Mata 1

Eliza Mata

Ms.Smith

Period 6-English 11

26 March 2019
The American Dream ISSN Reflection

The purpose of the project was to show our skills in writing a synthesis essay, and to

create and prove an argument. When we were first assigned the project, I was rather excited to be

completely honest. However, the moment that I realized that the articles that we were limited to

were rather one sided, I knew I was up for a challenge. My goal for my work before I had started

was to create a logically sound argument and be able to back it up with sufficient evidence and

explanation.

For this project I had the choice of agreeing or disagreeing with the statement that the

American Dream is attainable by all people. I chose to agree, and I had to create an

argumentative essay to defend my claim. My first step was to write my intro with my claim, and

then I had to use quotes from the article to prove my claim. I then formulated a counter

argument, and made a rebuttal in response to each counterclaim. Finally, I ended my conclusion,

restating my thesis for the last time, and tied it all together to our original piece of literature that

we read to start the unit Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.

I learned more about American economy through the eyes of the middle and lower class.

I had learned that America was once praised for its social mobility. I also learned that poverty

and more specifically homelessness is more common in the east coast, which I had thought it

would be in the west. Something I learned about myself is that I am rather compassionate about

the well being of people, and generally have an optimistic view on. I excelled at creating a

logical argument. I could use more work on being able to cite properly. If I had a choice, I would
 Mata 2

want to be able to get better articles to create a stronger argument. I was proud that I could get a

good score and overall good essay. I was disappointed that the majority of my mistakes had been

within the grammar or citation department.

I communicated ideas by creating an essay that explains my thoughts and ideas about the

American dream. Specifically, the thought that anyone may obtain their dream through

perseverance and determination. I recognized and weighed perspectives by including a counter

argument for each of my points. Through this, I was able to realize and put into practice that

people might have a different world view and their own ideas about the American Dream.