In the first chapter of his book “The Midnight Hour: American Studies in a Moment of Danger” American Studies author George Lipsitz offers a critique of nationalistic political nature from a Marxist perspective . In this essay, I will offer my own critique of the arguments raised by him throughout the chapter. Furthermore, I will also offer insight regarding my thoughts of how the ideas of Lipsitz are pertinent to the practice of American Studies. Lipsitz's central argument in the first chapter of his book asserts that the globalization of various economic aspects (transportation, distribution, consumption etc.) transform the political nature and culture of the nations involved. The transformation in question here is from a nationalistic
The section in the novel night that painted a dark and angry picture of human nature is when the Jews were fleeing Buna and hundreds of them were packed in a roofless cattle car. The Jews were only provided with a blanket that soon became soaked by the snowfall. They spent days in the bitter cold temperatures and all they ate was snow. For these reasons, many suffered and died. When they stopped in German towns, the people stared at that cattle cars filled with soulless bodies. “They would stop and look at [the Jews] without surprise.” It was a regular occasion for the German people to see suffering Jews and not feel pity. The dark and angry picture of human nature was when a German worker “took a piece of bread out of his bag and threw it
An estimated 11 million people died in the Holocaust. 6 million were Jews. In the book Night by Elie Wiesel tells his story as a Holocaust survivor. Throughout his book he describes the tremendous obstacles he overcame, not only himself, but with his father as well. The starvation and cruel treatment did not help while he was there. Elie makes many choices that works to his advantage. Choice plays a greater factor in surviving Auschwitz.
A statement from the nonfiction novella Night –a personal account of Elie Wiesel’s experience during the Holocaust—reads as follows: “How could I say to Him: Blessed be Thou. Almighty, Master of the universe, who chose us among all nations to be tortured day and night, to watch as our fathers, our mothers, our brothers, end up in the furnaces” (67). War is a concept that is greatly looked down upon in most major religions and cultures, yet it has become an inevitable adversity of human nature. Due to war’s inhumane circumstances and the mass destruction it creates, it has been a major cause for many followers of Christianity, Judaism, and other religions to turn from their faith. Followers of religion cannot comprehend how their loving god could allow them to suffer and many devout
“Transnational communities and selves emerge when people from different cultural groups meet and live in shared spaces” (Fischer, 155-156). The American nation today could easily be seen as a transnational America, thus, this essay shows that Bourne’s idea of empowering all citizens. Especially immigrants,that had led to the America that is known and loved today. Although, empowerment of citizens is important, so is domination, which is why Roosevelt’s ideas of strong patriotism during the Progressive Era are not completely lost
It is so strenuous to be faithful when you are a walking cadaver and all you can think of is God. You devote your whole life to Him and he does not even have the mercy set you free. At the concentration camp, many people were losing faith. Not just in God, but in themselves too. Elie Wiesel uses many literary devices, including tone, repetition and irony to express the theme, loss of faith. He uses tone by quoting men at the camp and how they are craving for God to set them free. He also uses repetition. He starts sentences with the same opening, so that it stays in the reader’s head. Finally, he uses irony to allude to loss of faith. Elie understands how ironic it is to praise someone so highly, only to realize they will not have mercy on you. In Night, Elie Wiesel uses tone, repetition and irony illustrate the loss of faith the prisoners were going through.
In both Prague by Arthur Phillips and Midnight in Paris by Woody Allen, authenticity and sincerity are ideas that preoccupy the texts. The Oxford English Dictionary defines authenticity as “the fact or quality of being true or in accordance with fact; veracity; correctness,” and sincerity as “freedom from falsification, adulteration, or alloy; purity, correctness.” Prague and Midnight in Paris explore this idea similarly; the characters presented as most desiring of authenticity and sincerity are those that are the most incorrect, unreliable, and distorted themselves. This is a comment about human nature – the people who are most attracted to authenticity and sincerity are those who least possess the traits. The dual-nature of mankind inferred
During the Holocaust many people were severely tortured and murdered. The holocaust caused the death of six million Jewish people, as well as the death of 5 million non-Jewish people. All of the people, who died during this time, died because of the Nazis’: a large hate group composed of extremely Ignoble, licentious, and rapacious people. They caused the prisoners to suffer physically and mentally; thus, causing them to lose all hope of ever being rescued. In the novel Night, by Elie Wiesel, Elie went through so much depression, and it caused him to struggle with surviving everyday life in a concentration camp. While Elie stayed in the concentration camp, he saw so many people get executed, abused, and even tortured. Eventually, Elie lost all hope of surviving, but he still managed to survive. This novel is a perfect example of hopelessness: it does not offer any hope. There are so many pieces of evidence that support this claim throughout the entire novel. First of all, many people lost everything that had value in their life; many people lost the faith in their own religion; and the tone of the story is very depressing.
From the time of the Spanish American war until the beginning of the Cold War the United States went from relative isolation to increased global involvement because of 1 utopian thinking, 2 business expansion, and 3 changes in foreign policy. The consequences on American society of that greater involvement were 4 America’s development into an “international police power”.
Expansive growth was the moniker which expressly defined the Gilded Age. Industry in all sectors, witnessed massive growth leading to the creation of an American economy. Due to the rapidly changing nature of industrialization important men of both the public and private sectors attempted to institute their own controls over it. However this transforming landscape integrated both economic and political changes, but also cultural and social interactions. In turn, those who controlled the flow of business would also steadily impact the American social scene by extension. Alan Trachtenberg, professor of American studies at Yale and author of The Incorporation of America, argues that the system of incorporation unhinged the idea of national identity that all American’s had previously shared. As a result incorporation became the catalyst for the great debate about what it meant to actually be American, and who was capable of labeling themselves as such. Throughout his work Trachtenberg consistently tackles the ideas of cultural identity and how those ideas struggled against one another to be the supreme definition of Americanism. This work not only brings to life the issue of identity but it attempts to synthesize various scholarly works into a cohesive work on the Gilded Age and demonstrates that concepts developed during the incorporation of the time period have formed the basis for the American cultural, economic, and political superstructure. The Incorporation of America sets a high standard for itself one in which it doesn’t necessarily meet; however the work is still expansive and masterful at describing the arguments of the Gilded Age.
America obtained a pinpoint on the global map at the turn of the 19th century. The Spanish American war was a turning point in American history in that it changed the political, social, and economic aspects of society. Prior to the war, America was focused on itself as a nation and expanding nationally. However, at this period in time, the U.S. decided to expand beyond national borders and partake in the global market. By participating in this war, the U.S. was exposed to the concepts and practices of imperialism, yellow journalism, and jingoism. As demonstrated in Crucible of Empire, the Spanish American War altered American society by adopting imperialism, yellow journalism, and jingoism.
...from the building of skyscrapers to the railroads, and imperialism. We have moved all the way westward and what there is to do is to globalize our nation and continue to help improve the nations that we help guide. We first need to make sure that we are practicing democracy, free trade, our values, freedom, and our beliefs. This is what it means to be an exceptional nation. Other nations look to us, and when we don’t respond accordingly or if we don’t practice what we preach, they will call us hypocrites.
The initial prelude of our demise began in the mid eighteen-hundreds when government covertly funded projects for political use which in return altered American culture. The United States financed many literary works that were paid to detail our exceptionalism regardless of violent eruptions and cataclysms of current culture. For instance, Alexis De Tocqueville’s description of American democracy and capitalism was financed by the government to counter the growing acceptance of Marxism (Ross.) Tocqueville’s writings influenced pro-American sympathies abroad due to his inflation of American uniqueness and liberalism. If it weren’t for the U.S. government bankrolling Tocqueville’s expedition to Civil-War Era United States, one can argue that the French writer may have painted America as a combative oppressive nation comprised of individ...
The turn of the nineteenth century brought along several economic and political changes in America. These new ideas cultivated the creation of several urban societies and industrialization of the work process. However, a new approach to foreign policy became a turning point in America’s history. After the Spanish American War, The U.S. received new territorial claims, opening up a road to imperialism. The new expansionism ideals and tactics presented a great departure from U.S.’s former techniques. Americans broadened the concept of “Manifest Destiny”, focused on obtaining resources, and supported war, just to acquire land for personal gain. Thus, there are only a few similarities between United States’ new imperialism and early expansion. Therefore, the expansion in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was a continuation in some aspects, but mainly a departure.
For years, America has always been perceived as one of the top world powers due to its ability of achieving so much technological, economical, and social progress within a mere couple decades. Despite their great accomplishments, America is actually regressing psychologically, preventing the country from reaching its true potential as an “opportunity rich” country. In Anthony Burgess’ Is America Falling Apart? , the author unveils the circumstances in which America’s restricting society and selfish ideology cause the nation to develop into the type of society it tried to avoid becoming when it separated from the British Empire.
Although Norway is a country sometimes mistaken for a frozen wasteland, this “Land of the Midnight Sun” is more than that. The combination of culture, cuisine, and animals gives this land a unique personality. Norway is located in northern Europe, bordered by Finland, Switzerland, and Russia (Evensberget). The entire population of Norway is 5,136,700 as of 2013. The capital is Oslo, with a population of approximately 630,000.