The American Dream: Alive or Dead

You remember the American dream. It was the hope that everyone can get ahead in America, that your kids will attain more prosperity than you.

It was the certitude that in America, anyone is free, with a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Take the following survey, noting the question that YOU CONSIDER to be most important in determining whether the American Dream is alive or dead.  Also consider the question YOU CONSIDER to be least important in determining whether the American Dream is alive or dead.

American Dream Survey: Wamogo High School

Next, take a look at the following slides and decide which slide reveals the most COMPELLING information about the state of the American Dream.

National American Dream Survey RESULTS

Write a response to the question: 

Is the American Dream alive or dead?  Use evidence from the slideshow and your survey to support your response.  Minimum 100 words.  Must include a specific reference to the slides.

Which Gatsby character are you?

Take the following Gatsby quiz to find out which Gatsby character you are.
Post your results and discuss your character, what makes you most like this character.
Do you agree or disagree with the character you were given?  Why/Why not?

LINK TO SURVEY

Does Gatsby achieve the American Dream?

      James Truslow Adams, writing in The Epic of America (1931), coined the term “The American Dream,” and said this:

“The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”

The Great Gatsby has long been considered “a novel about the American Dream.” Considering and drawing from the definition above, write an response arguing why or why not Jay Gatsby’s story is, in fact, about the American Dream. Use many examples from the novel to support your assertions.

Gatsby's Mission Statement

Gatsby's mission statement

Most companies and organizations have mission statements. 
For example, Google says this: “Google’s mission is to organize 
the world‘s information and make it universally accessible and 
useful.” What do you think Gatsby’s mission statement would 
be? Write it and explain why you chose that statement. If you 
have time, write similar mission statements for Nick, Daisy, 
Tom, and/or any other characters.

TRUE OR FALSE: Respond to TWO student generated Mission Statements
Locate a passage FROM THE NOVEL to support or refute the Mission Statements of TWO classmates.
Complete credit will only be given for passages that are 
1.  Introduced with CONTEXT.
2. Properly BLENDED and CITED
3. ANALYZED--how does the passage support or refute the Mission Statement.

Review Blogger Chapters 5 and 6

Choose 1 of the following prompts and write a post using EVIDENCE from the chapter.

(1) Reread the paragraph near the end of Chapter V that begins with “As I went over to say good-by. . . .” What elements in this paragraph indicate that the American Dream, or at least Gatsby’s dream, is flawed?

(2) A saddening scene takes place near the end of Chapter VI when Tom Buchanan and his friends ride on horseback over to Gatsby’s. Describe the scene in detail, and assert what disheartening thing Fitzgerald is trying to show in it.

(3) What does Nick see as he looks at the party “through Daisy’s eyes,” and what conclusions does he come to by doing this?   How does her reaction influence your opinion of her?  Why do you think she reacts this way?

Money Personality Quiz

This quiz will show you which of five major money personality types most closely matches your own tendencies: Hoarder, Spender, Money Monk, Avoider, or Amasser. (If you're the sixth type — Money Worrier — you already know it!) Bear in mind that each type has both good qualities and shortcomings, and that most people are in fact a combination of types. This isn't a statistically valid survey, of course — just a way to help determine which money types prevail in your makeup. For each of the 20 statements in the quiz, choose the answer that strikes you first as being closest to your attitude.

Once you get your results write a blog post agreeing or disagreeing with their findings.  Be sure to identify your money tendency and explain why you agree or disagree.  

Quiz Link

Musical Exploration of The American Dream

Dreams, goals, plans. Every person envisions a particular future filled with success.

These dreams are products of upbringing, background, history, place, personality, and experiences.

For most people, many of these dreams will be realized while others will not come to fruition.

The American Dream has changed over the years.

What the first immigrants envisioned no longer holds true for modern day Americans.

But the basic goals still remain—love, happiness, success, freedom—these constitute the lasting American Dream.

How is the American Dream represented in the following 

songs?  CHOOSE ONE SONG and describe HOW the American

 Dream is represented...what view of the American Dream is 

depicted?

Which dreams are realistic and which are unrealistic?

Match the characters from The Great Gatsby to the song 

that best represents them.  Use LINES from the lyrics in your response.