In the 19th century, horatio alger junior published a series of novels about young american men who repeatedly and successfully rose from poverty and oppression into wealth and prestige. Now, these novels are known for creating the "horatio alger myth," or the idea that anyone who works hard enough, saves their money, and makes the "right" choices can end up living the american dream--even though this is not universally true or achievable.

answer: compare a myth legend, or classic work of literature of you choice to a modern work that reinterprets it.focus on the similarities in theme between the newer work and the original, and provide examples that illustrate these themes from both works. the modern work may be any novel, movie, play, short story, or other storytelling medium with which you’re familiars long as it is clearly inspired by a myth, legend, or classic work of literature.

short-response prompt  

read the following excerpt from “fish cheeks” by amy tannin which tan recounts a christmas eve dinner.  

i fell in love with the minister’s son the winter i turned fourteen. he was not chinese, but as white as mary in the manger. for christmas i prayed for this blond-haired boy, robert, and a slim new american nose.  

on christmas eve i saw that my mother had outdone herself in creating a strange menu. she was pulling black veins out of the backs of fleshy prawns. the kitchen was littered with appalling mounds of raw food: a slimy rock cod with bulging fish eyes that pleaded not to be thrown into a pan of hot oil. tofu, which looked like stacked wedges of rubbery white sponges. a howl soaking dried fungus back to life. a plate of squid, their backs crisscrossed with knife markings so they resembled bicycle tires.  

after everyone had gone, my mother said to me. “you want to be the same as american girls on the outside.” she handed me an early gift. it was a miniskirt in beige tweed. “but in side you must always be chinese. you must be proud you are different. your only shame is to have shame.”