The country, just like in the 1950’s – nearly 60 years prior was, and is sold on fear. However in this decade there isn’t a new “McCarthy” – one man is not needed to stimulate accusations and distrust as this fear is not against just anyone, but rather focused on specific ethnic groups. The terrorist scare of present times shares the same qualities and traits as the communist scare of the 50’s and the resulting effects on historian thought. Both are an overblown paranoia against a specific group of individuals causing much havoc and fear. Out of this fear comes the resulting philosophy or thought process of historians – a new pro-American, less critical view of the
Journal 03: America Tony Hoagland’s poem “America” uses specific nouns and metaphors to tell readers that America is too obsessed with material objects and self-satisfaction. Hoagland uses these nouns and metaphors to hide truth from the naked eye, specific diction is also used in combination with these metaphors to expose corruption in American society. In the opening lines, Hoagland writes, “Then one of the students with blue hair and a tongue stud / Says that America is for him a maximum-security prison / Whose walls are made of Radio Shacks, Burger Kings, and MTV episodes.” Hoagland almost lists the details of American trends by mentioning hair color and piercings, and by describing businesses like Radio Shack which sell 70-inch flat screen televisions, which are completely unnecessary, and fast food restaurants like McDonald’s that give super-sized food portions. These allow readers to immediately see the ridiculous
In the critiquing essay Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants”: icebergs, raisin bread, and the shortstory, Jefferson Flanders offers a critical view of how Hemingway does the exact opposite of what he attempted to do in this writing of Hills Like White Elephants. Flanders narrows his attention on the clever writing of Hemingway but also points out his attempt to shock the critics when he wrote about abortion in the 1920s. According to Flanders, Hemingway didn't care what critics thought about his writings but wrote about the shocking topic of abortion to capture the attention of the critics and have them talk about him. Flaunders supports his opinion with biographical, literary and historical information, much of it coming directly from Hemingway himself but at the same time, he is also showing his own biases of the subject matter. Flanders also made his main point very clear throughout his arguments by showing that Hemingway constantly left out detailed information, expected his readers to know what he knew and utilized obvious symbolism.Vast amounts of light was shed on Hemingway's short story by the way Flanders demonstrates his viewpoint and relationship to the omission style of writing and mentioned shocking points.
Now Beatty tells Montag why the public lets comic books stay but not the books. The public doesn’t let the books stay because they bashed on people and that doesn’t make people happy so books don’t fit in with society. (57) Beatty told Montag that authors were full of evil thoughts and their thoughts would upset the public. The public was so vast that we can’t have our minorities upset and stirred. (57) Then Beatty asks Montag, “What do we want in this country, above all?” To be happy and Montag agrees with Beatty.
Although the two novels share a common theme, the authorial purposes contrast in nature. Both Steinbeck and Fitzgerald depict the illusion of the American Dream; Steinbeck however conveys the belief that American society in the early 20th century severely retards individuals’ opportunity of attaining the American Dream. Fitzgerald focuses on expressing his disdain toward the wealthy, and uncovers the downside of the extravagant lifestyle the rich possess. Nonetheless, Of Mice and Men and The Great Gatsby encompass the fallacy of the American Dream and tell a story of desperate individuals struggling to capture a dream just out of reach. Throughout The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald consistently uses characterization to provide an in depth view of the characters in the story.
"I look forward to the time when Mr. Mills hands back his prophet's robes and settles down to being a sociologist again," Arthur Schlesinger Jr. wrote in The New York Post. Adolf Berle, writing in the Book Review, said that while the book contained "an uncomfortable degree of truth," Mills presented "an angry cartoon, not a serious picture." Liberals could not believe a book about power in America said so little about the Supreme Court, while conservatives attacked it as leftist psychopathology ("sociological mumbo jumbo," Time said). The Soviets translated it in 1959, but decided it was pro-American. "Although Mills expresses a skeptical and critical attitude toward bourgeois liberalism and its society of power," said the introduction to
Fitzgerald realized that the first person point of view had to be from Nick’s perspective because only then would the reader be able to see the changes in Carraway. As a result, The Great Gatsby serves as an epic story in American literature but also as a pioneering comment on the snobbish ways of American upper class
However, after analyzing the full text, Mari Sandoz’s representation of Crazy Horse is more than just the basic story about the government pushing the Indians from their homeland and confining them to designating areas. There is a direct parallel to our current governmental situation, as elected officials push their way into areas they should not go and do not deserve to be. Furthermore, we have a greater problem in that there really is a lack of a Crazy Horse in our times to fight back. As I think more, though, I laugh because maybe our Peace Studies class will create some Crazy Horses. This novel is quite fitting to end the semester, because it seeks to teach us that to make an impact and to make a change, we must fight the norm and not accept the status quo, just as we have been trying to
Miller wanted to spread the word, throughout the United States, that our country was in a state of paranoia and that the House Un-American Activities Committee were practicing McCarthyism, through The Crucible. Arthur Miller was trying to show the 1950’s citizens how history can repeat itself, and, through Abigail, show how we, as human beings, have become selfish and only want to save ourselves, rather than
Paulos Liu AP Language and Composition Link 12/16/12 The Corruption of Man In the United States, individualism is supported and valued, while still encouraging the importance of tolerating other cultures. Yet within this society, there are pressures to conform, and to not only tolerate, but to become another. In the novel, Brave New World, Aldous Huxley creates a world that, instead of encouraging toleration, brainwashes their individuals to create a homogenous society. Through Bernard and Lenina, Huxley comments on the corruption of the individual, and ultimately the society as a whole, because of the natural urge for acceptance. Huxley, through the rise of Bernard to a popular status, expresses the fall of an individual through the