Don't Give Up On Your Dreams. Keep Sleeping.

    In my opinion, the American Dream is for America to have land from sea to shining sea. Oh wait, no, that's Manifest Destiny. Oops. The American dream probably has something to do with freedom and eagles. America isn't complete without freedom or eagles. If I had to put a definition to the American Dream it would be that any individual has the freedom and opportunity to succeed and move up on the social ladder for the sake of their family through the means of hard work and eagles. (Okay, maybe not eagles).
    Excluding the part about eagles, this definition is very solid. It's basically the opportunity to remake yourself into a better self. Like what young little James Gatz does in order to become Jay (the great) Gatsby. He seizes his opportunity to change his life when he made the decision to save Dan Cody from his sinking yacht. James Gatz saw the dream laid out in front of him and had the courage to grab it.
    One can't talk about America without talking about wealth and greed, because apparently (according to our neighborhood french person) America and greed go hand in hand. As much as freedom and eagles. My definition of wealth is a large some of something. I personally do not think wealth has to be directly associated to money. One can be wealthy in experiences or wealthy in number two pencils.
    Of course, my definition doesn't exactly correlate with that of The Great Gatsby. That type of wealth is more materialistic. The characters in Gatsby are all about money. One of their defining traits are whether or not they had new money, old money, or any money at all. Money defined everything for a person. In my eyes Daisy chose Tom over Gatsby, because his money was more secure than his. How Gatsby got his new money was shifty and could fade any minute, Tom was safe. Aside from Daisy, everyone in the 1920s wanted money. Everyone wanted to have a luxury of being rich and getting whatever whenever. Many people attended Gatsby's parties just for that feeling.
    American's attitude towards wealth, speaking strictly about money, is simple. Most people crave it. People want to be wealthy and that might be a generalization, but it's something that I've seen and heard everywhere. Part of the American Dream is to move up the social ladder. People want to be famous and wealthy like celebrities. They crave that high profile, simple, luxurious lifestyle. It's no coincidence that our neighborhood friendly french girl associated America with greed and money on the spot. Everyone wants it.
    As for poverty, It's different. A lot of people care that there's a lot of poverty in America. Or at least they put up a front that they do. Poverty is something that people will acknowledge and say that something should be done about it, but most of the time nobody would do anything about it. In The Great Gatsby Tom was fully aware that Myrtle, his mistress, was poor. She lived in the valley of ashes. However, Tom never did anything to help her. It's sort of like, if it doesn't directly affect the individual, what does it matter to them?
    My view on wealth, speaking about money, is simple. I want it. As shallow as that sounds it's true. I want to marry rich and live a luxurious life without having to raise a finger. Okay, I was just kidding (sort of). I want to be wealthy, and that's partly because I've been conditioned to crave it. Once I was 7 years old my mama told me (go make some friends or you'll be lonely) that she wants me to be rich. She wants me to make decisions that will lead me with a large sum of money and a good lifestyle when I'm older. I grew up with that lesson and It's engraved within my mind. That's why choosing a career path is such the struggle. I want to be something that I know will make me wealthy and my parents happy, but at the same time I want to be something that will make me happy.
   My view on poverty is just like that of the rest of America. I acknowledge it exists and I feel bad for it. I'm well aware that poverty sucks and it's terrible. However, I wouldn't go out of my way necessarily to stop it. It's not my problem or worth my time right now. I feel like that just made me sound like a terrible person and so selfish, but I have my own problems to worry about. I'll spare money every once in a while, but I've never done anything past that.

Three little French kittens were skating on thin ice... un deux trois - quatre cinq.

Original: Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheuren Ungeziefer verwandelt.

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

• Diction: The use of the word 'As' is important. It makes it sound like Gregor noticed his transformation as he woke up rather than after he woke up. The use of the words 'uneasy' and 'transformed' are important too. 
• Syntax: The entire phrase is one sentence, it lacks punctuation, which is different than the original.
• Imagery/Details: The word gigantic makes it sound like he's larger than life. However, he's probably just a life size insect. Also the use of the word insect sounds more scientific and 
• Structure: The structure is Gregor, waking up, transformed, and insect. 
• Any other stylist/figurative elements: The "uneasy dreams" foreshadow conflict.

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

• Diction: The words 'uneasy' and 'changed' are used here. Uneasy implies anxiety, and is more of a mental struggle. Changed is also interesting her. Change is a more toned down version of transform. 
• Syntax: This translation also has no punctuation in it. 
• Imagery/Details: Using bug as a descriptor is different than insect, because bug has a more negative connotation to it. 
• Structure: Gregor, waking up, transformation, bug. 
• Any other stylist/figurative elements: This sentence is very short and to the point. 

#3:When Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled dreams one morning he found he had been transformed in his bed into an enormous bug.

• Diction: The use of the word "bug" lets the audience have more freedom with their imagination. Bug can describe a multitude of things. 
• Syntax: There is no punctuation used here. 
• Imagery/Details: There are more details here than in the others mentioning Gregor's bed and the fact that he was turned into an 'enormous' bug. 
• Structure: Gregor, waking up, transformed, bug. 
• Any other stylist/figurative elements: This sentence sounds almost fairy tale like, as if a narrator is telling the story of Gregor Samsa and the day he turned into a bug. 

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

• Diction: the use of the word 'vermin' strays from the original idea of a bug/insect. 
• Syntax: There is a lot more punctation used here compared to the others. 
• Imagery/Details: 'Monstrous' is a scary adjective. None of the other translations used a word like that when describing what Gregor transformed into. 
• Structure: Waking up, dreams, Gregor, Vermin.
• Any other stylist/figurative elements: There is a realization that occurs here that Gregor is now a vermin. 

       The literary devices are important to conveying a certain meaning to this sentence. Due to their differences in each device each translation conveys a different meaning. Looking at diction alone amongst the 4 translations, how they described the creature Gregor changes to is different per translation. Translation #1 uses the term insect, which is very specific and makes people think of just insects like flies or ants. The word 'bug' is used in translations #2 and #3. Bug is more of a broader term than insect. Bugs open things up to spiders and such. 'Vermin' is used in the last translation, #4. Vermin strays away from the idea of bugs and insects. Vermin is a word used more for rats and mice, which misses the original point of the sentence. That being said, I feel like diction is the most important literary device when it comes to translating meaning. Diction is an important  device, because the words are what hit the reader first. Or at least that's what hits me first when I'm reading something. The words used and how they are used. 

       This exercise definitely bring ups the difficulty of translating texts. This is because every interpreter has a different idea of what the text is supposed to convey and what is important for message to be conveyed. Different translations affect the tone of the sentence, because this is the tone of the translator and not the author. The translator would have a different perception of the text as compared to the author's original intentions.