“We Didn’t Start the Fire” is a song written by singer, Billy Joel. Before writing this song, Joel realized that every continuing generation always tends to blame the previous generation for the difficult changes that the present generation confronts. In "We Didn't Start the Fire," Joel writes a chronological order of historical events that occurred during his lifetime. Joel then creates his list of history events into a song that rhymes. When Joel sings the verses of this song, he sings the lyrics at a steady pace. Joel's singing at a steady pace acts as a symbol demonstrating that history does go at a steady pace as well. The message of this song is that history is going on and on, and as it does so, it is bringing changes with it, and there is no way to stop it. Modernizations are changing throughout time, and new struggles are being confronted, and the previous generations are not to be put as the blame. Billy Joel’s song mentions noteworthy happenings in world history, politics, and culture from a forty-year span to Another event that occurred during his lifetime that is also written in the song was “North Korea and South Korea.” At first, “Korea had been divided at the end of World War II at the 38th parallel.” (The Korean War) In the 1950s, North Korea and South Korea had both “declared war after Northern forces streamed South on June 25.” Today, North and South Korea are still divided at the parallel. Also, he mentions the “Rosenberg’s” in his song. The Rosenberg’s “were a husband and wife executed in 1953 for allegedly providing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union at the height of the cold war.” (Rosenberg Case) These people were “convicted on June 19 of espionage.” (PAGE) Today, the
"The littluns who has seen few fires since the first catastrophe became wildly excited. They danced and sang and there was a partyish air about the gathering."(Golding 130) This quote is an example of the little boys acting like little boys. That no matter what the situation is at the end of the day they will still be little boys and will act like it. The littluns try to make the best of it and they have fun while doing it.
Page seventy-one states, “There was a ship out there you said you’d keep the fire going and you let it out!”(Golding). This shows that they believe that the fire will help them escape the island and the boys desperately cling to the hope fire provides. However, as the story concludes the fire takes on a different meaning: “The whole island was shuddering with flame” (Golding 201). This dark and powerful portrayal of the fire describes a weapon of mass destruction. The atomic bomb was used twice just like the fire. The fire’s symbolism, like others’, shifts throughout the story.
Bill Gates, one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world, states, “It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.” Instead of only looking at the advancements that his business, Microsoft, has made, Gates evaluates and learns from the mistakes or failures he’s also made, and finds ways to prevent them from happening again. Billy Joel’s song “We Didn’t Start the Fire” is about all the people or events that made a large impact on the world from 1950 to 1989 and how the United States was not the main cause of all the problems going on. A majority, if not all of the topics of this song are things that had negative impacts on the world. Mary Cornish’s poem “Numbers” is about the use and power of numbers. The main idea of the poem is how even though something may be subtracted from one thing, whatever is subtracted is usually added to another thing. The lyrics of the song “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel incorporates
Think of the most beautiful city in world. You are walking the streets, taking in the scenery in complete admiration of a city built by men. Then one day you go to sleep, a few hours later you awaken, and that beautiful city is completely destroyed. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was one of the largest disasters in American history (“The Great Chicago”). After many failed attempts to put out the fire, people were left homeless and helpless to rebuild their city. Thankfully, after every tragedy there is always a recovery.
People around the city went to bed, everything seemed relatively normal. Smoke dwindling into the dark night sky, the faint smell of burning wood. All normal for Chicago. Fires were a daily part of life for this wooden city. Near the time of 2 a.m. the fire didn’t seem so normal and average anymore. A mean flame was being born, it was blazing to life.
...sts withdrawal from the war. He wanted to play his song on TV but faced many hurdles by the TV sponsor and executives due to his communist connections.
Altho somewhat similar the two stories are very different in many ways. The first story is called “Mystery of Heroism” by Stephen Crane and the other one is “To Build a Fire” by Jack London. Both of the books are part of the short story genre and realism stories. The author's purpose for writing the “Mystery of Heroism” is to tell a story about a brave man who went to get water for a dying man. The purpose for writing “To Build a Fire” is to tell about a man and his dog and how he tried to fight the below freezing temperatures to stay alive. Both authors use realism because they want to tell real stories about people and how they had to overcome struggles in their lifetime. These two stories have similarities but they are way more different than anything else. One of the stories is about a man who has to overcome fear to get water for a man.
On March 25, 1911 in New York City thousands stood by and watched as the Triangle Waist Factory quickly caught fire on one of its top floors. Within 20 minutes 146 people had either burned to death in the flames or had chosen to jump from the windows instead. This fire was considered one of the worst events in the Industrial Revolution, but it did bring to light the almost inhuman conditions in most of the factories in the early 20th century.
The Great Chicago Fire started on October 8th, 1871 and is said to be one of the biggest events in Chicago’s history. To this day, nobody really knows how the fire was started; however, most say it started in a barn behind the home of Patrick and Catherine O’Leary. There are claims that their cow was the cause, but that’s just one of the many myths that were started. The way that most of the buildings were built during this time, it was only a matter of time before a major fire happened. With all the catastrophic events that took place during the fire, there were also many great effects that occurred after the fire was over and the reconstruction process began.
The Triangle Fire made a lasting impact on the future of America. March 25th, 1911, a day that changed everything. Fire engulfed the three stories of the Triangle Waist Company. Family members, firemen, and friends could only watch by the sidelines as 146 girls and boys perished. The vision of girls jumping from the windows to escape being burned alive, broke down even the most seasoned Fire Chief sending him down to the street with quivering lips. In 1910, 13 weeks on strike most companies accepted the unions’ demands but Triangle Waist Company denied the union, giving higher wages and shorter hours. If Triangle Waist Company had accepted the union, would the 146 girls and boys lived? The fire was a terrible tragedy that will never be forgotten but it changed the Industrial life. Following the Fire there was industrial reform, passing of legislation, and it led to women’s suffrage.
On May 4, 1970, four students were killed and nine were wounded in Kent State University by the national guards. These students were protesting against America bombing Cambodia during the Vietnam War. This incident caused many colleges across the nation to arise and support the protest. To portray one of the colleges that participated in the protest, Christopher J. Broadhurst shares the events in North Carolina State University (NCSU) through his document, ““We Didn’t Fire a Shot, We Didn’t Burn a Building”: The Student Reaction at North Carolina State University to the Kent State Shootings, May 1970”. Broadhurst is currently an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership, who focuses on the historical context of the late 20th century. He
“ Ninety-five percent of the nation’s adults and seventy-seven percent of its children can recite Smokey Bear’s slogan, and as for the bear himself, well, only Santa Claus ranks higher as a recognizable icon” ( Spinal 38). “Only you can prevent forest fires” were Smokey Bear’s iconic words, known by nearly every American in the Twentieth Century (“The True Story of Smokey Bear”). However, why was Smokey Bear needed? Why were forest fires on the increase? Actually, during World War II, Japan wanted to attack California’s forests as a scare tactic, playing on the country’s fears of losing valuable timber. Smokey Bear helped America prevent forest fires to preserve timber from being destroyed (Spinal 38). The acres lost due to fires decreased from 22
Back on the night of the 27th of February 1933, what pulled down Germany to its democratic government was eradicated as the flames devoured the structure of the German parliament. This point in history is known to as “the Reichstag fire”. Even though a series of accusations where thrown to frame the communist party and Van der Lubbe (Dutch communist) who was caught red handed on the day of the fire, Historians still struggle and disagree to decide who was to blame for the Reichstag fire. This event is unclear and brings uncertainty, its is obvious that this event was crucial on Hitler’s road to power, how ever, there are other events to consider such as the night of the long knifes, the enabling act and Hindenburg’s death.
The 1960’s was a time of war and fear for the United States and many people were turning their accusations towards the government. “Masters of War” was written by Bob Dylan in late 1962 and early 1963. The focus of this song is a protest against the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis that was happening during the early 1960’s. The song is protesting on the American government having its citizens live in fear of a constant attack and hiding behind their shroud, unaffected by anything that would happen to the people. It shook the nation with its fierce and angry tone against the “military industrial complex.” Dylan’s lyrics stated that it was not contained by declaring a pointless war and not taking responsibility for the problems it was causing. “Masters of War” is a powerful song against the government and the military. The protest song “Masters of War” by Bob Dylan highlights how the looming aspect of the Cold War affected the people of the United States and demonstrates Dylan’s view on the governments involved.
As the 2014 “Wildfire Season” kicks off across the American West, it is crucial that the Administration examines the glaring failures of current federal wildfire policy. Drier and hotter summers are contributing to longer and more intense wildfire seasons, while in the meantime, the dangers and costs of fighting those fires have increased substantially. The budget and appropriations that are in place for the two main agencies that practice forest management, the United States Forest Service (USFS) and the Department of the Interior (DOI), are less than sufficient, and these agencies are being forced to rely on “fire borrowing” to fund excess fire suppression activities. This “borrowing” undermines other important functions, and starts a damaging cycle in which funds are diverted from elsewhere within agency budgets to fund suppression. Within the past two years alone, the DOI and USFS have “borrowed” almost $1.1 billion from forest management programs meant to reduce fire danger.