In his 1994 novel Ragtime, E.L. Doctorow presents a representation of American society at the start of the 20th century. The novel explores the tone of the turn of the century like notes on a keyboard, sometimes loud and vital, sometimes hardly audible. Doctorow arranges each event and character as they would function in real society, with no one part separate from the other. Each part is reliant on and linked to another, showing how within the rhythm of our quickly moving nation, everything is interconnected. Ragtime takes on the task of fashioning a cultural history of the first two decades of the twentieth century by linking the fates of three fictional families with real personalities and proceedings of the Ought and Teens. Each of the fictional families is symbolic of one or more of the cultural situations of those years. Despite the complexities and judgments involved, they remain mainly unspoken for the reason that they lack the translators or noble heroes that writers such as Doctorow have amiably provided for Eastern European and African Americans. All sober historians strive to be more than antiquarians, that is, they want their perceptive of the past to have some modern significance as well, to light up by their long outlook of human behavior the troubles and potentialities in their own culture. In the case of Ragtime, the attempt was not so much to put forward that history was recurring, or that it repeated itself as shambles, as Marx would have it, as to offer a lens that ironically distanced and yet made more close the dynamics of change and confrontation to it that characterized both eras.
It is an emotional and heart-rending chronicle about raising in the dirt-poor of the Alabama hills--and all about moving on with the life but never actually being capable to leave (Bragg, 1997, p. 183). The exceptional blessing for evocation and thoughtful insight and the dramatic voice for the account--notifying readers that author has gained a Pulitzer Award for this featured writing. It is a wrenching account of his own upbringing and family. The story moves around a war haunted, alcoholic person (Bragg's father) and a determined and loving mother who made hard efforts to safeguard her children from the harsh effects of poverty and ignorance, which has constricted her own living standard. In this account, author was talented enough to create for himself on the strength of his mother's support and strong conviction. He left house only to follow his dreams and pursue a respectable career in life, however he is strongly linked to his ancestry. In addition, the memoir shows the efforts of Bragg in which he has both compensated and took revenge from the cruelties of his early childhood. Author's approach towards his past seems quite ambivalent and
The transition of being a black man in a time just after slavery was a hard one. A black man had to prove himself at the same time had to come to terms with the fact that he would never amount to much in a white dominated country. Some young black men did actually make it but it was a long and bitter road. Most young men fell into the same trappings as the narrator’s brother. Times were hard and most young boys growing up in Harlem were swept off their feet by the onslaught of change. For American blacks in the middle of the twentieth century, racism is another of the dark forces of destruction and meaninglessness which must be endured. Beauty, joy, triumph, security, suffering, and sorrow are all creations of community, especially of family and family-like groups. They are temporary havens from the world''s trouble, and they are also the meanings of human life.
In the story, “The Wife of His Youth,” Chestnutt describes the racial discrimination in America. The author utilizes the primary characters as a gateway to reveal hypocrisy in declaring social equity and identity. Mr. Ryder runs away from his black heritage to become a part in a white society, while his wife from slavery uses her past to assert her faithfulness to her husband. The writer uses Mr. Ryder to reveal hypocrisy in social equity. Sam Taylor was a light skinned slave before the civil war. While his wife was at home cooking, he was always at the field working. During the civil war, he managed to escaped and moved up to north. After being free in north he decided to change his name to Mr. Ryder and joined the group called Blue Veins. Blue
In the early 1900s, the American South had very distinctive social classes: African Americans, poor white farmers, townspeople, and wealthy aristocrats. This class system is reflected in William Faulkner’s novel, As I Lay Dying, where the Bundrens a poor, white family, are on a quest to bury their now deceased wife and mother, Addie in the town of Jefferson. Taking a Marxist criticism approach to As I Lay Dying, readers notice how Faulkner’s use of characterization reveals how country folk are looked down upon by the wealthy, upper class townspeople.
The twentieth century was a time of tremendous change that commenced with WWI and the Great Depression. While WWI brought countless deaths, the Great Depression affected both urban and rural Americans. Yet, underlying these devastating events was the abuse of black Americans. Both whites and blacks had to cope with the major occurrences of the time, but blacks also faced strife from whites themselves. During the early part of the twentieth century, white Americans Russell Baker and Mildred Armstrong Kalish gained kindred attributes from their families, especially in comparison to that of Richard Wright, a black American. The key differences between the experience of whites and blacks can be found within the mentality of the family, the extent to which they were influenced by their families in their respective lives, and the shielding from the outside world, or lack thereof, by their families. Through the compelling narrations of these three authors, readers can glimpse into this racially divided world from the perspective of individuals who actually lived through it.
The evolvement of jazz throughout the years has been an interesting one. Blues and Ragtime are just two simple innovations that has allowed for many variations in the jazz genre. Both of these genres have their similarities and differences in how they influenced jazz music through: improvisation, syncopation, and experimentation.
Jazz, being art itself, cannot be culturally or stylistically be defined by one or two characteristics. In this paper, I will argue that the development of jazz was mainly contributed by the genre of blues and ragtime. Blue and ragtime both show characteristics that contrast each other as well as conjoin to form the art of jazz. Both genres, however, contribute to the formation of jazz and are culturally influenced by the African-American population, therefore creating black nationalism in the twentieth century.
Langston Hughes was probably the most well-known literary force during the Harlem Renaissance. He was one of the first known black artists to stress a need for his contemporaries to embrace the black jazz culture of the 1920s, as well as the cultural roots in Africa and not-so-distant memory of enslavement in the United States. In formal aspects, Hughes was innovative in that other writers of the Harlem Renaissance stuck with existing literary conventions, while Hughes wrote several poems and stories inspired by the improvised, oral traditions of black culture (Baym, 2221). Proud of his cultural identity, but saddened and angry about racial injustice, the content of much of Hughes’ work is filled with conflict between simply doing as one is told as a black member of society and standing up for injustice and being proud of one’s identity. This relates to a common theme in many of Hughes’ poems that dignity is something that has to be fought for by those who are held back by segregation, poverty, and racial bigotry. The poems “Visitors to the Black Belt”, “Note on Commercial Theatre”, “Democracy”, and “Theme for English B” by Hughes all illustrate the theme of staying true to one’s cultural identity and refusing to compromise it despite the constant daily struggle it meant to be black in an Anglo centric society.
Family life was hard and time-consuming, during the 1930’s. Loretta Lynn, born the first child of her seven siblings in 1932. Her parents, Ted and Clara Webb, raised the family in Butcher Holler, Kentucky. During this time, Loretta and her family budgeted tightly, sharing the countries financial crisis. Centered around Butcher Holler, Kentucky, the movie depicted insights what coal mining families experienced do the little they had. The movie showed many houses made of wood and mud. This parallel Loretta states “it was a very nice and insolated house, but annual repairs were mandatory” (Loretta Lynn 34). This financial struggle pointed to the “coal mining operation; affected by the British companies invested coal in the Unites States companies” (European Union para. 1). Not receiving a higher pay due the massive production of coal mining, families were tight resource users. Even the film portrayed a scene shows the Webb family getting brand new pairs of shoes and the excitement they had. One song that Loretta wrote, she said they only got one pair of shoes a year. Kids went the summer without shoes, and getting new ones when winter approached. However, even though the Webb...
...mentary, feminist undertones, the list goes on forever. To address the litany of social issues in the story would fill a book twice as long as the original work. Mitchell made her point on so many issues and themes with a timeless story that is entertaining on the surface with deep provoking moral dilemmas that bring an insider’s perspective to the antebellum south. For a Great-great-great granddaughter of the south, the story never loses its magic and romance, awakening some sleepy genetic affection for ruffles and lace, hooped skirts and petticoats. Mitchell’s tale brings meaning to our unique history as “Southerner’s” rousing a sense of Rebel pride and a dormant predisposition for lemonade and barbeque. It makes me look at white columns and fine china with new appreciation. It fosters an enduring hope for Scarlett and Rhett and all things Gone with the Wind.
Paule Marshall’s Brown Girl Brownstones revolves around Barbadian (Bajan) immigrants living in Brooklyn, New York. As a non-native black population, the Bajan community is forced to consider their American identity, which presents issue that are new to them. Some people in the community are unable or are not willingness to assimilate into the established culture of America and they find themselves in a system into which they cannot fit. Marshall focuses the story on a particular family known as the Boyce family. They are Bajan decedents who settle in Brooklyn. Although, the Boyce family migrates to America for a better life, their lives are a tremendous struggle and pursuit of the American Dream utterly destroys the family.
“American Crisis.” The American Tradition in Literature, 12th ed. New York: McGraw Hill 2009. Print
Having a harmonious family is a part of the American Dream. In The American Dream, written by Jim Cullen, a soldier wrote to the newspaper that he would “relate to” their “wives and children, parents and friends, what” they “have witnessed…” (Cullen, 114). Willa Cather introduces Rosicky’s family, which emphasizes on close relationships and positive community impacts in “Neighbor Rosicky”, and F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests that Charlie wants his role as a father back in “Babylon Revisited”. Even though both Cather and Fitzgerald value intimate families in integrity, they have different attitudes toward life.
Belasco, Susan, and Linck Johnson, eds. The Bedford Anthology of American Literature. Vol. 1, 2nd Ed., Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. 1190-1203. Print.
“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.