American Dream

Kim Yen Nguyen
Professor Hancock
English 101-002
March 26, 2008

American Dream

Have you ever heard of the phrase "money can't buy you happiness but it'll brighten up your day?” Some Americans think if you are rich and have all the money in the world, you are considered the happiest person alive. Today, in many cases, this is not always true. It doesn't matter how much money you have, you should still live your life to the fullest. People try their best to live up to their dreams, and when this happens, others tend to be jealous. What is going through your mind when you think of the word “wealthy”…money, luxury cars, celebrities, the rich? If you are thinking about one of those topics, you are wrong. All wealthiness does not have to do with money, nice cars, etc...it is something you have and achieve in life. I am aware that everyone in this country does not know what the true meaning of wealth is. There could be many explanations to this definition. It does not mainly have to do with having a lot of money, it is more likely if you try or not. If you want to become wealthy, it is possible, just succeed in life.
I believe that wealthy means succeeding and being happy in life. If you have worked all of your life to become better then what you were 10 years ago, then you are consider wealthy. I know that there are some families that are very well off and have all the money anyone could ask for and still be unhappy. I sometimes think to myself why it is like this, since they have everything and I mean everything they want. We all also know that there are some famous people that are very well off and end up over dosing on drugs and killing themselves. Becoming wealthy does not come to everyone so easily, you have to work your way up to the top. There may be a situation where you can inherit it but that is very seldom. It is very possible to become wealthy; it is that you have to try until you reach the top.
I hear so many people complaining about things they cannot afford, you can, you just have not worked your way up to it yet. For example, there are many people that want a Beamer, Lexus, or Mercedes, and when they have that, they feel wealthy. It is not that they are rich; it is because they have saved their money towards that luxury. Having a nice car is not a rich thing; it is more on the lines of saving. You can always dream big about something you want and eventually have it, just work on it and do not give up.
The American Dream of wealth is possible for the people who try. If you are not going to have any confidence in yourself, there is no way you can achieve the American Dream of wealth.

Have you ever heard of the phrase "money can't buy you happiness but it'll brighten up your day"? What is excatly going through your head whenever you hear this phrase? I believe that this is not 100% true. If you are the most wealthiest person alive, you are not necessarily the happiest person at all.



It is not the fact that you can't afford something, it is more on the lines of you can afford it, but just not yet.



you are never poor, you are just lazy and broke.

Argument about the American Dream

Step 1: I believe that the definition of American Dream is about wealth. I say this because not everyone in this country knows what the true meaning of wealth is. It could mean many different things. Such as, wealth as in money, job, style of living, fancy cars, designer brands, and the list keeps on going.

Step 2: I believe that the American Dream for wealth is possible for anyone and everyone. Being wealthy does not only mean having a lot of money. It could have multiple different meanings to it. It is possible for the people that actually try to successed in their life. The difference would be if they tried or not. The American Dream of wealth is possible for the people who try.

Step 3: When you hear the word "wealthy" what do you think about it? What comes to your mind? money, nice cars, stuck up people? If you are thinking about one of those topics, you are wrong. Being wealthy has many different meanings to it. All wealthiness does not have to do with money, nice cars, etc... Wealthy is something you have and achieve in life.

Step 4: The audience I would choose would be around the age group of 16-24, only because they do not know what being wealthy exactly means. What they would automatically think is that it would be having tons of money like a celebrity. If you look up the word wealthy in the dictionary, it would define it as someone rich, but really we all have our own opinions about it.

Thinking Critically About Analyzing Arguments pg. 166

In the title "Outlaw Classics" I think he is more on the lines of talking about criminals. The title of the songs seems a little harsh for the prison tunes. He seems like he is trying to express himself while he was being punished. It did not work so much, maybe he was about to go crazy.

pg. 39 --- Question 8

Who is the audience for this writing? Does the task imply that you will assume a particular readership besides your instructor? For some assignment, the writing is addressed to the professor. Other then that, essays could be addressed to classmates, business partners, or just to others in general. When I am writing a paper, I find myself writing it to everyone, not just one group. I have not experienced writing to a business partner yet but I believe I would write to them in the same way as I would to my professor or classmates. There may be a little bit of some changes but not too much. I do think about who I write to though. When my professor assigns me an assignment, I usually address it to everyone, or whoever is reading it. I am not just talking to one or two people, I am writing to whoever reads or hears my essay. I do believe that some writing is strictly directed to the professor, depending on what assignment is assigned and how the essay should come about.

American Dreams

What is exactly an American Dream? I believe that it has to do with wealth and how people see theirselves as in the future.

Many Americans would think of having the perfect life would have all the money they need. This is not exactly correct. I think that it doesn't matter how much money you have, you should still live your life to the fullest. Many people that want to live up to their dreams are very jealous of many others. Why is that? Who exactly knows...

If you wish to be a writer, write- Epictetus

If I wish to be a writer, heck yeah I would write. It is so easy to hear those words but actually hard to think and do it. but I do think I could write and babble on for days about anything and everything. I believe the way I talk…if I could change it all into writing…I think I would have a few books published already. lol. I seriously can talk a lot sometimes and if I asked people if I could turn my talking into a book. They may also agree. I think the way I talk to totally different from the way I write. When I talk, I can hear myself, and when I write, I write and have to read it over and over to make sure it makes sense. And when it doesn’t…I get so frustrated and it throws everything off. I feel like I have to rewrite my whole essay again. Sometimes I wish to be a writer, I wish I could write, and when I write, I could seriously write for hours and hours. As long as I have a catchy subject to talk about…I can just go on and on. I use to write letters all the time to old friends that moved away and such. That was whenever I was younger and did not have or was not allow being on the internet as much. Now I think since we have the internet, it’s a lot faster and better to type. But it doesn’t mean as much as writing. It also saves us postage, paper, and the fact of writing. In a way when I type on the internet, I rely on spell check and grammar check. Bad idea! It’s not always correct and sometimes I wouldn’t make any sense. I think that grammar check is not always 100% correct. But why do we all rely on it so much? Is it because we’re lazy? It’s either we’re lazy, in a hurry, or just don’t have time to reread everything over again. I wish I write as well as professional writers. I just wish that I had the ability of being an A++ writer. I find it easy when I hear the phrase, if I wish to write then write, does that mean just write whatever or be a great writer? I guess the more I have to write papers for school, the better I’ll get. And the better I will get will be a step closer on becoming an A+ writer.

Writing Prompt #3

What audience do you usually write to (teachers, classmates, yourself, a thoroughly generic all=encompassing audience)? Is it always the same or does it vary sometimes? If so, when? What role do you think audience should play in your writing process?


When writing a paper, I would usually target my writing towards my classmates, teachers, or whoever I would read it. I really never thought about who I am writing my papers to…well I lied. Whenever I was little, I think I have pretend to write an essay to the president of the United States. lol. Other then that I don’t think I have ever really thought who I would write my essays to. Until now this question comes around, I have to really think about who I really write to. And i believe I would just write it to whomever would like to read it. Why do I think this way? It’s not that I care…because I do care about who is reading my writing. I would not want someone to finish my reading and then tell me that it was horrible and it needs a lot of work and they would disagree with everything I have to say. So I lied again, I think the people I would want to target my paper towards are the people that could complete agree with me or at least know what I am talking about. Or they could just be someone that actually understands my reading. I notice that when people are reading my essays, it does not make any sense to them until I actually read it a loud and explain myself on some parts. I have no idea why they do not think the same thing as I do but that is just how it is. We are all different and think different things. We also think differently so it is very hard for someone to proofread the essay and tell me it’s good or bad. I honestly do not like writing to a younger crowd, only because when they are reading my paper, they would tell me it’s good but really it’s horrible. For example, I had about 6 classmates read over my paper and made a little minor errors, and they told me it was really good. Were they telling the truth or were they just saying that so they could hurry up and get it done with? Who exactly knows…even whenever I ask a tutor for help…yeah they help but it seems that my writing is still not as great. Therefore, I really don’t know who to target my writing to. It’s very hard to decide. It's like you pick one crowd but then again you want to choose another crowd. I believe that I just focus my writing on whomever wants to read my paper. I know...bad idea, bad habbit, and I know I need to change it...but how?

Writing Prompt #8

What was the hardest thing for you to write and why was it so difficult? How did you overcome the difficulties? Looking back, what could you have done differently to improve the outcome of the assignment for yourself?

I think that my first essay I submitted in for class might have been my hardest paper to write. Although, we have not written many papers yet, but I do feel that it was the hardest one. I say this only because it was the first paper I turned in for this certain class and this certain professor. I did not know how she graded papers and such. At first, I thought to myself that this paper might be a difficult paper, only because I did not know what to exactly write about and I was struggling a bit. I asked questions and asked for help. I almost had a clear understanding of what the paper was suppose to be about. I started to write my paper, it took me awhile to think about some things but I just continue to write away. Everything came to me slowly but also a little easy, I found myself not struggling as much. It started to write away and had a good grip on what I was doing.

As I was writing this paper, I figured out that it was hard to write the middle body of the essay. I thought that the thesis statement would be more difficult to me, but came to figure out it really wasn’t. Writing the thesis statement and conclusion was the easiest of writing the whole essay. I believe that it is more difficult to write about the ideas of the paper. It is very hard for me to come up with ideas and I still have not figured out why. I always see myself repeating the same things over and over. I do not know how to get away from that. If it is not repeating myself, I would reword it but it would still sound like I am saying the same thing. My biggest problem is that and I have tried to substitute words and change the subject around a little bit.

I think that if I go to the success center every time I finish my paper. They can look it over and tell me what is wrong with the paper. I know when I am having problems writing my paper, I could also turn to them. They have helped me so much in my writing along with my teacher. They are people that actually want to help me and it makes me become and feel to be a better writer. I know that if I continue doing this, I will really become a better writer.

Writing Prompt #7

What do you like and/or dislike about the portfolio style of class? How does it change the way you view your assignments? What may it require of you as a writer that the traditional way of turning in several final drafts throughout the semester does not?

I honestly like everything about my English class. I like how the teacher teaches everything; I have no problems with the teaching at all. I absolutely understand majority of the things she is teaching, and if not, of course I ask questions. I actually like getting into groups and having class seminars, it is very helpful toward me writing my essays. Surprisingly, it actually makes me understand how to write my essay. At first, I thought to myself, what does having seminars have to do with writing class? What did reviewing song lyrics have to do with writing? I did not quit understand until it actually happened. We got into groups and discussed about song lyrics and went about on them. We wrote essays on the kind of songs. For example, music appreciation and identity. Everything that we had a seminar about so far actual relates to our writing assignment. I like how this method is being taught to me. It is something new and very different, something I am not use to but defiantly like it and have no problem the way the teaching is being performed. Having this procedure, does not change my view entirely, I feel that I am learning to view my assignments better then before.

I feel that if the teacher does not make me turn in rough drafts of essays over and over again, I may become a failure. I believe that it is a good idea that we turn in multiple rough drafts, it helps me become a better writer. I know that I learn from my mistakes and will not make them so often. I know when the teacher reviews the essay and makes many markings on it…she/he is not doing this to hurt you; they are doing this to make you become a better writer. At first I thought it was a matter of “oh I’m a failure at writing and cannot write for anything”, but really there are many people that help me out. What helps out the most is that I have to turn in so many rough drafts and having them proofread by classmates and such. I know that I learn from my mistakes of writing and people help me become a better writer. If the professor did not require to turn in rough drafts, that means I would have to have other people proofread it before turning it in. I have to have other people’s opinions and suggestions on my paper before I submit it for a final grade. I find that when I don’t have anyone looking over my paper, I end up with a grade I am unhappy with. Whenever I have the success center or peers that are good in writing proofread it, I am guarantee having a satisfied grade.

I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I write and I understand. - Chinese Proverb

When I hear things, I really tend to forget. It is just how my brain works, but whenever I hear something important, I will never forget. Why does this exactly take place? Who will ever know? Not to sound ignorant or anything but I feel like I have my own self to worry about and not others. When I hear someone gossiping, I will forget. That is just something that I feel does not have my time for. I feel like when I hear certain things that do not pertain to me, I would not care and I will forget. I hear the important things and I forget the irrelevant things. Some words I hear will never be forgetful. When someone is explaining something to you, you should not forget. The method they are trying to tell you could lead you to become successful in life. It’s something important you would want to remember.

When I see things, I sometimes remember. Same goes for when I see things, I tend to forget. If it is an important image or something is taking place, I will remember. I will always remember going to school, I see it as an everyday basics. If I see something over and over, for example my home, I will remember my home. Also, going to school, what school I go to and what classroom I am suppose to be in. If I see myself doing this everyday, I will remember where I am supposed to be. It is almost like you see a car driving into a school bus. That’s something you will never forget. It’s just the image inside your mind that would never escape. I notice that I tend to forget where I place my keys; this is bad because I see my keys every single day when I drive. I feel them and I hear them. Once I walk into the house, I forget where I place them. I can never remember. Same goes for my cellular phone, I have it on me when I leave the house, but I would always have to have someone call it because I would misplace it. It is not that I am a forgetful person, because I am not. I do not know what it exactly is but I am breaking the habbit.

I write and I understand. Not exactly correct to many people…when I write, I do understand. I know my own writing and it will 90% of the time make sense to me. I write a paper, I know what I am talking about; I know what I am trying to explain. When teachers read my paper, they think of something differently, they do not think the same perspective as I do. Now why is that? I feel that if a teacher and I had a sat down and had a conversation about my paper, she/he would understand what I am trying to explain. My words can differ among others. I know other people have the same feeling as I do. When I revise someone’s paper, I may not understand what the writer is exactly talking about. To me it would not make any sense, but when I ask the writer what they are trying to state then I would reread the paper again and understand it. Whenever I write my paper, I understand it. The writer will always understand what they write no matter what.