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More handpicked essays just for you.
The impact the great depression had on the united states
The impact the great depression had on the united states
The great depression social cultural effects essay
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We all know the flamingo as a bird which is covered in a gorgeous color of pink feathers. Most of us also know as the bird which sleeps while balanced on one leg. We also know it as an exotic dance; which is danced in a plethora of latin american countries. But we do not know it as a plastic bird which Americans altered to make it theirs. Jennifer Price does an amazing job of making us look and think for her view of the United States culture by emphasizing things such as economic growth and how it help through events such as the Great Depression. Because of this we can conclude that she views American culture as a prestigious one, but is it really? Jennifer Price informs the readers about an economy in which a simple bird helped bloom it. For example the inclusion of many hotels and restaurants that utilized the bird as an eye opener. As she said “ a flamingo stands out in a desert even more strikingly than on a lawn.” The bird was used for numerous things including the affluence of a population that had just gotten out of the Great Depression. Jennifer Price also includes the birds magnificent color and how it also helped the economy. Flamingos have pink color like feathers that plastic industries and other industries tried to …show more content…
reproduce, but could not. Fortunately they were still successful. The pinks ranged from tangerine to congo ruby to even methyl green. These color choices were used to decorate everything like washing machines and cars. One notable use of this color was a 1956 Cadillac; which was owned by none other than Elvis Presley. These things all sound positive, but once you analyze Price’s work more you find that she is throwing a bit of shade. Jennifer Price is utilizing many extended metaphors that all lead to one thing.
They lead to the demolishment of the use of the flamingo. The Americans altered the bird to how they saw it and to the best of their ability. It was used for many things which led to the overuse of it. We can compare this to how in Florida they were driven to extinction for their elegant plumes and edible meat. We can also see that the American culture changed things that previous cultures established. We knew it as a red phoenix, ancient Egyptians saw it as their sun god Ra, and in Southern American places it is art, dance, and literature. These things were all previously established, but then came the Americans who changed it, overused it, then killed
it. Jennifer Price used an extended metaphor to let us know of her view on American culture. She sees this culture as a killer. They alter things to their advantage and then overuse it to extinction.
During the time of the building of the transcontinental railroad, a lot of white men killed the buffalo. They found that as a sport, and even used it to harm the Plains Indians. At that time the buffalo was a main source of food, fur, and a hunting lifestyle for the Plains Indians and by the white man killing it off it effectively hurt them. The white man killed the buffalo in large numbers that almost made them go instinctively, and they hurt the Plains Indians huge. Although the Plains Indians did kill the buffalo for their food and furs, their hunting did not have a large impact on the buffalo population.
Denotatively a bird is defined as a, Any of a class (Aves) of warm-blooded vertebrates distinguished by having the body more or less completely covered with feathers and the forelimbs modified as wings, often capable of flying. The authors/Glaspell’s strategic comparison of Mrs. Wright to a bird can be interpreted connotatively that she was a free,
The tile of the poem “Bird” is simple and leads the reader smoothly into the body of the poem, which is contained in a single stanza of twenty lines. Laux immediately begins to describe a red-breasted bird trying to break into her home. She writes, “She tests a low branch, violet blossoms/swaying beside her” and it is interesting to note that Laux refers to the bird as being female (Laux 212). This is the first clue that the bird is a symbol for someone, or a group of people (women). The use of a bird in poetry often signifies freedom, and Laux’s use of the female bird implies female freedom and independence. She follows with an interesting image of the bird’s “beak and breast/held back, claws raking at the pan” and this conjures a mental picture of a bird who is flying not head first into a window, but almost holding herself back even as she flies forward (Laux 212). This makes the bird seem stubborn, and follows with the theme of the independent female.
By presenting the competing sets of industrial and rural values, Jewett's "A White Heron" gives us a rich and textured story that privileges nature over industry. I think the significance of this story is that it gives us an urgent and emphatic view about nature and the dangers that industrial values and society can place upon it and the people who live in it. Still, we are led to feel much like Sylvia. I think we are encouraged to protect nature, cherish our new values and freedoms, and resist the temptations of other influences that can tempt us to destroy and question the importance of the sublime gifts that living in a rural world can bestow upon us.
"This was a little ironic, since Americans had hunted flamingos to extinction in Florida" (Price lines 13-14). Price may be putting down American because Americans tend to follow the crowd and copy what everyone else is doing. The flamingo could be a metaphor of how Americans are followers and do not come up with their own ideas. The plastic pink flamingo gave an "extra fillip of boldness" (Price line 20). The flamingo was a way for Americans to stand out in the crowd and be noticed. Americans were flashy, cocky, and maybe even a little bit conceited.
Betty Smith’s books have had a large impact on American culture. Although Smith never surpassed a high school education, her novels still became world renowned. According to the article, “Biography of Betty Smith, Author of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,” spawning from a rejected play, Smith’s book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn became a “social phenomena: it was widely publicized as one of the best novels of 1943, it was read by thousands, and it became the staple of religious and social club discussions.” By 1994 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn had sold over “six million copies worldwide” (Jones, 1994). People enjoyed the book because “Smith managed to give voice to the underclass, to give color and radiance to supposedly squalid environments” (Jones, 1994). A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was turned into a film when “Twentieth-Century Fox paid $50,000 for the movie rights” and it won three Academy awards (Glover, 1972). Later, the book would turn into a Broadway musical and run for over a year. It was also turned into a “radio serial, appeared later on TV as a ‘late show,’ and was the basis for a comic strip.” Joy in the Morning also received huge success and became a movie in 1965. Her books were translated into numerous foreign languages including
Since the 20th century, bright pink flamingos have captivated the hearts of Americans as a representation of leisure and vacation. From decorative lawn ornaments to various themed decorations, the pink plastic flamingo has been idolized in American culture for decades. In her essay, “The Plastic Pink Flamingo: A Natural History”, Jennifer Price examines the history of the plastic pink flamingo in American culture, and how it became to be the symbol we see today. Through the appeal to authority of notable writers, ironic understatement of the previous views on flamingos, and repetition to convey the significance of the flamingo in other cultures, Price lightheartedly criticizes the materialistic, flamboyant nature of American culture.
In describing the bird refuge before the flooding, Williams goes into great detail about the abundance of birds and vegetation that inhabited her paradise: “Avocets and black-necked stilts are knee deep in water alongside interstate 80. Flocks of California gulls stand on a disappearing beach…I inhale the salty air. It is like ocean, even the lake is steel-blue with whitecaps”(Williams 30). In a visit to the bird refuge with her grandmother, she describes the refuge as a place full of life, with countless birds among beautiful plants and wildlife. Indeed, the bird refuge was a sanctuary to her; there was something magical, she writes, about seeing the thousands of different birds in one place, a sight that kept her going back.
The essay begins with an active verb, “splashed”, and a striking adjective, “boldness”, revealing a sense of excitement. This begins the piece in a bold way. Her analysis, however, dies down when she states her two major claims. She argues that the pink flamingo was popular because it was a flamingo and because it was pink. The fact that this object became popular for these reasons reveals the ways in which Americans form their desires. The remainder of the opening paragraph establishes background about the flamingo. After that, Price continues to give indications of her views of US culture. She argues that Americans used flamingos to reveal wealth. She strengthens this argument with more active language(the flamingo “inscribed” the laws as “emphatically”). Price appeals to authority by quoting from two well-known authors of the time; however her other examples are
She starts off the essay by setting up the scene of the 1910’s and 1920’s, at first without expressing much opinion. She later becomes bold when she states that “this was a little ironic, since Americans had haunted flamingos to extinction…”(13- 14) when referring to the vast use of fake flamingos in backyards. Without declaring it directly, she exhibits the hypocrisy of American culture. She doesn’t elaborate much on the killing of flamingos but she names all the ways American society exploited the pink flamingo, using significant and notable locations like Las Vegas and multiple hotels. The cant talk of the Americans had led them to create a faux flamingo surplus, ironically, an animal that they had killed several decades before.
I, Tiffany Valdez, am trying to substitute the course, The Shaping of the Modern World (Hist. 3005) because I feel it is awfully familiar to the course I took at my previous school, SUNY Cortland. I will provide the syllabus for the class, Western Civilization since 1500. I have taken four history courses in total. Although I find history very fascinating I do not think I need another class about it especially if it is going to be about something I have already learned. I have spoken with an associate professor of the History department and she confirmed that there is some overlap.
The American woman is a mystery that has yet to be solved. She is an ever-changing poem that sparks interest in those who are unaccustomed to her mysterious ways. The American women fascinated many authors, including Henry James. To express his enthrallment, James employed his literary talent to create Daisy Miller. Daisy exudes the vast depth of the entity of the American woman, which originally captured James’ attention. John Hay, a contemporary observer of American manners and mores stated of the American woman, “Her conduct is without blemish, according to the rural American standard, and she knows no other” (qtd. in Fogel 52). James’s Daisy Miller depicts the innocence of the American woman, with its accompanying crudeness. It is through Daisy Miller, and her contradictory characteristics of purity and crudeness that James presents and depicts his American woman to the world.
Is not the American Culture just beautiful? Well, not everybody thinks the same. Jennifer Price tells the story of the plastic flamingo as she established her view of the American Culture. Price uses her tone, vivid diction and clear examples to say that Americans are arrogant, hypocrite, and envious.
" University Of Windsor Review 16.1 (1981): 92-101. Print. The. Laurence, Margaret. A.S.A. & M.S.A. A Bird in the House. Toronto, ON: McCelland & Stewart, 2010.
Rationale for Topic: The Caged Bird represents the struggle against racism. I want to stress the idea of how racism and segregation has influenced African Americans during that time period. My topic needs to be examined, because through all the criticism Maya recreate herself and strives to break the stereotypes thought about her. During the time period that Caged Bird was set in the early 1930's to late 40's, segregation was more complete and evident, especially in more southern-most states like Arkansas and an abundance of racism.