Composition

Michael Lee Cohen begins his interview “Adam” with a personal opinion on his interviewee (p. 136, ll. 1-5), which helps him suggest that Adam, although young, is a reliable and trustworthy professional in the banking industry. This helps him introduce the first topic of the interview: Adam’s personal story. Cohen also presents Adam’s wish to become as wealthy as possible, which introduces the second topic of the interview: Adam’s perspective on the American Dream. 

This topic is structured in three parts – first, Adam speaks about the American Dream in general, and what he believes it means for most Americans: “ ‘a nice house, a VCR, low fixed mortgage rates, three square meals a day, and a new car every now and then.’ ” (p. 137, ll. 16-17). Then, Cohen introduces the ide...