The American Dream Project

In our next unit we will be reading Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller. This play deals with the life of the average American man and his struggle to fulfill his idea of the American Dream. However, before we read the play we must first have an understanding of how Americans have viewed this dream over time. Directions: You are to form a group of 2 to 4 people. Each group will draw a decade (1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s) that will be the focus of their presentation. Each group will then work together to research and develop a 5-7 minute presentation that discusses what the American Dream was defined as during your decade. What were the goals and aspirations of this decade? What did they view as success? What did they want for their children? Requirements: Your presentation must be a multimedia project. You may choose to use Powerpoint, Prezi, Video, iMovie, Google Presentation, or any other form of multimedia. You MUST email me/share with me a copy of your presentation no later than Tuesday, February 4. Your project must include (as a minimum): __________ 1 school appropriate song from your historical decade that captures the mood of the decade __________ 4 visual representations of the dreams, values, aspirations, etc. you found most interesting for your assigned decade. Examples of a visual representation are photographs, advertisements, commercials, paintings, political cartoons, movie clips, etc. How do these visuals represent your decade? __________ The definition of the American Dream for your assigned decade. __________ A brief historical overview on what was happening in America during your decade and how this may have affected the definition of the dream with at least 3 cited works. __________ Works cited page (DO NOT USE WIKIPEDIA!!). Tips for Success: Your group will present in front of the class so BE PREPARED on the day you are assigned to present. Part of your grade will depend on how much you contribute to your groups project as well as your contribution in the presentation! Use note cards if you have a hard time remembering parts of your presentation but do NOT read directly from them, it makes for a boring presentation. Also, do not load your slides with text and then read directly off the slide, another way to make a presentation boring.

RUBRIC 4 Correctly identifies the definition of the American dream for the decade and uses correct historical information to support it. The visuals and music support the presentation and represent the decade effectively. 3 Correctly identifies the definition of the American dream for the decade but does not use correct historical information to support it. 2 Does not correctly identify the definition of the American dream for the decade and does use historical information. The visuals and music do not support the presentation and do not represent the decade. The presentation is not neat and organized but does use multimedia, does not use any sources. Did not contribute to the oral presentation or to the group. Presentation has 6-9 spelling or grammatical errors that affect comprehension. 1 Does not correctly identify the definition of the American dream for the decade and does not use historical information. There are no visuals or music from the decade in the presentation. The presentation is not neat and organized and does not use multimedia or sources. Does not contribute to the oral presentation or the group. Presentation has more than 9 spelling or grammatical errors that affect comprehension .

Definition of the American Dream for your decade supported by historical context. (30 pts) Visuals and music. (20 pts.)

Presentation (15 pts)

The visuals and music support the presentation but may not completely represent the decade. The presentation The presentation is neat and is not neat and organized and organized but uses multimedia, does use uses at least 3 multimedia, uses sources. less than 3 Effectively sources. contributed to Contributed to the group and the the group and the oral oral presentation. presentation. Presentation has small spelling or grammar errors that dont interfere with comprehension. Presentation has multiple (4-6) spelling or grammar errors that affect comprehension.

Mechanics (Spelling and Grammar) (10 pts.)