Hillbilly Elegy
A good essay will address how one narrative has shaped the lives of the people in the book, and it will question whether that narrative is attainable or just a fantasy. If it is a fantasy, how have the people in the book dealt with their inability to make that narrative true for themselves. What you may want to do is begin by describing the narrative, go on to explain how the people mentioned in the book have dealt with that narrative, and then draw from that to discuss the United States in general. In your introduction you may wish to establish the parameters of the narrative or why Americans feel narrative is so important in their lives. In the conclusion you may want to draw your own conclusions about the meaning of the book and the role of narrative in American lives. One idea to consider is the famous quote by Henry David Thoreau in Civil Disobedience and Other Essays (1849) that: