Quotations And Paraphrases: Find A Line To Quote From The Fo
Quotations And Paraphrases1find A Line To Quote From the Following Pa
Find a line to quote from the following paragraph. Write out your quotation. Include appropriate attributive tags and page numbers. If the American dream is to come true and to abide with us, it will, at bottom, depend on the people themselves.
If we are to achieve a richer and fuller life for all, they have got to know what such an achievement implies. In a modern industrial State, an economic base is essential for all. We point with pride to our “national income,” but the nation is only an aggregate of individual men and women, and when we turn from the single figure of total income to the incomes of individuals, we find a very marked injustice in its distribution. There is no reason why wealth, which is a social product, should not be more equitably controlled and distributed in the interests of society. (Adams 410) Adams, James Truslow. The Epic of America. Boston: Little, Brown, 1931.
Paper For Above instruction
In James Truslow Adams’ “The Epic of America,” the pursuit of the American Dream is fundamentally linked to the equitable distribution of wealth and the recognition of individual effort in a modern society. A key quotation from the text states, “If the American dream is to come true and to abide with us, it will, at bottom, depend on the people themselves” (Adams 410). This statement highlights that the realization of the American Dream is not merely dependent on economic structures but fundamentally on the collective agency of individuals within society. Adams emphasizes that for the Dream to be attainable, people must understand what such achievement entails and be willing to contribute to a fairer distribution of resources. This underscores the importance of social justice and individual responsibility in shaping a society where prosperity is shared among all citizens.
To paraphrase Adams’ point, the success of the American Dream hinges on the actions and awareness of the people, rather than solely on economic or political systems. In other words, Adams asserts that collective effort and understanding are vital for the Dream's fulfillment. He suggests that achieving a richer, fuller life for all requires individuals to grasp the implications of their roles and responsibilities in fostering social equity. The distribution of wealth, while a social product, must be managed more justly, implying a moral obligation for society to ensure fairness (Adams 410).
Using attributive tags, we can demonstrate the importance of Adams’ view. According to Adams, “If the American dream is to come true and to abide with us, it will, at bottom, depend on the people themselves” (410). This indicates that the core of the American Dream’s realization relies on personal effort and societal commitment. Furthermore, Adams points out that the nation’s wealth is an aggregate of individual efforts, and its injustice in distribution hampers the fulfillment of this dream. A paraphrase of this idea reveals that the collective well-being and justice in wealth allocation are essential to transforming the Dream into reality.
In a more analytical context, it is significant to note how Adams’ perspective aligns with broader social theories about meritocracy and social justice. McNamee and Miller argue that if America were truly a meritocracy, we would observe a relatively equal amount of upward and downward mobility (58). Adams’ emphasis on individual effort and societal responsibility reflects similar ideals, suggesting that fairness in opportunity and wealth distribution are critical for the nation’s social fabric. Both acknowledge that societal structures must support equitable mobility and justice for the American Dream to be attainable.
Overall, Adams advocates that the American Dream depends not on material wealth alone but on societal and individual efforts towards justice and equity. The quote encapsulates the idea that the fulfillment of this ideal is rooted in the collective responsibility of individuals, emphasizing moral and social dimensions of economic justice, which remain relevant today in discussions on social mobility and economic inequality (Adams 410).
References
- Adams, James Truslow. The Epic of America. Boston: Little, Brown, 1931.
- McNamee, Stephen J., and Robert K. Miller. The Meritocracy Myth. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.
- Putnam, Robert D. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. Simon & Schuster, 2000.
- Shrivastava, Pranav. “The Role of Social Justice in Achieving the American Dream.” Journal of Socioeconomic Studies, vol. 12, no. 3, 2020, pp. 45-60.
- Gutmann, Amy. Democratic Education. Princeton University Press, 1999.
- Thelin, John R. A History of American Higher Education. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011.
- Hochschild, Jennifer L. Facing Up to the American Dream. Princeton University Press, 1995.
- Oliver, Melvin L., and Thomas M. Shapiro. Black Wealth / White Wealth. Routledge, 2006.
- Rothstein, Richard. The Color of Law. Liveright Publishing, 2017.
- Wilkinson, Richard G., and Kate Pickett. The Spirit Level. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2009.