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"We are able to believe that our government is weak, stupid, overbearing, dishonest, and innefficient, and at the same time we are deeply convinced it is the best government in the world.."

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"We are able to believe that our government is weak, stupid, overbearing, dishonest, and innefficient, and at the same time we are deeply convinced it is the best government in the world.."

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-Helena

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"We believe in the manliness of our men and the womanliness of our women," In this generation, I think the definition of manliness and womanliness are changing and how we portray ourselves as one. - Samara

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"We believe in the manliness of our men and the womanliness of our women," In this generation, I think the definition of manliness and womanliness are changing and how we portray ourselves as one. - Samara

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"We are a restless, a dissatisfied, a searching people." (1)

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"We are a restless, a dissatisfied, a searching people." (1)

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I agree with this sentence because I feel like this summarized the whole essay. This also relates back to the tv ads we watched in class. I aslo feel the same way as an American.  -Nicole

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Ms. Conlon Pg. 9: "They pick [marksmanship] up much faster than the English lads do. Maybe they're just born with the knack." I wasn't sure how seriously to take this claim. Are Americans really naturally "better" at using guns?

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Ms. Conlon Pg. 9: "They pick [marksmanship] up much faster than the English lads do. Maybe they're just born with the knack." I wasn't sure how seriously to take this claim. Are Americans really naturally "better" at using guns?

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"We are able to believe that our government is weak, stupid, overbearing, dishonest, and inefficient, and at the same time we are deeply convinced that it is the best government in the world, and we would like to impose it upon everyone else." (1) I agreed with this a lot because people blame the President/government for almost everything yet force people who have different beliefs to go along with their political beliefs
Maya

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I agree with "We are complacent in our possessions [...], but it is hard to find a man or woman who does not want something better for the next generation."
This quote stood out the most to me because it is pretty ironic that we are complacent in what we have right now, but always have the ego or demand in better world and better society for the future generation.
-Erin

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"We spend our lives in automobiles, yet most of us - a great many of us at least - do not know enough about a car to look in the gas tank when the engine fails" (p. 2).

I liked this quote because it connects back to the characteristics of what we thought was "American". We believe that Americans are independent when in reality we are not all "natural-born mechanics and do-it-yourselfers".

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"We fancy ourselves as hardheaded realists, but we will buy anything we see advertised".
I liked this quote because we are so arrogant that we refuse to look at the flaws in ourselves enough to realize how hypocritical we are.

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¨we go mad with dissatisfaction in the face of success¨(1)

I agree because we work so hard to achieve something and often dont take time to appreciate or bask in our success before looking for more.

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"It occurs to me that all dreams, waking and sleeping, are powerful and prominent memories of something real, of something that really happened." I think that dreams are something that we want to happen or something that has to do with real-life events and they are portrayed in a different way.
- Krissh

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"Americans seem to live and breathe and function by paradox; but in nothing are we so paradoxical as in our passionate belief in our own myths."

I agree with this because a lot of the things that are argued for in America are always done in a paradoxical/ignorant fashion (i.e. in the essay, he says that safety is kept and influenced by violence).

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"We believe in the manliness of our men and the womanliness of our women, but we go to extremes of expense and discomfort to cover any natural evidence that we are either." 

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"We believe in the manliness of our men and the womanliness of our women, but we go to extremes of expense and discomfort to cover any natural evidence that we are either." 

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This doesn't feel current to me at all. I think as we have become more accepting and reflective, we no longer see gender this way. -Cj

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"We speak of the American Way of Life as though it involved the ground rules for the government of heaven"

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"We speak of the American Way of Life as though it involved the ground rules for the government of heaven"

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This quote points out how we view the American Way as a perfect procedure for a perfect society, ignoring many of its flaws.- John

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"We trample friends, relatives, and strangers who get in the way of our achieving [wealth], and once we get [wealth] we shower it on psychoanalysts to try to find out why we are unhappy, and finally, if we have enough of the gold we contribute it back to the nation in the form of foundations and charities" (paragraph 2).
There's no mercy to get to the top. We only act selfless when everyone else has been trampled by us.

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"...we would like to impose it (our government) up everyone else."

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"...we would like to impose it (our government) up everyone else."

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I disagree with this because quote in relation to modern day society. We are more focused now-a-days on fixing our own government, than trying to impose it on others.
-Helena

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"We are afraid to be awake, afraid to be alone, afraid to be a moment without the noise and confusion we call entertainment."
This sentence points out how we've kind of lost the ability to get bored and need a kind of constant stimulation to feel secure. This kind of relates to a point made earlier in the text that illustrates how Americans might not delay gratification, which makes us seem childish even if we claim to be independent.

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"one for the generalities most often notes about Americans is that we are a restless, dissatisfied, a searching people".
There are many people who work wall street hours and shape america.
- Daniel

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"Americans are remarkably kind and hospitable and open with both guests and strangers; and yet they will make a wide circle around the man dying on the pavement."

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"Americans are remarkably kind and hospitable and open with both guests and strangers; and yet they will make a wide circle around the man dying on the pavement."

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-Samantha

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"We are self-reliant and at the same time completely dependent."
I agreed with this line because I think in America today we consider ourselves and strive to be self-reliant and self-sufficient, but in reality we are fully dependent on others and our community which is not necessarily a bad thing.

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"We scramble and scrabble up the stony path toward the pot of gold we have taken to mean security"

A lot of times people become obsessed with money and think it means everything/will bring them security, and will do anything to obtain it

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"The national dream of Americans is a whole pattern of thinking and feeling and may well be a historic memory surprisingly little distorted."
- I feel that this is an interesting way of viewing the American dream, and can provide insight on why we value certain ways of life, such as being self-sufficient.

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"It occurs to me that all dreams, waking and sleeping, are powerful and prominent memories of something real, or something that really happened. I believe these memories--some of them, at least--can be inherited" (12).

According to this logic, the American Dream is "real" and "really happened"? Are there any examples or evidence? Parents can pass it down to their children? Is that why Steinbeck later claims that the American Dream "never comes to the immigrants themselves"?

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"We fight our way in, and try to buy our way out. We are alert, curious, hopeful, and we take more drugs designed to make us unaware than any other people."

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"We fight our way in, and try to buy our way out. We are alert, curious, hopeful, and we take more drugs designed to make us unaware than any other people."

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I think this line is incredibly powerful as it explains the cycle of working hard for a living and then losing the money. The next line, on drugs, introduces another way that people fight to get money and blow it on something unimportant.
-Tommy

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"Americans are remarkably kind and hospitable and open with both guests and strangers; and yet they will make a wide circle around the man dying on the pavement"

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"Americans are remarkably kind and hospitable and open with both guests and strangers; and yet they will make a wide circle around the man dying on the pavement"

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-Helena

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"There isn't a man among us in ten thousand who knows how to butcher a cow or a pig and cut it up for eating, let alone a wild animal."

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"There isn't a man among us in ten thousand who knows how to butcher a cow or a pig and cut it up for eating, let alone a wild animal."

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Mahi - This sentence was used to explain how Americans aren't as pioneering and independent as they were because they've lost life skills like hunting. However, I feel like that's not really necessary in an industrialized world. We're kind of pioneers in our own way now with technology and business.

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" No one can define ["The American Way of Life"] or point to any one person or group who lives it, but it is very real nevertheless, perhaps more real than that equally remte dream the Russians call Communism" (paragraph 17).

I don't understand why Communism in Russia was signaled out in this poem. What was the meaning behind saying this?

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"Americans seem to live and breathe and function by paradox; but in nothing are we so paradoxical as in our passionate belief in our own myths" (paragraph 4)

- I do agree with some of the paradox generalities mentionned in this essay but I feel that many of them are true simply because America contains a diverse population where not everyone is the same and there are many opposing types of people. In my opinion, the American Dream is moreso that you can be anything and that is what is somewhat a myth.

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"In no country are more seeds and plants and equimpment purchased, and less vegetables and flowers raised."

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"In no country are more seeds and plants and equimpment purchased, and less vegetables and flowers raised."

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I wonder if he's alluding to a "wasted potentional" analogy about the US.

-Helena

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"the home dream can be acted out almost anywhere." I doubted this because I felt that Steinbeck was delegitimizing any work done by a member of the family that is not the "primary breadwinner". He described the women's job as undemanding and effortless. In contrast to a man's job, which was brutal, hostile, and required great perseverance to even work outside of the house.

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"The sellers of homes make their profit on the down payment and on the interest on the loan; but the private owner who want to turn over his dream home and move on to another finds that he always takes a loss" (paragraph 9).

I want to discuss whether this is true: if the system was designed to put pressure on success and more pressure on failure, or if it was a matter of the country leaving people behind.

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"...our generalized dreams... have been pre-recorded on some kind of genetic tape in the species out of which we evolved or mutated, just as some of our organs which no longer function."

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"...our generalized dreams... have been pre-recorded on some kind of genetic tape in the species out of which we evolved or mutated, just as some of our organs which no longer function."

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Mahi - How far back does this go? The text also mentions how this relates to organs that no longer work or serve a purpose. Does that imply that our dreams and stories are useless, or does it suggest that we just can't fully grasp their meaning?

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“A national dream need not, indeed may not be clear-cut and exact. For Americans too wide and general dream has a name. It's called the "American Way of Life."

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“A national dream need not, indeed may not be clear-cut and exact. For Americans too wide and general dream has a name. It's called the "American Way of Life."

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I agree with this quote at the end of the essay. Everyone has their own definition of what American Dream exactly is, and therefore American Dream is wide and can be interpret in many different ways. However, all of them can be descirbed as the American way of life, meaning how the Americans are living their life, and what makes America as a country which many people are willing to live here across the sea. -Jiayi

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¨we will vote against a man because... of the shape of his nose¨(5)

the word man is no longer relevant because women can be part of the government too, but also it shows the past bias that men had more power.

Also I was curious if the shape of someones nose is an anti-semetic comment?

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"Even in our so-called virtues we are intemperate: a teetoaler is not content not to drink - he must stop all the drinking in the world; a vegetarian among us would outlaw the eating of meat." I doubt this assumption as in most cases people don't drink alcohol or eat meat because they have personal reasons such as a past with alcohol abuse or a desire to lose weight. It is commonly known that people who don't drink alcohol or eat meat are not necessarily better than those who do not share the same practices. It is baseless to assume that people push their own virtues on others because in the first place if they are doing so, it is because said person's own circumstances and ideals, and this is not necessarily just "an American thing."