Grapes of Wrath and It's a Wonderful Life
Following the relatively prosperous era nicknamed the "Roaring Twenties" came the Great Depression. Unemployment skyrocketed and good times were hard to be found. In the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" - we see the transformation from stability to utter chaos.
With World War I freshly over, there was joy and celebration to welcome American 'boys' coming back home. Huge technological improvements and scientific breakthroughs paved the way for larger, more stable and profitable financial markets. Fast and easy money was too be made by playing the booming stock market - many lay men took advantage of these opportunities without having a complete understanding of what exactly they were doing. This inevitably led to the crash that sent America and the world into the Great Depression.
In the movie - we see the first stages of the panic that spread throughout the country. People got scared and ran to the bank to take out their life-savings. What they did not understand was that no bank carries all its customers money at the same time. Profits are made off loans (which come from money kept in the bank by customers) with interest rates. This is what George Bailey tries to explain to the people of Bedford Falls, when they come to take their life-savings out of Baileys Building and Loans.
However, not everyone was satisfied with George Bailey's explanation. They much preferred to have hard cash on them, which led some to turn to Mr. Potter (the stereotypical evil character who represents all that is bad), who offered fifty cents for every dollar. This of course allowed Potter to make huge profits out of other peoples loss.
George's institution was unable to match Potter, not only because he believed it was unethical, but also because they were not a big and strong enough institution.
Realizing this, Potter tried numerous times during the course of the movie to shut down the Buildings and Loans or take it over - to no avail. It was his aim to capture a monopolistic market over Bedford Falls that would allow him to charge any rates he wanted and thereby ensure himself a sufficiently large profit. It would also mean the end of a free market in Bedford Falls. A likely byproduct of a monopoly is feudalism, which could have arisen, given half a chance. It was the Bailey bank that always stood in the way of this happening.
The 1920s were known as carefree and relaxed. The decade after the war was one of improvement for many Americans. Industries were still standing in America; they were actually richer and more powerful than before World War I. So what was so different in the 1930’s? The Great Depression replaced those carefree years into ones of turmoil and despair.
The 1920s were a time of leisure and carelessness. The Great War had ended in 1918 and everyone was eager to return to some semblance of normalcy. The end of the war and the horrors and atrocities that it resulted in now faced millions of people. This caused a backlash against traditional values and morals as people began to denounce the complex for a return to simplicity and minimalism. Easily obtainable credit and rapidly rising stock prices prompted many to invest, resulting in big payoffs and newfound wealth for many. However, overproduction and inflated stock prices increased by corrupt industrialists culminated until the inevitable collapse of the stock market in 1929.
In conclusion, John Cheever’s short story, “The Swimmer,” is an all-encompassing piece of fiction that deals with the heavy topic of life and time. Incredibly, Cheever drew inspiration from his own life and mixed specific, personal elements into the work. This tactic proved successful, as it has given “The Swimmer” the capability to portray a bleak, yet accurate depiction of the human condition. Cheever sheds light on the parts of life that most people much rather ignore than face. In essence, Cheever used his abilities intelligently and as a result, gave the literary world the wonderful story that is “The Swimmer.”
The setting of “The Swimmer” is in the suburbs, describing the aquatic adventure of Neddy, an energetic and cheerful father and husband. After attending a cocktail party, he decided that he would swim his entire way home through various swimming pools. Through his adventures, the protagonist makes a great discovery that his marriage life is a great lie. The journey from the cocktail party to his home converts him from a vibrant man to an old impoverished man whose life is in a major crisis. As he arrives at his house, he finds his children and wife have abandoned him. Different settings intertwine to showcase the middle class crisis he was experiencing. In this sense, the setting of the story clearly depicts the ignorance that people have. Neddy for instance has been thinking that he has a happy family, something that even surprises the reader who finds that the protagonist does not come into terms with the new reality of life (Cheever 93).
...eeper hole. The American’s lack of attention during the first crashes of the stock market continuously led to a greater and greater downfall of banks and companies. As a result, the unemployment rate sent thousands of people and families rushing to find jobs opportunities elsewhere. This led to abandonment for many families. The great drought caused even more hardships and also sent my farmers and families searching for jobs. To the nations rescue, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected and provided many alternative solutions for repairing of America. Roosevelt supplied hundreds of thousands with jobs. He also had acts passed that saved banks and found solutions to protecting American jobs. The beginning of World War II marked the ultimate end of the depression. Although this was the start of another great war, it was also the end of a terrible time in history.
Cheever, John. "The Swimmer." The Northon Anthology American Literature. 8th ed. Vol. E. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print.
Many theorists have tried to define play as a concept, however, no two agree on a set definition. Their backgrounds and induvial lifestyles influence the way they see the importance of play. Reed and Brown also believe that there isn’t an agreed definition of play because is something that is felt rather than done (Reed & Brown, 2000 cited in Brock, Dodd’s, Jarvis & Olusoga, 2009). In spite of this, it is clear that most theorists uphold the ethos that play is imperative to a child’s learning and development. There is a wide range of different studies and theories which helps us develop our own perception of what play is. In my personal experience I have found play to be a way of expressive our emotions, exploring and learning new things, thus
“The Swimmer,” a short fiction by John Cheever, presents a theme to the reader about the unavoidable changes of life. The story focuses on the round character by the name of Neddy Merrill who is in extreme denial about the reality of his life. He has lost his youth, wealth, and family yet only at the end of the story does he develop the most by experiencing a glimpse of realization on all that he has indeed lost. In the short story “The Swimmer,” John Cheever uses point of view, setting and symbolism to show the value of true relationships and the moments of life that are taken for granted.
The book, Exploring Your role in Early Childhood Education, defines play as, “any activity that is freely chosen, meaningful, active, enjoyable, and open-ended.”(pg. 140) Play has many positive characteristics such as freedom to explore and create. Suppose when a child enters his/her classroom and has various self-selection activities available, the child can become engaged in something of interest specifically to that individual child. The book also states, “Play is active and is natural process of mentally and actively doing something.”(pg. 140) When children can act out or explore experiences they are having hands on experience and learning by actually doing. Without knowing it, children are practicing body movements as well as mental processing though acting imaginary games out.
Children have a natural inclination to play, alongside a natural instinct to learn and to be curious and inventive, which are characteristics of the human race in general. This quote taken from Janet Moyles is a good starting point for this essay. It is well known that children love to play. If a child were to be left to his/her own devices they would happily play and create new worlds anywhere they were left. It has been well documented and researched that children learn excellently through play. However they are not always given the opportunity to do so, instead being told to, ‘finish your work and then you can go play’. Obviously this is not always the case, but the fact that it is a common practice shows that we do not all fully appreciate the importance of play to children’s learning. This essay will attempt to show how children learn through play, making reference to current theory and practice. I will also give examples from my own first-hand experience of how children learn and develop as people through play.
An Article by Dr. Leong and Dr. Bodrova (2016) stated that play is beneficial to children’s learning especially when it reaches a certain degree of complexity. When they engage in play activities most of their early years, they learn to delay gratification and to prioritize their goals and actions. They also learn to consider the perspectives and needs of other people and to represent things significantly to regulate their behavior and actions in a cautious, intentional way.
Children develop normally when they are exposed to different types of play that allow them to express themselves while using their imaginations and being physically active. According to the Center for Health Education, Training and Nutrition Awareness, “Play is child’s work”; this is true because it is a child’s job to learn and develop in their first few years of life, in order for them to do this, they play. Not only is playing a child’s full time job, the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights listed play as a right of every child. Through their full time job of play, the children develop emotionally, socially, physically, and creatively. Children need to participate in child-led play in order to facilitate healthy development of their minds, body, and creativity.
What is play? Play is defined as engaging in activates for enjoyment & recreation rather than a serious practical purpose. Playing is a disorganized voluntary spontaneous activity, which may include objects, one’s body, symbol usage, and relationships. Play is flexible, individualize, grouped, motivating, self-directed, open-ended, or self-directed. (Smith, 2013) (Saskatchewan Ministry of Education, 2010)
A very wise man; Charles Schaefer, once said “We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything than when we are playing.” To begin with, there is no one explanation about what play really is, other than the fact that it holds infinite numbers of definitions according to every single individual. Play is just not a physical body movement involved in an activity, but more than that if you look outside of the box. For centuries, play has been practiced in its own unique way with not only children, but adults as well.
Before diving into my research, I reflected on the knowledge I already knew regarding play and play based learning. From experience, I know that play is an enjoyable activity for children, and even some adults. I know that there are different ways one can play. For example, playing with others is known as cooperative play and playing alone is considered solitary play. There are different types of play. For example, there is dress up or pretend games, which is considered dramatic, play and there is playing with building blocks which is constructive play. After my reflection I realized that I was more knowledgeable on the action of playing rather then the benefits of it.