The American Dream: Examining Literature, Statistics, and Personal Experiences

Created Jan. 24, 2024 by Danielle De Arment-Donohue

Overview:

This project can be used at the end of a unit in which the students have read and discussed a work of literature that deals with The American Dream; here that is F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.  It gives the students the opportunity to consider a fictional representation, examine real world statistics and facts about class and status in the United States, and draw their own conclusions based on personal interpretation, experience, and knowledge.  The final product is a visual representation and written explanation of that personal interpretation. 

Essential Questions:

  • What is the American Dream and is it attainable for all?
  • How does Fitzgerald depict the American Dream and its attainability?
  • What does information about social mobility and class in America reveal about the American Dream?  
  • How do your ideas about the American Dream compare to F. Scott Fitzgerald's depiction? 

Source Ideas: 

(Note: These sites are not necessarily OERs and may have restrictions regarding use.)

The United States Census "Opportunity Atlas": https://www.opportunityatlas.org/

New York Times "Class in America" (This is excellent and interactive, but requires Flash to be enabled): https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/packages/html/national/20050515_CLASS_GRAPHIC/index_03.html?module=inline

Brookings Institute Article: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/social-mobility-memos/2018/01/11/raj-chetty-in-14-charts-big-findings-on-opportunity-and-mobility-we-should-know/

John Green Youtube video "Is the American Dream Real?": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYGc8-L_NmE

Teachers and students can find other useful sources as well.

Culminating Activity: 

The culminating activity will be having the students work alone or in groups to create some type of visual component (painting, drawing, sculpture, picture, etc.) that represents their idea of the American Dream and write a one-page (minimum) double spaced rationale for it in which they respond to the following:

1. Describe how what you have depicted overall conveys your idea of the American Dream.

2. Explain how three of the specific choices you made highlight your view of the American Dream.  

3. What information (previous knowledge, experiences, source material, etc.) informs your ideas about the American Dream?

4. How does your representation of the American Dream compare to F. Scott Fitzgerald's representation? 


*Remixed from this original work: Hannan, Eric. "American Dream PBL". OER Commons. Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education, 10 Oct. 2016. Web. 16 Nov. 2019. <https://www.oercommons.org/authoring/16876-american-dream-pbl>.

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