Defend
This source calls America a "magical place" and a "beacon of freedom and opportunity to those who had come before."
What is Barack Obama's Speech: "Keynote Address to the 2004 Democratic National Convention"? (1.17)
In this source, business owner Simone Luevano calls The American Dream "a bygone thing."
What is the article, "Is the American Dream Still Possible?" by David Wallechinsky? (1.12)
This source says, "if you're given regular hours, better pay, decent housing, unemployment, and medical compensation, pension plans -- we have a very relaxed way of living."
What is "Roberto Acuna Talks about Farm Workers"? (1.16)
This poem is about workers and singing, and presents a positive view of America.
What is "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman? (1.4)
This source says that "in a generous America, you don't have to be rich to achieve your potential."
What is Barack Obama's Speech: "Keynote Address to the 2004 Democratic National Convention"? (1.17)
This poem states that "America never was America to me."
What is the poem, "Let America Be America Again" by Langston Hughes? (1.8)
This is a series of podcasts with stories about the American Dream.
What is NPR's "American Dreams: Then and Now"?
This poem says, "Sluggish by 9pm, the hands would slide along suddenly sharp paper, and gather slits thinner than the crevices of the skin, hidden."
What is "Who Burns for the Perfection of Paper" by Martín Espada? (1.16)
This famous document says that we have certain unalienable rights which include Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
What is The Declaration of Independence? (1.13)
This source says that "47% of Americans say that no matter how hard they work, they cannot get ahead."
What is the article, "Is the American Dream Still Possible?" by David Wallechinsky? (1.12)
This source is about a mother who believes she is offering her family the American Dream but her daughter says "I just want her time."
What is the video, "The American Dream, Served Family Style"?
This poem challenges Whitman's poem and alludes to segregation in America.
What is "I, Too, Sing America" by Langston Hughes? (1.4)
This source says that in our country "failure isn't fatal" and many people "come out stronger as a result."
What is "The Right to Fail" by William Zinsser? (1.17)
This source talks about a group of people who often work 17 hours a day without proper compensation.
What is "Roberto Acuna Talks about Farm Workers"? (1.16)
This source says "that every opened lawbook was a pair of hands upturned and burning."
What is "Who Burns for the Perfection of Paper" by Martín Espada? (1.16)
This poem says, "Not gold but only men can make A people great and strong."
What is "A Nation's Strength" by Ralph Waldo Emerson? (American Dream Poetry Wall Padlet)
This source outlines four key human rights: freedom of speech, freedom to worship God, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.
What is the speech, "The Four Freedoms" by Franklin D. Roosevelt? (1.9)
This source says "I want America to want me."
What is the short story "America and I" by Anzia Yezierska? (1.5)
This poem says, "You are called First Generation for a reason. The American Dream was never meant for me. It was always meant for you."
What is "The Unwritten Letter from my Immigrant Parent" by Muna Abdulahi? (Poetry Wall Padlet)
This poem says "Yet only part of my blood loves that memory. Another voice speaks of native lands within this country. Lands invaded..."
What is the poem, "Ellis Island" by Joseph Bruchac? (Poetry Wall Padlet and 1.14)