It's called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it

1. The "American Dream" is a fascinating concept that has been molded into the minds of our society as to what our life should look life. In the Great Gatsby the American Dream is a huge concept that controls the minds and desires of the characters, wanting to fulfill that dream, and have lavish things, and a family. However I do not believe that Gatsby, and many people in the society did not actually fulfill the American Dream because they were too caught up in the materialistic things in life, rather than focusing on a family which is a huge part of the American Dream.  I believe that people especially in the 1920s had this idea of what their lives should be and believed that if they did not fulfill this dream/desire that they would be unhappy. My idea of living the "American Dream" would be having a job that I love doing everyday, and that makes a good amount of money, having a nice house, and most importantly having a family and being able to support them and be happy. I rather live everyday to the fullest, and be truly happy, than have nice things and be unhappy.

2. I would describe wealth as something of importance and high value. The obvious descriptor being that if someone has a lot of money than they are wealthy. However I do not think that to be wealthy you have to have loads of money, I consider wealthy to also to be having a lot of friends and family who love you.

3. Looking through the perspective of an American there is a clear line between wealth and poverty. Wealth is classified as the higher class and poverty and the low class. An American, especially during the 1920s, might view the poor as grimy and not important within the society because of their financial standings. The American citizen also from this time period would view wealth as a desire, and goal in which they needed in order to survive. And they would view the wealthy as God-like creatures who they strive to be.

4. I view wealthy as a mix of privileged people and also people who work very hard. I do not think that it is fair to classify wealth with greed and wealthy people as people who have had it easy and had just cruised through life. I strongly believe that a majority of people who are wealthy have worked very hard to get where they are with a few exceptions. However I am not saying that people who are poor do not work hard, because many do and just do not have the right paying jobs to support them and a family.

Lost in Translation

1. This translation is more story like, and telling us more casually how Gregory transformed into a giant bug. This is expressed through the phrasing "As Gregory" awoke, which paints a picture of him waking up rather than just telling us he woke up.

2. This translation is stated more as a fact and is informing the reader that Gregory woke up and was transformed into a giant bug.

3. This translation is saying that the uneasy dreams could be what triggered the transformation of Gregory, this is seen through staring the sentence off with "When".

4. This translation is story like as well, starting off with "One morning", and also insinuates that the dreams caused the transformation.

The word choice in the beginning of each translation is what really changes the mood and direction of the sentence. Using words to start of the sentence like "As" or "When", paint a picture in the readers mind of Gregory actually completing the action of waking up from uneasy dreams. In contrast to this the two other sentences used different methods. The second sentence started off with just Gregory's name, stating the sentence as a fact, while the last sentence began with "One morning", creating a story like mood for the reader. I feel as though the last sentence is the most effective, because it tells a story and paints a vivid image in the readers head of what is happening to Gregory and why.

This exercise shows the difficulty in reading translated text because even the slightest change in punctuation or word choice can change the entire meaning of the sentence. Different translations effect whether the tone of the sentence is going to be informative, or informal. It also shows how important it is to take note of all the punctuation, and stylistic features of the sentence so that you can grasp the full meaning of the sentence and what is contributes to the text as a whole.