the american dream

The American Dream is what defines this country, the United States, as the land of opportunity. The American Dream is searching for a better life, sometimes not only for ourselves but also for our future generations. For example, working hard to succeed and offer our family and children what we were not able to accomplish at their age. The American Dreams never ends because, suppose a family is well established and recognized in our society, as human beings we always want more, we always want to reach the top, to be the best. This idea goes for every class being lower, working, middle, or upper class.
The American Dream, definitely, can still be achievable today. Some people might say it isn’t because the rich keep getting richer and the poor poorer, but, to my understanding, it is possible with hard work and determination rather than connections and inheritance. There are facts supporting this idea. School professor, business owners, immigrants, and other people who start from the lowest level and succeed are examples.

Readers Response

I agree with Garland’s point that high schools should be required to wear uniforms. One of the reasons is that it would avoid several problems. First high school students would be easily recognized inside and outside of campus. School officials would have an easier time distinguishing students who do belong to the school from those who are there just to hurt others or cause problems. Secondly, making a school policy requiring wearing school uniforms could save some parents’ money, especially those of low income. Schools seem to be fashion places of competition instead of a place of learning. Some students are constantly pressured by their peers to buy the newest and expensive shoes and clothes. Sometimes it becomes their main focus and getting distracted from their studies. Finally, some teenagers worry too much on what they are going to wear fro school. Some of them even get their matching clothes ready the night before. This causes distraction from their studies because some are just focused on outside looks.

“How They Got You to Do That”

After reading “How They Got You to Do That,” I recognized that I am sometimes influenced by a few of the persuasion techniques listed in the essay. The techniques that apply to me the most are reciprocity, social validation, and scarcity. I think that most of us are influenced by reciprocity techniques because as a society we are taught to pay back favors. For example, every time a friend gives me a ride to school I feel that I must do something I return. What I end up doing is inviting her for lunch or paying for her gas. Social validation comes mostly with school reading assignments. Sometimes when I am asked by an instructor to read an essay and I do not understand the task, I tend to believe what most people say and think about the subject. For that reason I believe I am persuaded by social validation, because someone else does the thinking for me. Every time I get the mail advertisements I feel that I must buy something because the stores seem to have very good specials. What I most persuade to buy is shoes and electronics. For these three reasons I fell that I am mostly persuade by reciprocity, social validation, and scarcity persuading techniques.

The Most Hateful Words

Most people think of failure as a negative experience but other think of it as an opportunity to grow as a person. First, when people face failure, it helps them to not make the same mistakes again. For example, when a similar situation comes, one knows how to act so things come out better. Secondly, most people face failures because they want to accomplish a task by their own means, but after they learn it does not work, sometime they learn to seek for help. For instance, seeking for help reduces the people’s pride to accomplish something on their own and forces them to look someone to give the m a hand. Finally, people become wiser and mature after a failure. To illustrate, when they reflect on the consequences of their actions, they learn a lesson. As a result, they become wise and mature experienced people. Therefore, it is good to not relate failure with something negative because it can also have positive effect on people.

Obesity

Obesity is a huge problem faced by the American society. After reading this essay interesting argument essay “” I learned there are at least three factor – lack of exercise, electronic entertainments, and fast food consumption- leading to obesity. Along with these factors, I also discovered some helpful solution to the problem. First, I learned that most people, of all ages, do not get enough exercise. For example, decades ago people used to walk around their neighborhoods, go to the park, bike or skate, but they do not do it any more. Instead, they stay home to watch TV, which brings us to the second cause of obesity. Also decades ago, kids did not have as much electronic entertainment as they do today. For instance, today’s kids have easy access to many TV channels, DVD players, Internet, and video games. Instead of going outside to play, they stay in their houses playing with their electronic toys which do not require any physical activity. That is the second reason why they get heavy. Finally and most importantly, obesity is cause by the increasing sizes of meals in fast food restaurants. To illustrate, these restaurants do not provide a healthy nutrition but salts, fats, and sugars. In addition, these restaurants, in one large serving, contain almost twice the amount of calories needed daily. The solution to the problem can be taking some time for a daily exercise, reducing the time of inactivity, and having a healthy diet, that means, reducing the intake of fast foods.

Rudeness

Watching Julia’s rude attitude makes it clear that she does not know how to relate with others. There are three real life events that demonstrate how her rude and impolite manners get in the way when talking with others. First, her daughter Anna suffers the consequences of her rudeness. For example, one day Anna asked her mother to let her go to her friend’s party but because she was not feeling in a good mood she refused to let her go. Secondly, Julia fails to control her bad temper at fast food restaurants. To illustrate, one Friday afternoon she went to a fast food restaurant and ordered a hamburger and large regular fries, but she end up getting a chicken sandwich and small regular fries. Julia got so mad to that she screamed to the casher, “This wasn’t what I had ordered. Thanks fro nothing,” and left with no order. Finally, Julia has mistreated cashiers at supermarkets. A Saturday night, while she was drunk, Julia went to the closest supermarket to buy beer. When she was ready to pay the cashier deny the purchase, as she was required by law, because she was too drunk. As a result, Julia got mad and got out of the store yelling obesities to the polite cashier. Watching these three kinds of Julia’s behavior leaves no doubt as to why she does not know how to relate with others.

Dropping Out of School

Dropping out of school affected her life seriously. Dropping out of high school might seem like a good idea, but my friend’s experience has taught me otherwise. It affected her in three negative ways: low wages, no permanent job, and early marriage. First of all, my friend thought it was a good idea to drop out of high school because, according to her idea, she was getting a large amount of money at her job. To illustrate, she worked as a fast food restaurant earning a minimum wage, seven dollars an hour. For a high school student that seem too much money, but she id not take into account that obtaining a high school diploma and a college degree would make her earn much more that that amount. Secondly, not after a few months my friend found out that working at a fast food restaurant was not a permanent job. She struggled to find a good paid job because she had no professional experience and no degree. Therefore, she found jobs at fast food restaurants and grocery, earning, again, minimum wage. Finally, dropping out of high school also caused her to get marry at the young age of nineteen. She had her first kid at twenty, and as a result it was more difficult to work and take care of the child at the same time. Low wages, no permanent job, and an early marriage were three main factors caused by dropping out of high school. Do not ever consider dropping out of high school, it is not a smart idea.