This is our all American youth: Comparison - Admission/Application Essay Example

Hence both these works represent a search for identity. All the signals of pop culture are covered, from Pepsi to McDonalds to Marilyn Monroe and Marlon Brando. It is as if America itself is being personified through its own history and culture, as it searches for identity and meaning- like a lost youth searching for meaning and yearning for a sense of identity. Discussion Kenneth Lonergan (born 1963) has had a penchant for writing plays right from his school and college days. He wrote his first play in the ninth grade and started off as a professional writer while studying drama writing at New York University.

It is highly possible that the characters in ‘This is our Youth’ are based on the writer and his friends during their adolescence. Lonergan uses dialogue to good effect in his plays and this is most evident in ‘This is our Youth’. The dialogues are a reflection of how the characters feel, as they grope in the dark looking for a sense of identity and meaning. . He too desperately wants to be successful but is having a hard time of it, as he realizes he is a long way off from emulating the success of either of his parents.

He cannot even afford to pay the rent- this being done by his father. All the same, he can hardly be considered as modest. On the contrary he has a false self confidence about himself- and in the course of the play we find him berating Warren that he is "an annoying loudmouthed little creep," and now that he has stolen money from his father, he has become "some kind of fugitive from justice." On the other hand, Warren wrongly idolizes Dennis. The truth is that Dennis and Jessica are both insecure about themselves but show this in different ways.

Dennis reacts by shouting and screaming whenever he is confronted about something, as when Valerie is annoyed that her sculpture has been broken by Warren’s clumsiness (Lonergan, 47). Dennis also tries to act as a leader of sorts, giving Warren advice what to do when he himself is as a loss on how to handle his own life. He has a bloated sense of self as we often find him telling Warren "I'm like providing you with precious memories of your youth" and "I'm like the basis of half your personality.

" But as we see by the end of the play, it is Warren who appears to be more mature while Dennis exposes his insecurity. Comparing this to Jessica, we see that she too exudes a false sense of confidence as she is often found nervous when things do not work out as planned or things take an unexpected twist. She wants to be in control of her life at all times but exudes "a watchful defensiveness that sweeps away anything that might threaten to dislodge her, including her own chances at happiness and the opportunity of gaining a wider perspective on the world."