What is the American Dream?

Based on what we have studied what is the American Dream? Where does the American Dream have its origins? What is its purpose? How is the American
Dream a very useful ideological construct? As part of American Culture How is it articulated/perpetuated in American Society? According to the article on the
Genealogy of Cultural Studies, what is culture articulating and what is the American Dream articulating? What role does Gramsci's concept of hegemony play
in the articulation of the American Dream? What is hegemony and how does it work? How do the stories that are told articulate specific power relations and
thereby normalize them? Using the frameworks from class on culture, articulation and hegemony, analyze some of the stories and cultural artifacts that we
engaged in class (films - videos) How did the ideology of white supremacy become a hegemonic discourse and more importantly for what purpose? How
does Marx and Gramsci's framework of Base, Structure, Super Structure help us understand the way that Ideology and Hegemonic Discourse function?
Within this framework what does the American Dream help justify in our society?