material for the theme of the "american dream"

[n0013]

:oops: I am stuck for ideas. I have to do a major speech/presentation on showing humans and their environment + relating this book/poem/ or whatever form to The Great Gatsby/ Death of a Salesman.

nb: i cannot use either of these as my core material!

Please help me list some good materials. I was hoping for an excellent poem with sophisticated and intricate ideas relating to humans in society + this notion of The American Dream..

Thanks in Advance.

[Robert E Lee]

:oops: I am stuck for ideas. I have to do a major speech/presentation on showing humans and their environment + relating this book/poem/ or whatever form to The Great Gatsby/ Death of a Salesman.

nb: i cannot use either of these as my core material!

Please help me list some good materials. I was hoping for an excellent poem with sophisticated and intricate ideas relating to humans in society + this notion of The American Dream..

Thanks in Advance.

Cain't help you.

But the American Dream is a tired and unoriginal theme in literature as is poking fun at the shallowness of middle-American life.

[Zeno]

sparkes notes site may be helpfull

http://search.sparknotes.com/index.mpl?query=theme+the+american+dream&area=sn&a rea=pd&area=mb&area=nf

[chrissy]

the only thing that came to mind is Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson, there are definatly some similarities to The Great Gatsby

Whenever Richard Cory went down town
We people on the pavement looked at him
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean and favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
'Good-morning', and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich-yes, richer than a king-
And admirably schooled in every grace;
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

Hope this helps! wink

[piquant]

E. Lee, I'm a little confused, your paper has to be on how humans relate to their environment by using examples from the Great gatsby, or Death of a Salesman, Yes? If this is so, I'd deffinately go with Gatsby. Here you have view of the rich at their worst. First you have Tom, who is dumb as a brick, yet is just smart enough to realize that he should be smarter, and so puts on a hedious show of mock intelligence. His ability to maintain this masquerade is facilitated by his wealth. If he were poor he either would have had to work hard for some real knowledge, or have settled for a low-paying, menial job. Daisy, is as she is just because it is easier to continue in her mode of existence than to change it. Se has the intelligence that Tom lacks, but chooses not to use it, again, facilitated by her wealth. When she had the opportunity to turn away from it (i.e. her wedding day) she choose not to, and although she realised her desicion was the wrong one, it was the easy one. Daisy deals with her choice by silencing whatever soul she had. The other woman, daisy's friend (who's name at the moment escapes me) used her wealth to remain apathetic about everything. She even almost seems indifferent in her relationship with the narrator. Gatsby, uses his postion to aid him in his unhealthy obsession with daisy. Gatsby, however has not always been rich. He represents the type of person who has worked hard for their wealth, yet in the end will be unhappy, because he still can not buy what he wants.
The rich are viewed as careless, people who flit through life without the slightest idea of the effect that they have on other people. Usually this works out okay, until you get a group of careless people together, and then "accidents" are caused.

Watch the movie! This is the only movie i have ever watched that was better than the book. I'm not saying don't read the book though. The movie deffinately served to open my eyes to many themes that I missed in my initial reading. I intend to read it again sometime soon to see if I can get more out of it.

P.S. I love that poem.