was going to be a huge challenge. When he arrived on American soil he was just 16, and had to start working immediately. My Abuelo had to find the first job he could and run with it. He had to work for his rent, food, and clothing, all on his own. He worked for some years at a country club, at a bakery, and at a convenience store. Eventually his work forced him to move to Delaware, where he still lives to this day. Throughout his working years my abuelo worked as hard as he could so that he could make a good life for himself and eventually his family. He has proven that with hard work and a bit of elbow grease you can accomplish almost anything. Most people will relate this fact to working hard to get rich, but it really just means that you’ll live a comfortable life. My grandfather is an inspiration to me because of his life story.
The American Economy rewarded and failed for my Uncle Rich with his hard. He works many hours a day as a chemical engineer for Invista. For all his work, he gets paid very well, and lives a good life. He has a Family of two children and his wife my Aunt Sue. They live in Rehobeth, Delaware, about three miles from the beach. Both of his children attend a private school in Maryland called Worcester Prep. Although, about two years ago, he lost his job do to a bad economy. Times were starting to get hard on him now because he is jobless, and no money is now coming in to support his family. This is how the American Economy failed for my Uncle Rich. He searched for jobs for almost a year, before finally being hired at Kraft Foods, as an engineer. This new job at Kraft Foods he displeases more than his last, but sometimes you have to something that you dislike. He was very lucky, because many people who have lost there jobs over the past few years, have not yet found a new job. This is how the American Economy failed and rewarded my Uncle Rich.
Reading de Crevecoeur’s idea that “The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead” reminds me of my mother due to her hard working past. Her story begins when she was raised as one of six kids with a father who didn’t really pay attention to his children and a mother who was preoccupied with the others. My mom was a middle child and you know what they say about how the middle kid always gets the short end of stick; this basically sums up my mom’s childhood. First of all, her parents didn’t quite push school work on her and make her feel like school was actaully important therefore she didn’t try hard resulting in not the best grades. Her mother, my mummum, was always busy with her younger children, caring for them and making sure they were staying out of trouble so that leaves my mom a bit neglected and not given enough attention. Sad, huh? Well she was left on her own fending for herself in this tough world, having to pay for her own car, her yearbooks, which were limited to just two, her class ring, her clothes, everything! She wasn’t even given the option of going to college because she couldn’t afford it and her parents weren’t willing to pay for it eventhough her other siblings were given the oppurtunity. Her life was pretty unfair but she toughed it out and got a lot of jobs so she could live her own life the way she wanted to with no strings attached. Luckily my mom met my dad because he owned his own business that brought in a nice income therefore not needing her to get a job. So finally, life tends to work out in the end leaving the hard working with a pleasant future and a life well spent all due to America’s countless oppurtunities describedby the wise Guillaume de Crevecoeur.
In this journal, I would like to talk about the idea of how the American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead. My grandfather is a perfect example of how the American economy has failed the hard workers. All his life he was hard working, often working two jobs to try to get ahead and support his family. He was a father of six, in a single income family. When he was old enough to finally retire he thought he would be able to enjoy the rewards of retirement, but the American economy, and all of its constant ups and downs, forced him to go back to work part time jobs. He continued to work part time jobs clear into his late seventies until his health wouldn’t allow him to keep working. Now, in his mid-eighties, he is trying to survive on what little bit of retirement money he has left and social security that has not been increased in two years. Today, he is looking to sell his home and move in with family because the cost of living has become too much for him to bear. This does not sound like the American dream to me; it sounds like the American nightmare.
The one topic I chose to talk about was that "The American is free to worship as he pleases, and religion demands little of him." I think this is partially true because we have certain religious privileges now that we didn’t have years ago. Some of those privileges are that there is no more religious persecution, and that we have the choice to change our religious beliefs. I also believe that America is somewhat becoming more strict on God and religion. Some schools are starting not to say God Bless America, or even pray and read the Bible. America is starting to even fall away from God even though we have all the freedom that we are privileged to have. I know someone whose sister changed from Catholicism to Atheism. This is just one example of what is happening to people throughout America. I think that as we go farther away from God and His plan that we are falling more into the sin that surrounds us everyday, and it is starting to pull down the reputation America has of being a free, independent, hard working country.
One of the aspects I I believed that would like to talk about in this Journal is aspect number 3: "The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead." I pretty much agree with this aspect and believed it would reward an individual. This aspect translated that the hard worker will recieve a chance to excel above others and make more money. People in America who work hard will improve and aggrandize our economy while the lazy, selfish people will bring down our economy. 90% our economy's downfall is due to people who refuses to work or get a job to pay their taxes and we should all blame them for our downfall. They don't get a job, they can't pay their taxes and rent, so they have to borrow money from the bank or the government which will result a downfall to America's economy. Then the other 10% is due to people who worked really hard to keep up but just didn't make enough money to pay taxes so we couldn't blame these guys for trying their hardest. I have a story that relates to this aspect. One of my relative came to America in 1988 and found a job at a local bank. He first started out as an accounant, then went up to an account manager. Later he became the Bank Manager and work 5 days a week . During the weekends, he also had a full time job at a Dine-in food place so he's basically working 7 days a week non-stop. few decades later in 2008 he was able to retire with alot of money. Soon in 2010 when the economy waas bad, he had so much money that he was able to pay all of his rents and taxes while still being debt free.I believed that many Americans should follow and look up to him because of what he's accomplished. "There is no substitute for hard work. The harder you work, the closer you come to achieving what others can't" ~Thomas Alva Edison
America is an asylum for the poor. This one, I can relate to my great grandfather, who came over from Cuba, and had very little to no money. He studied medicine, and ended up being a doctor, and a successful one at that. So in that aspect, that part of the American dream was a success for him. The American society is a melting pot, that one could also be applied to my grandfather. Again, he was from Cuba, and he married someone from Florida, who was not Cuban. He integrated well into American culture, but still keep distinct Cuban traits about him. The American economy rewards hard working people. My Grandfather would be a good example of that. Even though my Great grandfather was a doctor, they were not in the "upper class" so to speak, just the middle class. But my grandfather also studied medicine and got into a very very good hospital, and ended up making my father's side of the family quite rich. The American dream is give people the right to worship as we please. I don't have anyone in my family that's not a form of Christian, but I do have friends who are Atheist, and they are open about it because they have the right to be. America is the leaders of the world. I don't have something personal to relate to this, but I don't feel this to be as true as it was awhile ago. We, as a country have fallen behind in almost everything. Science, math, innovation, technology, we even have one of the worst debts in the country. So I feel as if we don't have that power over others as we used to.
On aspect I would like to write about is the idea that “The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” This may be true in many cases; however in my aunt’s case it is only partially true. She lost her job in this recent recession. She was a very hard worker and put her heart and soul into her job. Unfortunately, she was still laid off. She spent about two and a half long years searching for jobs. It was hard to watch my once successful, happy aunt be so discouraged and stressed. She was not only working to support herself, but her elderly mother, my grandmother, as well. There was many times where she needed her family to lean on in the tough times. She did not give up and she finally found a job. This job was not her idea of a dream job, or anything that she was eager to be doing, but it was still a paying job. I feel bad that she is not working the job of her dreams because she worked hard in college to get good grades in a good major. And this job does not exactly pertain to her major. This idea is partially true because of all of her hard work she finally found a job, however the idea is not true because she is not as successful as I believe she should be.
The aspect that I chose is the third aspect because it still can be a motivational sentence to men and woman that still move from Europe to America. The thid aspect that is part of the American Dream is that "The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead." When I read this, I somehow knew what it meant and how it could be viewed as a motivational piece. The families that had heard about America, all wanted the same thing in a way. To be free, to get ahead in life, and to earn and KEEP every penny of what they earned. In Europe or whatever region they lived in, most of the time they had to give some or half of their pay to the Church or monarchy. In America, they were striving to break away from a type of tariff like this. So if I had heard this aspect I would have gotten a head start on getting to the boat and going forward to a better life. The aspect reminded me of my great grandfather that had been a coal miner in Pennsylvania. My whole family was in the coal mining business at the time and as most people know, coal miners were given terrible pay, terrible work conditions and not to mention they were putting their life on the line. My great grandfather was a man that stuck to his word. The company that he worked with always needed more coal then the men could get in the time limit given. He was asked to get a large quantity of coal by the end of the day. From what I could gather from the numerous times I have heard this story, my great grandfather gave up his lunch and breaks that day to fufil the task he had been given. When it was time to clock out, the task had been well past completed. The next pay day, my great grandfather noticed a large change in his pay then previous months. When he talked to his supervisour he was told that for all of his hard work, he recieved an extra day of Christmas vacation and had earned himself a large bonus for that month. I wouldn't say this is a typical thing that will happen if you do above and beyond of what your asked, but you never know. Some good things happen to good people that do good deeds.
The aspect that I chose is the third aspect because it still can be a motivational sentence to men and woman that still move from Europe to America. The thid aspect that is part of the American Dream is that "The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead." When I read this, I somehow knew what it meant and how it could be viewed as a motivational piece. The families that had heard about America, all wanted the same thing in a way. To be free, to get ahead in life, and to earn and KEEP every penny of what they earned. In Europe or whatever region they lived in, most of the time they had to give some or half of their pay to the Church or monarchy. In America, they were striving to break away from a type of tariff like this. So if I had heard this aspect I would have gotten a head start on getting to the boat and going forward to a better life. The aspect reminded me of my great grandfather that had been a coal miner in Pennsylvania. My whole family was in the coal mining business at the time and as most people know, coal miners were given terrible pay, terrible work conditions and not to mention they were putting their life on the line. My great grandfather was a man that stuck to his word. The company that he worked with always needed more coal then the men could get in the time limit given. He was asked to get a large quantity of coal by the end of the day. From what I could gather from the numerous times I have heard this story, my great grandfather gave up his lunch and breaks that day to fufil the task he had been given. When it was time to clock out, the task had been well past completed. The next pay day, my great grandfather noticed a large change in his pay then previous months. When he talked to his supervisour he was told that for all of his hard work, he recieved an extra day of Christmas vacation and had earned himself a large bonus for that month. I wouldn't say this is a typical thing that will happen if you do above and beyond of what your asked, but you never know. Some good things happen to good people that do good deeds.
The aspect of the American Dream that I chose was number three. Number three says, “The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” A personal story that I can share about this is about my Poppop. My Pop was born in America but his parents came to America from England. The highest education he attained was completed at Brown Vocational Technical High school. He became a skilled machinist. He proceeded to be hired by the DuPont Company to work in their machine shop. After ten years of working for DuPont, he reached his maximum salary level at his position. Discouraged by this, he chose to leave the company. With is third child on the way, he was a banquet facility bartender with a second job working at Dunkin Donuts. He decided business was the way to go. Looking at the Dunkin Donut franchise, he decided he preferred Mister Donut better. He took an opportunity to purchase a Mister Donut store that was failing from an existing owner. He sold his house, lived in an apartment, and turned the previous Mister Donut around to be a success. My PopPop owned a total of eight Mister Donut shops over the span of twenty five years. He flourished as a businessman because the opportunity was available. He was faced with economy struggles during all of his twenty five years in business. I believe my PopPop is the epitome of the American Dream.
America is known as a land of promise and great fortune. People around the world are allowed to come and settle here in hopes of accomplishing their dreams. America is the melting pot of the world, in which many diverse cultures come and live together. My grandmother is an immigrant from a town of Italy called Caserta. She lived a happy yet cautious life during the years of World War Two. At the end of the war she met my grandfather Joseph Palermo who was a sergeant in the 31st infantry of the allied forces. He offered to take my grandmother to America where they could live a happy life together and she agreed. So she was headed to America in her pursuit of happiness with her newlywed husband. She dreamed of raising a family and living a happy life. She arrived in America and was from there on out an American citizen. Everything was very strange to her at first with all the different cultures places around her. She soon fit in with the other cultures and everything went well. Even to this day she still says how different everything is in America compared to Italy, but she says she loves it here and her dream has come true of raising a wonderful family of 6. She still resides in the city of Newport Delaware and is still living her own version of the American Dream.
I agree that America is like a melting pot of people from all over Europe. I can be an example of this. I am a mix of 5 different ethnic groups. I am British, Polish, German, Irish, and Italian. My great-grandparents came over to America because of how free every person was. And by having all these different groups of people come over, America has been able to connect different cultures and traditions together. Most countries do not have an Italian restaurant right across the street from a Mexican restaurant. By living in America I have been opened to lots of different cultures, which helps me know more about the world and helps me understand my place in the world. I could not imagine living in world where you are only exposed to your cultural. But having so many cultures mixed together can sometimes lead to disagreements about how things should be done, but if you look past those differences then people get to see how truly great and wonderful America is. I am proud to call myself a mutt, because I am a mix of many great ethnic groups. It helps stir up America’s melting pot.
“America is an asylum, a refuge for Europe’s poor and downtrodden.” This idea has rewarded my family. In the mid-1800s, my great, great, great, great grandfather came to Louisiana from Germany. He was a merchant hoping to find better opportunities in this new country due to wars and bad economy in Germany. To gain citizenship, he fought for the Union in the Civil War. Once the war was over, he started a coffee market in New Orleans. He married and started a family, and the market prospered and expanded. For generations, the markets grew and became wealthy. My ancestor was able to provide a better life for himself and his family in America. Through hard work, determination, dedication, and support from his family, he was able to build an empire, if you will. He started out as a German merchant hoping to create a better way of life, not only for himself, but also for his children. Leaving his home in Europe and coming to this country led to his success. My ancestor is proof that America is a refuge for those in need.
Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur's promises about America, though sometimes considered propable, do not exactly make complete sense. The one that I feel is the least true is "The American is free to worship as he pleases, and religion demands little of him." When I was a child, I attended a public elementary school. On the first day I entered the new school to attend kindergarten, I, being the very religious child that I am, started a group prayer with the other children at my table. My teacher yelled at me about how that is unacceptable at a diverse school and then sent me to the principal's office. On my way down to the principal's office, I still was very confused onto why I was getting in trouble for this, but I was glad that the principal was more understanding than my teacher. Though that was true, I still did get in a bit of trouble. If American went along with all of the promises given by Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur, then all the members of the public schooling system should be allowed to practice their beliefs openly in front of those who belong to a different religion. Doing this may lead into a large disagreement, but is that worth it to live a life that is free?
All of the ideas can reward many people. The person in my family was rewarded by one of the ideas. The idea that my family member relates with the most is number two, which is The American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe. My aunt was born in America and her parents are from here. When she got older she traveled to Ireland, where she met her husband. She lived in Ireland with him for a little while before she came back to the United States. They later got married and had two children. Her family now lives in lower Delaware. The children are taught about their Irish culture and their American culture. They travel to Ireland at least once a year so the kids know about their heritage. My aunt and her husband are very open to the different traditions in each others culture. Although things may not be too different, they still accept that each of them have different beliefs. I think it is important to incorporate things from his culture and her culture because it makes their family all the more interesting. This is saying that you don’t have to be friends with someone or marry someone that is the same culture as you. By saying that America is a melting pot makes everyone more interesting. This proves that America is a melting pot from people from all over Europe.
The one aspect that relates to me and family is the one where America is a melting pot. Though, not only for Europeans but many other ethnicities. My family can relate to this though, I believe. My family and I are the first generation to move to America from the Philippines. It was something new. After living in a area where about ninety-five percent of the people are Filipino, moving to an area where there are many different races was something new. Something that could be refreshing. When I went back to the Philippines to visit, it felt so weird knowing that there was a dominant race. After living in America and just looking around, you can see people of different backgrounds get along and become friends. Plus, you notice that one person can have a majority of ethnicities in them which shows how much of a melting pot America truly is.
In de Crèvecoeur's writings about the American Dream, one aspect of his writing that is very inspiring is "The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead." I believe this is very relative to my aunt. She works in the sales field and works very hard at her job. She spends a lot of her time and effort at this job and she travels and works from basically everywhere. She is very good at her job and even works on her vacations at the beach. Even with her now a survivor of cancer she has not given up on working and she shows that hard work pays off. She has many luxuries and its all from her hard work and I am glad it pays off for her. Although the economy is rough right now the hard work and undying effort can pay off. If someone shows the devotion to their work and they never give up their work should be rewarded and she definitely is. I believe she is the best role model for de Crèvecoeur's writings about the American Dream and he is most definitely right about his American dream, even in the 21st century.
The one aspect that I would like to relate to is the one where it says, “The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” This comment is very true, but then it is also not so true. Many people today in the United States work very hard and very long and still may not get ahead in the economy. I will talk about aunt who is going through this. This person works about five to six days a week and leaves home early and comes back home late. She has a beautiful family and his life was going great for her until the economy started going south. Once that happened, so did her and her life. Having your life going so great one instance and then having your life flip upside down is just devastating. My aunt isn’t the kind of person to stop fighting to make things better for her and her family. She’s the type that will do everything in her power and work as hard as she can to make sure her family is being provided for. It is just hard to stand here and watch a family member go through this bump in their life. It is beginning to come and realize that she might not be able to pay for her three kids in college. All three of her children have jobs and they are all fighting to get their family back on track. It’s hard for a single mom to provide for a whole family by herself and that is what my aunt is doing right now. America is full of opportunities to get ahead, but it is also a place of disappointment. But it isn’t just America that will disappoint you, it’s every other country in this world. The United States’ economy and its people are going through a very rough time and it is our job as a country to bounce back and go back to the thriving country we once were. America will again be the place where you earn your own way to a life of eternal happiness.
Out of all of deCrevecouer's Dreams, the one that I can relate to the most is "The American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe. As waves of immigrants brought their own cultures and tradition to America, they began to have a diverse population. The differences of immigrants made them all come together and share their differences (The Melting Pot).
Having different ethnic backgrounds in my family, there are differences in the ways holidays are celebrated and the different foods that are eaten. Having great-grandparents from Poland, Italy, Germany, and Ireland, my family carries on some traditions from each background. From my Polish grandparents, on holidays we eat traditional foods, including kielbasa and pierogies. On birthdays, after singing Happy Birthday, a verse of Sto Lat is sung. Sto Lat is a song to wish the person to live one hundred years. From my father's side, my grandparents are Italian, German, and Irish. Because my family is part Italian, we eat a lot of pasta and bread. Some German foods we share on holidays are dumplings, pork, and sauerkraut. On Saint Patrick's Day, the Irish tradition is to eat corned beef, cabbage, and Irish soda bread. Having the different backgrounds in my family, makes my life interesting and I hope to pass them on to my future family.
deCrevecouer's perspective that the American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe relates to my parent’s grandparents – my great grandparents - who emigrated from Italy at the end of the 19th century. Like other sets of immigrants, they tended to settle in same area and neighborhoods as their fellow countrymen. While one reason was purely economical, another practical reason was that there was a certain degree of strength in numbers. Even though America was becoming a melting pot, non-English speaking immigrants weren’t exactly greeted with open arms or tolerance for the ‘new’ ways of their ‘old world’ language, culture, and traditions. They looked and sounded different: olive skin, dark hair, brown eyes, and a thick accent, if they even spoke English at all. Their main meal of the day was lunch, and was eaten at home with their family, which is what Americans typically did for dinner. My Italian immigrant great grandparents also had to learn how to speak English and adapt to many other American customs. These differences often came at a high price, like not finding jobs, having access to health care, or voting rights. But, despite these hardships, the opportunity for a better life for themselves and their children outweighed the risks. Raising children to become American citizens was also part of the success of America being a melting pot and realizing the American Dream.
After reading over all five aspects of DeCrevecouer's Dream, I chose “The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead”. This statement isn’t always true. To say that every person that works hard will be rewarded is completely wrong. My dad use to work at this big corporation in Philadelphia. He worked late some days and usually always had work on Saturday, so that he could finish everything he needed to get done. Then, when the economy started to fall, he lost his job. Now he was probably one of the hardest working people there and he wasn’t rewarded for it. On the other hand, my mom works at DuPont. Like my dad, she always works late and does work on Saturday so that she doesn’t fall behind! After a year and a half of my mom’s hard work, the economy crashed, and she got promoted. So this statement that DeCrevecouer makes isn’t correct in my mind, but it is true that if you work hard, you can accomplish anything. You can never give up!
“The American is free to worship as he pleases, and religion demands little of him.” This basically means that you can practice any religion, and you can worship as much or as little as you want. This could be both good and bad in different ways. It could be good because, America is also known as a “Melting Pot”, which means we have so many different cultures and types of people. There are so many different people, there are bound to be many different religions and you also do not have to abandon your religion in order to come to American, and be forced to practice another religion. However this could be bad because, with all the different religions, there could be arguments and even wars that break out because of disagreements between religions. In conclusion, you can practice any religion, and you can worship as much or as little as you want. This is both good and bad in very different ways. For example, that you do not have to give up your religion or religious practices to come to American, but wars could possibly break out over religious arguments. So this is both good and bad depending on how you view it.
The aspect I can compare to is “The American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe.” I have a huge family and it is filled with all different origins. My grandmother on my mom’s side was born and lived in Germany. Her and my grandfather met when he was in the American army patrolling Germany. My grandfather’s family is from Germany, England, and Scotland. From one side of my family, I already have three different origins. My dad’s side of the family is bigger and more confusing. My dad’s grandmother is originally from Ireland with her 14 brothers and sisters. My dad’s grandfather is originally from Spain. That information means that my grandmother on my dad’s side is fifty percent Irish and fifty percent Spanish. Then, we have my dad’s father’s side. My grandfather’s father was a son to a Dutch farmer and a Greek Lady. That is the most interesting mix in my family I believe. The least mixed person in my family is my dad’s father’s mother. She was just mixed of German and Irish origins. I am a true example of a melting pot. I am German, English, Scottish, Spanish, Dutch, and Greek. The only one I am missing is Italy, which helps explain why I am pale.
I think often times Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur’s idea of “The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead” fails people all the time. The economy right now and in the past few years has been far from its best. This leaves hard workers all over the country jobless. When hard workers are unemployed it’s hard to get ahead. This also means when the economy is bad it doesn’t often reward. This is a problem my big sister is faced with right now. She just graduated from college in June. If anyone knows how hard of a worker she is it’s definitely me. I hear her talk about filling out countless job interviews just to get rejected because she “doesn’t have enough experience.” Working hard through high school and college just to have the American economy deny you, not reward you is the exact opposite of Crèvecoeur’s idea. I’m sure the Americans who are suffering and the Americans who got fired from their company when so many were let go also think this idea has failed them. Maybe his idea will become more accurate when the economy turns around. But it’s never going to be 100% true that America rewards the hard workers because lots of time in life there is no reward which follows hard work.
The idea that America is a melting pot is still a very true statement today. America is made of a very diverse group of people. Many people immigrate to the U.S. for the job opportunities and a new way of life. The problem America faces with this is the fact that some people come here illegally. It is a growing problem that must be stopped. If we continue to let this happen than America's population will slowly be taken over by people who have no right to be here. It is seen many times on TV of high class people hiring lower class people to tend to their land or homes. In many cases the people hiring are fooled by the American citizenship obtained by these workers. It often happens that these workers are illegal immigrants and not only does it get them in trouble, but it also gets the high class people in a very sticky situation. Reputation is a very important thing to these people, who have worked hard to earn themselves the things they have. It is important that those who settle in this beautiful and majestic country keep our reputation as a "melting pot" on good terms.
The dream of having religious freedom is still there in many ways. You are free to practice any religion as long as it does not violate any laws.Many Americans still to this day make up their own religions and start their own churches. How ever as time has gone on there are many religions that are resented for example the Muslim religion. Since the terrorist attack of 9-11 many people have resented the Muslim race. There have been many protests about them building a mosque near ground zero. Also another religion that was criticized is Mormon. Where they practice polygamy. Polygamy is the having more than one wife and having children with all those wifes that religion is frowned upon in America and has had many issues with that religion. I still feel that religion is a freedom practiced in America. Many people are proud of this. It is one of the many reasons people to come to america. You are not forced to practice a religion or forced to give up your faith for your central ruler. This aspect is still part of the American dream and is still very much appreciated today.
I think the idea that the American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead relates best to my dad’s side of the family. My great-grandfather and grandmother were born and raised in Poland. World War I was happening, and if you hadn’t known, times were not the best for the country of Poland. The borders were constantly changing. This is why if you Google my last name, everything Russian pops up because of these border changes. Nobody was allowed to leave Poland either. My great grandfather and grandmother decided that they weren’t going to stand for that and snuck out of Poland on a boat and came to America. They ended up settling in a little mountain town of Larkesville, Pennsylvania. This area was already mostly populated by other Polish families so it was easy for my great-grandparents to fit in. Most of the men worked as miners in this area so my great-grandparents saw an opportunity. My great-grandparents were hard workers so they opened up a bar and when the miners came up for lunch, they would come to Ermak’s bar and eat free sandwiches made by my great-grandmother. Now you may ask how they made any money. Well, the sandwiches were free but of course the miners needed something to drink. So my great-grandfather would charge them on the alcohol they consumed. My great-grandparents saw the opportunity to make money off of the miners and took it. The bar was very successful and is still in business today. I feel that my great-grandparents story is a great representation of the American Dream.
My grandmother grew up in PA in a lower class society. As a kid she picked coal to help support the family. She was as young as 4 when she did this. my grandfather grew up in a low middle class living in a small home in MA. My grandparents met because my grandpa had joined the army and my grandma was a volunteer to help the soldiers. This all
took place during WWI and after the war they got married. They moved to Franklin MA where they began to become part of the middle class.They bought a two story house which my grandma had never lived in before. My grandpa opened a pharmacy and together they created the American Dream for their family. They were living in a home with a steady income coming in. They had three children and lived in the suburbs. They had moved up in the social ladder from lower class to
middle class. It was the perfect situation for all. Their three
children grew up. Two of them married off and started their own lives living contently in the middle class. The third married and invested a good amount of time into his job. It has made him apart of the upper class. Throughout the three generations my family was successful in climbing up the social latter. You could say that we are truly living the American Dream.
The topic that I would discuss would be that America rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead. I chose this because it reminds me of someone who had to put everything they had into having a good life and being able to provide for themselves and their family. The person this most reminds me of is my dad. When my dad was younger his family could not afford very much at all. Him and his four brothers and two sisters all had to share between two rooms and started working to help out the family when they were 15. My dad went into the navy when he was 19 and then got out and immediately started working a full time job. He had four daughters and him and my mom had to do their best to prvide for them and give us the life that neither of them ever had. My dad has always shown me that in order to make it through life and succeed you must work very hard and set goals with no limitations. My dad has worked hard his whole life to provide not for him but mainly for his family and because of this he has the chance to get ahead. For anyone who has had to work hard to get to where they are today this is true because it goes to show that when you really want something and you work hard for it then eventually you will get to that place you want to be.
The aspect I chose for this journal is #1 "America is an asylum, a refuge for Europe's poor and downtrodden". Throughout much of the 19th century Europeans came in droves to America looking for safety and freedom, things that were severely lacking in Europe. I had several relatives come over from Europe in the late 1800s from Poland and they worked hard and raised families and were able to lead mildly comfortable lives. However, nowadays this happens less and less. Now America is less a land of opportunity and more a land of desperation. There are less and less legal immigrants now but the number of illegal immigrants is skyrocketing. This shows however that too the extreme poor America is still a place where you can make money too support your family and yourself. Even though they have to perform difficult manual labor they find a way to make it in America if they are not deported. With the economy in shambles it is hard for normal people to get by and America is a lot less attractive for immigrants to come here and improve our society. Different cultures enrich our society and more cultures is not a bad thing, but should be celebrated and accepted.
I believe that certain aspects of the “American Dream” still live on to this day. A good example could be found within my own family. Both my mom and dad were from the Philippines. They, along with my grandparents and their brothers and sisters, did their best to come to America for a better lifestyle, especially for my mom’s side of the family. For them, I think both the thought of America being an asylum and that the American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead apply. My grandparents on my mom’s side lived in a small town in the Philippines. My grandfather was a farmer and my grandmother owned a little shop. They didn’t have a lot of money, but they were hard workers. My mom was one of eleven children. Since money was tight, they were each given one chance to go to school to receive an education, which means that there was no room for failure. The elder siblings, who finish school first, then apply to work overseas in America where they could make money to send back home to help pay for their younger siblings’ education. Eventually, each one of them was able to complete school and able to come to America. They came as poor, yet educated hard workers in hopes of creating a better lifestyle for themselves and their next generation. Now they are all successful people, provided that they were given many opportunities here in America, which they would have never gotten if they stayed in the Philippines.
For this journal I chose number three on the list, “The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead”. I chose this because it relates to someone in my life, my dad. My dad has always been a hard worker and admires what he does. He works for a branch off of PNC bank, and has almost his whole life. When we lived in New Jersey, the branch my dad worked for got bought and asked him to relocate to Delaware. After we moved and got settled in, my dad began working more and more. He would come home pretty late every night, but I knew it was because he had to work hard for us to live an easy life. I remember one time when I was about 6 or 7, my dad came home early and I said to him, “Daddy, why are you home, it’s light out”? This made my dad feel terrible. He then tried to come home earlier so he could spend more time with his family. Another way this relates to my life is just recently my dad’s company got bought by BYN Melon. When the company got bought my dad feared he would lose his job so he began working as much as he could. It got to the point where I would only see him for 10 minutes before I went to bed. Although it was difficult not having my dad around as much, it all paid off in the end because he now has a job with BYN Melon and can relax for a little.
2. The American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe is a true statement, which we, as Americans, are proud to say. My Uncle Bill is a good example of this because he is from Poland. He grew up in Poland and when he turned eighteen, he and his family moved to America. He knew almost no English, and had never been to America before. When he got all the same rights as every other citizen in America and were welcomed into their new home by everyone else who was living here. He had no problems fitting in, finding jobs, and having friends. Now, that he looks back at his decision he made to move to America, he is very happy he did it, and would not redo one thing. This shows that America has many different types of people by their, culture, religion, ethnics, etc. It also shows that the citizens of America are very welcoming people that do not judge who you are. That is why the American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe , because we have a a mix of different kinds of people from all over the world, especially Europe, and we welcome them into their new home, America.
Crevecoeur said that the American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe. I think we can all relate to that in the way that our families all came from different countries. They all came to America to find a job and to start a new life. My mom’s side of the family is from Italy and my dad’s side is from Poland. A long time ago my Dad’s side of the family came over from their country. Recently, my grandfather traced his family tree back to the early eighteen hundreds. He learned that our last name was Sklarewski and was later changed to Sklar when his grandparents came to America. He researched online and went to the library to find out what our last name meant. He later found out that Sklarewski means “glass maker” so we think that in Poland, my family were glass makers and apprentices. They could’ve come to America to contribute to the glass making industry here and start a new life. I think it’s cool that everyone’s families have a story of why they came to America and how their new life was started in the country called the “melting pot”.
“The American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe.” When I read this statement, I completely agree that America is a melting pot of culture, ideas, and races. I think that in almost every city and town there is a wide variety of cultures all living together. An example of someone that is a success story is Pasha Kambalov, my ballet teacher. He is from Russia, and has lived in the United States for a very long time. When Pasha was traveling with a ballet company in America, he decided to stay in America. Pasha spoke only a little bit of English, and didn’t eat real food for three days after he arrived because he was scared that the people working at restaurants wouldn’t understand him. Finally, Pasha got the courage to go order food, and began to speak better English. Even though he had a rough start, Pasha is now directing a ballet school in Delaware with his wife, Kristina. America being referred to as a melting pot is a very good way to describe this country, and my ballet teacher Pasha is living proof that many different cultures and backgrounds are living in America today.
When I read these five American dreams I thought of my Nani and Pop-pop. There life stories express at least three of these dreams. First my Pop-pop came from Poland. He was an infant and him and his family came to America through Ellis Island, along with many other immigrants. America was and still is today a melting pot. This country has always had many different races of people. So as my Pop-pop grew up he lived on his family's farm they were hard working people who came here with dreams to fulfill. Not only was America a melting pot of races but also religions. People had the freedom to practice whatever they wished. My Pop-pop’s family was all Catholics and my Nani’s family was all Protestant. Back then these two religions butted heads, however they put that aside and got married anyways. As a young couple my Nani and Pop-pop set off to have their own American Dream. To achieve this they started working immediately as a butler and maid for the DuPont family. Eventually they had enough money to buy a white picket fenced house and my Nani could be a stay at home mom, while my Pop-pop would go work on bridges in many states. They still live in this house today they worked hard for what they wanted in life and they achieved many things. This is why my Nani and Pop-pop are great examples of many of the American dreams.
My family was rewarded by the face that, “the American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe”. I have a very diverse background from where I come from, and if it wasn’t for America, my ancestors would have had life very hard. My ancestors from my mother’s side are from Germany and Czechoslovakia. When they came to America, they did not speak the language at all. When they arrived, they moved to a small town in New York where are the people from Czechoslovakia moved so they were more comfortable, and so they had others that spoke the same language they did. They were very fortunate for this. My father’s ancestors came from England, Ireland, Germany, and Poland. As you can see my father’s side came from very diverse countries. My ancestor’s are so glad they had a great country to turn to.
The question “Does the American dream still exist?” is completely opinionative and is often based off of a personal experience or perspective. From what I’ve seen I feel that the American dream definitely still exists, but is just harder to obtain as time goes on. Americans are continuously getting lazier but that dream is still there, just other people are working for it. And “working” for it is often misunderstood. People think that if they just work hard at what they do, then that dream should come to them. But it’s working hard towards the dream, working hard to get the requirements for that dream. Not just working hard at the job you have because that only goes so far.
I can’t recall any close friends that give a good example of this but I do always think of the “Pursuit of Happiness” when thinking of the American dream. A true story based off the life of Chris Gardner. Chris Gardner’s life story is impressive. Despite having never gone to college, and after a period of being homeless, he became a wildly successful stockbroker and millionaire. He is a perfect example of rags to riches story. Raising a son while being homeless himself, and then turning around to be one of the most successful people of his time. He shows that there still is an American dream.
America can be a spectacular and rewarding place… if you make the best of it. It offers many opportunities to get ahead with perseverance and hard work. For example, my great-grandmother was the daughter of a gentleman farmer. Her father supervised the farm and instructed the men to do labor. My great-grandmother was the 4th child and stayed home to take care of her younger siblings because her mother was mostly blind. She later got married and decided that she needed to make some extra money. She went to beauty school and thought that it would be a good idea to get into that business. Eventually, she was hired by a woman who owned a beauty salon. She thought that this was a good fit because her children could come there after school and there was no need for a babysitter. The owner of the shop eventually felt it was time to sell the shop and my great-grandmother decided to buy it. She hired two other women and ran the shop. My great-grandfather was a member of the House of Representatives and when he died, his wife ran for his seat. Even though she lost, her story overall is an example of how America can be a great place to get ahead and to be somebody. -Interviewed my grandmother.-
I believe that one of the major “deal breakers” that draws thousands upon thousands of people from Europe to America is the religious freedom that every American is entitled to. Here you can be Catholic, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish, or any other religion you can think of. You could even be a Pastafarianist, the belief in the Flying Spaghetti Monster, if you so choose. This religious freedom is a beautiful thing. It is a giant improvement from the forced practice of a certain religion in many, if not most European countries, especially during the building stages of this country. This freedom of religion in America shows, just within my family. Myself, my mom, and my brother, are all catholic. We go to a catholic church. My brother goes to a Christian school. I go to a catholic school, obviously. My dad, on the other hand, is not catholic. He is instead Greek Orthodox. His mother, my grandmother, was born in Greece, so that is why he picked up this religion from a very young age. Also, in my non-direct family, my aunt and uncle live in the south in North Carolina and attend an Episcopal church. The diversity of religion just within my own family shows how great this country, with a chance to achieve the American Dream as explained by de Crevecoeur, really is.
Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur said that America is a melting pot of people all from Europe. This is true about many to most of the population’s ancestors today. My Grandfather was born and raised in Italy. By the time he was a young adult, most of his family moved to Canada for better opportunities, although his father moved to America. He decided to move to Canada to be with his mother and grandparents although he would visit his father often in America. One trip to see his father, he met my grandmother. They had a long distance relationship because she lived in Penns Grove, New Jersey and he lived in Montreal, Canada. However, they were soon engaged and he urged my grandmom to go live with him in Canada. She refused. She said he was to come live with her in America or she would not marry him. After much thinking and many sacrifices, he decided to go live with her in America. Because he moved, so did about a quarter of his family in Montreal. They brought over their Italian traditions, ones that my grandmother and mother still follow today. On my father’s side, his ancestors came from Germany and England. Most of them came right after the revolutionary war. Because that was many generations ago, we do not follow their customs still in our house. I am proud of my ancestors because they moved here for new experiences and better lives. I do agree with Crèvecoeur’s theory that America is like a melting pot because I am living proof that it is true!
The journal I choose was journal number five, which said “Americans are the western pilgrims, bringing the best of Europe to this new land, and making it better. Americans are looked upon as leaders of the world.” This was true at that time and still some what true today. When ever something in the world goes wrong, a lot of nations look to us for leadership and guidance. I believe that America has gone off course. The most obvious fault is our economy. We have the worst economy in the world. Millions of people of people are out of jobs and are suffering from it. Another fault that we have is our pollution. We have some of the most distinguishing cities, with all the trash and pollution. We could become pioneers again. We could be pioneers for green energy and cleaner fuels, thus start helping starting to eliminate our carbon footprint on the planet. This could cause a chain effect. Many other countries would follow in our foot steps. We would be a symbol to other countries. There are many things that we could do to become leaders of the world again. We just got to be willing to get the ball rolling.
de Crevecouer referred to America as an “asylum, a refuge for Europe’s poor and downtrodden.” This aspect of the “American Dream” relates most to my grandfather. My grandfather came to America in his early adult life to have his shot at living the “Dream.” He was living in Ireland since his birth, and was working hard as a taxi driver, taking people to where they needed to be. He eventually became tired of his life in Ireland, and wanted something new. His cousin, who was then living in America, told him that he would be able to make twice as much money in a day, than he would make in a month if he moved to America. My grandfather decided to take his cousins advice and moved to America to fulfill the “American Dream.” He came to the United States, and soon found a job in a factory, where he was paid much more money than in Ireland. My grandfather then met a woman, who he eventually married, and is now my grandmother. My grandfather took advantage of the fact that America is an asylum. He married, started a family, and has prospered. He is still an example of the desire to live out the “American Dream.”
If you try to follow the American Dream, you will either end up as a successful person or failing at what you tried to achieve. My grandfather, Harry Simeone, followed the American Dream and ended up being a very successful person. His parents emigrated from Italy when he was a little kid and they were somewhat poor and had trouble to pay for everything they needed. This resembles the statement by deCrevecouer that says America is an asylum, or place of refuge. My grandfather was not the most obedient person and usually got into trouble and even got kicked out his high school for gambling. But he turned out to be a very successful man and now owns many properties in Delaware including Lantana Square in Hockessin. He is so wealthy that he pays for all of his grandchildren to go to school each year and always gives away money for charities and fund-raisers. He worked very hard to get the money he earned. That resembles statement two that says the American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead. He is a great role model to me and probably a lot more people and he deserves what he earned in his life.
The American Dream rewarded my Aunt Melissa, but it also failed her. For about 20 years, she worked in the pharmaceutical sales field. She made a sufficient amount of money to support herself and her two sons as a single mother. She was able to own a nice townhouse and put food on the table every night. She was also able to give her children a good education. About a year ago, she lost her job because of the economy. This is where the American economy failed her. The pharmaceutical sales field was deteriorating. She has had to cut back a lot, and just recently her unemployment money has run out. She has not been able to find a job; no matter how low paying it is because of the poor economy. This has changed the type of person she is. She used to be very independent and self-confident, and now she goes through short periods of depression sometimes because she is not able to provide for her kids anymore. My grandparents have helped her out with money, including rent for her new home. They watch her kids often when she is out looking for jobs. Hopefully, she will be able to find a job, and be able to provide at least minimal needs for her family.
The American Dream rewarded my Aunt Melissa, but it also failed her. For about 20 years, she worked in the pharmaceutical sales field. She made a sufficient amount of money to support herself and her two sons as a single mother. She was able to own a nice townhouse and put food on the table every night. She was also able to give her children a good education. About a year ago, she lost her job because of the economy. This is where the American economy failed her. The pharmaceutical sales field was deteriorating. She has had to cut back a lot, and just recently her unemployment money has run out. She has not been able to find a job; no matter how low paying it is because of the poor economy. This has changed the type of person she is. She used to be very independent and self-confident, and now she goes through short periods of depression sometimes because she is not able to provide for her kids anymore. My grandparents have helped her out with money, including rent for her new home. They watch her kids often when she is out looking for jobs. Hopefully, she will be able to find a job, and be able to provide at least minimal needs for her family.
Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur’s five ideas about the American dream are all true and make sense to me, but I think the most important one that still exists and relates to today’s time is number two that says “The American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe”. I could not think of a personal story or evidence that went along with this but it is personal in a way that most of us including me experience, america as a “melting pot” of people everyday. Ever since I was little I have been used to going out and seeing people of all different races, people that speak all differenet languages, and wear different things from different cultures. Most people in America come from different backgrounds and different places, not just europe like Guillaume Jean Crevecoeur’s idea, but people in America are from all different places in the world. When I am talking to others about where there ancestors are from and where there family originated I hear answers that prove that America is a place of all different people. My ancestors were Irish, Scottish, and German, this is just some evidence that people in American come from all over the world to experience the free world of america. We know that America is melting pot just by going to Ellis Island and seeing that there is a whole island dedicated to those that came from other places to live here in America.
Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur’s five ideas about the American dream are all true and make sense to me, but I think the most important one that still exists and relates to today’s time is number two that says “The American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe”. I could not think of a personal story or evidence that went along with this but it is personal in a way that most of us including me experience, america as a “melting pot” of people everyday. Ever since I was little I have been used to going out and seeing people of all different races, people that speak all differenet languages, and wear different things from different cultures. Most people in America come from different backgrounds and different places, not just europe like Guillaume Jean Crevecoeur’s idea, but people in America are from all different places in the world. When I am talking to others about where there ancestors are from and where there family originated I hear answers that prove that America is a place of all different people. My ancestors were Irish, Scottish, and German, this is just some evidence that people in American come from all over the world to experience the free world of america. We know that America is melting pot just by going to Ellis Island and seeing that there is a whole island dedicated to those that came from other places to live here in America.
When I hear of the phrase “America is a melting pot” it makes me think of my great grandparents. They cam here from northern southern Italy in hopes of finding a better life. When they first came here they spoke little English. On their arrival they had changed their last name from Loiudice to Lewis because they felt this would help them fit in with the American way. After years of hard work they were able to start a family and own their own home. Even though they had to change many things on their way to America they did not hide the fact that they were Roman Catholic. Since my great grandfather worked very hard he was able to put each of his 4 children through catholic school. The one son my great grandfather had felt so strong about his Italian heritage that he changed his last name back to his fathers given name which is Loiudice. They were rewarded with finding their dream of work and able to be with their family here in America. Looking back on this story it makes me think of the immigrants of today and how they are treated by the American people.
Part of de Crevecoeur’s notion of the American Dream states that “The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” This statement can be embodied by a family I know who started out in a small city outside of America three generations ago. There, they were a poor, hard working family, but they decided to move to the United States in hope of a brighter future. The family ended up in the city of Wilmington, Delaware, and here they started their new life as Americans. At first, their lives were difficult, and still they were poor. When their many children grew up, however, the second generation began to take advantage of the opportunities America had to offer them; things like education and good work and government service. It was hard at first, but slowly, the second generation of this family began to achieve their goals and make a living for themselves and make money for themselves and start their own families. Through hard work and smart choices, through college education and working up the ladder in smaller-scale communities (like in businesses) this family was able to climb out of the lower-class and rise into the upper-class for a brighter future in the United States, truly embodying the spirit of the American Dream.
"The economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead." While I couldn't quite think of a specific relative that this relates to, one important individual did come to mind: Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple Inc. Although he is now the executive of an extremely successful company, he had to go through some rough times to get to that position. He never actually graduated college, but instead dropped out a few months through, only to stick around as a drop-in. He was unsure about what he wanted to do in life but convinced himself that everything would work out. Every week he would collect bottle tops to turn in for money just to get food. When he dropped in on a calligraphy class, he discovered some of the most important information which lead to type faces on the Macintosh computers. Eventually, he started Apple Inc. with Steve Wozniak and created revolutionary concepts in his parent's garage. After years of hard work, the company went from just 2 guys working in a garage, to a multi-billion dollar, worldwide company. However, it wasn't easy to achieve this great success. Steve had to go through many hardships. He was actually fired from Apple Inc., but this turned out to be vital to the company's success. While no longer employed by Apple, Steve didn't just give up on his career, but instead created the companies Next and Pixar. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple ended up buying Next, and Steve returned to Apple. What Steve developed at Next, Apple used as the heart of their technology. Apple Inc. might never have existed if Steve Jobs just completely gave up when he dropped out of college. Instead, he strived to still work hard to figure out what he was meant to do in life. Luckily for him, he figured out early, when he dropped in on the calligraphy class. From then on, he worked incredibly hard to achieve his life goals, which is why he has become one of the most successful men in the world.
Source: http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ho-Jo/Jobs-Steve.html, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc
For this journal I chose number two which said that American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe. I feel that this was correct then and is still correct now. Our society is made up of people from all different nationalities, you name it and they are in the country somewhere. There are still people immigrating both legally and illegally today. The statue of liberty on Ellis Island had a plaque on it that said "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." This showed that we were accepting of people from everywhere and we did that. In modern days, it is hard to find one person with one nationality, there is people in our society that have 10 nationalities which is a perfect example of America being a melting pot.
The one part of the American Dream that I would like to further explain is when he says that the American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead. Although we would all hope that those who work hard and struggle to succeed and go far in life, this is not always the case at all. In fact, I know many tragic stories of people who are well-off with a family and children with a great job going for them, and are suddenly suffering because the economy is going under. For example, my aunt could be known as a hard working American who constantly dedicated most of her days to her job. She earned every bit of her money that she received, and even if it wasn’t the most high paying job, she still felt very fortunate. Just recently this past year, my aunt lost her job at the CT Corporation. Since she was divorced from her husband and had no one else to support her, she was faced with the scary realization that she no longer had any way of making money. Many questions raced through her mind at the time, such as: how am I going to keep my house and pay my bills?; what did I ever do so wrong to deserve this kind of punishment? The first person who she contacted was my family. In utter shock at the situation, we were more than willing to take her into the comfort of our house and help her get through the rough times that were ahead of her. It was hard for me to believe that one of my close family members who had set so many goals and aspirations for herself, had all of a sudden lost everything she had just because the effect of one thing. Sure, I had heard stories of the same reoccurring thing happening in the past, but I would have never thought it would happen in my family. It made me better comprehend the hard times we are having in our country at this time, and that our crumbling economy is having a major effect on the lives of individuals everywhere.
For this journal I chose to write about the second topic, "the American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe." I'm an example of this because I'm a mixture of five different countries. I'm Hungarian, Irish, German, French and English.
On my dad's side my one set of great-grandparents came to America from England. However, my great-grandmother was originally from France. Once in America they moved to Delaware and had four children, one of them being my grandfather. The other set of grandparents met in America. My great-grandmother came from Hungary and my great-grandfather came from Ireland. They had three children, one being my grandmother, and then moved to Pennsylvania.
On my mom's side of the family my one set of great- great-grandparents both were born and raised in Ireland. They were childhood friends and grew up together. They both moved to America together and got married sometime later. They had three children, one of them being my great-grandmother. My other set of great-grandparents didn't meet each other until later in their lives. My great-grandmother came to America from Germany and was already married at the time. After her husband passed away, she met my great-grandfather who came to America from Ireland. They married and had two children, one of them being my grandfather.
Even though they all came from different places in Europe, they all had the same goal. They all wanted to have their children grow up in a country that gave you so much freedom and a lot of rights. Each one of them held onto jobs and cared for their family. They also helped contribute to America and helped form it into the melting pot it's known as today.
The aspect that I would like to talk about is the one where he says the hard working get a chance to get ahead. This comment is very true, but then it is also not so true. Many people today in the United States work very hard and very long and still may not get ahead in the economy. I can realate this to an uncle I have who is an amazing idol of mine because he is such a hard worker but sometimes it seems like he never gets a break in life. This person works about five to six days a week and leaves home early and comes back home late. He has a beautiful family and his life was going great for him until the economy started going down hill. He has three kids, triplets, who are three years old and the coolest kids in the world. I know he wakes up every day and does his best to provide for them. My uncle is the type that will do everything in her power and work as hard as he can to make sure his family is being provided for. It's not like everything is really bad to the point that they are desperate but he had a great job and then got layed off, so he got a new job he didnt like very much and then got layed off again and now he is working pretty far away from home. he gets to work early and has to leave very late. it's just hard to see a family member go through this because they try so hard to play it off like nothings wrong. I think America is definitely a land of opportunities but sometimes they don't always come when you want them too no matter how hard you work.
The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead. This aspect relates to my uncle partially. My uncle was a very hard worker and he had a very good job. Up until a few years ago, he was laid off. It was a shock that he was fired because he was a very hard worker and he strived to do his best in whatever he was doing and especially work. During the time where he had no job, it was very hard for him to support his family. We, my family and I, pitched in to help him with his needs. Last year, he managed to get a job. It wasn't a job that he particularly liked but it made him the money that he needed to support his family. The American economy for the most part rewards people who work hard, but for some people the economy fails to reward people and it is very unfortunate.
The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead. This aspect relates to my uncle partially. My uncle was a very hard worker and he had a very good job. Up until a few years ago, he was laid off. It was a shock that he was fired because he was a very hard worker and he strived to do his best in whatever he was doing and especially work. During the time where he had no job, it was very hard for him to support his family. We, my family and I, pitched in to help him with his needs. Last year, he managed to get a job. It wasn't a job that he particularly liked but it made him the money that he needed to support his family. The American economy for the most part rewards people who work hard, but for some people the economy fails to reward people and it is very unfortunate.
The aspect of deCrevecouer's dream that I would like to talk about is: America is an asylum; a refuge for Europe's poor and downtrodden. This aspect of his dream rewarded my family because my grandfather came to America with his family when he was 11 during World War II. My great grandfather had decided to take the chance of not making it to America alive just so his wife and kids could live the best life they possibly could, because they could not achieve this while living in the Ukraine. I once asked my grandfather about their journey from the Ukraine to America and I was shocked to find out all the danger they went through just to get to America. That made me realize that European countries seriously did look at America as a place of shelter from danger and hardship, or as deCrevecouer put it an asylum. If it were not for America being this asylum then truth be told that I would not be alive to write this journal entry because the best thing that ever happened to my grandfather, meeting my grandmother, could not have happened if Tato (my great grandfather) did not decide to turn to his asylum, America.
The one aspect that I can relate to the most is "The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead." Many people who do work hard get ahead, but others work hard all their lives and get nowhere. As for my mom's friend, she was not so fortunate. She worked for a big manufactoring company most of her life. Many times we invited her to parties at my house, but she would never show up because she had to work. She would never call out unless it was completely neccessary. She was very dedicated to her job. As everyone knows, the economy has not been so good. Many people lost their jobs, and still are losing their jobs due to the economic slump. The company she worked for was forced to let many people go because they could not afford to pay them anymore. To her surprise, she lost her job after so many dedicated years to the company. She had been such a loyal worker for so long and did not expect that to happen. She is still struggling to find a new job. This just goes to show, the economy doesn't always reward people. Many people are actually suffering and need jobs. The aspect of" The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead" could possibly stand true in the future. As for now, many people are trying to save all the money they can get before they lose their jobs too.
The idea I chose was ‘The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.’ Right when I read this, I knew exactly who’s story would fit in the category; my mom’s friend, Mrs. Smith. She grew up in a very structured house hold with her two brothers where there were rules for pretty much anything. All three of them were kicked out of their house when they turned eighteen. Their parents sent them out in the world to fend for themselves. Mrs. Smith was the last of her siblings to leave the house hold, and she did the only thing that she could think of- she got married. Together her and her husband got by paycheck to paycheck. They had two children and were able to put both of them through college. However, through all of this Mrs. Smith wasn’t able to have an education for herself. But after her children graduated college she went to school. She worked harder than she’s ever worked in her life, but in the end she got earned a well-deserved masters degree. Right now she’s currently a third grade teacher working on her second masters degree, while still happily married. However, her brothers weren’t as lucky. They weren’t as driven to have a good life for themselves; therefore, they didn’t work as hard and didn’t end up with as many opportunities. This just proves that hard work pays off in the long run and nothing is handed out on a silver platter. I believe this part of the American Dream is still alive and I hope that it continues to be.
The idea that I would like to talk about is that the American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead. I think this statement is very true. My aunt and uncle were two stubborn teenagers when they were young and didn’t really care about their grades when they were in high school, but once they went to college a light bulb turned on and they decided to work hard so they could get a good job. Once they graduated college they got married and had two kids. My uncle is very good at spending his money wisely so he saved and saved so he could start his own company and support his family. While my uncle was working on starting his own company my aunt became a realtor. A few years later my uncle started his company which is now very successful and my aunt is one of the top realtors in pa. They own three homes and are very successful. This shows that if you work hard and save your money wisely you will achieve and do great things.
The one idea of deCrevecouer's Dream that I would like to talk about is “the American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” This is so true in America. In other countries you are born into a social class and you’re locked in for life. Here in America you can work your way up in this society. You may start low in the working class but people who work harder get rewarded! You get promoted in jobs. People even get so good at working that they start their own business and they are at the top! That’s the best it gets and you can get there with a little hard work! The financial system of America is good to those who work and the people who try to get ahead! This idea rewards the hardworking Americans in most cases. My cousin went to Guatemala over the summer and she got to see all the hardworking people there who still live in poverty. They can work hard but still not have a life as a good as the hard workers in America! They lived in small houses that were pretty much huts. These people lived a third world country where even just working hard cant get you ahead enough to have a good life.
Guillaume de Crèvecoeur was a French immigrant from the eighteenth century who wrote about the American Dream. The American Dream is all about the hope and promise of America. De Crèvecoeur had many different ideas about America, and one of them is that the american society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe. This statement is very true and it applies to my family as well. My grandmother and grandfather are both 100% polish and both of their parents are from Poland. Their families had heard of the American dream and hoped of a better life for their family. Some of them were lucky enough to get on a ship and come to the new world, but others were not as lucky. You see, they were not able to take their whole family with them, so some had to stay behind. Once they arrived at the new world, they made themselves at home and became true americans, while still holding onto their polish herritage. Thousands of other people, from all over the world, had heard of the new world and wanted to give their families a better life. This is how America became known as a melting pot, because it is made up of so many different people from all over the world.
The aspect that I am going to journal about is the aspect about the American economy rewards the hard worker. My father is a small business owner and he has handful of Mexicans working for him. He always talks about what hard workers they are and their hard work is rewarded with a distant salary. In Mexico their income would not be as much because the economy in Mexico is not as strong as the American economy so their hard work would not be rewarded with a disant pay like it would be in America. Now for my dad on the other hand the American econemy does not really reward him. He always complains that he pays a lot of taxes for his business and him personally. Now I understand that we all have to pay taxes but my dad shared the stats with me and its convincing that he does overpay. So my dad is not one that get rewarded by the American economy. So to say that the American economy rewards the hard worker is not entirely true
The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead. That couldn't be more true. My mother came over here not knowing a word of the english language, but was determined to make life easier for my sisters and I. She started off working at a hotel as a maid because that was the only job she could get at the time. Due to hard work and ambition, she landed herself a job as a nail stylist because she always had a knack for doing nails and designing nails. After years of hard work for others, she went to finally saved up enough money to start her own nail salon. This is a story about how oneself can work their way from having a boss to being their own boss. She taught me that it doesn't matter where you start off, all that matters is where you end up. You could say that she started at the bottom of the ladder of success, but she knew she wanted better for herself and for my sisters and I. Because she wanted us four to be successful in life, that pushed her to work harder to get to the top of the ladder of success to show us that if "mommy can do it, so can you guys."
“The American economy rewards the harder worker with a chance to get ahead.” This statement may have been true at the time it was made. However, in today’s society it is far from true. My mother’s friend mother’s friend is a complete workaholic. He is in his forties, married, and has two kids. They lived in a nice house and he was making a decent living. He had a lot of money in stocks which he lost when the economy went bad. Later he lost a substantial amount of his salary because of the company cutting costs. The amount of work he put in had nothing to do with the financial situation he is finding himself in right now. Hard work may have guaranteed success at one point in time, but there are a lot of factors that come into play now and the statement “The American economy rewards the harder worker with a chance to get ahead.” is no longer true.
I think I can relate my step grandfather to the third aspect of the dream. That being, “The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” My step grandfather came to America from Sicily with his Mother, Father, Two sisters, and two brothers and with them not being economically sound people to begin with, they did no make out very well. But things made a turn for the better when my step grandfather open his very own produce stand at the farmers market in New Ark and worked his way up from his small poor beginnings to the produce stand at the farmer’s market and now he is a proud owner of his very own produce store called Vince’s Produce, named after him of course, and has become quite successful in the produce business. He started with poor beginning not only in Sicily but in America as well but overcame those odds and made a great life for himself because his hard work and commitment was rewarded by this American economy which, as de Creveocoeur said, rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.
Many people came over to American and basically started a new life there. People came over here for many reasons, and some became very successful in what they did, but others did not do as well as they planned. The one aspect that I would like to talk about is the American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead. This aspect relates to my family because my mom’s pop-pop came from Sicily to America and made a great fortune. His family moved here to America in Philadelphia after his fourth grade year. He did not go back to school once they moved here and he taught himself. He was one of nine children, eight of them being boys. My great-grandfather had to leave his family once he could and find his own place. He needed money to pay for his own place and for school, so he drove an all black bus. My great-grandfather and one of his brothers made a store called California Fruit Store. All of his brothers learned the same thing and all had fruit stands. In every block there was a Fruit Store by one of the Cutrona brothers. Out of all of his brothers, he and his brother Tony made the most fortune and were both wealthy men. They worked very hard and in the end they got what they deserved. They both went on with their lives owning the California Fruit Store and had their own family. This perfectly shows an example of deCrevecouer’s third aspect because my great-grandfather worked hard and was rewarded with a chance to get ahead.
For my family America is an asylum. I am what they sometimes call a "mutt". My family's ancestors all came from different countries, those being Ukraine, Poland, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Austria, and a few others. They all came for a change and to get away from their countries. For example my grandmother's parents came from Poland and Ukraine on a boat because their cities were being attacked. There was a ship coming to America from Poland, and America was always thought of as an escape land and place so they went on the ship and came to America and began their life in Scranton Pennsylvania. My mom's side of the family has all come from Scranton except for my mom and her four sisters and brother. but for the rest of my ancestors America was always seen as a place to go to be free, which is the main reason they left their countries.
The “American Dream” is still alive in many ways. You can come from nothing and somehow become a successful person. The topic that I want to talk about is number 2 “ The American society is a melting pot of people all over Europe.” Today it is still a melting pot but of all different continents not only Europe. I would like to consider my family as a melting pot. My grandma is Spanish and my grandfather was French. My mom is a mixture of Spanish and French. My aunt, three uncles, and my mom were all born in the United States but didn’t grow up in the U.S. Another uncle I have was born in Turkey. My grandma lived in the Philippines and grandfather lived in Prairie du Chien Wisconsin. My grandma and grandfather met at St. Mary’s University, she was a student and he was a teacher. At the time my grandma was a widow with two kids. They got married and had four more kids. Throughout my mom’s childhood she lived in many different places like: Japan, Portugal, Singapore, Morocco and Puerto Rico. She would stay in these places for about two years then move from place to place taking all different cultures with her. She didn’t settle in the United States till she was 17 because her dad was dying. When she got me I grew up with many different cultures. To add to our French and Spanish family is me the Asian one and my step-father who is Irish and French Canadian. Together we make our own family melting pot.
The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead. This is one of Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur’s aspects of the American Dream. This statement reminded me of my grandmom and how tough her life was. My grandmom was raised in a family of six kids and she was the youngest. She often had to to do a lot of things on her own and she had to become very mature at a young age. My grandmom grew up during the Great Depression therefore much her life was full of sadness and hardships. Her mother died when she was only fifteen causing her to do many things for herself. Her father didn’t pay much attention to her due to the fact that she was the youngest and soon enough, he died as well. My grandmom was not able to go to a lot of schooling in her life nor go to college. She had to fend for herself in the tough economy and things were really rough for her. Luckily, my grandmom met my grandpop who worked on the railroad making good money. They soon got married and my grandmom was able to also get a job at the railroad working with my grandpop. As they worked hard, the economy rewarded them with more money they needed to survive. They eventually also had six children and because of all the years they worked, they were able to support their family in the rough economy. My grandpop is now dead and my grandmom now lives on his pension. The money he earned from working is now allowing her to keep her home, her clothes, and to buy food she needs to survive in our rough economy.
I have decided to write about this so called gift “The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” This is not at all true. In fact it might just be the opposite. Back then it might have made sense to some people. But now a day that would barely make sense at all. A hard working American can sometimes get nothing now. This example is not personal. There are many rich people in America today; we actually have some of the richest people in the world here. But all those people worked hard to get where they are, just as a mere homeless person can bring themselves up from nothing and become a modern citizen with a family and a house. But the difference between these two is that because the very rich are so rich they can get other very rich people to help them become richer, and most of them don’t care how that affects others. Someone like Barack Obama could ask bankers to start foreclosing on houses so that there can be more money for him to spend on things such as the army and census. But just as he worked very hard to become President, he could take everything from that person that worked very hard their whole life to get out of a rut they were in, such as being homeless.
The idea I want to talk about is how America is a melting pot. This part of the American Dream is something that affects alot of American families in today's society. This includes my family from my father's side, who moved from Ukrane. My great grandparents moved from Ukrane, to avoid the Bolshevik revolution that was occuring at that time. They didn't know each other when they moved to America. They didn't meet until after they went through Ellis Island and moved to New Jersey. After meeting in New Jersey they moved to Hastings, Pennsylvania, where they got married and gave birth to my grandfather. That is also where my grandfather met my grandmother. They lived there until my grandfather had difficulty finding work. My grandparents moved to Newark, Delaware, where my grandfather worked at the Chrysler plant for 30 years. They had 5 children, who for the most part were born in Delaware, including my father. If it weren't for the fact that America is a large melting pot, I may not have ever been born. The fact that America is so culturally accepting is the very reason that I am alive today, and I am become more thankful that America is the way it is, despite the flaws.
A person I know and that a lot of people know thanks to the movie The Blind Side is the professional football player Michael Oher. I would consider Michael Oher to be living the American dream. Michael’s mother was a serious alcoholic and was addicted to cocaine and his father was usually in prison. During his first nine years of school Michael attended 12 different schools. Michael spent his sophomore year of high school in Briarcrest Christian School where he was the ranked the #5 lineman prospect in the country. Oher was mostly in and out of foster homes until his junior year when Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy took Michael in and eventually adopted him. They hired him a tutor that he worked with 20 hours a week to try to improve his grades so he could play football in college. Michael succeeded with his grades and attended The University of Mississippi. He was then picked 23rd overall in the NFL draft.
The American economy rewards the hard worker is the deCrevecouer idea I am going to write about. My Dad is the example I will use. My Dad has always been an extremely hard worker. At age 12, he was he had two paper routes – a morning and evening route. In High School, he worked evening jobs one or two nights a week to earn spending money. While in college, we worked every summer and also joined the Army ROTC program. He received a full college scholarship from the Army ROTC program which helped fund his college. While in college, my Dad worked very hard at earning good grades, especially during his junior and senior years. As a result of this hard work, he was selected to become an Army Helicopter pilot. He has continued to work hard and as a result has developed quite an impressive resume. Highlights include 2 Master Degrees, numerous certifications, a pilot’s license, and senior managerial jobs. He currently serves part time as a Lieutenant Colonel in the National Guard while working full time at CSC as a Business Management Director. Our family is financial stable due to my Dad’s work and by all accounts we are living the American Dream. House, cars, private school, and nice vacations are all attributable to my Dad’s hard work.
3. The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.
Sometimes working hard, doesn't get you anywhere. There are some people who work their hardest and just have bad luck. When my great grandfather and great grandmother came over from Greece, they were the only ones from their family to be able to come over seas. He tried his hardest to make it better for his family in America and to help his family back in the town they grew up in. He worked his hardest by opening a resturant and earning enough money to buy a house, and to even send money back to one of his family members in Greece. My greatgrandparents were able to raise a family and send a lot more money back to their hometown. Their genourosity towards everyone built up their credibilty and theirresturant became very successful.
For this blog entry i choose to write about number two. which is " The American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe." there are many different cultures, traditions, and diverse backgrounds. In my family on one side of the family we come from Germany and on the other side we are polish and 1% native american. we have many different foods that we eat and traditions.My great great great grandparents lived Germany. IN the world there are so many people with different backgrounds and history in there family. i agree with saying the american society is like a melting pot, i don't come from a lot of different ethnic groups , but i know people that are. In america its nice to have a diversity of cultures. for example if you wanted Chinese food, there are tons of different Chinese restaurants, or if u wanted Italian theres tons of italian restaurants. In other countries you have one culture and you can't have a mixture and combination of all the cultures like you can in america . we are like a melting pot. we have a little bit of every culture. Chinese, German, Italian , indian, and so many more diverse cultures. i feel lucky to live in america where i can get all of that. not just one culture of traditions.
I have a story about the social mobility in America. My father started out in a wealthy family who rudely cut him off the day he graduated high school. So, my father decided the best way to make money was to open his own business. He sold railroad ties which he got for free and sold for a major profit. after a year in that business he found out that he was somewhat crafty and became a Carpenter. During this transitional period my father went to collage at the university of Delaware and obtained a degree in business. He then opened 3-D fabrication with a partner named Gerome. Then as time went on and the profit margin grew Gerome proved that he was not nearly as dedicated as my father so my dad bought Gerome out of his share in the business and made 3-D a well oiled cabinet making machine. He then went on to grow 3-D into one of the largest carpenter shops in the area. He did this by making friends in Doupont and many other local dynasties. Today 3-D is a multi-million dollar business. Today, in fact, 3-D is working on a 2.5 million dollar job with Doupont. So as my story aptly demonstrated, America is still a very social mobile society.
The aspect of America being an asylum for Europe’s poor and downtrodden couldn’t be more true for my grandfather. When he came here he had very little. He was a poor twenty year old Italian man. He and his brothers made the trip to Delaware. He was here for a few years before he joined the Army. Then when the conflict in Vietnam escalated my grandfather fought in the war. When he returned he began work in a steel mill. He worked in that mill until a few years ago when he retired. My grandmother also came here from Italy. She came when she was fourteen years old. She came here with her two sisters and one brother. She wasn’t dirt poor when she came. She went to school here and then went on to work at St. Frances’ hospital. The both of them came from barely anything but worked hard and have lived a good life so far.
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