Party in the USA

The American Dream makes me think of the following nursery rhyme-

Row, row, row your boat,

Gently down the stream.

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,

Life is but a dream

So how would I describe this "American Dream"? Similarly to the song, the "American Dream" is something we as humans search for, yet have not successfully attached ourselves to because of a constant search for self and improvement. For instance, "Life is but a dream" means that life isn't a dream- or at least, that is my interpretation of it. We could row our boats down the stream as many times as we want to, but we will reach the end, and the "dream" like state of it will terminate. 

I would apply the term euphemism to describe the world's view on the "American Dream" only because America prides herself on the diversity to which she entitles herself to; however, if the goal is to have equality, education, wealth, and righteousness in our country, the likely hood of it happening is slim to none. Think about the saying, "A rectangle is a square, but a square isn't a rectangle". We can apply that to ourselves because while humans are animals, animals are not humans. When we have human characteristics and features, we also have our animal-istic natures in us that over compensate the way we do things and how we preserve ourselves.  

The ironic thing about the "American Dream" is that it can't successfully happen when the country is still stricken with significant groups of people who are unable to achieve this "dream", and the fortunate groups who can, and more. Poverty and wealth, as they are called, are the extremities of one another.  My views on it is that wealth is capable, where as poverty puts the "IN" in wealth's capable. (I know- a smidgen confusing). 

I would also say that America's views on wealth and poverty are similar to my views, and that is that we look at wealth like you are well on your way, and that we look at poverty like it is a disease or sickness. Wealthy rhymes with healthy! Ha-ha. And poverty, on the other hand, is at the bottom of the totem pole; the place that is extremely tough to get out of. 

First, when you are wealthy, you are able to have more opportunities such as going to parties, concerts, traveling, eating at expensive restaurants and buying from the top grocery stores with organic food. Likewise, when you are healthy, you are able to run outside and play on sports teams and have more energy to do things. 

When you are in poverty, it becomes a struggle to survive. Plus, the government has some funds for those in poverty to try to help them (of course, it also is given to those who apply and meet the requirements, and not all those who ask for help are given help). There are charities, fundraisers, and  the GCF to help those as well. But you have to keep in mind that when a person is in poverty, trying to breach the surface of living comfortably is tough because if you fall down again, you don't have anything to support you.Therefore the process repeats. Similarly, diseases and sicknesses have ways of coming back, or have ways of sticking around for an unwanted amount of time. Sometimes, it leaves you paralyzed, and I don't mean not being able to move with your arms or legs. I mean losing the energy to keep going, or diminishing some working function on your body, making it even tougher to do more things. 

America recognizes that wealth brings in opportunities, and that poverty is invisible to them, but America turns the blind eye to it. Coming from my personal experiences, I know how to live with everything and I know how to live with nothing. As of right now, I feel that if you do not have the experience to live both, you can't understand fully (tok, taking in those perspectives!). So to bring back in the idea of the "American Dream", this goal of Americas is too far out there. It resides on the tip top of a sail boat with the look-out deck and flags, completely ignoring the sand at the bottom of the ocean. 

Translations

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.

In this translation, the diction is weak. The words "uneasy", "gigantic," and "insect" do not correlate as strongly as they should to make a dark tone. In return, then, the words make the tone more comical than not. Because when I think of an insect, the connotations I get are more positively generated than having a scary or eerie tone. Instead, I imagine a human-sized lady bug relaxing on a bed. Furthermore, the word "uneasy" suggests rickety or rocky, but not enough to knock someone or something down. The last word, "gigantic", is less powerful because gigantic is a positive word to describe large, and it doesn't have a lasting impact. On a better note, the syntax/structure is stronger because it presents the actions in a way that makes the audience curious. And by this, I mean it states uneasy dreams first which makes the reader wonder why Samsa's dreams are uneasy. This builds suspicion, at least, which is an attempt at having a darker tone. And by describing the way he wakes by "awoke", it makes it sound like he wakes up abruptly, almost like the man is scared. Lastly, this translation uses no punctuation, which was something weak the translator did. The reader has no chance to sink in what is happening, as a result.

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

In the second translation, Gregor Samsa is mentioned first, unlike the others. So right off the bat without reading a single word, the audience is thinking about Gregor Samsa. Also what this translation does  different from the rest is use Gregor's full name: Gregory. The use of his formal name heightens the significance of what is happening. And while this tactic achieves a darker tone, it flips a complete 180 degrees when it used the word "woke" to describe how Gregor wakes up. "Woke" sounds as if Gregor Samsa has a morning like this routinel, and it also uses the word "changed" to describe him going form a human to a bug. The word "changed" implies that Gregor simply became a bug, or put a bug suit on, and it makes me imagine a man draping a bug suit over him, which, again, as I mentioned earlier, sounds comical. Also, this translation leaves out the place where Samsa changes.I am guessing it is implied that he changes in his room, but the translation gets straight to the point, and is the shortest out of all of them; however, similar to the first translation, the second translation presents who they are talking about, to the precursor of what happened to them, to what they become. 

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

into an enormous bug.

In this next translation,I would say it is the second best out of all of them because of a few reasons. First, one of the ways used to describe Gregor turning into a bug is "transformed", which is what this translation does. It is more affective because it creates an image of somebody actually morphing into something else rather than the word "changed" which makes me visualize a person taking off layers of clothing. It also is more monstrous because "transformed" makes it sound like what Gregor goes through is out of his control. The second reason why this achieves a darker tone is because of the word "enormous" to describe the bug. While bug is a weak work, "enormous" balances it out. There is also the use of the word "troubled" to describe his dream which has a dark undertone to it. Troubled is the kind of word used to describe people who have psychological issues, and can be found in elderly homes and mental hospitals. This word gives the reader a mental picture of what was happening to Gregor, especially since he morphs into a bug. But like the first two, there are no commas or punctuation to split the sentence. It sounds rushed as if to say it happened faster, and gives the reader no chance to breathe.

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

In the last translation, the diction is the strongest, and the words elude to something horrible. For example, the word "agitated" suggests that something was bothering Gregor. And when he turns into the "monstrous vermin", he becomes something larger than life. The tone here is also very dark, because is this is the only translation that doesn't turn Gregor into a bug. Whoever translated this might have had a fear of bugs because it says "monstrous vermin" rather than bug or insect. This suggests that whatever Gregor turns into is an animal. This translation also uses many commas, which show the order of the way that Gregor Samsa's morning went, making this translation have a good structure. 

How does the word choice, syntax, punctuation, and imagery shift in each affect meaning? Is one more effective than another? Why? What does this exercise bring up about the difficulty of reading translated texts? How do different translations effect the tone of the sentence? 

          The most important thing to consider when reading a translation, as I have just recently discovered, is about WHO is translating the text. Everybody in the world has their own perspective on life from their own experiences, therefore, causing each and every one of us to react differently to something. For example, in these four translations, three words are used to describe the transformation Gregor has as a result from an unpleasant dream: bug, insect, and vermin. While bugs and insects are interrelated, vermin surpasses a bug or insect by either being an uncontrollable animal that is hard to exterminate, or an animal that preys on other animals. In the fourth translation, the translator most likely views the creature negatively. He/she could have a fear of them, or a bad memory of them which makes them use the word they did. So, because there are different interpretations of a sentence, everything is affected in the sentence after. 
           It is obvious that in these four translations, a man wakes up in the morning due to a bad dream, and now holds the figure of a bug. But in each translation, there is something different about it. In the first three translations, there is no punctuation. The problem this creates is that there is no pause. Imagine you're watching a scary movie, and the girl is about to open the door. What happens next? She'll probably take ten minutes to actually open the door because the director of the film wants us to feel intensified due to what is taking place on screen. This pause, along with the scary music, is what really makes the film frightening. So by adding no punctuation, we - as the audience- are not allotted to the suspense we should have. 
          Continuing on, structure is also affected by who is translating it. In the first and last translation, "one morning" is mentioned before the dreams; in the second and third translation, "one morning" is mentioned after the dreams. What does this do? Well, when the time is mentioned before the dreams, it makes the audience wonder what happened that morning, or what is happening that morning. When it is mentioned after the dreams, it has less of an effect because people have the gist of what is happening. The "one morning" becomes an accessory. 
          Therefore, the meaning in the text shifts when it is not thought out properly. Is it more meaningful to use the word "bug" or "vermin" to describe the creature Gregor transforms into? Or is more meaningful to add punctuation, or have none? Would it be wise if the structure of the text makes builds suspicion rather than jumping straight into it? All these things affect the end result of the translations. 

In all the translations:
 #1 uses the word gigantic to describe the insects, and "as" to start the sentence.
 #2 leaves out the place where it happens, uses the word "changed", uses Samsa's full name.
 #3 uses "when" to start the sentence, "troubled" dreams, "enormous bug"
 #4 "one morning" begin it, "upon awakening" "agitated dreams", puts Gregor Samsa in the middle of the sentence than the beginning.