Success. Society tends to associate “success” with obtaining a higher education. But what leads to higher education? What many are reluctant to admit is that the American dream has fallen. The class divide has become almost impossible to repair. From courses like Stanford, Harvard and UCLA to professional, adult and community programs, an education depends solely on one's social class. Social class surreptitiously defines your “success,” the hidden curriculum of what your socioeconomic upbringing teaches you to stay in that social class. The education system has relied heavily on students' socioeconomic factors to dictate their education style, ultimately preparing them with the skills needed to adapt. in their social class. The American dream is dead, it's no longer about striving and working hard to succeed, but rather, as Bambara shows, working hard to barely survive day to day. Bambara depicts this division by inferring that the characters have little or no knowledge or respect for higher education or for any matter of education at all. Silvia, the main character, exhibits the three factors of minority, low income, and an African American woman. Moreover, the expectation of success is nevertheless hardly greater than that of one's parents. Due to one's socio-economic background, higher education is considered a joke, referred to as a "fucking college degree" (254). Silvia is then subjected to a lifestyle common to her parents, not striving to be able to buy a toy boat for a thousand dollars, but disapproving of this possibility. As Rose describes, in her professional field, students were constantly being yelled at by, for example, the physical education teacher, in some cases it concerns the lesson that the system...... middle of paper ... ...operated by the system that keeps them in the cycle. Society is the wall that keeps us from success, but it is our own shadow of fear and normalcy that ultimately covers up opportunity. Works Cited Anyon, Jean. “On social class and the hidden work agenda.” Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. Ed. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, Bonnie Lisle. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013. 163-179. Print.Bambara, Toni. “The lesson”. Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. Ed. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, Bonnie Lisle. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013. 253-260. Print.Rose, Mike. “I just want to be average.” Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. Ed. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, Bonnie Lisle. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013. 151-163. Print.