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The American Dream of Success

The media fosters myths about the American Dream

1. The illusion of success is sold as success

2. The media primarily sell the notion that buying the material things advertised will bring the buyer not only the trappings of success but more importantly a sense of peace and happiness.

B. In fact, material success is not accessible to all, and those that achieve it are not guaranteed happiness.

II. Examples from Rereading America.

A. Jack Solomon argues that media advertising is behavior modification meant to make us a nation of fantacizers.

1. The material success and happiness promised are out of reach for many if not most, creating discontent which the advertising further manipulates.

B. Curtis Chang explores the lies the media tells about the purported success of Asian Americans.

1. This success advances the illusion that anyone can achieve the American Dream if they work hard enough.

C. Ruth Sidel explores the lies swallowed by the female elites who have access to the material success of the American Dream.

III. Conclusion: The essays in this work uniformly make clear that material success is not accessible to many Americans, and for those to whom it is accessible certainly are not guaranteed happiness as a result.

Several essays from Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing, edited by Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen and Bonnie Lisle, describe myths about success in the United States which the media foster. This study will examine those myths, the role of the media in nurturing and promulgating them, and will give examples of how the media try to sell the illusion of success in place of actual success. It is the thesis of this study that the media primarily sell the notion that buying the material things advertised will bring the buyer not only the trappings of success but more importantly a sense of peace and happiness. The essays reveal that for most p...

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The American Dream of Success. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 10:44, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1680643.html