Ironic Techniques In The Film America The Beautiful

The American Dream is “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” (Adams, 1931). It is the guarantee that with hard work and passion anyone can achieve upward mobility regardless of their origin. Many Americans believe in this promise, hoping that one day their first circumstance will not dictate the outcome of the rest of their lives. However the American Dream can be elusive without any real he American Dream eludes The novel Ragged Dick; or, Street Life in New York with the

America still to this day holds on to the idea of the “American Dream”. This is rather surprising in today’s society and the ups and downs that the nation is facing. The dream in the past was more about freedom and equality. Moving through the decades, this dream has morphed into something quite different. Instead of what America means for all of its inhabitants, the nation has become more individualized. Society has moved to interpret the dream of what America can do for the one. Instead of the unified nation, America has been known for in the past, a shift has started creating an inconsistency in who can realize the dream. The myth of the “American Dream” has been hugely affected by increased materialism, the gap in economic status, and the fantasy of “rags to riches” idea.

Barbara Ehrenreich conducts an experiment and documents it in her essay “Serving in Florida”. Ehrenreich attempts to answer the question: Is the American dream still alive? She places herself in a minimum wage job at a restaurant named Jerry’s and attempts to understand the working class. Adam Shepard also conducts an experiment, in his book Scratch Beginnings, where he begins with only twenty-five dollars, a sleeping bag, and the clothes on his back. He places himself in a homeless shelter and begins to reach his goal: $2,500, a house, and a car. Shepard and Ehrenreich attempt to seek the American Dream through a working class perspective. Ehrenreich implies working class employees are demeaned by sharing the stories of her coworkers to prove the American dream is dead. By exploring his co-workers and his own experiences, Shepard contrasts Ehrenreich’s argument and implies the American dream is still alive, as long as you have the right attitude.

The short story “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan is about the main character that has many conflicts with her mother because she struggles with her identity. Her family moved to America after losing everything in China, just as Tan’s mother. The struggle of identity and conflicts with her mother that Tan had when she was young influence this work. This work also talks about Americans as if they were extremely superior to everyone else and that American’s can do whatever they want in America, starting by the first sentences of the story. “My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America. You could open a restaurant. You could work for the government and get a good retirement. You could buy a house with almost no money down. You could become rich. You could become instantly famous” (Tan). This story has a small portion of the Chinese American dream, where the mother shows her daughter Shirley Temple and wants her daughter to be like her and takes her to a

Regardless if we are aware of it or not, not many Americans live the supposed American Dream of having a nice car, big house, well paying job, and have a secure family. In the renowned novel The Working Poor: Invisible in America by David K. Shipler he captures those Americans who live invisible in America that work so hard to suffer from the psychological effects of poverty. Not only does Shipler do that but he also indirectly talks about the “American Myth” and the “American Anti Myth through the lives on these individuals.”

“Good Country People,” is a classic example of the use of irony as a technique for imbuing a story with meaning. Irony works on many different levels through the piece. Examples of this range from O’ Connors use of clearly ironic dialogue to the dramatic irony that unfolds between Manley and Joy-Hulga. However the most obvious examples can be found in O’Connor’s characterization of these, “Good Country People.” The technique of irony is applied prominently to the character’s names and behaviors to present the contradictions between their expectations and their reality. O’Connor uses her characters to explore common notions regarding, “good” and “bad” people. Using their expectations for one another, O’Connor ultimately expose their

There are tens of thousands of “how-to” books, but “The Ugly American” is unique in that it’s actually a “how-not-to” book. Published in 1958, the action takes place in the early 1950s at the height of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States of America. Set primarily in the fictional Asian country of Sarkhan, the struggle between Russian Communists and American Foreign Service personnel plays out battle by battle through examples of military and political events riddled with “Ugly American” social faux pas.

The movie Avalon presents both sides of American Dream. In the beginning, Sam Krichinsky is ecstatic to tell the story about his arrival to America in 1914. He talks about the 4th of July celebration and his first job as a wallpaper hanger with his brothers. The Krichinsky brothers do the same work; therefore, they have same amount of income. They also live together and save money to bring more relatives to America to prosper. This shows that they have strong family circle and support each other. Times change and Sam Krichinsky and his family moves to suburbs. Sam’s son Jules with his cousin open discount appliances store. That is upside of American Dream shown in the movie. One can work hard, go on his own and achieve success and happiness. At the same time, that creates discontent with Sam’s brothers Gabriel and Nathan. Sam allows his family to cut turkey on thanksgiving before Gabriel’s arrival which makes Gabriel extremely upset. He blames this on Jules getting rich and Sam’s family not having respect for his brothers anymore. He also says that it is a tradition and sign of respect to wait for a family member before starting a dinner. This is a negative side of American Dream. Some of the relatives get ahead, some stay behind and it becomes a reason for quarrel. Also, Sam and his wife Eva move out from Jules house to live on their own. It is a good thing, because their families will be separate and have more space. The wife does not have to live with in-laws anymore. All

Unfolding suspense sitting on the edge of your seat. The tension is escalating. Don’t go in there, we think to ourselves, run girl run, go the other way, he is going to kill you! This gives us

The author of Good Country People, Flannery O’ Connor, has a vast amount of irony in his writing. He uses the character’s names, their characteristics, the overall theme of the story and comparisons of characters to show irony.

Flannery O’Connor employs several types of irony in her short story “Good Country People.” O’Connor uses verbal irony when Hulga states “Get rid of the salt of the earth … and let’s eat” (page 463). In this instance, “salt of the earth” is turned from meaning a good person to an annoyance. Extra irony is added by the pun of getting rid of the salt before eating.

The American Dream is not uniquely American, it is a dream held by people all around the world. It is a dream about success, a word that has different meanings for many people. The play, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry explores the American dream and race through the lense of a poor black family that receives a ten thousand dollar life insurance check after the death of the patriarch of the family. Walter Lee Younger, the adult male in the house wants to invent it in a liquor store while Walter’s mother believes that decision would be unchristian. Another view of the American dream in presented in the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a 1920’s American novel in which a wealthy man, Gatsby, attempts to woo his former lover, Daisy Buchanan. I define the American dream as earning the respect and admiration of one’s peers. Using my definition of the American dream, Walter is successful because he earns the respect of his family by refusing money to keep his dignity, whereas Gatsby does not achieve the dream because of the place and time in which he must climb the social ladder.

As time has went on the meaning of the American Dream has altered. When Adams trademarked the term the American Dream, the idea of it was for people to become “better and richer and fuller,” (Adams 412), but now as 20th century inventions have been introduced to society the dream has changed. People want what others have and what is portrayed as glamorous and prestigious. A prime example is Gary Soto’s recollection of his childhood obsession with wanting to be like the families he saw on the television saying, “I very much wanted to imitate [the families from Leave It to Beaver and Father

To begin, Rood Hood is an Epic movie that has a heroic ideal as the theme. It can be compared to Beowulf. It seem as if France and England have always battled amongst each other. There are many characters that make this movie epic. The plot of this move starts when King Richard is on his crusade and is killed. Then Robin Longstride takes Robert Locksley’s identity and gives back to Nottingham and inspires the people of England and fights the French. Finally the opposing King Philip of England gets attached by the French and looks to Robert and the people to help him. The irony is entertaining.

The American Dream is surely based on the concept of “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” but it is above all, a matter of ambition. James Truslow Adams, an American writer and historian, in 1931 states: "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement”, which not only points towards a better standard of living for Americans but also denounces a degree of greed in the US society. Ambition not only “killed the cat” but killed relationships as well in texts like Sister Carrie and Death of a Salesman. While the American Dream was supposed to be a collective success at its initial stage, ambition, along with a pinch of greed and materialism were perfect ingredients