Defining the Dream (In-class-essay#1) with Reflections

Tsung Cheng LinEnglish 1BBrian C LewisCalifornia Dream What does dream mean to people? Dream is a way that can encourage people to do a better job. All dreams come from ourselves. I came here three yeas ago. My dream for now is to transfer to a good university. There are a lot of people who immigrated to California. All the California dreams were started from the gold rush. In that period, many people came here to take gold. After that period California has become a dream place for most people. People immigrate to California for variety reasons. Although there are many promises of California dreams to people, sunshine and beaches, opportunity and success, the problem of high expectation must be noticed. The first reason that people want to immigrate to California is because of its sunshine and beaches. In California, there are many beaches. The sun is always sunshine here. It’s a very big reason that why people want to immigrate to California. One of my friends, who is from Taiwan, came to California because of the weather and beaches. He likes to surf. Another promise to people is its high opportunity and success. In the article “California A place, a People, a Dream,” James J Rawls state, “Opportunity and success—these promises are at the heart of the California Dream” (23). It’s a main promise that people immigrate to California. Starting form the Golf Rush, California means for most people is money. In the story “Under the Wire,” Fito says, “people there (California) sweep money off the street. In the story, they crossed to California fence illegally because they want to find a better and food life here. The author’s papa says, “Once we cross la frontera, we’ll make a good living in California. Although those promises make people want to immigrate to California, there still problem of California dream. People immigrated here in the hope to find better life. Some people succeed but some people do not. In the story, they traveled a long trip and spend all of their money from la frontera to get California. Once they arrived, they were hoping that they can work right away. But the foreman told them that the strawberries won’t be ready to pick in this period. They didn’t have money to buy food and had to hunt for their food. Rawls claims, “Obviously there is a paradox here, for California is at once a land of great expectation and disappointment” (26). When people have a very high expectation to do something, once they fail, they disappoint more. Rawls writes, “Wide publicity is given to the state’s rate of alcoholism, drug abuse, and suicide—clear evidence that California is now the land of failed dreams and broken promises” (27). The high expectation will cause tragedies. In the conclusion,