joe's+final+project

My first wall shows the vast opportunities that America offers. The first two pictures that I posted are of a McDonalds restaurant and the Starbucks logo. Both establishments, for me, show the ability for Americans with ideas to achieve great success worldwide. Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonalds, and Howard Schultz, the chairman of Starbucks, both had ideas that appealed to Americans. They understood the convenience that many Americans wanted, and they established chains to serve them. American freedom allowed people like the Kroc and Schultz to make something of their ideas, rather than shut them down. The next image that I posted was of a Cadillac Escalade. To me, the car represents America’s limitless opportunity to do what you want with your money. It also represents the materialistic attitude and capitalist mentaliy of the majority of Americans. There is nothing wrong with owning nice possessions, but nice possessions are not the only thing people should value. I feel that the country’s materialism misrepresents us in the world. America is constantly criticized for using more natural resources to fuel our materialistic population than it should. The last addition to my first wall is the cover of __The Great Gatsby__ by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and a quote from the end of the book. The book largely focuses on materialistic Americans, and the pursuit of the American Dream. I added this because I felt that the book as a whole showed a different side of the American Dream. Where the quote, i feel helps explain the pursuit of the American Dream. Although Gatsby was able to live out the American Dream of being a self-made and successful individual, he was not satisfied with his material accumulations. He was more interested in relationships with others than material accumulations, which i feel more people need to prioritize.

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