Essay #2: The American Dream — Fact or Fiction?

Is the American Dream still alive? Form an opinion about whether the American Dream exists and what its definition really is.

Respond based on the elements you believe are part of the American Dream. They could include a job, education, a house, medical care, safety, or liberty. Your thesis must reflect those elements. Support your definition with relevant examples, explanations, comparisons, descriptions, or facts. Explore causes and effects of recent events that support either your definition or an opposing definition of the American Dream.

Source and evidence requirements

• Research at least two articles, essays, or other pieces of research. Additional sources may be print sources, websites, blogs, videos, or other electronic sources.
• Do not use a dictionary or Wikipedia as an academic source.
• Use three quotations from each source and format and cite them correctly with parenthetical citations.
• Evaluate the reliability and credibility of every source. Google may be used to begin research; library databases and research-librarian support are encouraged.
• Langston Hughes's poem “Let America Be America Again,” the provided sample essay, and the LAHC Library American Dream study guide are supplied as related course materials.
• Include MLA-style in-text citations and a Works Cited page.

Submission and format requirements

• Complete the prewriting, outline, and annotated rough-draft process. Bring a typed, complete rough draft on peer-editing day.
• Only the final draft—not the prewriting, outline, or rough draft—is required for Turnitin submission by the due date.
• Write a minimum of three pages in 12-point Times New Roman, MLA format, and include a Works Cited page.
• Do not use first-person pronouns such as “I,” “me,” “mine,” or similar forms.
• Failure to meet any required specification may make the paper unacceptable.

Rubric (100 points)

• Thesis, process, and response to prompt: 20 points
• Organization, support, and content development: 20 points
• Style, diction, and voice: 20 points
• Grammatical soundness and mechanics: 20 points
• Critical, analytic, and evaluative elements: 20 points