Assertion Analysis #1: Cheerleader Sex in a Waffle House

     There are many immigrants that come to the United States pursuing The American Dream. The American Dream is the belief that every U.S. citizen can be successful and prosperous if they work hard enough, but that may not be the case anymore. John Green, an American Author who has written The Fault in our Stars, considers The American Dream to be a joke, it's not what it used to be.

     In the beginning of the quote, John Green starts it off with, "Lady and gentleman" which makes the reader believe that he is talking to two people, a man or a woman, or that he is just joking around and that this quote is not meant to be taken seriously. He follows that quote up by telling us that his parents left Korea, even though he is not of Korean decent, so we're left thinking that he is giving us the perspective of Korean immigrants. After that, he says, "They had a dream... their son would lose his virginity to a cheerleader in a woman's bathroom of a Waffle House just off the interstate." With that, he is comparing The American Dream to cheerleader sex in a Waffle House. The cheerleader represents, in most cases, the "All American Girl" and uses that to exaggerate his idea that The American Dream is all a joke. "My parents have sacrificed so much for this dream!" Many immigrants had to work hard to get to America to fulfill to pursue The American Dream, and his parents (in this quote) had to do the same. With this quote, John Green mocks The American Dream.
     John Green satirizes the American Dream by comparing it to having sex with a cheerleader. He also alludes to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech with his quote, "They (John's Korean parents) had a dream that one day..." which leads the reader to believe that his parents are dreaming of a perfect, realistic dream; but instead, their dream is out of the ordinary as well as stupid. And in the beginning, he uses "Lady and Gentleman" which is used as a joke because that's what he believes The American Dream to be.
     Although John Green believes that The American Dream is all an illusion, it is a reality for a lot of immigrants that come to America, maybe not for every immigrant but a majority of them do.