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How america's popular culture developed in the 1920
How america's popular culture developed in the 1920
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Book Report
The book As Seen on TV by Karal Ann Marling, is a fascinating study into television and its influence it had on America in the 1950’s. There are many concepts, which are studied in detail proving the pull and push the TV “images” had on the entire U.S. culture.
At the time, anyone of importance on TV was a sudden person of influence and impression. Mamie Eisenhower, wife of president Ike, with her public notoriety and respect started trends that would last for years. In 1953 at Ike’s inauguration, one of the first big TV events of the decade, Mamie showed her classic look. The mink coat, air-wave hat, curled under bangs, dress with snipped in waist and flared hips, pinching high heels, pearl choker, and her charm bracelet would soon be the rave among all women, young and old. This appearance, among others, changed the fashion market and the way people viewed style.
The entire fashion persona Mamie develops is genuine. Everything from her comment “Of course it’s mink…” to her inspiring friends to feel better by buying them a new hat, as if buying or getting a new hat is the cathartic folk remedy.
The next chapter titled: “Hyphenated Culture: Painting by Numbers in the New Age of Leisure”, discusses at length America and its eternal battle with leisure. At the time man had an inherent ancient capitalist folkloric belief that the common worker with time on his hands was a threat to public order. If fact many housewives didn’t like or even want automatic dishwashers because the easy work made them feel lazy.
Many famous and influential people encouraged and condoned “hobby” or leisure activities. Times would still be hard to change if it wasn’t for the integration of television in all American eyes. Ike, major public icon, is seen loving to paint while watching TV, exhibiting to all viewers that leisure time is not only acceptable but mandatory.
By the end of the ‘50’s there were hobby kits for everything, Jon Gnagy, a Saturday morning TV artist, sold “How To” kits for drawing and painting and developed “Color by Numbers” painting kits. This gave everyone, especially those with no artistic aptitude, to do something they could feel proud of, a hobby’s end result which looked nice even for them. Now TV was not only a direct vehicle, but also the cause and effect as well.
Now to speak of the place wh...
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...thought, and how our trends and styles actually effected an entirely different culture on the other side of the planet. To Nixon the appliance store meant the American freedom of choice. The newest kitchen appliances stood for the basic way of American life. In fact, his passions ended up locking horns with the Soviet Premier over American gadgetry such as spin cycles of all things. Although the Premier had trouble adopting the American way of life, the rest of the Soviet Union seemed to be a bit more eager. They actually took an entire U.S. made “Open Kitchen” back to the Soviet Union to study it. Further so, in their appliance shows they featured a number of U.S. made equipment and even our silly little gadgets.
In conclusion, it is really amazing to find out what an impact one household item can have on an entire nation such as the TV. My parents saw all of these changes and then some, so for me it is difficult to imagine. I feel that there is at least one more major nationwide change in store for my parents, the home computer. It will be interesting to seen what writers such as Karal Ann Marling have to say about what this little appliance will have done to us as well.
In 1776, David McCullough gives a vivid portrayal of the Continental Army from October 1775 through January 1777, with sharp focus on the leadership of America’s greatest hero, George Washington. McCullough’s thesis is that had not the right man (George Washington) been leading the Continental Army in 1776, the American Revolution would have resulted in a vastly different outcome. He supports his argument with a critical analysis of Washington’s leadership during the period from the Siege of Boston, through the disastrous defense of New York City, the desperate yet, well ordered retreat through New Jersey against overwhelming odds, and concludes with the inspiring victories of Trenton and Princeton. By keeping his army intact and persevering through 1776, Washington demonstrated to the British Army that the Continental Army was not simply a gang of rabble, but a viable fighting force. Additionally, Mr. McCullough supports his premise that the key to the survival of the American Revolution was not in the defense of Boston, New York City, or any other vital terrain, but rather the survival of the Continental Army itself. A masterful piece of history, 1776 is not a dry retelling of the Revolutionary War, but a compelling character study of George Washington, as well as his key lieutenants, and his British adversaries, the most powerful Army in the 18th Century world. When I read this book, I went from a casual understanding of the hero George Washington to a more specific understanding of why Washington was quite literally the exact right man at the exact right place and time to enable the birth of the United States.
Marks, L. (2006). The Loss of Leisure in a Culture of Overwork. Spirit of Change Magazine.
Many individuals would define leisure as time free from paid work, domestic responsibilities, and just about anything that one would not do as part of their daily routine. Time for leisure and time for work are both two separate spheres. The activities which people choose to do on their spare time benefit their own personal interests as well as their satisfactions. While some people may enjoy one activity, others pay not. Leisure is all about personal interests and what people constitute having a good time is all about. Some may say that the process of working class leisure can be seen to contribute their own subordination as well as the reproduction of capitalist class relations. Self-produced patterns of working class leisure can lead to resistance to such reproduction. This leads to social class relations and inequalities, and the fact that it they can never be completely reproduced in the leisure sphere. This film Home Feeling: Struggle for a Community, gives some examples of the role of leisure within a capitalist society dealing with issues such as class inequalities, and how they are different among various societies.
McCann, Joseph. “A Conceptual Framework for Identifying Various Types of Confessions.” Behavioral Sciences and the Law 16 (1998): 441-453. Web. 8 January 2014.
Jeffrey D. Sachs’s essay “ A Nation of Vidiot” focuses on his views about the American relationship with televisions. In his essay explaining why people should avoid watching TV too much. And the author also gives readers a reason to believe in the articles that he wrote. He explained the problem to television advertising used to sell the product and the country's politics. There are fine examples why developing countries the consequences that have ever television were created. And he has to convince his readers when he criticized some of the problems seen too much television can cause people watch television as reduced memory, and body weakness. However, for the children, the TV screens the main tool of the children. The authors also offer TV how difficult and dangerous for television viewers. Overall it’s a pretty interesting read, but one thing is sure: the essay is a
Depending on what study is read, the incidence of false confession is less than 35 per year, up to 600 per year. That is a significant variance in range, but no matter how it is evaluated or what numbers are calculated, the fact remains that false confessions are a reality. Why would an innocent person confess to a crime that she did not commit? Are personal factors, such as age, education, and mental state, the primary reason for a suspect to confess? Are law enforcement officers and their interrogation techniques to blame for eliciting false confessions? Regardless of the stimuli that lead to false confessions, society and the justice system need to find a solution to prevent the subsequent aftermath.
After reviewing the article “Inside Interrogation: The Lie, The Bluff, and False Confessions”, it became very evident the huge problem with interrogations and false confessions in the criminal justice system is with false confession. Jennifer T. Perillo and Saul M. Kassin crafted three distinct experiments to try and better understand false confessions and how trues the actual numbers in real life are. What Perillo and Kassin were trying to prove is that “the bluff technique should elicit confessions from perpetrators but not from innocents” (Perillo, Kassin 2010). What is called the “Bluff Technique” is an interrogation technique that uses a sort of threat or hint that there is certain proof that a person will think is more of a promise for
Exercise is the key to a happy and healthy life. Exercise helps maintain or obtain a healthy body weight. It’s also a great way to bond with fellow gym attendees. For all you know, your soul mate could be running on the treadmill next to you. Studies show people who exercise are happier overall. Exercise is important in day-to-day life.
According to the framework, voluntary false confessions result from one of the following: a morbid desire for notoriety, which is probably due to a personality disorder; inability to distinguish facts from fantasy, which is probably due to distorted thinking such as in schizophrenia; need for punishment, which is probably associated with depressive illness; hope
The ‘Golden Age of Television’ is what many refer to as the period between the 1950s and 60s when the television began to establish itself as a prevalent medium in the United States. In 1947, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), and the Du Mont Network were the four main television networks that ran stations with regular programming taking place. (Television, 2003) While regular television programming was a new innovation, the television itself had been commercially available for over twenty years prior to the 50s. It was conceived by many worldly innovators and went through several testing stages before it was finally completed in the late twenties. The three main innovators were Niplow - who first developed a rotating disk with small holes arranged in a spiral pattern in 1884, Zworykin - who developed the Iconoscope which could scan pictures and break them into electronic signals (a primitive form of the Cathode Ray Tube) in 1923, and lastly Fansworth - who demonstrated for the first time that it was possible to transmit an electrical image in 1927. (Rollo, 2011) However, one of the many reasons why this medium was successful in the 50s was due to the fact that it became more accessible to the public. Television sets were more affordable to middle class citizens which created further interest in the new technology. Through an historical account of the medium, the spread of television across America throughout this particular decade will be examined.
Fred Astaire was born on May 10th 1899 in Omaha, Nebraska where he started preforming as a child with his older sister Adele. They started out touring in vaudeville but later in 1917 both made it to Broadway. Fred did many productions with his sister but one that stands out is the 1927 production of Funny Face. Astaire had trouble starting his career though and for one of his first screen tests he failed to attract any attention and the studio executive wrote, "Can't sing. Can't act. Slightly balding. Can dance a little." In 1932 his sister met a man and got married which retired her from their brother-sister act. This was just the thing that pushed him to go to Hollywood and break into the film industry where he started off his career and got many new exciting opportunities. ...
The United States is the biggest economical power in the world today, and consequently has also the strongest and largest media industry. Therefore, it is essential to take a look at the crucial relationship between the media and the popular culture within the social context of the United States for a better understanding of the issue. For a simpler analysis of the subject we shall divide the media industry into three main branches: Entertainment, News and Commercials (which is the essential device for the survival of the industry, and shall be considered in integration with Entertainment). Researches have shown that the most popular reason behind TV viewing is relaxation and emptying the mind.
One of the largest “booms” that this country has witnessed is in the area of the ultimate “entertainment” source, the television. The growth in popularity of the use of the television is harming Americans in every aspect of their lives,
In the article, “Gin, Television, and Social Surplus”, American writer, Clay Shirky, asserts that ‘unproductive activities’, such as watching television, will cease to diminish. While the TV producer interviewing Shirky contemplated that these activities were just a fad (par. 19), Shirky argues that they aren’t temporary and they will continue to enlarge within society. One of the reasons is because people do not desire to extend their time being productive. Shirky speculated that people’s thoughts about productivity are, “It's fun to go out and produce and share a little bit, but then people are going to eventually realize, ‘This isn't as good as doing what I was doing before,’ and settle down” (par. 19). This is significant because it displays
It is common knowledge that exercise is one of the best ways to stay healthy. Regular exercise has many effects that benefit the human body. But how much exercise is needed to see improvements? The Center for Disease Control states, that according to the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, two types of physical activity are needed to improve your health- aerobic and muscle-strengthening. The CDC recommends 150 minutes a week of moderately intense aerobic activity, like brisk walking, or 75 minutes a week of vigorously intense aerobic activity, like jogging or running along with two days a week spent doing muscle strengthening activity on the major muscle groups. Consistently following this recommended