Critical Lens

Mark Fitzpatrick once stated, “The American Dream is attainable to all those who work; despite family status at birth you may join the ranks of the wealthiest well-to-do citizens.” In other words, people are exposed to the possibility of being successful and living comfortably physically, emotionally, and financially. By revealing them and making it eye-catching, a person can recognize that although there are many trials and tribulations in your life, you can still reach the goal of being successful. The journalistic novel Random Family by Adriene Nicole LeBlanc and the non-fiction novel Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger both reveal how life can be incredibly hard but being successful is still a possibility. The literary elements used to prove this quote are conflict and irony.
The novel Friday Night Lights by H.G Bissinger illustrates how a person’s failures can deeply affect others negatively. For example, the conflict was a person to person (fight between two people) because Charlie is angry with his son Don for failing to hold the football during a game or practice. Charlie expresses how he feels by interrupting the intimate activity that Don was having with his girlfriend by duct taping a football into Don’s hands. Don also struggles with a person to self-internal (fight between a person and himself/herself) conflict because he is disappointed in himself because he knows how difficult it is for him not to fumble the ball. This relates to the critical lens because Don was not successful in physically holding the football while playing football. Although he could not hold the ball, there was still a strong possibility to get better and be successful in not fumbling the ball. In addition, this specific scene was ironic (the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect) because of how aggressive the father was to his son with the duct tape. This relates to the critical lens...