Annotative Bibliography Process

Annotative Bibliography Rough Draft:

A collaboration piece written in the New York Times by Andrew Ross Sorkin and Megan

Thee-Brenan titled "Many Feel the American Dream is Out of Reach, Poll Shows" talks about

how people are starting to feel that the American Dream is no longer an attainable goal. Both

Sorkin and Thee-Brenan concluded that despite the growth of our economy since the financial

crisis in 2008, the notion that someone can will their way to financial success has decreased

among Americans. Their poll shows that in 2009, right after the financial crisis, 72% of

Americans believed that hard work could lead to financial success. Since then that number has

dropped and in 2014 the percentage of people who still believe that the American Dream exists,

had decreased to 64%. The article goes on to analyze the results of several other polls that they

took but the main message of the piece remains the same which is that Americans feel that the

ability to achieve economic success is becoming harder and harder. For the most part I believe

that this is a credible article. The authors seemed to have a set conclusion on the matter but they

provided a sufficient amount of statistical evidence, from polls they conducted themselves

(primary sources), to back up their claims. Unfortunately, the article was written in 2014 which

means that some of the numbers they used to prove their point are somewhat outdated. Despite

the article being written 3 years ago I still believe that this is a relevant source for my project. It

answers the question of how people feel about the American Dream and whether they think it is

something that is still an attainable goal.

 A peer-review written by Aaron M. Pallas analyzes the claims made by Heather Beth

Johnson in her book "The American Dream and The Power of Wealth". In her book, Johnson

struggles with the idea that despite the fact most Americans recognize that wealth matters when

it comes to providing advantages for their loved ones, we still embrace the notion that anyone

can succeed no matter what their social background is. Although, Pallas is not convinced of the

anomaly that she is trying to understand and comes up with three reasons why. The first reason is

that Pallas has a different definition of the American Dream and does not believe that it

necessarily equates to meritocracy which is the idea that Johnson presents to her audience. The

second reason is that he does not believe that the relation between the American Dream and the

power of wealth are contradicting. The third reason is that he believes that the writings of Pierre

Bourdieu presents a better way to make sense of the disagreements between the rich and the poor

about wealth and opportunity in the United States. Overall, this is a very credible source. It is a

peer review that presents a second opinion, in contrast to the original points made by the author.

Pallas also supports each one of his points with several passages from other credible sources.

Despite the fact that the review was written in 2008, I believe that most of the points made still

ring true today. I think that this review is relevant towards my research paper because it offers a

different perspective as to what our definition of the American Dream is.

An article in the New York Times titled "The American Dream, Quantified at Last"

written by David Leonhardt examines a study which indicates that it is becoming more difficult

to make more than your parents. The article includes a graph that shows that children born into

an average American household had a 92% chance of making more money than their parents.

Since then that number has decreased significantly and the graph showed that children born in
1980 (todays 37 year olds) only had a 50% of making more money than their parents. In the

beginning of the article Leonhardt talks about the American Dream and writes "the most basic

definition of a better life- earning more money and enjoying higher living standards than their

parents had". Leohardt also goes onto say later in the article how he believes the election of

Donald Trump is only going to make it harder to achieve his definition of the American Dream.

For the most part this is a credible source. The article does contain some bias because of the

authors political views but other than that he provides valuable information and statistics to back

up some of his points. Another good part about this article is that it was written in 2016 which

means its very relevant today and he could give an opinion on if he thinks our new president

will be able to keep the American Dream alive.

In an academic journal titled "Can the American Dream Survive the New Multiethnic

America?", the authors Mara Cohen-Marks and Christopher Stout investigate whether the

American Dream can still exist in a country where our diversity is growing rapidly. The authors

examine each of the four major ethnic groups in the US (whites, blacks, Latinos, and Asian

Americans), and records their perception of the American Dream. Despite this journal being

written in 2011, a lot of the points being made are still very relevant today. Many groups of

minorities feel that the American Dream is something that you can only achieve if you are white.

The journal at one point uses a quote from Samuel Huntington, a Harvard political scientist,

where he argues "There is no American Dream. There is only the American Dream created by an

Anglo-Protestant society." This idea is certainly one to consider as our country becomes more

and more diverse. According to the 2010 U.S. census, between the years 2000 and 2008 blacks,

Latinos, and Asians accounted for about 83% of the population growth. This journal is useful
towards my research because it presents the American Dream from a minorities perspective and

tells us whether they believe financial success is an attainable goal.

A peer review written by Gina Vega analyzes the claims made by Patrick Primeaux is his

book "Reinterpreting the American Dream". She talks about how the American Dream is

measured by a balance of happiness and financial success. She also talks about how the constant

drive for economic success does not leave us enough time to reflect on who we are as a country

and where we are going which can be problematic. The review was written in 2003 which means

that some of her points may be a little out dated but for the most part I felt that most points are

still applicable. This article is relevant to my topic because she offers a perspective that is against

the typical definition for the American Dream of economic success. It tells us that our typical

definition of the American Dream can lead our country in the wrong direction.

Peer Comments:

Throughout this paper, I had a hard time locating a thesis statement and the proper
citation. The citations are easy fixes, but a thesis might take some thought. Your inquiry
was proposed clearly, but maybe use the format that Professor Padgett gave us to lay out
your information. I thought you did a great job summarizing all of the sources. I felt like
I had read them myself, which is the ultimate goal. You also did a great job locating bias
as well as how credible they were. You also integrated your opinion, which was good,
but maybe adding more analyzation would be better, more quotes as well. You definitely
gave your opinion, but I would have liked some quotes and some analyzation of said
quotes. It is an easy way to integrate your sources, and a great way to prove your point.
When you make a claim, see if you can back it up with factual, textual evidence. I
thought this piece flowed very nicely for what it was, and you did a great job
summarizing, but I would just fix the citations and add some quotes and analyze.

Thomas needs to put his paper into MLA format and add the citations. could also use an
intro and propse his thesis and inquiry question because i am not sure fully what it is
since it has changeda bit from his first paper. all of his summaries are really detailed
excapt the last is a little broad but still gets the point across of what the article is. you can
 see what each source is arguing. he does have a few quotes and analyzes his sources
really well in how they will help writing his paper. overall his sources seem good and are
well written just needs to add one more as well as formatting it in MLA format.

Brainstorm Notes:

The American Dream; What is it?

What does it mean to Americans today?
American Dream = materialism?

Annotative Bibliography Final Draft:

Thomas Kellogg

Padgett

English 102

3/14/17

Annotative Bibliography

Inquiry:

What is the American Dream, and do people still believe in it?

Introduction:

In the beginning, the conventional belief among people in the United States is that the American

Dream means economic and social mobility. Over the past century times have change and to

some people their definitions or beliefs in that dream have changed and in this paper I plan to

explore what the Dream means to people today, and whether or not the American people still

believe in it.
Sorkin, Andrew Ross, and Megan Thee-Brenan. "Many Feel the American Dream is out of
Reach ." New York Times. N.p., 10 Dec. 2014. Web.

A collaboration piece written in the New York Times by Andrew Ross Sorkin and Megan

Thee-Brenan titled "Many Feel the American Dream is Out of Reach, Poll Shows" talks about

how people are starting to feel that the American Dream is no longer an attainable goal. Both

Sorkin and Thee-Brenan concluded that despite the growth of our economy since the financial

crisis in 2008, the notion that someone can will their way to financial success has decreased

among Americans. Their poll shows that in 2009, right after the financial crisis, 72% of

Americans believed that hard work could lead to financial success. Since then that number has

dropped and in 2014 the percentage of people who still believe that the American Dream exists,

had decreased to 64%. The article goes on to analyze the results of several other polls that they

took but the main message of the piece remains the same which is that Americans feel that the

ability to achieve economic success is becoming harder and harder. For the most part I believe

that this is a credible article. The authors seemed to have a set conclusion on the matter but they

provided a sufficient amount of statistical evidence, from polls they conducted themselves

(primary sources), to back up their claims. Unfortunately, the article was written in 2014 which

means that some of the numbers they used to prove their point are somewhat outdated. Despite

the article being written 3 years ago I still believe that this is a relevant source for my project. It

answers the question of how people feel about the American Dream and whether they think it is

something that is still an attainable goal.

Pallas, Aaron M. The American Dream and the Power of Wealth. Sociological Forum,
vol. 23, no. 3, 2008, pp. 633639.,
 A peer-review written by Aaron M. Pallas analyzes the claims made by Heather Beth

Johnson in her book "The American Dream and The Power of Wealth". In her book, Johnson

struggles with the idea that despite the fact most Americans recognize that wealth matters when

it comes to providing advantages for their loved ones, we still embrace the notion that anyone

can succeed no matter what their social background is. Although, Pallas is not convinced of the

anomaly that she is trying to understand and comes up with three reasons why. The first reason is

that Pallas has a different definition of the American Dream and does not believe that it

necessarily equates to meritocracy which is the idea that Johnson presents to her audience. The

second reason is that he does not believe that the relation between the American Dream and the

power of wealth are contradicting. The third reason is that he believes that the writings of Pierre

Bourdieu presents a better way to make sense of the disagreements between the rich and the poor

about wealth and opportunity in the United States. Overall, this is a very credible source. It is a

peer review that presents a second opinion, in contrast to the original points made by the author.

Pallas also supports each one of his points with several passages from other credible sources.

Despite the fact that the review was written in 2008, I believe that most of the points made still

ring true today. I think that this review is relevant towards my research paper because it offers a

different perspective as to what our definition of the American Dream is.

Leonhart, David. The American Dream, Quantified at Last New York Times. December 8,

2016

An article in the New York Times titled "The American Dream, Quantified at Last"

written by David Leonhardt examines a study which indicates that it is becoming more difficult
to make more than your parents. The article includes a graph that shows that children born into

an average American household had a 92% chance of making more money than their parents.

Since then that number has decreased significantly and the graph showed that children born in

1980 (todays 37 year olds) only had a 50% of making more money than their parents. In the

beginning of the article Leonhardt talks about the American Dream and writes "the most basic

definition of a better life- earning more money and enjoying higher living standards than their

parents had". Leohardt also goes onto say later in the article how he believes the election of

Donald Trump is only going to make it harder to achieve his definition of the American Dream.

For the most part this is a credible source. The article does contain some bias because of the

authors political views but other than that he provides valuable information and statistics to back

up some of his points. Another good part about this article is that it was written in 2016 which

means its very relevant today and he could give an opinion on if he thinks our new president

will be able to keep the American Dream alive.

Cohen-Marks, Mara A., and Christopher Stout. Can the American Dream Survive the
New Multiethnic America? Evidence from Los Angeles. Sociological Forum, vol. 26, no. 4,
2011, pp. 824845.
`

In an academic journal titled "Can the American Dream Survive the New Multiethnic

America?", the authors Mara Cohen-Marks and Christopher Stout investigate whether the

American Dream can still exist in a country where our diversity is growing rapidly. The authors

examine each of the four major ethnic groups in the US (whites, blacks, Latinos, and Asian

Americans), and records their perception of the American Dream. Despite this journal being

written in 2011, a lot of the points being made are still very relevant today. Many groups of
minorities feel that the American Dream is something that you can only achieve if you are white.

The journal at one point uses a quote from Samuel Huntington, a Harvard political scientist,

where he argues "There is no American Dream. There is only the American Dream created by an

Anglo-Protestant society." This idea is certainly one to consider as our country becomes more

and more diverse. According to the 2010 U.S. census, between the years 2000 and 2008 blacks,

Latinos, and Asians accounted for about 83% of the population growth. This journal is useful

towards my research because it presents the American Dream from a minorities perspective and

tells us whether they believe financial success is an attainable goal.

Vega, Gina. The American Dream: Then and Now. Business Ethics Quarterly, vol. 13, no.
1, 2003, pp. 99106.,

A peer review written by Gina Vega analyzes the claims made by Patrick Primeaux is his

book "Reinterpreting the American Dream". She talks about how the American Dream is

measured by a balance of happiness and financial success. She also talks about how the constant

drive for economic success does not leave us enough time to reflect on who we are as a country

and where we are going which can be problematic. The review was written in 2003 which means

that some of her points may be a little out dated but for the most part I felt that most points are

still applicable. This article is relevant to my topic because she offers a perspective that is against

the typical definition for the American Dream of economic success. It tells us that our typical

definition of the American Dream can lead our country in the wrong direction.

Thompson, Matt. "Why the American Dream Will Never Die." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media
Company, 17 Aug. 2015. Web. 14 Mar. 2017
 An article written by Matt Thompson titled "Why the American Dream Will Never Die"

starts off with a brief history lesson on the Dream and what it means to him. Thompson the

brings up several examples of politicians stating that the American Dream is dead including

some dating all the way back to the Roosevelt administration. The main rhetoric of this piece is

that the fact that politicians continue to debate whether or not the American Dream is an

attainable goal is a testament to the notion that it is still alive. For the most part I believe that this

is a credible source. The article was written in 2015 which means that many of the points made

in it are still fresh and relevant.

Professor Padgett Comments:

I super-duper like this topic. It looks like youve read a wide range of articles on this
general topic. But I still need a sense of what you think on this topic. I do feel like you
are still figuring that out for yourself, so it is okay that you dont have it all figured out
now. A good direction to go in could be to redefine what the American dream means now
and perhaps what it should mean instead. In other words, you could largely make a
definition claim, the first move being the current definition (using evidence to support
this claim, obviously) and then offer a second newer definition. So you might have a kind
of dual thesis structure, which would be really interesting. Id like to see you engage
these sources more in your annotations. For instance, two of your sources really deal with
what the American dream is and what it means; you could totally engage them and talk
about where you agree and where you disagree. As it is, Im not seeing much engagement
or analysis that Id like to see. Anyway, let me know if you have any questions on this.
Looking forward to seeing how this develops.

Paper Reflection:

After writing my rough draft I quickly realized that I needed to provide, an inquiry
question, an introduction, a thesis statement, as well as MLA citations for each of my
sources. While writing this paper, one of the things I struggled with was providing a
specific inquiry question and thesis statement for my topic. I knew which topic I wanted
to write about but I wasn't exactly sure which direction the paper was going in with that
topic. By the end of the paper, through the help of Professor P, I realized that the purpose
of my paper was to make a definitional claim in my final product.