- “The American Dream is the ideal that the government should protect each person's opportunity to pursue their own idea of happiness.” -Anonymous
- The American Dream is achieved through risk taking, hard work, and sacrifice. The only thing that stands in the way of the Dream is you.


- I chose this image because I thought it represented hard work.

- Homeownership and education are often seen as paths to achieving the American Dream.


- I chose this picture to represent home ownership.

- The Declaration of Independence protects the American Dream (the ability to be innovative and pursue happiness) when it states "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. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.


- I chose a picture of the Declaration of Independence because the Declaration of Independence helps protect the American Dream.

- While the Dream and Declaration only applied to white property owners at first, Presidents like Lincoln, FDR, and Truman advocated for equal opportunity allowing the American Dream to be achievable for all.
- Like I said, the only thing in the way of the American Dream is yourself.


- I chose this picture to represent equality.

- The American Dream is made possible by three geographic, economic, and political factors.
- (1) The United States has a large landmass under one government (thanks to the Civil War).


- I chose this picture to represent America as one landmass.

- (2) America has benign neighbors (partially due to the geography of Canada and Mexico).


- I chose this picture to represent neighbors and the neighbors America has.

- (3) The United States has abundant natural resources like oil, rainfall, rivers, long shorelines and flat terrain to ease transportation.
- These factors allow citizens and companies to become innovative, fueling the American Dream.


- This picture of flat terrain represents easy travel through the country.

- In the 1920s, the Dream morphed from a desire to better yourself to a desire to acquire material things.


- I chose this picture to represent material possessions.

- An example of this in the novel is when Daisy sees Gatsby’s shirts.
- “Just as Americans have given America meaning through their dreams for their own lives, Gatsby instills Daisy with a kind of idealized perfection that she neither deserves nor possesses.”
- This is another example from a commentary on the novel.


- These pictures of dress shirts are similar to the ones I envisioned in the novel.

Amadeo, Kimberly. “What Is The American Dream? The History That Made It Possible.” the balance, 21 April 2020, https:// www.thebalance.com/what-is-the-american- dream-quotes-and-history-3306009, 28 April 2020.