Amelia Caldwell Assignment 1

A theme in the poem "Inventing My Parents" is the American Dream. The couple in the cafe discusses this American Dream by talking about many different authors including F. Scott Fitzgerald. In his book "The Great Gatsby," Fitzgerald makes the American Dream seem glamorous and almost superficial, and overall happy. Ludvigson uses phrases like, "My mother's face is lit by ideas," "the air outside is warm as a bath," and "light as summer rain when it begins" for various descriptions in her poem. These descriptions are happy and fantasy-like in a way. The couple in the poem discuss the American Dream during a time of war and hardship, and this is to show that even though the world may not be perfect, and there are issues, one can always have a dream.