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The Dream Becomes Reality (Title)
I.
Thesis Statement- The American dream is something that John Steinbeck and Sinclair
Lewis portray as tangible, yet a person must act on his dream in a professional manner in order
for the dream to become reality.
A.
B.
C.
II.
Briefly introduce Of Mice and Men (Concrete Detail)
1.
Identify Lennie and George’s big dream (Explanation 1)
2.
Identify other dreams of characters (Explanation 2)
Briefly explain “America and Americans”
1.
Paradox of American people
2.
Idealism vs. Realism
Briefly introduce Babbitt
1.
Identify George’s social class
2.
Explain moving up the social hierarchy
Topic Sentence- The characters’ dreams in Of Mice and Men focus on the ideals of an
American dream, not reality.
A.
B.
C.
Quote- Lennie & George: ranch with chickens, cows, alfalfa, rabbits, etc.
1.
Describe why this isn’t reality
2.
Explain how they can make it reality
Quote- Curley’s Wife: be in a show or movies
1.
Mom knocked her down
2.
She could have pursued it on her own
Quote- Candy wills money to George and Lennie to join their dream
1.
He does not want to be lonely
2.
Anything is better than the ranch
Conclusion sentence
III.
Topic Sentence- Not only are the dreams of the characters in Of Mice and Men far from
reality, but so are the dreams of American people in general.
A.
Quote 1 of paradox
1. Focusing on failure
2. Praising success
B.
Quote 2 of paradox
1. Family comes first
2. Developing relationships with our families
C.
Quote 3 of paradox
1. Praise as do-it-yourselfers
2. Rely on others to fix things
Conclusion sentence
IV.
Topic Sentence- Finally, the novel Babbitt portrays the middle class American’s dream of
moving up the social ladder, yet he fails.
A.
Quote- Paul’s disgust of his wife
1. She nags him to death
2. Almost commits suicide
B.
Quote- Babbitt’s affair/fairy girl
1. He wants more than his wife offers
2. His greed forces adultery
C.
Quote- Ted’s nonconformity
1. He is just like George, greedy
2. Does not follow the middle class
Conclusion sentence
V.
Restated thesis- It is evident that dreams are tangible when people work hard to make
them a reality.
A.
Explain your dream
1. How will you achieve it?
2. Same
B.
Relate your dream to a character’s dream in Of Mice and Men
1. What will you do differently to achieve your dream?
2. Same
C.
Dreams of people in the future
1. Will they dream big?
2. How will dreams affect your generation?
The Dream Becomes Reality (Title)
The American Dream is something that John Steinbeck and Langston Hughes portray as
tangible, yet a person must act on his dream in order for the dream to become reality. In the
novel, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck portrays the American dream of long-time friends George
and Lennie. Their dream was to buy a ranch and reap the benefits of the animals. Steinbeck also
portrays the dream of Curley’s wife which was to be in a show and become an actress. In the
nonfiction piece, “America & Americans”, Steinbeck portrays the American way of life as an
immense paradox. He explains that the American people are extremely hypocritical as say they
one thing but do another. An additional focus was to explain the difference between ideal dreams
and realistic dreams. On the other hand, Langston Hughes wrote two poems that illustrate dreams
must be pursued in order for them to become reality. His first poem, “Harlem”, explains that
people have the tendency to let their dreams go. Another poem, “Dream Variations”, provides a
dream that all people should be interested in- equal civil rights.
TS- The characters’ dreams in Of Mice and Men focus on the ideals of an American
dream, not reality. CD1- “Someday-we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a
little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs and-,” (Steinbeck, 14). Com1- This
dream isn’t reality for George and Lennie because they spend all of their money in town and
George has a hard enough time taking care of Lennie, so it would be hard to take care of a ranch
too. Com2- They could turn this ideal dream into reality by staying at a ranch for longer than a
month, saving their money, and down-sizing their ranch. CD2-Curley’s wife could have went to
the Riverside Dance Palace or acted in Hollywood, but instead she settled for Curley.CM-1 “I
always thought my ol’ lady stole it [letter],” (Steinbeck, 88). CM-2 Even though her mother may
have stolen her letter from the producer of Hollywood, Curley’s wife should have went to
Hollywood anyhow and tried to pursue her acting dream.
Not only can the dreams of the characters in Of Mice and Men become reality, but so can
the dreams of American people. “We bridle and buck under failure, and we go mad in the face of
success,” (America & Americans, 29). Steinbeck shows that we should work on progressing
when we fail at something. On the other hand, we should praise our successes instead of picking
out all of the things we did wrong. “Americans overindulge their kids and do not like them,”
(America & Americans, 30). The American people need to do things with their kids, rather then
buy their love. Developing bonds with their families is the most important aspect of the family
dream.
Finally, the poems of Langston Hughes inspire us to take charge of our dreams and dream
big. For example, in “Harlem” Langston Hughes explains that every dream must have a purpose
or it will explode. Every American should pursue their dreams in order to make them become a
reality. If Americans never gave up on their dreams, this nation would be a better place in which
to live. Hughes also explained in “Dream Variations” that people should dream bigger in order to
make a difference in life. The purpose of his dream was to stop racism and provide civil rights
for all people; finally, this has become a reality. He also explains that every dream should make a
difference in the community, family or a person’s life.
It is evident that dreams are tangible when people work hard to make them a reality. My
dream is to become a principal of a school. In order to make this dream a reality I have obtained
my Master’s in Educational Administration. The next step I need to take is to become a dean and
then an assistant principal. My dream relates to George and Lennie’s dream because I constantly
think about my dream. The difference in my dream is that I will pursue it until I achieve it. I will
not give up until I become a principal.