Tell us about a book, artwork, or lab experiment that changed the way you see the world. What was it about the work that affected you? How did your world become different? (500 words or less)
-I'm thinking it may be too concentrated as a plot summary - what do you think?
-Not sure if I answered the question properly.
Throughout most of my childhood life, I have always had a dream of becoming rich one day and using that wealth to impress others. This later evolved into the hope of impressing However, this changed in my junior year of high school when I read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Like many Americans of my generation, I pursued a life of wealth just for the sake of public image and just the money. Essentially, it can be called the typical American Dream. However, upon reading The Great Gatsby, I realized that there was more to the American Dream than becoming rich. Being rich would only guarantee me a life of high taxes and a lot of "friends" but it would not grant me what I had wanted - to impress a particular girl that I had liked. Fitzgerald demonstrated the possible consequences of such thoughts with the life of Jay Gatsby. A disillusioned man filled with hopes of becoming rich and marrying his high school sweetheart, Gatsby ultimately succeeds in becoming rich but falls short of earning the love of the girl of his dreams. Despite his hard work, Gatsby succeeded only in attaining a lavish lifestyle and a cold-blooded death.
According to the author F. Scott Fitzgerald, the American Dream use to be about discovery, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness. My original dream may have been about the happiness but surely not about discovery or individualism. Instead my dream was part of the newer and corrupt American Dream about the deep desire for money and pleasure. During the story, I saw in the lifestyle of Gatsby that was very similar to my lifestyle - he sought to become rich to impress a girl. Not only did he fail on his dream of impressing the girl but he also ruined his life in the process of it. I hope to not make the same mistake as he did.
Gatsby's chaotic lifestyle and disastrous ending gave me second thoughts about my ambitions. I began to wonder if the pursuit of wealth for the sole purpose of impressing one person could do me more harm than good. I did eventually convince myself to let hold of my former ambitions for newer and more realistic ambitions unlike those of Gatsby. Although, the changes were not drastic, it did change my perspective of the world and open myself up to more opportunities. No longer did I restrict myself to a certain path of becoming rich nor restrict myself to one girl. Furthermore, I expanded my choices so I would not be in the same dead end that Gatsby had encountered. I began exploring more of my interests and opening pathways for myself. Ever since The Great Gatsby granted me this insight, I have begun to see the world's vast opportunities. Oh, and I'm glad I opened myself to more opportunities because I learned that the parents of the girl I liked was a multimillionaire - would have been hard to top that!
It's my first draft, feel free to rip it apart.
Hello...
Some corrections (to the best of my knowledge):
"Throughout most of my childhood life, I always had a dream..."
"I pursued a life of wealth just for the sake of a public image. Essentially...."
"I realized that there was much more to the American Dream than to just becoming rich."
"the American Dream used to be about discovery..."
"the sole purpose of impressing others could..."
"Ever since The Great Gatsby granted me this insight, I began to see the world's vast opportunities."
I don't think this is necessary:
"Oh, and I'm glad I opened myself to more opportunities because I learned that the parents of the girl I liked was a multimillionaire - would have been to top them!"
I hope that helped.
I think you did a great job of answering the question, and you chose a great novel.
This sentence seems unhelpful:
Although, the changes were not drastic, it did change my perspective of the world and open myself up to more opportunities. I think it is better without it.
Also, how about changing "girl" to relationship so as to be inclusive in the way you write?
And get rid of that last sentence about them being millionaires! Stick to the point. Don't risk seeming superficial...
:-)
