american dream essay 300 words

The American Dream Essay – Free Example, with Outline

Published by gudwriter on May 25, 2018 May 25, 2018

The American Dream Essay 

Write a historical analysis of the factors you see as leading to the development of the American dream as a concept. Try to show how the American dream grew out of specific aspects of American history and if you have any difficulties grasping the concept do my history homework for me is here to help out at an affordable price.

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Here is a sample essay that tries to answer the above question.

Essay on the American Dream Outline

Introduction

Thesis: The American dream grew out of specific aspects of the American history defined by the fore-founding fathers and America’s greatest leaders.

Paragraph 1:

In 1931, there was the first public definition of the phrase in the book the Epic of America authored by James Truslow.

• In his description, he maintained that the Dream is characterized by a situation where every individual desires his or her life to be more vibrant and fuller.
• There are five major pillars of the American dream including, the idea of a free market economy, embracing free trade agreements, embracing government protection of companies, and the idea that countries should replicate America’s development.

Paragraph 2:

Upon its inception, the American Dream only applied to white property owners.

• As people began embracing the idea of equal rights to every American despite their color or origin, the laws were extended to include other individuals including non-property owners and women.
• In the 20’s, the American Dream started acquiring a more profound definition characterized by obtaining material items.
• In the new definition, there were elements of greed that finally led to woes in the stock market and the Great Depression.

Paragraph 3: 

Prominent American politicians have continuously defined the American Dream.

• One of the greatest supporters of the Dream was President Lincoln who upon becoming president was quick to accord equal opportunities to slaves.
• Another champion was President Wilson who maintained and pushed forward for accordance with voting rights for women leading to the 19 th Amendment in 1918.
• President Johnson pushed forward for the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that led to an end of segregation in many Public schools.
• President Obama promoted the accordance of equal rights to married people regardless of their sexual orientation giving a voice to the LGBT community

Paragraph 4:

President Roosevelt pushed for the idea that attainment of individual freedom requires maximum economic security and independence.

• Roosevelt protected the US from different elements such as communism, socialism, and Nazism.
• Through the Second Bill of Rights that the issue of domestic security was addressed and later pushed forward by Truman’s administration.
• President Obama is the most recent president that redefined the American Dream to include affordable health care, employment opportunities, student loans and government aid.

Paragraph 5: 

In the American society of today, The American Dream may be taken to mean being able to exist in a free and equal society.

• This is a society where an American is hesitant to impose their cultural values on others but always ready to join fellow Americans in pushing for their common socioeconomic interests.
• They are concerned about protecting the right of another person and not on the cultural background of that individual.

American history has continuously shaped the American Dream. Although there has been a disagreement on what constitutes the Dream, the founding fathers and the American Presidents have made efforts to define the American Dream as equal opportunities for all.

What is the American Dream Essay Outline

Thesis:  The American Dream is based on the argument that every American citizen regardless of where they are born, their color, their religion, their sexual orientation or their political affiliations can become successful in life by taking risks and working hard and not by chance.

The first American to coin the term American Dream was James Truslow in his book the  Epic of America  in 1931.

• Therein, he argues that the Dream is not merely a dream of high wages and cars but a dream of social order.
• The American Dream is more of a charm of anticipated success as put across by a French Historian Alexis de Tocqueville.
• The charm and the desire has attracted thousands of immigrants to the American shores and set a high bat for other nations across the world.

Ever since the inception of the American Dram, it has acted as a guideline to help Americans pursue their dreams, happiness and attain their maximum potential.

• In essence, it is all about helping individuals shape their destiny.
• The basic concept of the American Dream is that success is not guaranteed but rather offers Americans a chance to overcome obstacles to achieve their inner most desires.

Paragraph 3:

The Dream supports commitment to a common set of values and ideals.

• It makes people acknowledge that a person can be American irrespective of their linguistic, cultural, religious, or ethnic background.
• All a person has to do so as to be considered an American is to show true commitment to the political ideologies of equality, republicanism, and liberty.

The elusive and difficult nature of the American Dream makes many Americans skeptical on the prospect of achieving it.

• In a statement made by George Carlin , he posited that it is referred to as the American Dream since one has to be asleep to believe it.
• Although Carlin interpreted the concept of the American Dream in a loose sense, it is without a doubt that it offers salvation for those who achieve it or damnation for those who fail to achieve it.
• Those who record success bear a legacy of positive influence while those that fail to achieve it bear a legacy of failure.

Paragraph 5:

The concept of the American Dream highlights the importance of optimism in succeeding in life but it offers no guarantees.

• As many Americans succeed due to their hard work, optimism and determination, others fail despite having put a lot of hard work towards achieving their dreams.
• The American Dream is crucial when it comes to fulfilling the American culture.
• The American culture is one that embraces the concept of success and working towards full potential.
• The beauty of the entire concept is that it guarantees nothing other than hope.
• While many are damned towards the course of its fulfillment, many have walked down the path of success and fulfilled the American Dream.

The American Dream is not about a destination but rather a journey towards success. Every American or individual within the borders of the United States has equal opportunities and chances to work his or her way up towards fulfillment of the Dream. It is a guiding light that has helped many attain their dreams.

What is the American Dream Essay Sample 2, with Outline

The beauty of every nation lies with its people’s ability to maintain universal ideals and philosophies. In the United States, there is the standard American Dream concept that guides every right-minded citizen. It is an ideology or a set of ethos that govern American citizens as they go through life or as they build the nation. The American Dream is based on the argument that every American citizen, regardless of where they are born, their color, their religion, their sexual orientation, or their political affiliations, can become successful in life by taking risks and working hard and not by chance.

The first American to coin the term “American Dream” was James Truslow in 1931. Therein, he argues that the Dream is not merely a dream of an extremely expensive life and cars but a dream of social order where every American can become successful regardless of their origin or color. It is more of a charm of anticipated success as put across by a French Historian known as Alexis de Tocqueville. The charm and the desire have attracted thousands of immigrants to the United States and set a high bar for other nations across the world.

Ever since the inception of the concept, it has acted as a guideline to help Americans pursue their dreams and happiness, and attain their maximum potential. In essence, it is all about assisting individuals to shape their destiny. It is important to highlight the fact that the basic idea behind the American Dream concept is that success is not guaranteed but that each American has a chance to overcome obstacles and achieve their innermost desires.

The Dream supports commitment to a common set of values and ideals. It makes people acknowledge that a person can be American irrespective of their linguistic, cultural, religious, or ethnic background. All a person has to do so as to be considered an American is to show true commitment to the political ideologies of equality, republicanism, and liberty. It is through this commitment that one can play their part towards ensuring that the American society exists in a free atmosphere where individuals can pursue their businesses and life dreams without fearing being sanctioned by anybody. However, the manner in which a person pursues their life dreams should not infringe into the rights of another person.

The elusive and challenging nature of the American Dream makes many Americans skeptical about the prospect of achieving it. In a statement made by George Carlin, he posited that it is referred to as the American Dream since one has to be asleep to believe it. Although Carlin interpreted the concept in a loose sense, it is without a doubt that it offers salvation for those who achieve it or damnation for those who fail to realize it. Those who record success bear a legacy of positive influence while those that fail to realize it bear a legacy of failure.

The concept of the American Dream highlights the importance of optimism in succeeding in life, but it offers no guarantees. Therefore, even as many Americans succeed due to their hard work, confidence, and determination, others fail despite having put a lot of hard work towards achieving their dreams. It is without a doubt that the American Dream is crucial when it comes to fulfilling the American culture. The American culture is one that embraces the concept of success and working towards full potential. The beauty of the entire idea is that it guarantees nothing other than hope. Therefore, while many are damned towards the course of its fulfillment, many others have walked down the path of success and fulfilled the American Dream.

In summary, the American Dream is not about a destination but rather a journey towards success. Every American or individual within the borders of the United States have equal opportunities and chances to work his or her way up towards the fulfillment of the Dream. Although there is a lot of disagreement over the definition of the term, one thing is for sure: the American Dream is a guiding light that has helped many Americans realize their dreams.

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, best analysis: the american dream in the great gatsby.

Book Guides

The Great Gatsby is a tragic love story on the surface, but it's most commonly understood as a pessimistic critique of the American Dream. In the novel, Jay Gatsby overcomes his poor past to gain an incredible amount of money and a limited amount of social cache in 1920s NYC, only to be rejected by the "old money" crowd. He then gets killed after being tangled up with them.

Through Gatsby's life, as well as that of the Wilsons', Fitzgerald critiques the idea that America is a meritocracy where anyone can rise to the top with enough hard work. We will explore how this theme plays out in the plot, briefly analyze some key quotes about it, as well as do some character analysis and broader analysis of topics surrounding the American Dream in The Great Gatsby .

What is the American Dream? The American Dream in the Great Gatsby plot Key American Dream quotes Analyzing characters via the American Dream Common discussion and essay topics

Quick Note on Our Citations

Our citation format in this guide is (chapter.paragraph). We're using this system since there are many editions of Gatsby, so using page numbers would only work for students with our copy of the book.

To find a quotation we cite via chapter and paragraph in your book, you can either eyeball it (Paragraph 1-50: beginning of chapter; 50-100: middle of chapter; 100-on: end of chapter), or use the search function if you're using an online or eReader version of the text.

What Exactly Is "The American Dream"?

The American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of race, class, gender, or nationality, can be successful in America (read: rich) if they just work hard enough. The American Dream thus presents a pretty rosy view of American society that ignores problems like systemic racism and misogyny, xenophobia, tax evasion or state tax avoidance, and income inequality. It also presumes a myth of class equality, when the reality is America has a pretty well-developed class hierarchy.

The 1920s in particular was a pretty tumultuous time due to increased immigration (and the accompanying xenophobia), changing women's roles (spurred by the right to vote, which was won in 1919), and extraordinary income inequality.

The country was also in the midst of an economic boom, which fueled the belief that anyone could "strike it rich" on Wall Street. However, this rapid economic growth was built on a bubble which popped in 1929. The Great Gatsby was published in 1925, well before the crash, but through its wry descriptions of the ultra-wealthy, it seems to somehow predict that the fantastic wealth on display in 1920s New York was just as ephemeral as one of Gatsby's parties.

In any case, the novel, just by being set in the 1920s, is unlikely to present an optimistic view of the American Dream, or at least a version of the dream that's inclusive to all genders, ethnicities, and incomes. With that background in mind, let's jump into the plot!

The American Dream in The Great Gatsby

Chapter 1 places us in a particular year—1922—and gives us some background about WWI.  This is relevant, since the 1920s is presented as a time of hollow decadence among the wealthy, as evidenced especially by the parties in Chapters 2 and 3. And as we mentioned above, the 1920s were a particularly tense time in America.

We also meet George and Myrtle Wilson in Chapter 2 , both working class people who are working to improve their lot in life, George through his work, and Myrtle through her affair with Tom Buchanan.

We learn about Gatsby's goal in Chapter 4 : to win Daisy back. Despite everything he owns, including fantastic amounts of money and an over-the-top mansion, for Gatsby, Daisy is the ultimate status symbol. So in Chapter 5 , when Daisy and Gatsby reunite and begin an affair, it seems like Gatsby could, in fact, achieve his goal.

In Chapter 6 , we learn about Gatsby's less-than-wealthy past, which not only makes him look like the star of a rags-to-riches story, it makes Gatsby himself seem like someone in pursuit of the American Dream, and for him the personification of that dream is Daisy.

However, in Chapters 7 and 8 , everything comes crashing down: Daisy refuses to leave Tom, Myrtle is killed, and George breaks down and kills Gatsby and then himself, leaving all of the "strivers" dead and the old money crowd safe. Furthermore, we learn in those last chapters that Gatsby didn't even achieve all his wealth through hard work, like the American Dream would stipulate—instead, he earned his money through crime. (He did work hard and honestly under Dan Cody, but lost Dan Cody's inheritance to his ex-wife.)

In short, things do not turn out well for our dreamers in the novel! Thus, the novel ends with Nick's sad meditation on the lost promise of the American Dream. You can read a detailed analysis of these last lines in our summary of the novel's ending .

Key American Dream Quotes

In this section we analyze some of the most important quotes that relate to the American Dream in the book.

But I didn't call to him for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone--he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was from him I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward--and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. (1.152)

In our first glimpse of Jay Gatsby, we see him reaching towards something far off, something in sight but definitely out of reach. This famous image of the green light is often understood as part of The Great Gatsby 's meditation on The American Dream—the idea that people are always reaching towards something greater than themselves that is just out of reach . You can read more about this in our post all about the green light .

The fact that this yearning image is our introduction to Gatsby foreshadows his unhappy end and also marks him as a dreamer, rather than people like Tom or Daisy who were born with money and don't need to strive for anything so far off.

Over the great bridge, with the sunlight through the girders making a constant flicker upon the moving cars, with the city rising up across the river in white heaps and sugar lumps all built with a wish out of non-olfactory money. The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world.

A dead man passed us in a hearse heaped with blooms, followed by two carriages with drawn blinds and by more cheerful carriages for friends. The friends looked out at us with the tragic eyes and short upper lips of south-eastern Europe, and I was glad that the sight of Gatsby's splendid car was included in their somber holiday. As we crossed Blackwell's Island a limousine passed us, driven by a white chauffeur, in which sat three modish Negroes, two bucks and a girl. I laughed aloud as the yolks of their eyeballs rolled toward us in haughty rivalry.

"Anything can happen now that we've slid over this bridge," I thought; "anything at all. . . ."

Even Gatsby could happen, without any particular wonder. (4.55-8)

Early in the novel, we get this mostly optimistic illustration of the American Dream—we see people of different races and nationalities racing towards NYC, a city of unfathomable possibility. This moment has all the classic elements of the American Dream—economic possibility, racial and religious diversity, a carefree attitude. At this moment, it does feel like "anything can happen," even a happy ending.

However, this rosy view eventually gets undermined by the tragic events later in the novel. And even at this point, Nick's condescension towards the people in the other cars reinforces America's racial hierarchy that disrupts the idea of the American Dream. There is even a little competition at play, a "haughty rivalry" at play between Gatsby's car and the one bearing the "modish Negroes."

Nick "laughs aloud" at this moment, suggesting he thinks it's amusing that the passengers in this other car see them as equals, or even rivals to be bested. In other words, he seems to firmly believe in the racial hierarchy Tom defends in Chapter 1, even if it doesn't admit it honestly.

His heart beat faster and faster as Daisy's white face came up to his own. He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God. So he waited, listening for a moment longer to the tuning fork that had been struck upon a star. Then he kissed her. At his lips' touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete. (6.134)

This moment explicitly ties Daisy to all of Gatsby's larger dreams for a better life —to his American Dream. This sets the stage for the novel's tragic ending, since Daisy cannot hold up under the weight of the dream Gatsby projects onto her. Instead, she stays with Tom Buchanan, despite her feelings for Gatsby. Thus when Gatsby fails to win over Daisy, he also fails to achieve his version of the American Dream. This is why so many people read the novel as a somber or pessimistic take on the American Dream, rather than an optimistic one.  

...as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors' eyes--a fresh, green breast of the new world. Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby's house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder.

And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night." (9.151-152)

The closing pages of the novel reflect at length on the American Dream, in an attitude that seems simultaneously mournful, appreciative, and pessimistic. It also ties back to our first glimpse of Gatsby, reaching out over the water towards the Buchanan's green light. Nick notes that Gatsby's dream was "already behind him" then (or in other words, it was impossible to attain). But still, he finds something to admire in how Gatsby still hoped for a better life, and constantly reached out toward that brighter future.

For a full consideration of these last lines and what they could mean, see our analysis of the novel's ending .

Analyzing Characters Through the American Dream

An analysis of the characters in terms of the American Dream usually leads to a pretty cynical take on the American Dream.

Most character analysis centered on the American Dream will necessarily focus on Gatsby, George, or Myrtle (the true strivers in the novel), though as we'll discuss below, the Buchanans can also provide some interesting layers of discussion. For character analysis that incorporates the American Dream, carefully consider your chosen character's motivations and desires, and how the novel does (or doesn't!) provide glimpses of the dream's fulfillment for them.

Gatsby himself is obviously the best candidate for writing about the American Dream—he comes from humble roots (he's the son of poor farmers from North Dakota) and rises to be notoriously wealthy, only for everything to slip away from him in the end. Many people also incorporate Daisy into their analyses as the physical representation of Gatsby's dream.

However, definitely consider the fact that in the traditional American Dream, people achieve their goals through honest hard work, but in Gatsby's case, he very quickly acquires a large amount of money through crime . Gatsby does attempt the hard work approach, through his years of service to Dan Cody, but that doesn't work out since Cody's ex-wife ends up with the entire inheritance. So instead he turns to crime, and only then does he manage to achieve his desired wealth.

So while Gatsby's story arc resembles a traditional rags-to-riches tale, the fact that he gained his money immorally complicates the idea that he is a perfect avatar for the American Dream . Furthermore, his success obviously doesn't last—he still pines for Daisy and loses everything in his attempt to get her back. In other words, Gatsby's huge dreams, all precariously wedded to Daisy  ("He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God" (6.134)) are as flimsy and flight as Daisy herself.

George and Myrtle Wilson

This couple also represents people aiming at the dream— George owns his own shop and is doing his best to get business, though is increasingly worn down by the harsh demands of his life, while Myrtle chases after wealth and status through an affair with Tom.

Both are disempowered due to the lack of money at their own disposal —Myrtle certainly has access to some of the "finer things" through Tom but has to deal with his abuse, while George is unable to leave his current life and move West since he doesn't have the funds available. He even has to make himself servile to Tom in an attempt to get Tom to sell his car, a fact that could even cause him to overlook the evidence of his wife's affair. So neither character is on the upward trajectory that the American Dream promises, at least during the novel.

In the end, everything goes horribly wrong for both George and Myrtle, suggesting that in this world, it's dangerous to strive for more than you're given.

George and Myrtle's deadly fates, along with Gatsby's, help illustrate the novel's pessimistic attitude toward the American Dream. After all, how unfair is it that the couple working to improve their position in society (George and Myrtle) both end up dead, while Tom, who dragged Myrtle into an increasingly dangerous situation, and Daisy, who killed her, don't face any consequences? And on top of that they are fabulously wealthy? The American Dream certainly is not alive and well for the poor Wilsons.

Tom and Daisy as Antagonists to the American Dream

We've talked quite a bit already about Gatsby, George, and Myrtle—the three characters who come from humble roots and try to climb the ranks in 1920s New York. But what about the other major characters, especially the ones born with money? What is their relationship to the American Dream?

Specifically, Tom and Daisy have old money, and thus they don't need the American Dream, since they were born with America already at their feet.

Perhaps because of this, they seem to directly antagonize the dream—Daisy by refusing Gatsby, and Tom by helping to drag the Wilsons into tragedy .

This is especially interesting because unlike Gatsby, Myrtle, and George, who actively hope and dream of a better life, Daisy and Tom are described as bored and "careless," and end up instigating a large amount of tragedy through their own recklessness.

In other words, income inequality and the vastly different starts in life the characters have strongly affected their outcomes. The way they choose to live their lives, their morality (or lack thereof), and how much they dream doesn't seem to matter. This, of course, is tragic and antithetical to the idea of the American Dream, which claims that class should be irrelevant and anyone can rise to the top.

Daisy as a Personification of the American Dream

As we discuss in our post on money and materialism in The Great Gatsby , Daisy's voice is explicitly tied to money by Gatsby:

"Her voice is full of money," he said suddenly.

That was it. I'd never understood before. It was full of money--that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals' song of it. . . . High in a white palace the king's daughter, the golden girl. . . . (7.105-6)

If Daisy's voice promises money, and the American Dream is explicitly linked to wealth, it's not hard to argue that Daisy herself—along with the green light at the end of her dock —stands in for the American Dream. In fact, as Nick goes on to describe Daisy as "High in a white palace the king's daughter, the golden girl," he also seems to literally describe Daisy as a prize, much like the princess at the end of a fairy tale (or even Princess Peach at the end of a Mario game!).

But Daisy, of course, is only human—flawed, flighty, and ultimately unable to embody the huge fantasy Gatsby projects onto her. So this, in turn, means that the American Dream itself is just a fantasy, a concept too flimsy to actually hold weight, especially in the fast-paced, dog-eat-dog world of 1920s America.

Furthermore, you should definitely consider the tension between the fact that Daisy represents Gatsby's ultimate goal, but at the same time (as we discussed above), her actual life is the opposite of the American Dream : she is born with money and privilege, likely dies with it all intact, and there are no consequences to how she chooses to live her life in between.

Can Female Characters Achieve the American Dream?

Finally, it's interesting to compare and contrast some of the female characters using the lens of the American Dream.

Let's start with Daisy, who is unhappy in her marriage and, despite a brief attempt to leave it, remains with Tom, unwilling to give up the status and security their marriage provides. At first, it may seem like Daisy doesn't dream at all, so of course she ends up unhappy. But consider the fact that Daisy was already born into the highest level of American society. The expectation placed on her, as a wealthy woman, was never to pursue something greater, but simply to maintain her status. She did that by marrying Tom, and it's understandable why she wouldn't risk the uncertainty and loss of status that would come through divorce and marriage to a bootlegger. Again, Daisy seems to typify the "anti-American" dream, in that she was born into a kind of aristocracy and simply has to maintain her position, not fight for something better.

In contrast, Myrtle, aside from Gatsby, seems to be the most ambitiously in pursuit of getting more than she was given in life. She parlays her affair with Tom into an apartment, nice clothes, and parties, and seems to revel in her newfound status. But of course, she is knocked down the hardest, killed for her involvement with the Buchanans, and specifically for wrongfully assuming she had value to them. Considering that Gatsby did have a chance to leave New York and distance himself from the unfolding tragedy, but Myrtle was the first to be killed, you could argue the novel presents an even bleaker view of the American Dream where women are concerned.

Even Jordan Baker , who seems to be living out a kind of dream by playing golf and being relatively independent, is tied to her family's money and insulated from consequences by it , making her a pretty poor representation of the dream. And of course, since her end game also seems to be marriage, she doesn't push the boundaries of women's roles as far as she might wish.

So while the women all push the boundaries of society's expectations of them in certain ways, they either fall in line or are killed, which definitely undermines the rosy of idea that anyone, regardless of gender, can make it in America. The American Dream as shown in Gatsby becomes even more pessimistic through the lens of the female characters.  

Common Essay Questions/Discussion Topics

Now let's work through some of the more frequently brought up subjects for discussion.

#1: Was Gatsby's dream worth it? Was all the work, time, and patience worth it for him?

Like me, you might immediately think "of course it wasn't worth it! Gatsby lost everything, not to mention the Wilsons got caught up in the tragedy and ended up dead!" So if you want to make the more obvious "the dream wasn't worth it" argument, you could point to the unraveling that happens at the end of the novel (including the deaths of Myrtle, Gatsby and George) and how all Gatsby's achievements are for nothing, as evidenced by the sparse attendance of his funeral.

However, you could definitely take the less obvious route and argue that Gatsby's dream was worth it, despite the tragic end . First of all, consider Jay's unique characterization in the story: "He was a son of God--a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that--and he must be about His Father's Business, the service of a vast, vulgar and meretricious beauty" (6.7). In other words, Gatsby has a larger-than-life persona and he never would have been content to remain in North Dakota to be poor farmers like his parents.

Even if he ends up living a shorter life, he certainly lived a full one full of adventure. His dreams of wealth and status took him all over the world on Dan Cody's yacht, to Louisville where he met and fell in love with Daisy, to the battlefields of WWI, to the halls of Oxford University, and then to the fast-paced world of Manhattan in the early 1920s, when he earned a fortune as a bootlegger. In fact, it seems Jay lived several lives in the space of just half a normal lifespan. In short, to argue that Gatsby's dream was worth it, you should point to his larger-than-life conception of himself and the fact that he could have only sought happiness through striving for something greater than himself, even if that ended up being deadly in the end.

#2: In the Langston Hughes poem "A Dream Deferred," Hughes asks questions about what happens to postponed dreams. How does Fitzgerald examine this issue of deferred dreams? What do you think are the effects of postponing our dreams? How can you apply this lesson to your own life?

If you're thinking about "deferred dreams" in The Great Gatsby , the big one is obviously Gatsby's deferred dream for Daisy—nearly five years pass between his initial infatuation and his attempt in the novel to win her back, an attempt that obviously backfires. You can examine various aspects of Gatsby's dream—the flashbacks to his first memories of Daisy in Chapter 8 , the moment when they reunite in Chapter 5 , or the disastrous consequences of the confrontation of Chapter 7 —to illustrate Gatsby's deferred dream.

You could also look at George Wilson's postponed dream of going West, or Myrtle's dream of marrying a wealthy man of "breeding"—George never gets the funds to go West, and is instead mired in the Valley of Ashes, while Myrtle's attempt to achieve her dream after 12 years of marriage through an affair ends in tragedy. Apparently, dreams deferred are dreams doomed to fail.

As Nick Carraway says, "you can't repeat the past"—the novel seems to imply there is a small window for certain dreams, and when the window closes, they can no longer be attained. This is pretty pessimistic, and for the prompt's personal reflection aspect, I wouldn't say you should necessarily "apply this lesson to your own life" straightforwardly. But it is worth noting that certain opportunities are fleeting, and perhaps it's wiser to seek out newer and/or more attainable ones, rather than pining over a lost chance.

Any prompt like this one which has a section of more personal reflection gives you freedom to tie in your own experiences and point of view, so be thoughtful and think of good examples from your own life!

#3: Explain how the novel does or does not demonstrate the death of the American Dream. Is the main theme of Gatsby indeed "the withering American Dream"? What does the novel offer about American identity?

In this prompt, another one that zeroes in on the dead or dying American Dream, you could discuss how the destruction of three lives (Gatsby, George, Myrtle) and the cynical portrayal of the old money crowd illustrates a dead, or dying American Dream . After all, if the characters who dream end up dead, and the ones who were born into life with money and privilege get to keep it without consequence, is there any room at all for the idea that less-privileged people can work their way up?

In terms of what the novel says about American identity, there are a few threads you could pick up—one is Nick's comment in Chapter 9 about the novel really being a story about (mid)westerners trying (and failing) to go East : "I see now that this has been a story of the West, after all--Tom and Gatsby, Daisy and Jordan and I, were all Westerners, and perhaps we possessed some deficiency in common which made us subtly unadaptable to Eastern life" (9.125). This observation suggests an American identity that is determined by birthplace, and that within the American identity there are smaller, inescapable points of identification.

Furthermore, for those in the novel not born into money, the American identity seems to be about striving to end up with more wealth and status. But in terms of the portrayal of the old money set, particularly Daisy, Tom, and Jordan, the novel presents a segment of American society that is essentially aristocratic—you have to be born into it. In that regard, too, the novel presents a fractured American identity, with different lives possible based on how much money you are born with.

In short, I think the novel disrupts the idea of a unified American identity or American dream, by instead presenting a tragic, fractured, and rigid American society, one that is divided based on both geographic location and social class.

#4: Most would consider dreams to be positive motivators to achieve success, but the characters in the novel often take their dreams of ideal lives too far. Explain how characters' American Dreams cause them to have pain when they could have been content with more modest ambitions.

Gatsby is an obvious choice here—his pursuit of money and status, particularly through Daisy, leads him to ruin. There were many points when perhaps Gatsby ;could have been happy with what he achieved (especially after his apparently successful endeavors in the war, if he had remained at Oxford, or even after amassing a great amount of wealth as a bootlegger) but instead he kept striving upward, which ultimately lead to his downfall. You can flesh this argument out with the quotations in Chapters 6 and 8 about Gatsby's past, along with his tragic death.

Myrtle would be another good choice for this type of prompt. In a sense, she seems to be living her ideal life in her affair with Tom—she has a fancy NYC apartment, hosts parties, and gets to act sophisticated—but these pleasures end up gravely hurting George, and of course her association with Tom Buchanan gets her killed.

Nick, too, if he had been happy with his family's respectable fortune and his girlfriend out west, might have avoided the pain of knowing Gatsby and the general sense of despair he was left with.

You might be wondering about George—after all, isn't he someone also dreaming of a better life? However, there aren't many instances of George taking his dreams of an ideal life "too far." In fact, he struggles just to make one car sale so that he can finally move out West with Myrtle. Also, given that his current situation in the Valley of Ashes is quite bleak, it's hard to say that striving upward gave him pain.

#5: The Great Gatsby is, among other things, a sobering and even ominous commentary on the dark side of the American dream. Discuss this theme, incorporating the conflicts of East Egg vs. West Egg and old money vs. new money. What does the American dream mean to Gatsby? What did the American Dream mean to Fitzgerald? How does morality fit into achieving the American dream?

This prompt allows you to consider pretty broadly the novel's attitude toward the American Dream, with emphasis on "sobering and even ominous" commentary. Note that Fitzgerald seems to be specifically mocking the stereotypical rags to riches story here—;especially since he draws the Dan Cody narrative almost note for note from the work of someone like Horatio Alger, whose books were almost universally about rich men schooling young, entrepreneurial boys in the ways of the world. In other words, you should discuss how the Great Gatsby seems to turn the idea of the American Dream as described in the quote on its head: Gatsby does achieve a rags-to-riches rise, but it doesn't last.

All of Gatsby's hard work for Dan Cody, after all, didn't pay off since he lost the inheritance. So instead, Gatsby turned to crime after the war to quickly gain a ton of money. Especially since Gatsby finally achieves his great wealth through dubious means, the novel further undermines the classic image of someone working hard and honestly to go from rags to riches.

If you're addressing this prompt or a similar one, make sure to focus on the darker aspects of the American Dream, including the dark conclusion to the novel and Daisy and Tom's protection from any real consequences . (This would also allow you to considering morality, and how morally bankrupt the characters are.)

#6: What is the current state of the American Dream?

This is a more outward-looking prompt, that allows you to consider current events today to either be generally optimistic (the American dream is alive and well) or pessimistic (it's as dead as it is in The Great Gatsby).

You have dozens of potential current events to use as evidence for either argument, but consider especially immigration and immigration reform, mass incarceration, income inequality, education, and health care in America as good potential examples to use as you argue about the current state of the American Dream. Your writing will be especially powerful if you can point to some specific current events to support your argument.

What's Next?

In this post, we discussed how important money is to the novel's version of the American Dream. You can read even more about money and materialism in The Great Gatsby right here .

Want to indulge in a little materialism of your own? Take a look through these 15 must-have items for any Great Gatsby fan .

Get complete guides to Jay Gatsby , George Wilson and Myrtle Wilson to get even more background on the "dreamers" in the novel.

Like we discussed above, the green light is often seen as a stand-in for the idea of the American Dream. Read more about this crucial symbol here .

Need help getting to grips with other literary works? Take a spin through our analyses of The Crucible , The Cask of Amontillado , and " Do not go gentle into this good night " to see analysis in action. You might also find our explanations of point of view , rhetorical devices , imagery , and literary elements and devices helpful.

Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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We invite you to open this door to your future as we kick off the 2022 contest. This competition is centered on bestselling author, Jim Owen’s “Ten Principles to Live By,” as highlighted in his book Cowboy Ethics . Every high school and homeschool student is invited to participate in grades 9-12 to reflect on the ten principles and write an essay based on their own personal beliefs or guiding forces. 

High School students could win more than $5,000 in prizes during the ADEC Essay Contest. 

Student Guidelines

1. Must be attending high school in the state of Wyoming, or a high school homeschooler participating through the Homeschool Organization of Wyoming (HOW), or through a participating Boys & Girls Clubs in the state of Wyoming.

2. All participants must have a teacher sponsor/educator to guide them through the writing process. If you wish to participate, but do not have a teacher sponsor, please contact contest coordinator, Cece Tolin at 307.235.4079 or [email protected].

3. All winners will be announced at the Awards Luncheon on April 10, 2022 in Casper, Wyoming.

1. Essays must be original and inspired by the writing prompt.

2. Essays must be titled and between 300-2,000 words in length.

3. Essays must be typed and double-spaced.

4. Local first place winners must submit a photograph of themselves along with their winning essay in order to be honored at the Awards Banquet. The photo will be published in The American Dream Essay Contest booklet.

Prizes are substantial for this contest, and each participating high school is guaranteed at least 3 winners at the local level for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.

Local High School Winners:

1st $300

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State High School Winners:

As you reflect on your life so far, describe how one of the “Ten Principles to Live By,” or your own personal ethical belief, has been a driving or guiding force in your life. Whether a part of your internal guidance from within, the decisions you make every day, or how they inspire the decisions you make for the benefit of your future, define ‘what it means to me’ in 300-2,000 words.

Essays will be judged primarily on content (Is the essay based on the Principles above? Does the essay show a respect for life and people? Would most people agree that this is an important law of life?) Presentation is also considered (compelling, flow, and clarity). Grammar, usage and conventions will also be considered but should not weigh heavily on how they rank.

Students’ American Dream

How it works

• 1 American Dream
• 2 CONCLUSION TALKING ABOUT POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS NOT FINISHED

American Dream

Imagine a five bedroom and three-bathroom home bricked dark brown with an attached three car garage with a red door with see through glass windows. This home is equipped with televisions in every room, Wi-Fi, computers, printers, two loving parents, three children, and enough food to feed the entire neighborhood that is situated with houses that have white picket fences aligning each perfectly cut yard with aesthetically pleasing square patterns. We have all seen this house in our American Dream.

We all dream, but we have to wake up to reality each day. Each child’s home is a completely different situation than the next, but the one thing they have in common is that they both have an opportunity to gain an education by attending school. However, they do not have equal chances at excelling to the next level in their educational career because America’s education system is not systematically built for children who are disadvantaged; this disadvantage is centered around factors such as socioeconomic level, gender, and race. The only way to fix this problem is to have the students’ well-being in mind instead of the selfish nature of the politicians and the drive to profit off of policies set forth.

For some time, there have been numerous, imprudent changes that have been made to attempt to improve the education system: the addition of vertical penmanship to the curriculum, the elimination of recess, and the removal of correcting grammar and spelling mistakes to make school more enjoyable for children (Ravitch). We can tear a page out of this section of history and learn from it because it shows that all of these opinions and changes are for the sole purpose of distracting from the real problem that we need to deal with, and that is improving our schools.

Even though college students do not apprehend the fact that we are ungrateful, we are. We complain about how much work we have to do for certain classes, how we are so tired because we stayed out so late the night before, and how we are ready for a break. The actuality that follows these complaints are that some people do not have the opportunity to fix their mouths to say these words because they could never cross the threshold to get to the next level, and gender bias is a contributing factor. Stated in the article “How Gender and Race Affect Education Today” by the Huffington Post, “According to the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, thirty-one million girls of primary school age do not attend school and seventeen million of these girls will probably never attend school in their lifetimes” (Huffington Post). Yet, education is generally conceived as the most effective path to empowerment. We are so used to seeing men in positions such as construction workers, plumbers, CEO’s of large companies, and doctors. We are also used to seeing women in positions such as stay at home mothers, babysitters, and nurses. The education system has to change the way it perceives the world. Just because society thinks that women should make less money than men, serve at their jobs as lower ranks than men, and not be the person to make decisions in the workplace does not mean the education system has to prepare women for failure.

In my experience, women feel like they have to hold the world on their shoulders, and we will sacrifice anything in order to make ends meet. When I was a junior in high school, I took an elective class to fill a void on my schedule, and when the teacher read off a list of names for the roll, he stopped on one name that caused chatter throughout the room. The students who knew the student’s name who was absent on the roster came to a consensus to tell the teacher that the student that was absent had a baby and would not be back for a couple of more weeks. I will never forget the look of disgust that appeared on his face. After a couple of weeks had passed, it was a coincidence that I was paired with her to complete a group project. Whenever we took breaks between doing certain tasks for the assignment, she shared with me that the counselors at the school were not going to work with her to graduate on time because she had a baby. How could they expect her to thrive in the discouragement and unsupportive energy that surrounded her as she was trying to finish school? Her boyfriend was able to miss a couple of weeks of school to help with the baby, and his teachers were more than willing to help him get caught up to the place where he needed to be. There is no amount of explanation or justification that can account for the explicit bias that females face in school more than males.

The problem of gender bias also transfers to higher education. When the U.S. Department of Education reviewed its data, it was found that women are less likely to be accepted into a prestigious college than a man. One of these colleges was Brown University; eleven percent of men were accepted compared to seven percent of women accepted in 2014 (Huffington Post). Surprisingly, they get more qualified female applicants than male applicants. Yet if they were to accept more female students in the future, most of the graduating class would be comprised of female students, which is something the no doubt majority male administration would not tolerate.

An additional problem in America’s educational world that I have observed during my time of serving as a student is that each school’s location and demographics dictate how well students perform in the classroom. The U.S. Department of Education’s 2014 Civil Rights Collection concluded that race and ethnicity affect learning in the school system. Some information they gathered was that primarily African American, Latino, and Native American schools are more likely to acquire novice teachers than schools that have primarily white kids (The Huffington Post). My last year of high school, we had an honors ceremony, and the conversation at each table centered around what everyone wanted to spend dedicating their life to and what kind of majors they were going to be. I had a friend across the table from me that talked about how she chose her major based off of the scholarship that was offered to her. She was offered a scholarship for majoring in elementary education that would pay back her student loans, allow her to go to college with having to pay little out of pocket, and consent to take the students who received the scholarship on a study abroad trip with all expenses paid. The only string attached to this scholarship would be that she would be placed in an area that had a scarcity of teachers and was underperforming. There is an overabundance of programs and grants being developed such as Fast-Track and Teach for America that offer college graduates without teaching degrees opportunities to enter the public education system. Even though the bursary is promising, it generally underserves the students who are forced to attend these schools. These students are not receiving the same education as another student in a more affluent area receives. The education system does not give students a chance to prove themselves of their intellectual ability; they would rather limit them by not having an adequate situation to foster the essential proficiencies to progress to the next level in life. This collection also included that black females and males were three times more likely to be suspended and black females were more likely than white females to get suspended (Huffington Post). Though this type of bias is perhaps most explicit when assessing the plight of the African-American community, many other minorities find themselves underserved by the arrangement.

Starting in the 1830s, the prejudice against Native Americans has since then taken place. First, there was the Indian Removal Act that was carried out by President Andrew Jackson to move Indians that did not willingly give up their land to Western Mississippi. Not only did the Removal Act strip Native Americans of their land, but it also oppressed and created a mass genocide of Indians as they were beaten and exposed to harsh winter conditions that left them with untreatable diseases. Most families started the journey with more members than they ended with. It was intended that once they were pushed so far west that they would not have anywhere to go, because the leaders of America thought that their priority was to provide land for the people expanding into the frontier states. In this case, the only idea leaders in America felt that was left to do was to strip the Indians from their culture and turn them into the people that were settling there. In the 19th century, the U.S. government forced thousands of Native Americans to attend these schools that would ultimately abandon their way of life as they knew it by giving them new names, making them change their hair and garments to match the look of the rest of the people who immigrated to America, and forcing them to speak English. U.S. Captain Richard Henry Pratt opened the first school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and students that attended these schools were exposed to deadly sicknesses such as tuberculosis and the flu that ended up leaving casualties. Between 1879 and 1918, there were about 200 children that were buried. Along with these children included Little Chief, Horse, and Little Plume, which the army disrespectfully dug up their graves on August 7, 2017. However, their bodies were returned by archaeologists a couple of weeks later (Little). The people in America take pride for the country being the land of the free, but everyone has their different version or perspective on what freedom includes. The only way that minorities are treated equally and freely is if they need something from them just like many schools today only take certain minorities to reach a quota or to get a certain amount of money. History can attest to this because they let African Americans stop being slaves to fight in the civil war, and there was a similar situation for Native Americans.

Later, the Navajo Code Talkers who helped the U.S. win World War II would reflect on the strange irony this forced assimilation had played in their lives “The code talkers found it perplexing that the same government that had tried to take away their languages in schools later gave them a critical role speaking their languages in military service,’ recounts the National Museum of the American Indian (Little).

American children have been the most adaptive through a plethora of changes that have been made to the school system in the past ten years or so. One of the most recent changes happened in 2017 when Vice President Mike Pence broke the tie in the Senate by pronouncing Betsy Devos as the nation’s Secretary of Education. Devos has never had any affiliation with public schools which includes never teaching, attending, or serving on the board of any public school in her lifetime. Her education agenda is comprised of creating more choices for parents to choose where their child will attend school; this includes expanding charter schools and public schools. The idea for charter schools was invented in 1988 for the purpose of wanting to give teachers a space where they could make a change. It was all started by the leader of the teacher’s union, Albert Shanker, and Minnesota was the first one to adapt the change in 1991. Now, there are about 6,500 public charter schools (Darling-Hammond 1620). One of the leading funders and founders for Massachusetts Charter Public School Association, Eli Broad, said something along the lines of, our focus needs to be extended to creating a superior public-school system, and the only way to do that is if we believe change can be possible. If we do not believe in public education and continue to create more charter schools and private schools, it speaks that the people in charge are ignoring and covering the problem up by. It also shows the kids that the people who make the decisions for them do not care as long as they make money; therefore, the people in charge will just place the children where there are open schools. We need more high-quality schools instead of more schools just to place the kids. This law claimed to do justice for its name; it claimed that no child would be left behind. However, the underlying meaning of this law is that each school in the state would have to have a certain test score for them not to close the school. They thought that they were doing something good by allowing more time for test preparation, but this was taking away time for important classes that could change a students mindset and make them more aware of these subjects for college such as history, arts, and extracurricular (Ravitch xxv). This also did not just affect the children, but it most importantly affected the teachers because they would have to work day and night to find a method that would attune to their kids’ needs which meant turning what school is meant to be which is a community-level environment to teach children what they need to know before facing the real world into a competition to where everyone has to cheat to get to where they want to be by only started to teach what was going to be on the test. Testing used to just be a goal that they reach for the end of the year, by teaching things that are useful, but now that is all they are worried about.

Some people may argue that some charter schools are excelling, and that is true. The one reason why is because they have the power to select and choose to accept the top performing students and deny the students who underperform. However, this is not getting them any closer to their goal. Instead of doing this, they are not helping the children who need help, and they are being placed in other schools that have lower test scores; they usually do not accept kids who have disabilities or are impoverished. They just want someone to make them look good instead of fulfilling their purpose of helping all children reach their goals. That is what is wrong with the system now: taking the easy way out. America needs to change to a growth mindset. Instead of denying the children who are not up to standards, they should just say that they are not where they need to be yet. The way that they will get there is for the school to give them the necessary tools they need. That is why the school system is falling short. The New York Performance Standards Consortium is an example of positive accountability that we can use an example to better the No Child Left Behind Act. This is a group of 28 schools that were granted the right to make their own assessments from the New York State Education Department in 1995. To prove and measure that the students are retaining the information they are taught, they are required to complete research projects, portfolios, and essays. Something that they do differently than other school is that they enroll the same number of students of color, students with disabilities, and students with English learning disabilities as the public-school system. The effect of these changes that they made is that they have higher graduation rates, higher percentages of students going to college, and lower suspension rates (Ravitch xxvii).

CONCLUSION TALKING ABOUT POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS NOT FINISHED

We need to have programs for mom and dads to get their GED and job placement so their kids won’t have to feel the need to compromise school. This may also have to do with depression since women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with the depression, and women in lower poverty places are also more likely to get depression. We also need to make school a more inviting place. No one is going to go somewhere where they aren’t wanted. Also, girls have extenuating conditions no one ever accounts for like bleeding for an entire week of each month uncontrollably with pain throbbing in their abdomen. Most people like to make a case about how the gender bias problem cannot be solved. So, the proposal that would fix the problem is to perform an experiment. For every applicant to have a number in the application process, and the person reviewing the application would not be able to tell gender or race; they would only be able to tell whether the applicant is qualified to be admitted to the school. These results would be interesting and worthwhile to see.

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Tensions in the American Dream Essay

The American dream is the belief that anyone, inconsiderate of their social status or where they were born, can achieve their version of success through hard work and determination. Freedom and agency are central to the American dream since they represent the values of individualism and self-determination. However, over time, freedom and agency have resulted in unequal outcomes, triggering a debate on the purpose and meaning of the American dream. Moreover, there has been tension between the founding ideals of the American Dream and historic inequalities such as slavery and territorial dispossession. The concept of an egalitarian society is rooted in the American ideals of democracy, equality, rights, opportunity, liberty, and progress. The American dream, founded on the principles of freedom and agency, was originally an ambition for an egalitarian society but has shifted terrain due to historical and contemporary inequalities leading to tension.

First, freedom and agency are complementary to individualism and self-determination that reflect the American identity and are hence vital to the American dream. While freedom is the idea that individuals have the right to live as they desire without interference, agency refers to an individual’s ability to make their own choices and take control of their lives. The American dream is only possible if individuals have the freedom and agency to create their paths to success and pursue their dreams. However, some of the social cement is loosening, implicating the American dream.

The values of freedom and agency are at odds with the conception of the American dream since they can lead to increased stratification. Freedom and agency allow individuals to pursue their goals and dreams, but they do not guarantee equality of opportunity or outcomes. Cullen (2003) notes that economic and racial stratification has increased dramatically, raising doubts about the breadth and depth of opportunity. As a result, some people may have more resources and advantages that allow them to succeed more easily, whereas others may face significant challenges. The imbalance can lead to debates and discussions about the meaning and purpose of the American Dream, as well as a conflict between the ideals of freedom and agency and the desire for a more equitable society.

There are intense contradictions between the founding American ideals and historical inequalities. Despite the American dream being founded on pragmatic ideals, including the natural right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, inequality is rampant in the US, marked by territorial dispossession of natives, slavery, and racism (Bush & Bush, 2015). Economic inequality, political polarization, and demographic changes also contribute to the disparity. Although based on the idea of freedom, the American dream is fading following the rising inequality.

Reconciling the tension between the initial American ideals and the growing social stratification demands promoting equality, justice, diversity, and inclusiveness. Equality and justice will allow the American Dream’s ideals to apply to all individuals. According to Bush & Bush (2015), creating a more just and equitable society through uniform education, housing, and employment opportunities will revive the American dream. Additionally, a diverse and inclusive society aids in the promotion of understanding and respect among various cultures and communities. By embracing equality and justice and working towards inclusiveness, America can curb the tension between the initial values and the rampant inequality.

Ultimately, the American dream, founded on the principles of liberty and agency, was originally an aspiration for an egalitarian society but has shifted terrain due to historical and contemporary inequalities, causing tension. Although values of freedom and agency are important to the American dream, they can lead to unequal outcomes and opportunities. Equality, justice, diversity, and inclusiveness are effective approaches to reconciling the tension between the initial American ideals and historical inequalities.

Bush, M. E., & Bush, R. (2015). Tensions in the American Dream: Rhetoric, reverie, or reality . Temple University Press.

Cullen, J. (2003). The American dream: A short history of an idea that shaped a nation . Oxford University Press.

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Home — Essay Samples — Economics — American Dream — Immigrants And The American Dream

Immigrants and The American Dream

• Categories: American Dream

About this sample

Words: 952 |

Published: Mar 19, 2024

Words: 952 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

Table of contents

I. introduction, a. the american dream, b. immigration and the united states, c. thesis statement, ii. the concept of the american dream, a. the fluid nature of the american dream, b. immigrants and the american dream, c. challenges faced by immigrants, iii. economic opportunities for immigrants, a. varied job opportunities, b. income disparities, c. importance of education and upward mobility, iv. social integration and cultural assimilation, a. challenges in adapting to american culture, b. discrimination and prejudice, c. importance of community support, v. the impact of immigration policies on the american dream, a. role of government policies, b. legal barriers, c. importance of immigration reform, vi. conclusion, a. impact of immigration on the american dream, b. interconnectedness of immigrants and the american dream, c. importance of further research.

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Essay on My Dream in 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 Words for Students

Everyone has a dream to achieve in their life. So do I and you. That’s why we are sharing some amazing essays on my dream in 200, 300, 400, 500, and 600 words for students of class 1-12. All students can find suitable my dream essay here for their study.

In This Blog We Will Discuss

Short Essay on My Dream in 200 Words

As a school student, I have a dream to fulfill in my life. I want to become a social worker. I love to work for people. As a career, I want to become a doctor, if possible. Because I think a doctor can help the people at his best. 

My dream is to help poor people. After being a doctor, I will go to some underprivileged area to serve them. There are lots of countryside areas where people don’t get proper treatment and they die due to very simple disease. They are not health conscious too. I will work for them. 

Social warfare is my major target. I won’t become a doctor to make money. I will make money to have a very simple lifestyle and most of my time, I will spend on the people. I think this is the best decision for me. My parents are very supportive and they welcomed my decision. 

I am studying hard to reach my goal. I need to get myself admitted to a medical college to become a doctor. It is not that easy, but I hope I will make it real with my hard work and proper study. I’m very honest and serious about my dream. 

My Dream Essay in 300 Words

Introduction:

The dream has no limits. You can dream anything in your life. All dreams shouldn’t come real in your life. But still, we have some productive goals and aims that are highly important to achieve. Today I am talking about my dream to become a pilot. It’s a huge thing and challenging for me. But still, I am hopeful that I will make it. Today I am going to share my dream and my preparation. 

My Dream to Become a Pilot:

My dream is to become a pilot. And I had this aim from my childhood. My parents are supportive and I hope I am going to make it. I know that it is a tough thing to do in life. And very few people succeed to become a pilot. I know it will be challenging for me. But I will try my best to get myself admitted to an aviation school. 

My Preparation:

I am very passionate about Physics and it’s an important subject for aviation learning. I am studying this subject with lots of attention. And I hope after completing my high school I will be able to get myself admitted into an aviation college. 

The process of being a pilot will be easier if I can get myself admitted there. My parents are very hopeful and they always tell me that I will make it. And I am a very serious and attentive student. I hope I will make good results so that I can be a pilot. 

Conclusion:

This is my dream to become a pilot. I am very serious and honest about my dream. I am ready to work hard as much as possible to make my dream come true. I hope it won’t be hard to make this dream true. 

Essay on My Dream to Become a Doctor in 400 Words

At the early stage of life, everyone gets a dream to achieve in their life. But everyone can’t go to the goal. But still, people are aiming for their dreams and working for it. Why should you have a dream? Because it will keep you on track when you are looking for success. 

A specific aim is the most important thing to become a successful person. May all of your dreams won’t come true, but still, you shouldn’t stop or never stop dreaming. Here I am talking about my dream to become a doctor. 

How to Become a Doctor?

To become a doctor in my country, someone needs to get himself admitted into a medical college after passing the 12th. And then there is an MBBS course lasting for six years. That’s the process. And then some go for higher education and some start working in different places. 

But it’s very tough and challenging to take admission in medical colleges. There is a huge competition. Thousands of students participate in the admission test. But the seats are only a few. But I’m confident enough that I will make it. 

A student must have a science background in school and college to get a chance in a medical institute. The grade should be higher. And finally, he needs to be good at Biology. 

My preparation is pretty solid. Right now I’m studying as science is my topic. And I’m good in Biology. I hope that I will make a good result in my 10th and 12th. Both of my results will help me to get a chance in a medical college. 

I know it won’t be easy at all, but I am very confident. I’m an attentive student and I follow a strict daily routine for me. This routine helps me to schedule everything properly. 

What Will I Do After Being a Doctor?

After completing the medical degree I have a plan to serve the people of my village. People of my village are not rich. They can’t afford better treatment. 

And they face lots of fatal diseases. But there is no doctor to help them. I will be there to help my village people. I will try to make a small hospital there. 

My dream to become a doctor is an honest plan. I want to help and serve the people. I love to be with people always. That’s what my aim is. I hope that I will be able to make my dream real. 

Essay on My Dream in Life (500 Words)

Everyone has got a dream in their life. Dreams and desires help us to get success. When you have a specific dream and you are focused only on that thing then you have a higher chance to get success in life. 

Because you can focus and can be dedicated to a specific thing at the right time. That’s why getting an aim or dream is important. I have got a dream to become an engineer. Today I will talk about my dream here. I hope you will love it. 

My Dream to Become an Engineer:

When I was a kid reading in grade 2, my dad bought me a computer. The main reason was playing computer games. I was very passionate about video games. I wondered how people make these games. And I always wanted to learn more about this. 

When I grew up, I learned that computer engineers develop these games. And right on that moment, I fixed my aim to become a game developer. To be one I have to study computer engineering and need to become a CSE graduate. 

Why I Want to Become an Engineer:

The main reason is to become a game developer. And then I know the current world is based on technology and information. The person who is strong on these two things has a better opportunity to have a stable career. I think this time is so revolutionary for computer engineers. 

And it’s the perfect time to invest effort here. My plan and dream are really exciting for me. I am sure that this industry is my passion. And I enjoy spending time with the computer. I can spend all day long learning new things related to programming and others. 

I have a pretty good preparation for this dream. I have shared my future plan with my parents. They are really supportive with this. Even my father is an IT officer. I planned to get myself admitted into a university after 12th. 

I have plans to take part in the admission test for government universities. If I don’t get a chance there, I will be admitted to a private university and complete my CSE graduation from there. I am confident enough that I will get a chance at a good university. 

Right now, I am focusing on my current study. And I’m also learning different things related to computers. I’m planning to join an online course where I will learn Java Programming slowly. 

What Will I Do After Being an Engineer:

After completing my degree I have a plan to start my own gaming company. I will hire some similar minded people or take them as partners. It will depend on the condition at that time. But I will try my best to do some jobs before starting my own company. Starting a company is the biggest goal for me. 

That’s all about my dream to become an Engineer. I am hopeful that I will be one someday and my dream will come true. I am very honest about my dreams and I am working very hard to achieve it. 

Essay on My Dream in 600 Words

Introduction: 

A dream is a thing that keeps us focused and dedicated to our life. We all need to have a very specific dream to reach. Without a proper aim or dream, we can’t succeed in the end. Your dream will help you mentally and make you strong inside. Without any dream or desire, it will be hard to reach a goal. That’s why everyone gets a goal in their life, so do I. Today I am going to talk about my dream to become a teacher here. 

My Dream to Become a Teacher:

Different people have different types of dreams and I want to become a teacher in the future. Yes, that’s my dream. My thinking was always different. I wanted to do something productive in my life. The stage that I am at right now is not that challenging. 

I am a student and I have to study properly. But to run behind a goal or dream could be very hard. And I can realize that. From the beginning, I loved to teach the kids. 

And finally, I found that is my passion. It will be great if I can become a teacher. People might dream to become a college professor or university teacher, but I prefer to become a very normal school teacher. 

I love a very easy and normal lifestyle. I want to spend the rest of my life living in a calm and naturally beautiful place, teaching lots of kids and students. And I am working hard to make my dream come true. 

Why I Want to Become a Teacher:

There are so many reasons behind this dream. The first thing that I can mention is I love teaching. That’s the biggest reason. When I shared my passion with my parents, they were amazingly supportive. They told me to follow my passion and my dream. 

And then I got a huge boost in my desire. There are some other reasons to become a teacher. I love to live a very simple life. And I know a teacher is a person who can live a very simple life. 

I want to make a difference in our education system. As you know our education system is not great. I want to fix that. It is a hard part, but that’s my ultimate goal in my life. I want to bring some changes to the system of teaching style. 

I think this profession has pretty good job security and a good income too. And another thing that I forgot to mention is fun and excitement every day. There are new things every day and that’s a huge thing for me. 

My Preparation for My Dream:

As I want to become a teacher, I need preparation for sure. And yes, I am preparing myself for this. Right now I am a student and I need to focus on my education first. But in my leisure time, I love to do the teaching. 

I have some amazing cousins who come to my home to do maths and learn English. I teach them and I enjoy them a lot. After completing high school, I have my plan to study ‘English Literature’ for higher education. 

And that will be my subject in my teaching career. And finally, after being a teacher I will join a govt school and will serve the unprivileged kids. I have a dream to start my own school too for the street kids. 

Overall I am very serious and focused on my dream. I want to make my dream true. And I am working on it. I know teaching is a noble profession and teachers are the main person who leads the nation from the front. 

10 Lines Essay on My Dream

1. Everyone needs to have a specific goal or dream in their life. 

2. That’s why I also have a dream in my life. 

3. I want to serve the needy people and want to help them at every moment.

4. That’s my dream and that’s why I am trying to become a doctor. 

5. Because I think a doctor is the best profession to serve poor people. 

6. After completing my 12th, I will try to get myself admitted to a medical college. 

7. I want to open a clinic in an underprivileged area and want to treat the poor people for free. 

8. I will get lots of inner peace by doing this. 

9. My parents are really supportive and they inspire me always to do that. 

10. That’s all my dream.

What is your dream essay? 

Here we have got some beautiful ‘my dream essays’. These essays are very informative and super easy to learn. As a student, you can try to learn them for yourself. I can assure you that these essays are good for your academic study.

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