A life of personal happiness and material comfort as traditionally sought by individuals in the U.S.

Dictionary.com definition of the “American Dream”



Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935)
Richard Cory

1 Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
2 We people on the pavement looked at him:
3 He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
4 Clean favored, and imperially slim.

5 And he was always quietly arrayed,
6 And he was always human when he talked;
7 But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
8 "Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.

9 And he was rich—yes, richer than a king—
10 And admirably schooled in every grace:
11 In fine, we thought that he was everything
12 To make us wish that we were in his place.

13 So on we worked, and waited for the light,
14 And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
15 And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
16 Went home and put a bullet through his head.


Why did people want to be Richard Cory? Why might he have killed himself?

Journal

If you had a million dollars how would you “show-off”? What would you buy?