It is a defense of studying each historical period on its own terms, and not imposing one's own moral and social standards on figures and situations that existed with, perhaps, a different set of ethical and cultural concerns. Butterfield’s text described historians who project modern attitudes on to the past, pass moral judgments on historical figures, and regard history as significant only to the extent that it labored to create the modern world. Such judgments are viewed as problematic because they tempt historians not to understand the past on its own terms. Butterfield argues that historians should write aesthetically rather than polemically, exercising "imaginative sympathy" in appreciating the lost worlds of the dead rather than seeking, or expecting, the vindication of their own current positions (92). The "Whig interpretation," as Butterfield calls it, sees history as a struggle between a progression of good libertarian parties and evil reactionary forces, failing to do justice to history's true complexity.
Zinn also uses an excerpt from historian Charles Beard to explain his reasoning. Beard basically said that the rich controls the government or the laws the government operates by. Zinn points out that the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights shows that quality of interest hides behind innocence. Meaning that Congress completely ignores the freedom of speech. Professor of history Gordon S. Wood views the struggle for a new constitution in 1787-1788 as a social conflict between upper-class Federalists who desired a stronger central government and the “humbler” Anti-Federalists who controlled the state assemblies.
English Revision Task How have the texts studied in this elective challenged your ways of thinking about "People and Politics"? People and politics are able to represent their own ideas and perspectives by utilising different techniques to bring forward a stronger influence and convey meaning. The multiple methods and procedures in which to form representation has challenged my ways of thinking about 'People and Politics'. W.H. Auden utilises satire to communicate the negative perspective of dictators in "Epitaph of a Tyrant" (1939).
5. What is Zinn’s basic criticism of historian Samuel Eliot Morison’s book, Christopher Columbus, Mariner? Zinn states in his book," One can lie about the past. Or one can omit facts which might lead to unacceptable conclusion. Morison does neither."
Beowulf is a literary work which enables a reader to glimpse not only the societal customs but into the savage and seemingly uncontrollable environment of the first century. Literary historian, Raymond Chambers points out that in the fight between Grendel and Beowulf it appears as though Grendel is representative of the degraded form of human life attempting to gain power through violence, in his attempt to overthrow Hrothgar and take control of Heorot he is fatally wounded by Beowulf. Beowulf is a character who exemplifies the collective societal agreement as to the role of a hero and his duty to control a seemingly ungovernable environment (Chambers 46). The Beowulf poet describes Grendel and Beowulf as "Both ..enraged, fury filled, the two who meant to control the hall." (Beowulf 36).
Nevertheless, one major criticism of these structuralist approaches, i.e. Marxism and Feminism, is that they are grounded theories; these would infer that the theories may be thought of first and then evidence would be selected to back them up. Thus, two famous sociologists Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss argued that this is the wrong order to approach research, as
Fahrenheit 451- Social Criticism Essay Task: In most dystopian novels, the author is commenting on social or governmental ills of a futuristic world. In the novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury creates a dystopia that emphasizes superficial social interactions and a suppression of meaningful thought. In this society, books are banned in order to keep social order. In a well-developed essay, analyze the aspects of society and/or government that Bradbury is criticizing and his purpose for this criticism. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Your essay will contain: • An Introduction- complete with a thesis statement • 2-3 body paragraphs- complete with
Chafe, Alice Mary Baldwin Professor of History and former Dean of the Faculty at Duke University, admits that he has built his impressive scholarly career by neglecting these dramas to shape what is now the accepted historical conventional wisdom. In books such as "Civilities and Civil Rights" and "The American Woman," he writes, "I have focused on the way social movements, not individuals, have transformed our recent past." Now, Chafe wishes to right the balance, beginning with what he calls "an old-fashioned conviction -- that individual leaders make a difference in a society." The result is insightful and significant, showing how the personal and the psychological shape the political and historical. In eight well-paced, well-written chapters, Chafe sketches portraits of 10 influential modern Americans: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and the Clintons, Hillary and Bill.
A Comparative Analysis of New Criticism and Russian Formalism Every age has its theoretical definitions of the nature of literature and its theorized principles on which critical approaches to the analysis of literature are premised. Among many critical approaches, New Criticism and Russian formalism are the earliest and the most preliminary ones. Russian Formalism, mainly produced in the second two decades of the twentieth century, did not have widespread impact until the late 1960s and the 1970s, when it was effectively rediscovered, translated and given currency by Western intellectuals who were themselves part of the newer Marxist and structuralist movements of that period. In this respect, the Russian Formalists belong to a later moment of their reproduction and were mobilized by the new left critics in their assault, precisely, on established literary criticism represented most centrally, in the Anglo-Saxon cultures, by New Criticism and Leavisism. Hence, students of literature brought up in the tradition of Anglo-American New Criticism with its emphasis on “practical criticism” and the organic unity of the text might expect to feel at home with Russian Formalism.
Many famous authors write novels that have a central theme which revolve around the contemporary social issues of their time. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote about the rejection of the American dream in The Great Gatsby. Harper Lee wrote about the existence of social inequality in To Kill a Mocking Bird. In Hamlet, William Shakespeare indirectly discusses the ability for an individual to question monarchial power and absolutism during the 1600’s. He does this by writing a story about a prince, Hamlet, who questioned the political system in Denmark during that time.