Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Jimmy Lad
Mr. Kemp
ENG3UI
July 9, 2010
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Eric Darby, in ³Scratch and Dent Dreams´, shows us that the atmosphere and the people
around shape our opinions in a way that negatively impacts our hopes and dreams. Whether it is
someone making fun of you, your marks in school dropping, or you winning the lottery
everything that goes on around you influences your motives. The following are examples from
the text, ³Scratch and Dent Dreams´ that reflect the fact that the atmosphere around us alters our
opinions and shapes our future. First, the opinions of others can dramatically alter our motivation
towards our hopes and dreams. Second, the environment shapes our view on what success is.
And third, the immense pressure of society shapes the path of our future. This could be direct or
indirect.
The opinions of others can dramatically alter our motivation towards our hopes and
dreams. In other words, the things that people say; like our peers and family, will affect us in a
way in which our motives will be altered. This will eventually lead to our future being altered. A
significant quote from "Scratch and Dent Dreams" that reflects this statement is, ³Two kids are
packing up/ their peanut butter enterprise/ µcause somebody told them they¶d fail (Darby line 64-
66).´ This is said to a group of children who open up an ice cream stall in hope of selling ice
cream and being successful. The kids get told that they would not be successful and as a result
they close up their stall. They would not have failed, but since they were told this, their goal of
success was demolished. This reflects the quote. The children were affected by the opinions of
others when they could've been successful and therefore, their future was potentially changed.
The environment shapes peoples view on what success is. In other words; the media and
the people around will change ones opinion on what ³success´ actually means. Since all people
in the world are unique and possess different abilities the term ³success´ does not have a
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definitive meaning. A quote from ³Scratch and Dent Dreams´ that emphasizes this fact is,
³Everyday people/ screaming through these doors convinced/ they¶re gonna hock even their
littlest hopes and dreams to fund their 401K¶s (line 73-75).´ This means people are giving up
possessions which make them happy and are a big aspect of their lives, just to have money.
Virtually, everybody is only chasing material wealth. This is a very powerful line in the poem
because the author is basically saying that people are giving up happiness for money. This sums
up the whole theme of the poem. This is very true in our society today. This also leads to another
point; the definition of ³wealth´ is also very controversial. For some people wealth is simply
being healthy, happy, and having good friends and family. For others wealth is having a lot of
money, a nice car and a good job. Most people might think this because the media has forged a
twisted image of ³wealth´ into our minds. It is evident that the author is tired of witnessing
people giving up their hopes and dream for material wealth due to greed.
This leads to the final argument. The pressure of society shapes how our lives are
directed. People are always influenced by others. This is simply human nature. The important
thing is in what way we are influenced. This can be either positively or negatively; in most cases
this has a negative impact. As well as society, the media also has a big impact since the media
impacts society. The media gives us an image of wealth as being rich and owning a lot of
expensive things. People go after this and lose sight of what the ³real´ dream is. A quote from
³Scratch and dent Dreams´ that emphasizes this fact is, ³You won¶t have any directions or
factory number tabs but don¶t panic (line 43).´ Society shapes our future and this line expresses
that well. Darby is saying that there are many ways to be successful; it all depends on your
personal definition of the word. This line is significant because Darby is telling the reader that
It is evident that our atmosphere, peers, and society all impact our future goals because
humans are easily influenced by the things around us. One point that reflects this is the opinions
of others can dramatically alter our motivation towards our hopes and dreams. Another thing that
reflects this is the fact that the environment shapes our view on what success really is. One final
thing that reflects this is that the pressure of society shapes how our lives are directed. To sum
up; everything we do, everyone we interact with and all the social aspects of our entire lives
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