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Influence of popular culture on culture
Impact of popular culture
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For years literature has molded and shaped the minds of many Americans for better or worse. Literature gives us entertainment and knowledge about things we may not have the opportunity to experience in our everyday lives. These written works have the power to influence readers and alter one’s opinions. This is just what Louis Simpson aimed to do, he was skeptical of the idea that America was picture perfect. During his life, he served in World War II, experiencing it all primarily. The victory of World War II left Americans feeling on top and unstoppable. Simpson fed off of this overwhelming optimism translating it into his poems (Faville). His goal was to pick apart the fantasized image we created for our country and expose the real truth
JOHN ADAMS – A SHORT BIOGRAPHY HISTORY 1301 – U.S. HISTORY TO 1877 WHEN SEARCHING FOR THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSON DURING THE EARLY U.S. HISTORY, GEORGE WASHINGTON COMES TO THE FOREFRONT. INCIDENTLY, DUE TO THE GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF THE RESEARCH, THERE WAS INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION ON PEOPLE OR EVENTS ON HISTORY BEFORE 1877. TO MY SURPRISE, INFORMATION WAS LOCATED ON JOHN AND ABIGAIL ADAMS. JOHN AND ABIGAIL ADAMS SUPPOSIVELY HAD A WONDERFUL LIFE AND MARRIAGE TOGETHER. JOHN ADAMS SOMETIMES SEEMED TO BE A CONTRADICTING, RUDE AND OUTSPOKEN MAN, BUT AT OTHER TIMES PLAYFUL AND TENDER. ABIGAIL’S INTELLIGENT, CARING AND WITTY CHARACTER MADE UP FOR JOHN’S MANNERS, THEIR MARRIAGE SIGNIFIES THE POSITION IN WHICH A WOMAN WAS INVOLVED IN THE EVOLVING OF A GREAT MAN, FOR HER IMPORTANT FAMILY CONNECTIONS PROBABLY BENEFITED HIS CAREER. JOHN ADAMS WAS BORN IN 1735, BRAINTREE, MASSACHUSETTS TO JOHN ADAMS AND SUSANNA BOYLSTON. JOHN ADAMS WAS THE ELDEST OF THREE SONS. MR ADAMS WAS A DEACON AND FARMER (WHICH MEANT THE FAMILY WAS NOT WEALTHY). MRS ADAMS WAS BORN FROM ONE OF THE FIRST FAMILIES OF MASSACHUSETTS (THE BOYLSTON’S OWNED A LOT OF PROPERTY). JOHN ADAMS GRADUATED FROM HARVARD IN 1755. UPON GRADUATING, HE WAS OFFERED A JOB TO TEACH IN WORCHESTER. LIKE MOST BACHELORS, JOHN HAD NO INTEREST IN CHILDREN OR THE SLIGHTEST UNDERSTANDING OF THEM. BUT LIKE ANYONE HE ADAPTED TO THE SITUATION, PROBABLY BECAUSE HE HAD TWO YOUNGER BROTHERS. JOHN MARRIED ABIGAIL SMITH IN 1764. ABIGAIL WAS THE SECOND OF FOUR CHILDREN, BORN IN 1744.
Dubbed as “The Greatest Country in the World” by god knows who, America is not as awesome and free as some may see. In doing a close reading of Heather Christle’s “Five Poems for America”, we can see how the author uses metaphors to portray a flawed American, specifically within its political system, religion, obsession with technology and basic human rights. Americans have been living with the oppression of these everyday issues, completely oblivious thus creating the America we infamously know today.
American literature reflects society by displaying the positive and negative sides to our country’s history. Throughout the year we have been shown all sides of the story, not just one side. We understand the situation more if we take into account the other stories that nobody ever hears about. American Literature deals with the topics of identity/memory, conformity and rebellion, society and struggle, and war. By taking a look at the 9/11 pictures as well as the memorial statue, The Crucible,The Harlem Renaissance, The Great Gatsby, and The Things They Carried, it is easy to see that all aspects of American Literature directly reflect society in many ways.
Many writers have considered the identity of America. Two remarkable writers of two different time periods have shouldered this. They created two important works. The first, Abraham Lincoln; a great leader in the midst of an incredible time of change and confusion, delivered the Gettysburg Address to an assembly that came to him saddened and horrified by the trials of war. These same people left, changed, that day from the cemetery. The other, Allen Ginsberg, wrote the poem "America" for a generation of people caught between World War II and the Cold War. The comparison between these two works is important for learning the identity of all Americans.
America has lived up to its founding ideals of equality, rights, liberty, opportunity, and democracy. All of the placards except placards 2B, 2E, and 2M support the idea that America has lived up to them. Although there were some times that America did not live up to the ideals, like the time that African Americans not being equal, there were more times that America did. America lives up to the ideal of equality every day because the government views all people as equal, and everyone has the same rights. After reading these placards the evidence supports that America has lived up to these ideals throughout history.
Throughout history, and even today, music has shaped America’s culture, society, and even politics. One of the most outstanding and enduring musical movement has been from African American artists, ranging from bebop to jazz to hip-hop to rap. During the 1920’s , jazz artists stepped into the limelight and began their impact on American and even world history. Louis Armstrong was one of the most influential leaders during the Harlem Renaissance and his jazz legacy and impact of American history is everlasting. A master of his craft, Armstrong and his music heavily influenced America’s white and black populations from the 1920’s and up until his death.
A Vision Achieved Jefferson envisioned a government that allowed its citizens to exercise inalienable rights. In exact words, he states, “ We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” To be more evident, how can we define these “inalienable rights” of “life”, “liberty”, and the “pursuit of happiness?” Have these inalienable rights, achieved Jefferson’s goal? I am convinced, Jefferson’s revolutionary vision of life, liberty, and happiness has at last been achieved in America.
When a writer starts his work, most often than not, they think of ways they can catch their reader’s attention, but more importantly, how to awake emotions within them. They want to stand out from the rest and to do so, they must swim against the social trend that marks a specific society. That will make them significant; the way they write, how they make a reader feel, the specific way they write, and the devotion they have for their work. Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgard Allan Poe influenced significantly the American literary canon with their styles, themes, and forms, making them three important writers in America.
“The real war will never get in the books” Walt Whitman, who had volunteered as a nurse in army hospitals, famously claimed in Specimen Days (1892) (Whitman). The American Civil War represents a decisive and far-reaching turning point in the development of the United States as a nation. But how much of the “real war” can actually be conveyed via literary narrative? The gruesome experiences of the soldiers and the aftermath of battle? What about the establishment of a national identity and the transformation or disintegration of national ideals and ideology? Writers such as Ambrose Bierce, Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, Francis Lieber, or Henry W. Bellows did attempt to provide representations of war experiences and provide interpretations of the conflict. Mid 19th-century American nationalism tended to employ literature as a means of sustaining national ideals, evoke patriotic feeling and provide meaning in the face of unprecedented human tragedies. A comparison between two essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne that appeared in the Atlantic Monthly in 1862 can provide an assessment of the role of literature during the war. These texts have been chosen not as a comprehensive representation of political, social or perhaps aesthetic attitudes regarding the Civil War and its meanings, but rather as an indication of the various, often contradictory, responses the war provoked. A close reading of the essays will enhance our understanding not only of public interpretations of the Northern war aims, but also the conflicting views on national promise and idealized hopes for the future along with the notion of national crisis – or a possible crisis in art and representation.
The American Dream was a tremendous theme during the late 19th through mid-20th century. The dream was an idea of becoming rich, spending money, and more than all, the achievement of happiness. Many people took advantage of this door for greater opportunities. Unfortunately, not everyone got to achieve this ideal dream, although some that were lucky did. Due to this circumstances, writers like Kate Chopin, F. Scott. Fitzgerald, and Arthur Miller were inspired during this decade. Part of their writings focused in search of how family 's lives were being affected in society by this dream. Their main subject portrayed how many American families were broken apart through the pressure of society norms. The three selections, “The Storm,” “Babylon
In the enchanting poem “next to of course god america i,” E.E. Cummings strings together a masterpiece of patriotic songs that appears to praise the eminent country of America but instead simply shields the underlying network of masterful irony and almost ridicule of US’s people. It is believed that E.E. Cummings wasn’t trying to bombast his country’s winsomeness, but trying to satire the truth of it’s blind patriotism.
As the world around Americans changed, so did the characteristics of literature. For the first time in literary history, writers began to shun artificiality of society and seek nature as a refuge. Feelings and intuition began to override reason. Inspiration was found in myth, legend, and culture. Faith was put in inner experience and power of the imagination. Innocence was preferred over sophistication. Individual freedom and the individual were the utmost important. Nature’s beauty was a path to spiritual and moral development. Most stories were set in exotic locales, supernatural realms, and the inner world of imagination (Arpin 144). For the first time, ordinary and outcasts were glorified. Not only d...
George Orwell once wrote “If the war didn’t happen to kill you, it was bound to start you thinking.” He is referring to the impact which World War One had on the United States of America. It affected both those fighting and the home front, including wives and children of war soldiers. The brutality of the war opened an eye for the Americans, which influenced an expression of the horrifying thoughts brought on by the war through the use of literature. Due to World War One, Journalism became more popular, Romanticism moved to the Realism movement, and poetry moved from being metaphorical to being straightforward.
“A Tale Intended to be After the Fact…” is how Stephan Crane introduced his harrowing story, “The Open Boat,” but this statement also shows that history influences American Literature. Throughout history, there has been a connection among literary works from different periods. The connection is that History, current events, and social events have influenced American Literature. Authors, their literary works, and the specific writing styles; are affected and influenced by the world around them. Authors have long used experiences they have lived through and/or taken out of history to help shape and express in their works. Writing styles are also affected by the current trends and opinions of the period they represent. By reading American Literature, we have seen the inhumane treatment of slaves, we have seen the destruction caused by wars, and we have seen the devastation of eras such as The Great Depression.
Walt Whitman was a great American because he was a patriot who was a voice for new American ideals and spoke for the people by defying aristocratic influence on the common mans life. Whitman’s story is a true American story. He rose from humble means, both financially and intellectually, and much to his own credit and determination became one of the America’s greatest literary achievers. He became America’s Poet long after his death through great study of his work by later generations who realized just how distinguishingly accurate his account of American life was. His first volume of poetry “Leaves of Grass” was heavily criticized for its vulgar and suggestive content along with forging a new style of writing, called Free Verse, that ignored traditional rules of poetry. Yet, he went on to produce 7 different revisions of the book to include some of the most patriotic poetry in American history. He was a poet making a plea to Americans to take decisive action in creating awareness of self and country. Whitman was opinionated about current issues like Slavery, and rights for women. Whitman and America blossomed simultaneously. Whitman’s growth as an emerging poet parallels America’s turbulent evolution, through civil war and the formative years of the country. Whitman paints a portrait of America with brutal honesty and his voice is so fresh and new, it cannot be ignored. (Zwonitzer, Wignot. Walt Whitman: Poet of Eternity)