Living the american dream argumentative essay examples

Abstract

The American dreams refers to a phrase connoting happiness and hope for prosperity which is uniquely symbolized by an individual owning his own house in the Unites States of America. This phrase was first applied to the hopes of immigrants and the phrase nowadays applies to all the people of America with the exception of extremely reach individual in the society. The America dream in the case of Gabriel suggests the hope that his social and economic status will be better than that of his parents when they left Romania for America. At the end of the story, it is evident that Gabriel went through a number of struggles to achieve the American dream despite being an immigrant. Gabriel’s story then demonstrates the change process and suggests key considerations that can be used by individuals to achieve the American dream of success irrespective of their nationality or race. This is because Gabriel being an immigrant, and the phrase being used initially for immigrants, it was expected that he would achieve better social and economic conditions with ease which was not the case.

The rhetorical devices used by the narrator in ‘Living the American Dream’ crafts the American Dream and this is not common with other narratives. This is a story of Gabriel Grozay, who was an immigrant, but still lived according to the American Dream. It is a strong story with conforms to the American dream aside from passing a strong political message. The American dream has for a long time been linked to the ideals of immigrants struggling to make ends meet in United States of America. This is something that can be traced during the era of revolution in the United States that saw the influx of immigrants. The primary reasons behind these immigrations that are significantly intertwined with American dream is unencumbered advancement opportunity as well as a lack of class lines. Gabriel despite being an immigrant managed to do several great things which conform to the American Dream. Initially, all did not seem marvelous to Gabriel, and after finishing school, and he wondered what constructive activities he do so as to earn some income. Gabriel sought to make a discovery amid the changing events of the time that did not respond to change and, therefore, lost soul in the modern world. Immigrants were offended and shocked by what they said was a violation of their rights and liberties as there were no equal opportunities. Like the majority of immigrants, Gabriel wondered over what he could do after finishing school. He wished to land in a career with the freedom of time and accountability and still live a high quality life which was not meant for immigrants (Delepine).
The story demystifies the change process and suggests key considerations that can be used by individuals to achieve the American dream of success irrespective of their nationality or race. These considerations assist individuals to transform the confusion and complexity revolving around change process in the society into a highly integrated and informed process that respond to economic and personal demands. Several people are living within a dynamic environment that requires them to embrace change in various forms. The story of Gabriel focuses on how individuals can come up with personal strategies, introduce effective strategies and restructure their personal lives. In order to achieve self-fulfillment, individuals must be adept at developing plans, implementing them and managing change with the thought of the American dream. For instance, the Harlem Renaissance and the Prohibition era are testimonies of how immigrants impacted on New York City. In America’s history, New York City was the most populous city in the world (Delepine).
The narrator of the story allows the audience time to think when reading or listening and keeps the viewer meditating on it afterwards. The story is slow, full of breath-taking and emotional as the theme goes overboard beyond grief. The story brings out powerful picture of the experiences that immigrants undergo, how the jobs looked like at that time and the situation of immigrants in America at that time when good jobs were only meant for the Whites. Even though, there are several other stories that touch on immigrants in the earlier days, the story of Gabriel Grozay is very compelling. This story is very compelling because it incites the readers or listeners to think more than just political, historical and legal issues of immigrants and the issue of employment in America. It uses rhetorical devices to make the audience think about what it takes for an immigrant to get employed and have a successful life in America during the nineteenth century. The narrator shows the struggles Gabriel went through before he could get promoted and where he is still eyeing. The story shows that the American dream requires an individual to demonstrate hard work and perseverance. Although Gabriel faced rough time in becoming a successful agent, the American dream of success required individuals to show courage, and perseverance in search of their success. Gabriel did not rest before achieving success, and this is a testimony that he confirmed the American dream (Delepine).
Gabriel Grozay story is a story that illustrates the power of rhetoric devices and its effect on the audience. The narrator uses metaphorical imagery, powerful diction, symbolism, and personal anecdotes to impact greatly on the audience. Therefore, these rhetorical strategies show ethos, logos, and pathos to assist the audience in understanding the message and its purpose. This brings out the motivations and purpose behind the style used in the narrative. The narrator displayed high credibility through his use of ethos. He demonstrated to be an expert and reputable person. The narrator shows ethos because he saw these things happening, and he chronologically narrates. For example, Gabriel who was looking for a successful career is now operating two trucks and in-charge of other three junior agents. The narrator balances these rhetoric strategies to ensure that he both disturbs the tranquility of the mind and sense of the reader as well as liberate their subconscious (Delepine).
The narrator also opens his story with a strong and effective use of dictation which creates an emotional and logical appeal to the audience as well as distinguishes it with other narratives. For example, the narrator says that for a long time the phrase of American Dream has greatly been linked to immigrant striver ideals. He continues that the immigrant striver crosses storm-tossed seas to for better social and economic conditions in the land of opportunities. He primarily focuses on the American dream and the expectations with regards to success or opportunities to immigrants. At this point, his narrative creates a strong appeal to pathos. For example, the narrator uses repetition of word immigrants, anaphora at the start of successive clauses, and this creates an appeal of logic and emotion. He also demonstrates his art of persuasion by using hyperbole to demonstrate the attitudes that immigrants must have to explore the opportunities in America. For example, he says that the immigrants cross storm-tossed seas in the land of opportunity to makes ends meet.
The narrator uses metaphorical phrases in showing the ways in which immigrants should interact with the natives, and their environment is also an essential part of learning and generates a number of items. For example, he says that the American Dream is like the stories of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Henry Kissinger. These interactions are essential for social development, maximal achievement and socialization. The immigrants exchange successful aspirations and achievements among themselves and between them and the natives. Self-determinations also play an essential role in developing social, academic and emotional lives of immigrants. It is a point of no contention that emotions and social life affect the quality and standards of living of immigrants. These emotions are influenced through cordial and positive interaction among the Native Americans, immigrants and the social institutions. Therefore, for social development and success of immigrant, there must be interaction between them and the natives (Delepine).
The narrator also uses irony to demonstrate the disparity between the immigrants and Native Americans in terms of success. For example, despite describing America as the land of opportunity, immigrants still struggle, cross storm-tossed seas. He reveals the fallacies and unfairness of the American dream of success and equality as he uses irony in revealing the flaws associated with the logic of being immigrant. He used this rhetoric device to show the readers the truth that they are not willing to see. Based on fantasy and ritual, the narrator attacked the subconscious of the readers with a view of releasing deep-rooted anxieties and fears which are normally suppressed causing them to view themselves as without the shield of civilization. It is connected to the principle that things are only changed by building on new models that render the existing model obsolete, as opposed to fighting that reality. It requires narrators to use artistic language that show the truth, as opposed to using fears and anxieties against the will of the audience. He narrates how Gabriel left Romania for America with his parents, three sisters, and five brothers in the hope life in the United States will be good and exciting. Therefore, the narrator successfully uses irony to demonstrate discrimination, in that, unlike Native Americans, immigrants did not find life easy as their expected which was against the American dream (Delepine).
In addition, the narrator uses an anecdote in proving his points in the story. As a rhetoric device, the narrative weaves together multiple anecdotes demonstrating a distinct aspect immorality associated with being immigrant. For instance, the narrator talks about stories of immigrants that always impact greatly in the lives of those around them. Therefore, this anecdote shows that immigrants were not treated equally and America was not the land of opportunity as people thought. This also reveals the narrator’s depressed tone which expresses his feeling towards being an immigrant upon which an individual may be discriminated. This is greatly supported by his detailed and varied syntax which offers more support that equality in opportunities was the American dream. To this end, the narrator of the story artistically used rhetoric devices to bring more sense into his story and appeal to the audience with regards to mocking discrimination of immigrants that were against the American dream (Delepine).

Works Cited

Delepine, Tiffany. 18 February 2014 .