Of Mice and Men & A Raisin in the Sun The American Dream

End Goal Write a MLA formatted paper using 2 outside sources and the works Of Mice and Men & A Raisin in the Sun in order to prove your original thesis statement regarding the ideals of The American Dream.

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Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Set in California, during early to mid 1930s Depiction of harsh realities of life for poor unskilled workers displaced by the Depression Steinbeck’s sympathetic representation of the poor and disadvantaged made him extremely unpopular with employers and landowners whom he blamed for perpetuating the cycle of poverty George and Lennie – set out on journey together in order to one day achieve their dream of owing their own land.

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry A Raisin in the Sun can be considered a turning point in American art and drama because it addresses so many issues important during the 1950s in the United States The first play brought to Broadway by a black woman (young and unknown) Broaches important issues and conflicts, such as poverty, discrimination, and the construction of African-American racial identity Hansberry's father engaged in a legal battle against a racially restrictive covenant that attempted to prohibit African- American families from buying homes in the area. This experience later inspired her to write her most famous work, A Raisin in the Sun.

The American Dream: the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. Then: 1930s:“The meaning I knew well enough — the future is supposed to be better than the past, and we can make it so by hard work — but the coinage itself was a mystery. And so discovering that it was a product of the early 1930s — a time of enormous crisis — was illuminating. The coiner, the historian James Truslow Adams, was writing at a disorienting moment in the years after the Crash of 1929, an era in which the future of democratic capitalism was in doubt. That the power and clarity of a phrase that captured so much of what had — and has — set America apart in terms of liberty and opportunity could come from the gloom of a Great Depression made me feel rather better about things in our own time” (Meacham). 1950s:“The decade following World War II is often described as one of the most prosperous economic times in American history. With victory under their belts and money in their pockets, Americans in the 1950s could optimistically pursue the American dream. Part of that dream included the comforts of home ownership and the opportunity to start a family” (Brohl). Now: “The key elements of the American dream—a living wage, retirement security, the opportunity for one's children to get ahead in life—are now unreachable for all but the wealthiest among us. And it’s getting worse. As inequality increases, the fundamental elements of the American dream are becoming increasingly unaffordable for the majority” (Eskow).

Your Immediate Tasks Watch the film A Raisin in the Sun Read novel Of Mice and Men Take notes about: character dreams / goals / aspirations / struggles culture and community presence of the “American Dream”

MLA Format TNR Double Spaced 12pt font Heading Header Title Citations Jon Doe Doe 1 Landis ELA 9 10 June 2016 Sample Paper Start the paper here and do not put in any extra spaces after the title. Always document your evidence with a citation (Landis 10). You must document the evidence “if it is a direct quote or a summary” (Landis 8). TNR Double Spaced 12pt font Heading Header Title Citations Work Cited Page (last page/ABC order/ Use citation machine on IMC website)

Tips for Writing a Thesis The thesis statement declares the main purpose of the entire paper. It should answer the questions: "What is my opinion on subject X? What am I going to illustrate or define or argue in this paper?“ Poor Thesis Statement: Good Thesis Statement: Is a declarative sentence Contains a judgment May compare or contrast May focus on a cause or effect May propose a solution or problem Appears at the end of the intro States a fact only Expresses personal opinion only Generalizes the entire topic Written as a question Uses first person Appears as the first sentence of the intro

Source / Citation Review Check for links on my website Feel free to do your own research Must have at lest 2 outside sources Document information used from any of your sources (outside or novel/film) with a citation Citation is author’s last name and page number where the info was found Cite a direct quote and or summary/paraphrase