Gilmore Girls. How the Educational School System Leads the Way to the American Dream

Seminar paper from the year 2022 in the subject Didactics - English - Literature, Works, grade: 2, University of Innsbruck, language: English, abstract: This paper will argue that the television show 'Gilmore Girls' by Amy Sherman-Palladino highlights the American educational class differences between the townspeople of Stars Hollow and the city Hartford and the different understanding of the American Dream. This will be done by comparing and analyzing essential characters such as Rory Gilmore, Lane Kim and Dean Forester individually. To support this argument more, private and governmental schools' characteristics, competition between schools, the students, the labor market, participation in extracurricular activities, teaching philosophies, difference in school uniform will be listed and shown how they correlate with the characters in the show. With describing a few scenes of 'Gilmore Girls' context will be given. Class differences are prominent in today's society, especially in the educational system. Since education is essential, different types of schools exist where students can choose from. The demand for private schools is increasing rapidly every year because it resembles status. Nonetheless, governmental, or so-called public schools are still necessary because not everyone manages to afford the costs of a private school or university. For parents, this is not an easy decision to make because receiving the best education is their highest priority. Single-mother Lorelai Gilmore, who got pregnant at 16-years-old, lives in Stars Hollow with her daughter Rory. Lorelai being part of the upper-class community did not have to worry about her own education. Due to her fleeing from her parents in Hartford, she is one of those parents who wants only the best for her child but is financially unable to afford her daughter's dream. The better the education is the more you will be qualified to achieve in life such as attending Ivy League College Harvard. It is also stated that there are different pedagogy techniques used by the teachers from both school types. So, choosing the fitting school for children is vital since it prepares them for their future life and helps them to acquire skills and knowledge.