This document summarizes a lesson plan on the American Dream. It begins with the lesson goals and agenda, which is to review a final on the American Dream. It then provides background information on definitions and interpretations of the American Dream through history, including freedom, equality, individualism, social mobility, and the idea of rags to riches success through hard work. Examples of individuals who achieved the American Dream are given. Students will then discuss in groups how accurate the American Dream is today and how it has changed over time.

1. US II Jan 16
• Goal: Review the American Dream Final
• QOD: What does the American Dream
mean to you?
• Agenda: HW Website
• Hand out final
• Turn It In
• Powerpoint

2. What is
“THE
AMERICAN
DREAM”?
Powerpoint adapted by Suzanne Conti

3. Is
FREEDOM?

4. EQUALITY?

5. INDIVIDUALISM?

6. MOBILITY?

7. AMERICAN DREAM
• Land of Opportunity
• Rags to Riches—Anyone can become rich,
famous, and powerful.
• Jobs and education are available to all who
want them.
• Meritocracy (rewards) = skill + effort.
• Through hard work, courage and
determination, one can achieve prosperity.
Americans can live better than their parents
did.

8. Emma Lazarus is best known for "The New
Colossus", a sonnet written in 1883; its lines appear on a bronze
plaque in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty[1] in 1912.
• "Give me your tired, your poor, Your
huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming
shore, Send these, the
• homeless, tempest-tossed
• to me, I lift my lamp beside
• the golden door!"

9. Coming to America
• America is called the “Melting Pot”
because of the immigration here from all
over the world. Even though immigrants
spoke different languages, had different
cultures, and held different beliefs, the one
thing they all had in common was to
pursue the “American Dream”…life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness.

10. • The American Dream is
the dream of a land where
all people can succeed
through hard work. It is
also an idea that suggests
that all people have the
potential to live happy,
successful lives.

11. • Let’s view a few video’s about the
“American Dream”….
• Neil Diamond Coming to America
• A Student Project
• The Collapse of the American Dream
• Lee Greenwood Song

12. • Originally, the focus was on hard
work and religious freedom. Today,
however, the focus seems to be on
material prosperity and fame.
• The American Dream is deeply
rooted in American society.
• Several critics have pointed out
that this dream is not attainable to
all because of the inequality rooted
in class, race and ethnic origin.

13. • The phrase “The American Dream” came into the
American vocabulary starting in 1867 when writer,
Horatio Alger used it in a story. It was a rags-to-
riches tale of a poor orphan boy in New York City
who saved his pennies, worked hard and
eventually became rich.
• It became the model that through honesty, hard
work and strong determination, the American
Dream was available to anyone willing to make the
journey.

14. Dream Makers
• “If one advances confidently in the
direction of his dreams, and endeavors to
live the life which he has imagined, he will
meet with a success unexpected in
common hour”.
- Henry David Thoreau

15. Arnold was born to a police officer and housewife in Austria, and
later emigrated to the U.S. speaking no English He went to
community college and started acting. Now he is a multi-
millionaire, married into one of the most elite families in
America—the Kennedys, and is a former governor of CA. He
has said “In this country, it doesn't make any difference where
you were born. It doesn't make any difference who your parents
were. It doesn't make any difference if, like me, you couldn't
even speak English until you were in your twenties.”

16. Ralph Lauren—maker of Polo; son
of Russian immigrants who became
a fashion mogul billionaire, started
working in his teens to buy
fashionable clothing.

17. Oprah, raised by her grandmother in
rural poor Mississippi, is a billionaire
with a book club, television show,
several charities, and many other
endeavors.

18. Benjamin Franklin, a founding father of the
U.S., was famous for his Witicisms and for
discovering electricity. He was born the son
of a candle maker and was one of 17
children.

19. Finally, Tei Fu Chen is a Taiwanese
immigrant who went from living in his car to
building a billion-dollar herbal foods empire.

20. The Declaration of Independence was written in 1776 by
Thomas Jefferson.
The general sentiment is that people are better
off than their parents and that it is possible to
start out poor and work hard to become rich.

21. “We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are
created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these
are Life, Liberty, and the
Pursuit of Happiness”

22. It all begins with a Dream . . .
• You see things
and say, “Why?”
But I dream
things that never
were and I say,
“Why not?”
• ~George Bernard Shaw

23. Chinese Stowaways die while
trying to enter the U.S.
WHY
TAKE
THE
RISK?

24. American Dream?...
Or, a Tale of Two Cities?

25. Before we assemble into groups to
determine the “American Dream”… let’s
watch a few videos that show China trying to
live the “American Dream”.
Searching for the American Dream in China

26. Let’s read an article about
Let’s read an article about
Let’s read an article about Do We
Need $75,000 a Year to Be Happy?
By Belinda Luscombe Monday, Sep.
06, 2010
Time Magazine Article

27. REFLECT :
How accurate is the “American Dream”?
You will work in groups of 3-5 to decide:
*What does the “American Dream” mean in today's
world? Is it the same for all Americans? Is it a
myth? Is it simply a quest for a better life?
*Why do some see their dreams fulfilled, and others
see their dreams wither and die?
*How has the “American Dream” changed over
time?
*What factors affect these major events in history
(political, economic, educational, social, etc.)?
* What is your personal “American Dream”? What
is your groups personal dream, as a whole?
Use large paper to complete your answers