Piper Allard

Mr.Smith

Junior English

10/5/22

Losing hope for the American Dream

Everyone’s heard of the American Dream as the classic selling point for America, but

how many are actually able to achieve that dream? The American Dream is defined as “The ideal

by which equality of opportunity is available to any American, allowing the highest aspirations

and goals to be achieved.” But this Dream may not be as achievable as it once was. The

economic American Dream is no longer achievable due to the likelihood to outearn one’s parents

decreasing, which means middle class Americans are starting to give up hope.

Since inflation has risen drastically but wages have barely increased, the opportunity to

make more money than one’s parents is growing slim. According to the World Economic forum

the likelihood to outearn one’s parents by the age of 30 has decreased by 48% over the span of

40 years (Lu 3). This means that 30 year old Americans in 1980 were 48% less likely to earn

more than their parents did compared to 30 year old Americans in 1940. A big part of the

American Dream is having the opportunities one’s parents didn’t and making more money than

one’s parents. This is becoming more difficult because inflation is rising, making many items

more expensive, while wages have barely changed. This causes many to spend more than they

are making just to live.. For example, average full time workers in 2011 would have made 10%

less than they would have made a decade before (Shapiro 3). Similar to the previous text, this

means that the average worker isn’t making nearly as much as they used to. Therefore they have

to work longer hours just to make enough to pay for basic necessities. This can be discouraging
and feel impossible to escape. As both texts have shown, because of rising inflation and stagnant

wages the opportunity to outearn one’s parents is decreasing making it increasingly difficult to

achieve the American Dream. Americans are giving up on the American Dream because they

can’t earn enough to achieve it.

Living practically paycheck to paycheck and not being able to afford the American

Dream house is extremely discouraging for many Americans and causes many to give up on the

American Dream. An example of this is explained in “The House on Mango Street”, “They

always told us that one day we would move into a house, a real house that would be ours for

always so we wouldn't have to move each year. And our house would have running water and

pipes that worked … But the house on Mango Street is not the way they told it at all” (Cisneros).

The narrator explains her idea of the American Dream which includes a nice house that her

family owns. Her family cannot achieve this dream because of their financial situation so they

are forced to keep living in poverty and poor living conditions. They keep having to move from

place to place, spending money they don’t have which makes it impossible to escape the

situation. Unfortunately this is the case for many Americans. Because of this some are starting to

lose hope in the American Dream. This situation is explained in the spoken poem America in 4

Minutes, “It’s home of the green grass, the blue shutters, and the white picket fence that we talk

about. It’s also home of people with bad credit that can’t afford the American Dream house.

Because in our America, a vast majority of us go into debt because we go to work, we get our

checks, we spend what’s left.” (Wellington). For many the American Dream is seemingly

unachievable because they are only making enough each month to pay for bills but not much

extra. For many, poverty is a seemingly impossible situation to get out of. Even those who don’t

live in poverty struggle to move up the next income bracket. Because of this Americans are
starting to give up on the Dream. Both these sources show that because countless Americans are

living paycheck to paycheck they feel as though they will never be able to achieve the American

Dream. Living in poverty can be discouraging and cause many Americans to start to give up on

the American Dream.

In conclusion, rising inflation and stagnant wages have made it seemingly impossible to

achieve the American Dream, causing some Americans to lose hope. This issue is important

because many families can’t afford the American Dream house anymore. The federal wage needs

to be increased so workers can make enough money to support themselves and their family. Only

then can the American Dream be more achievable.

 Works Cited

Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. 2nd Vintage Contemporaries ed., 25th

anniversary ed, Vintage Contemporaries, 2009.

Lu, Marcus. “Is the American Dream over? Here’s What the Data Says.” World Economic

Forum, World Economic Forum, 2 Sept. 2020,

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/09/social-mobility-upwards-decline-usa-us-ameri

ca-economics/.

Shapiro, Ari. “American Dream Faces Harsh New Reality.” NPR, 29 May 2012. NPR,

https://www.npr.org/2012/05/29/153513153/american-dream-faces-harsh-new-reality.

Wellington, Branden. “America in 4 Minutes.” Have My Thoughts,

http://brandenwellington.blogspot.com/2012/11/1st-video-poem.html. Accessed 3 Oct.

2022.
 Skill Advanced Proficient Foundational Not
Yet

Thesis establishes a Appears in first Identifies a topic

complex claim paragraph

Thesis establishes a topic

and a claim

Thesis
Comments:

Includes specific, Includes multiple pieces Includes two or

meaningful, and of evidence (from 4 fewer sources
well-chosen evidence sources) that clearly
that relates to the thesis relate to the thesis Some evidence
relates to the thesis
Includes multiple pieces
Evidence of evidence in each body
paragraph

Comments:

Explains well-selected Explains how evidence Summarizes sources

points of comparison supports topic sentence of
among sources and individual paragraphs
evidence and their
connection to the thesis Explains how evidence
Analysis supports the thesis of the
essay

Comments:
 Clearly explains Explains how the Little connection
relationships among texts/sources are related, between texts;
texts (how they confirm though points could be difficult for the
or challenge each other, more selective or better reader to see how
build on each other, developed the texts are related
Synthesis provide differing
perspectives, etc.) Includes multiple sources
in each body paragraph

Comments:

No errors in MLA format Heading is correctly Some elements

formatted missing or some
errors in MLA format
Pages are numbered

In-text citations are

correctly formatted

MLA Format Works Cited format:

hanging indent,
double-spaced,
alphabetized, starts on a
new page

Works Cited: each source

entry is in correct MLA
format
Comments:

All quotes are correctly Most quotes are correctly Shows evidence of
integrated integrated basic proofreading

Conventions Shows evidence of Follows essay organization

careful proofreading
Shows evidence of
proofreading

Comments:
Piper,
Some suggestions to consider:
● A thesis should drive your paper. It seems like your body paragraphs don’t necessarily
defend what you say as your thesis
● You need to correct hanging indents
● Overall, your body paragraphs need to be restructured to fit the format of synthesis… we
are using two texts in a body paragraph in order to compare/contrast them
● Analysis, overall, needs to better relate to the text itself. You supply quotes, but then talk
about the “Am Dream” in general, rather than discussing the impact of the quote.
Keep these points in mind if you choose to revise.

Grade: C-