February 4th Class

Hey it's Allison.

Today in class, Mr. Lazarow began our discussion with a newspaper article about the governmental tax stimulus package. The author of the article argued that the money being given to tax-payers should be called rebates as opposed to bonuses. The author conducted a study to support his assertion that proved that people are more likely to spend the extra money if it is called a bonus, and less likely to spend it if it is refferred to as a rebate. Yet another example of how semantics can affect the way people percieve things...

After our brief Hayakawa flashback, we continued our discussion of Crevecoeur's "What is an American". We decided that the document had an international audience and that it was propagandistic. It was also noted that Crevecoeur refers to the Europeans that he is appealing to as a "crowd of low, indigent people, who flock here every year" to make them feel useless and make them want to move to America to gain a sense of purpose. He also says that hard work trumps everything and that nothing is for free, even in America. However, he is also quick to let his audience know that it is much easier to rise economically and socially in America than it is in Europe because in America, there isn't an aristocracy to hold down the rest of the population.

When Mr. Lazarow mentioned that "What is an American" is the beginning of the notion of an "American Dream", the questions really started flowing. We discussed whether or not we believe in the "American Dream". We reached the conclusion that the high level of abstraction makes the idea believable and makes it applicable to many different people. We reached the end of the period when we began to ask if there is a ceiling of success in America and whether or not one needs a college educatin to be successful.

Does anyone have any thoughts about those unanswered questions?