Location and forms of power: How is voting a powerful weapon in the United States?

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- -a song about the American land

- -a cartoon entitled “Dreamland”

- -a novel entitled “Why America”

- -a speech by Barack Obama entitled “helping dreamers”

1) First, We listened to a song by Bruce Springsteen (spring-steen) entitled “American Land”. The song explains that people arrived in America, on Ellis Island during the end of the 19th (nineteenth) century until (en-til) the 20th (twentieth) century. He also mentions the opportunities of building one’s house and to work. It is suggested (su-gis-tid) that people can become billionaires overnight. In parallel (pa-ra-lel), he underlines towards the end of his song the difficulties encountered by the immigrants when they arrive on the American soil (so-il)... Throughout (thru-awt) the song, the USA is described as a land of opportunities, an open society, a land where people are so well-off that they buy (bye) luxury goods, everyone is on equal footing (fuuu-tin), and there are no social barriers. The singer pays tribute (tri-bute) to the working class by referring to their dedication, their sacrifice, their tears, blood and sweat and their guts to leave their home, their culture, their families in the hope of a better life in a new country. Therefore, the author criticizes the distorted vision of the future the immigrants have of the country they idealize.

2) The Second document is a cartoon, the title of the cartoon is 'Dreamland' and the author is Petar Pismectrovic. It's a collection of symbolic images of America, they all symbolize America. They show famous icons (ai-kons) and landmarks. The artist wants to show us that he approves that the American dream is better. For example, the images of Marilyn Monroe who is a sex symbol and embodies the American Dream, Uncle Sam who represents the US government and its constitution and the Empire State Building which symbolizes a renewal in architecture (ar-ki-tec-ture), and American power. In this cartoon, all the celebrities embody (em-bo-di) the American dream. There are also celebrated monuments which symbolize (sim-bo-laiz) the American power and wealth. Today, they are all myths and heroes of the American story.

3) The third document is, "Why America?" it's an extract from a novel, and the author is Narayan. In it we see a boy called (cald) Mali who wants to leave India to go to the USA to study and have a better life there. But his father doesn't agree. Because of their religion, he thinks Americans are drunkards (drunkards)and a bad influence to the son. Mali, however (how-eva) thinks that going to the USA is a good opportunity for him to succeed. But as for his father, he seems to feel that America might jeopardize all the values he has given to his son.

4) In my opinion, the last document seems the one that best illustrates the notion; this is the speech of Barack Obama "helping dreamers." Barack Obama is a hero for the black population in America. He is the first black President elected in the USA. He represents for the black population an example of success. In this speech, helping the Dreamers, President Obama gives the possibility of young people to realize this dream. The speech speaks of immigration problems in the USA and proposes a chance to all young people living on the US territory. President Obama gives a speech about young people called dreamers. They were brought by their parents from abroad. They went to US schools; graduated from them, lived with American Kids in the same neighborhoods (nei-ba-hoods). They often realize it when they apply for a job or a driving license. Many have pledged allegiance to the US flag but they remain aliens. That's why the US administration gave rise to the Dream Act in order to help these 'dreamers' to be definitely American citizens. This document deals with immigration problems in the USA and it aims at giving their chance to all young people living on the US territory.

CONCLUSION: So the American dream is a myth because not everyone gets to make it once they are in America. To conclude, in these documents we see that there is an opposition between myth and reality. The myth in this case is the vision that the immigrants have of the United States like in the first document, where they think that America is the land of opportunities and the land of marvels. On the contrary, the reality is reflected by the harsh conditions of life of the immigrants and the discrimination they can be victims of like in the second document. But, the United States remains an attractive country, especially because of the soft power model. Even today, many people dream of visiting this country for their cultures, their food or for the most adventurous they try to achieve the American dream. For me this is just a dream because it's too difficult to realize it.

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