Jay Rosen

When people hear the term American Dream, many think of success, goals, and opportunity. As a country alone, America is routinely correlated with the possibility that one can thrive and create a way of life for themselves that wouldn’t be attainable anywhere else. As proven by a number of new immigrants, success is surely possible in America. However, according to Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of Between the World and Me, the dream is an ongoing challenge in present day. Coates claims that the…

Hillbilly elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis (J.D.Vance,2016), is a part autobiography and part of social issues around J.D. Vance. He is a real-world “rags to riches” success story, which many dream of achieving. Many refer to it as the American Dream. He explains how he escaped poverty while people near areas of Appalachia still remained in poverty. Poverty and substance abuse are the chief reasons why the American Dream is out of the reach of many “hillbillies” or rural, white…

In the book Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro, Tandoori Angel, also known as Tandy, is a whip-smart teenager who lives in New York City. She has three brothers: Harry, Tandy’s twin brother, Matthew, Tandy’s famous football star brother, and Hugo, a ten year old with an uncanny strength. Her parents Malcolm and Maud, own a company called Angel Pharmaceuticals, and are one of the most well known people across the world. One night in their penthouse, her parents…

Greed and Wealth: Connections between A Doll’s House and “The Rocking-Horse Winner” Most people have this fascination for money. Sometimes it gets so bad that it consumes a person. Nora and Hester, in the works A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen and “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D. H. Lawrence respectively, both struggle with greed. Nora’s fascination with money sheds light on Hester’s lust for wealth. While both characters are avarice, Nora becomes less greedy as the plot progresses, whereas…

Adrian Ghilardi Mr. Dwyer AP English 29 August 2017 Zeitoun Summer Reading Essay Writer David Eggers, in his nonfiction work Zeitoun, retells the experience of one family before, during and after Hurricane Katrina. Eggers’ purpose is to accurately retell the story of the Zeitoun family, as well as offer insight and bring up discussions on the American political climate post-9/11. The tone of the two primary speakers, Abdulrahman Zeitoun and his wife Kathy, fluctuate between concise and…

In an early 1700’s newspaper, The Spectator, the author Joseph Addison creates a diarist of the upper class. The fabricated author shows off the lavish lifestyle of the affluent back then in an attempt to connect with the common rich citizens reading the paper. On the outside that is how it may appear, however, being a clearly satirical piece the real aim is at making fun of these people’s lifestyles and the sheer pointlessness of the lifestyles. The diarist goes through almost an entire week of…

American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter, Cormac McCarthy has received numerous positive reviews and awards for his realism that is found in his portrayal of a post-apocalyptic America in The Road. Instead of having the plot drive the story, McCarthy focuses on the daily struggles of the protagonists: a father and his son. Nevertheless, McCarthy creates verisimilitude through the exploration of his character's emotions. Having the characters become the main focus of the novel strengthens…

In 1891, Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler debuted at the Residenzentheater in Munich, Germany. Hedda Gabler has been adapted to screen several times since it's original 1891 run, though the majority of English translated versions remained televised adaptations. The most notable stage to screen adaptation is the 1975 remake which was adapted and directed by Trevor Nunn and stared Peter Eyre, Patrick Stewart, Glenda Jackson as the titular character. This version garnered critical acclaim from the New…

The Importance and Significance of Geography in The Great Gatsby Geography plays a very important part in the novel The Great Gatsby. There is the significance of East and West Egg, places that are similar in the fact that, for the most part, only very wealthy people live there. Also, the people there very entitled. They are very different in almost every way besides that.There is also the middle ground that is the Mid-west, which is completely different from both the East and the West. The…

Achieving the American dream was the main goal in the 1920’s, and still is today. The American dream is the ideal life of freedom consisting of opportunity. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it shows how this idea had been distorted. The concept of having opportunity had been changed into the concept of obtaining wealth. By focusing too much on materialistic values, Myrtle and Gatsby had a corrupt understanding of the American dream therefore, never achieving it and making it hopeless.…