American Dream the Ice Cream

The American Dream, what a wonderful thing
Its pursuit and fulfillment have great gifts to bring
It was thought up a long time ago, around 1921 or 22
It puts big happy smiles on the faces of me and you
Other have countries have dreams too, but they're not as pretty
Any country but the U.S. has a dream that's sh-

ooooooooooookkkaaaayyyy then let's get started on my American Dream blog!!

My working definition of the accepted American Dream is: "To work hard and raise yourself up from humble beginnings to a happy life of well deserved financial success and to start/support a happy family"

With that being said I want to delve into the strengths and weaknesses (let's say areas for improvement) of the current American Dream.

Strengths:

• Based on hard work
• Includes supporting a happy family
• Doesn't hinge on beating others
• Happiness is central to the dream

Areas for Improvement:

• Doesn't involve helping others
• Wrongly equates money directly to happiness 

In my humble opinion, the American Dream has more strengths than weaknesses and doesn't exclude anyone on accounts of race or gender. In the American Dream, it is only through hard work and developed skill that people can reach financial success and therefore happiness. Implicit in the American Dream are the values of honesty, diligence, integrity, and kindness. The American Dream is not perfect, but it is a guiding principle that, if realized, creates a better life for all.

I define wealth as a balance of financial and emotional security. To be wealthy, you have the material goods you need and want, and you are happy with what you have and who you have around you. It is entirely possible to be emotionally wealthy and finically poor, and vice versa. The traditional American outlook is that financial poverty is directly associated with moral poverty and emotional poverty. I don't believe these traits to be directly correlated, but it would be foolish to believe that these traits are never spurred on by or the cause of poverty.

The dangerous assumption of the dream however is that money=happiness. Make no mistake about it, money is incredibly useful and very necessary for many people's ideas of what happiness is, however it is not the end all be all of being happy. All of us know at least one person who has all the money in the world but at the end of the day leads a sad and unfulfilled life. 

I believe that for myself to lead a fulfilled life I must help other humans and our environment in some positive way. That I was born to help in some greater way that I do not quite know yet. I don't think that I am Mother Theresa and I don't want to entirely give up my financial goals to attain my guiding life goals. Of course I'd like to make a couple million dollars and buy enough cars to outfit a racing team, but I don't want to do it through slimy means. I also understand that those in poverty are not to be looked down upon but should be provided opportunities to help themselves.

Metamorphosis. Metamorfóza. Metamorfosi. Ebomini. Metamorfozė.

In 1915 the German writer Franz Kafka published his novella: Metamorphosis. This novella tells the story of Gregor Samsa, who awakes one morning to find himself transformed into a large and grotesque insect. Though the cause of the transformation is never revealed, the novella focuses on Samsa's struggle to adjust to his new identity. Franz Kafka published Metamorphosis in German, and throughout the 1920s and 1930s his work was subject to many translations. The original text, Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheuren Ungeziefer verwandelt, was translated in to four main English versions. I will attempt to dissect each of the English translations and examine their diction, syntax imagery, details, structure, and any other stylistic or figurative elements.



#1:As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.

This translation seems to be more direct from German to English in that it does not account for English syntax or sentence structure. To make this sentence flow better, there should have been a semicolon or period in between 'dreams' and 'he'. There are three distinct diction choices in this translation, the words uneasy, transformed, and gigantic. Uneasy connotes a teetering between positive and negative, so they characterize Samsa's dream as partly negative rather than nightmares. Transformed implies a large and significant change, which seems to be more true the story than a choice such as changed. The word gigantic aptly describes the size of the bug Samsa has become, but does not provide much by way of imagery. These word choices help to create a matter-of-fact tone, but the syntax makes the sentence structure feel poorly constructed and awkward to an English speaking audience. 

#2:Gregory Samsa woke from uneasy dreams one morning to find himself changed into a giant bug.


This translation is much shorter than the previous one, leading me to believe that it is more direct and does not concern itself with details such as where Samsa woke up. Something very interesting about this translation is the changing of the main character's name from Gregor to Gregory. Gregor is a more traditionally German name than Gregory, so this change may have been made to make the main character of Kafka's novel seem more relatable to an American audience. This translation also describes Samsa's dreams as uneasy to the same effect, but uses the word changed instead of transformed. Changed is an understatement for the kind of metamorphosis that Samsa has been through, and does not convey a feeling of real transformation to the audience. The phrase giant bug encounters a similar problem to the word changed in that it is an understatement of the brevity of the situation. Giant bug seems too casual, too colloquial, to be a terrifying change. #3:When Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled dreams one morning, he found he had been transformed in his bed into an enormous bug.

This translation is not perfect, but it seems to be the best overall. While not as succinct as the previous translation, it has a very coherent and pleasing sentence structure. The main diction choices in this translation are transformed, troubled, and bug. I agree that transformed is the best way to communicate the change Samsa has undergone, and I could see the argument for the word troubled to describe his dreams, I do not support the decision to use the word bug. A bug does not inspire fear nor does it aid in the translator's creation of a dramatic tone.

#4:One morning, upon awakening from agitated dreams, Gregor Samsa found himself, in his bed, transformed into a monstrous vermin.

This fourth translation seems to be the most different overall. It contains the most commas and clauses, and seems to be the longest translation. It would have been better for this translator to split his or her thoughts into two sentences as opposed to mashing all of this together. The most significant diction choices made by this translator are agitated, monstrous, and vermin. Agitated does not seem to aptly describe the nature of Gregor Samsa's dreams, because agitated implies angry and the dreams are more likely troubled or uneasy. I agree completely with the choice to use the word monstrous when describing what Samsa was transformed into, however the word vermin is not specific enough to specify that he is an insect (rats, raccoons, and opossums can be considered vermin as well).

Syntax, sentence structure, punctuation, and diction all have huge effects on how meaning is created in each of these sentences. Simple word choices such as adjectives to describe what Gregor Samsa was transformed into completely change how the premise of the entire novella is framed. When translating from another language into English, it is important to consider not only the direct translation but also what will resonate with the audience the most. It is because of cultural differences in the significance of specific words or phrases that a translator has to take some creative liberty with the translation to get the original authors message across the same way it would have been communicated to its original audience. Each translation has a different effect on how the reader understands it, so it is best to keep a translation concise. Good translations don't overcomplicate or oversimplify. The point of this exercise in evaluating translations is to show us that diction and stylistic choices have a huge impact on how a reader understands a text, and that translation requires a comprehensive understanding of both language's grammar and diction.