The American Experience as Chasing an Ideal
"Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live." --Mark Twain
The American Experience involves chasing an ideal. That is what it is composed of: the idea that you can and should chase the dream of the better future that you have in mind. But, when one focuses too much on that ideal, and not the journey they are partaking to reach it, they lose the true essence of the American Experience.
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Each entry contains multiple artifacts that fit together to prove the "chasing ideals" mini-thesis.
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- "Mother to Son": Analysis of a poem by Langston Hughes concerning ideal-chasing in a more optimistic light.
- "The American Experience: A Never-Ending Race": An essay on chasing and reaching ideals.
- "Why Every American Should Read The Great Gatsby, Again": Analysis of an essay about Gatsby's view of the American Dream and his chasing of his ideal.
- The Great Gatsby: Analysis of chasing an ideal, and the consequences of focusing too much on the end result and not the journey.
- The Catcher in the Rye: Analysis on idealism and innocence, questioning the possibility of achieving such idealistic dreams, and past vs. present themes.
- Holden and Phoebe: A drawing of Holden and Phoebe by the carousel that illustrates the closing themes of the book.
Each entry contains multiple artifacts that fit together to prove the "chasing ideals" mini-thesis.