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american ethos
Luke Barnes English
10.25.13 American Ethos Project

There are many beliefs that define America. One of these is hope/ the dream/ optimism. This is an American idea because it is something that has shown throughout history. It is something that every American can relate to. It also is an idea that has many other ideas sprinkled into it. Hope is defined as “the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.” This is a feeling shared by every American at some point in their life. Dreaming is also something every American does. There is something that everyone wants, and dreams for. They then have to be optimistic and strive to complete their goal to reach their dream. From the Founding Fathers, to the immigrants, and even in today’s society, hope/ the dream/ optimism has been a very important American idea.

Hope/ the dream/ optimism/ has many other American ideas filtered into it. One of these ideas is work ethic. It’s one thing to dream and hope of reaching a goal, but it’s what you do to reach it that matters. Most Americans who have accomplished something great have put in a great amount of work. One example of this is the 2013 World Juniors Hockey Team. They won the gold medal at the World Juniors in 2013. That team put in a tremendous amount of work to get to the finals and to win. It wasn’t just handed to them, they worked hard an earned it. This fuels the idea of hope/ the dream/ optimism because without putting in the work, all you will do is hope and dream.

Another example of an idea related to hope/ the dream/ optimism is self-improvement. This means realizing by yourself that you need to get better, and doing something about it. It is something that not many people have, but those who do can use it to their advantage. They are able to make themselves better just by realizing there not good enough. It is something that every American wishes that they had, and this is

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