Revisit the Barclay Paragraph: Write a Barclay paragraph that connects a quote from one Narrative Project with one of our assigned essays.

Julie Beck’s argument that Americans seek out stories that portray life as a rags to riches dramatization or quest for success is supported by the narrative story that Delia Barry provides about her grandfather’s tapes. In “Life’s Stories”, Julie Beck breaks down the use of personal narratives in our everyday life, why we use them, and their potential benefits and dangers. She presents the idea of a standard narrative, or the blueprint that we model our lives after. Beck argues that while the standard narrative provides us with examples and goals for life, it can also offer unrealistic expectations for those who can’t meet the requirements of achieving a “model life”. According to Beck, “Americans have sought to author their lives as redemptive tales of atonement, emancipation, recovery, self-fulfillment, and upward social mobility”. Beck warns that although this concept may be presented as the standard narrative for American life, it is not always achievable, and presenting it as a higher truth can be harmful for those who may not have a choice in their destiny. While this may be a great way to tell stories, it is not always an accurate depiction of what life shapes up to be. Delia Barry provides an example of an instance when this narrative is attainable, and when manifest destiny can be achieved. Barry tells the story of listening to her grandfather’s narrative tapes, recounting his experiences of growing up in America and coming to the United States to start a better life. Barry finds solace in the fact that “there is always hope, even when you are a little Albanian Greek boy with no mattress”. Barry’s family originated with nothing, and her grandfather’s narrative portrays their development of success as a story of redemption and struggle. While Barry’s family story does provide an example of a situation that does seem to follow the type of stories that Beck warns about, it is very possible that Barry’s grandfather crafted his narrative after the “American dream” standard narrative. It is unlikely that every detail of Barry’s grandfather’s life followed the upward curve toward success that it’s narration follows. However, as Beck mentions, for a lot of people the redemptive story is a great way to tell their story. Not every Albanian Greek boy had a life that can be modeled after the same format, but it is possible to model the imperfect after the perfect and make it your life narrative.