America: Was it really the land of opportunities?
             America was known as a land full of promises and opportunities for all people. On account of this and many other reasons are why Eastern European immigrants came to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Despite the promises of what this new land had to offer, immigrants discovered many positive opportunities to succeed as well as negative circumstances that stood as a roadblock on the road to achieving their hopes and dreams.
             The dream of a better life was the incentive that attracted people to America. There was the possibility to actually move up in the world, as opposed to the Old World where a person was basically stuck in the status where born. America furthermore offered freedoms. Just the chance to taste what it is like to be free brought over many immigrants. Who could fathom having the choice of where to work, where to live, and the freedom to worship and practice religious beliefs? Just stop and realize how attractive this sounded to a suppressed family living in Eastern Europe. That is why parents made the tough, but sometimes obvious, decision to come to America. They not only wanted a better life for themselves, but more importantly they wanted a better life for the children. You see a glimpse of this hope from the last sentence in "My Mother" as described by Alfred himself, "But between my mother's pent-up face at the window and the winter sun dying in the fabrics-"Alfred, see how beautiful!"-she has drawn for me one single line of sentience."
             Education was the main juncture that enlightened many immigrants' hearts. A chance to get an education and for free was worth more than gold to families. Mary Antin's father put it best when he described education as "...the essence of American opportunity, the treasure that no thief could touch, not even misfortune or poverty." It was the sole...