American Dream

During the 1920s the idea of the American Dream was having a lot of money, being able to party, and just enjoying life. Due to the differing time period my personal views of the American Dream are very different. I view the American Dream as being able to provide myself the necessities for life and to be able to enjoy the life I have. It is being able to practice the rights that I have and not be discriminated against for any reason. It seek equal treatment in society. Not only that but it is also hoping for a better future.


I think that like in the Great Gatsby and in the 1920s hope is a large part of the American Dream. We still everyday hope for our futures to be better as did people in the 1920s and people will continue to look to further themselves in the future. Hope is a continuous piece of the American  Dream that will remain for as long as the idea of the American Dream lasts. My view of the American Dream differs from that of Gatsby and people of the 1920s in that my idea of the American Dream is not to obtain as much wealth as possible. While my views may not be the same of other people, to me wealth has less of an impact on how successful we view ourselves as. While wealth is very important to obtaining power in society I feel that this is not as important now as it was in the 1920s. This can be seen by the removal of the terms "new money" and "old money". No longer to we see people with money from their parents as better than those who made their own living. In fact, there as been a shift and those that earned their own money and worked hard to make it to where they are now are more looked up to than those who are given money through inheritance.


My definition of wealth is not necessarily finances but more in terms of happiness. What is the point in having a lot of money if I am not happy and I feel that my life has no meaning? I think that the happier I am with my life the more wealthy I am. This is a direct contrast to the views of people in the Great Gatsby and the people in the 1920s. They viewed wealth as the most important thing. They didn't seem to care if they were happy or not all they wanted to do was to become more and more financially wealthy. This is because at this time the United States was going through great financial increase and everyone wanted to be a part of it.


I believe that the overall American view towards wealth and poverty has stayed the same. Poverty is always viewed as awful and with terrible living conditions. Americans in the media portray poverty as unbearable when in reality this may not always be the case. In some cases those that are in poverty are happier than those with a lot of money. Sure they have to worry about money, but if someone cares about them it is less likely to be because of something they have. People in poverty are more likely to build real relationships with people as opposed to fake ones where people are only after someone else's money. The view of poverty as negative and wealth as positive I think comes from the idea of the general idea of the American Dream. The general idea is that we should want more and seek as much financial gain as possible but seeking financial gain does not always bring the happiness that we seek. I view wealth as not all it is hyped up to be and poverty as not as bad as it is frequently portrayed. This is my opinion because I feel like it is easy to be wealthy and unhappy because sure you may be able to buy whatever you want but there is a lacking human connection that occurs with people when you reach a certain level of wealth. Poverty isn't as bad as it is portrayed because while you may not have the funds you need while in poverty you can develop a deeper connection and find who is really there for you and who isn't. While when you have wealth everyone wants to be around you and it becomes difficult to separate real friends from fake ones.

Importance of Translations

Original: Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheuren Ungeziefer verwandelt.

#1:As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.

• insect-specific type of bug
• uneasy-restlessness
• continuous no puctuation= detached from what Gregor feels
• objective views of what he turned into
• transformed- implies no resemblance to former self
• one morning- typical day that something strange is going to happen in 

#2:Gregory Samsa woke from uneasy dreams one morning to find himself changed into a giant bug.

• Uneasy - restlessness
• changed- seems as though he may not have undergone a "complete transformation" still some trace of his former self 
• woke- sudden break from sleep
• giant bug- negative connotations. Makes me think of like a big beetle. 
• By placing his name first 
• Bug- more negative than the word insect, bothersome 

#3:When Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled dreams one morning he found he had been transformed in his bed into an enormous bug.

• Enormous- makes me think like human sized, or abnormally large for a bug,  not normal or natural
• troubled dreams- nightmare
• transformed- implies no resemblance to former self
• Bug- more negative than the word insect, bothersome 
• Longer sentence still processing the information, processing his transformation

#4:One morning, upon awakening from agitated dreams, Gregor Samsa found himself, in his bed, transformed into a monstrous vermin.

• Frequent use of commas- Gregor hasn't processed the transformation yet. leads audience to process this with him
• agitated- most negative descriptive word used, Gregor had nightmares that he couldn't escape, woke up to find something worse
• montrous- no longer human like
• vermin- very negative, don't know if he is a bug or rat, but he is a pest of some kind
• transformed- implies no resemblance to former self

After analyzing each, respond to the following questions in a well-developed (2-3 paragraphs) response- think about the translations as a whole: How does the word choice, syntax, punctuation, and imagery shift in each affect meaning? Is one more effective than another? Why? What does this exercise bring up about the difficulty of reading translated texts? How do different translations effect the tone of the sentence? 

The meaning of the translation greatly changes with the stylistic features. By changing one word slightly affects how the reader interprets the text and views certain characters for the entirety of a work of literature. First impressions are very important especially in works of literature.

Simply by changing one word to describe the change that occurred to Gregor Samsa affects how the audience views interprets Gregor's views toward the change. By using the words "monstrous vermin" there is an understanding that he has turned into something undesirable and that he has negative views of what he has turned into. This phrase also does not give a clear representation of what he ahs turned into. By using the word "vermin" the audience is aware of the negative connotations of the word, but cannot get a clear picture of the thing that he has turned into. In contrast,in the first translation using the word "insect" implies a very specific type of bug and does not carry the negative connotations. It implies a bug with six legs and three major segments to the body. The audience is given a very clear view of what Gregor has turned into. The word "bug" leaves the visual of Greogor open to interpretation but not so much as the word "vermin" did. With bug we are aware of the type of creature he has turned into  but are not givne a clear view since bug is such a broad term.The lack of punctuation in the first three translation presents the transformation all at once as though the narrator has already processed the fact that Gregor has turned into a bug. The fourth translation has a more slow pace. This comes across as though the narrator is processing the information with the reader.

Personally,  the fourth translation is the most effective. It shows that the author is taking more of a negative tone toward the transformation. By using phrase "monstrous vermin" it creates more emotion in the text than the other three translation do. I also think the use of punctuation has a positive impact on the way the message is delivered. The pausesecond created with commas adds an air of disbelief to what has just occurred. It makes the narrator come across as though he or she is gaining insight at the same time as the audience. This exercise makes me specifically think about the scene when Meursault killed the Arab. I wonder how it would be read differently if more description was given. Due to the point of view of The Stranger the information the audience is given is indifferent. I wonder how a different point of view would changer this scene. I am also curious about how changing punctuation would impact the ways it is read and interpreted. Would more pauses come across as Meursault second guessing his actions? Would longer sentencesee with a description of the feeling he got make it seems as if he enjoyed killing the Arab? I think that little changes have a great impact on the way a reader interprets some thing and it is interesting to look at how just these changes influence the views of the audience.