Harold E. Stearns’ Critique of American Culture in the Book, Civilization in the United States
Harold E. Stearns and his colleagues set out on a mission to enlighten and inform the American society of the 1920’s in their book entitled Civilization in the United States. Thirty-three authors with the aid of an editor, Stearns, instead produced a highly controversial and inadequate account of certain aspects of life in American society. According to critic Arthur Schlesinger the writers of Civilization in the United States fell short of their goal of producing a critical depiction of American society and instead wrote "supercilious reflections" (167).
There are three main themes presented in each essay included in Civilization. They are as follows:
Americans are hypocritical, American civilization is not Anglo-Saxon nor nationalistic, and finally American social life lacks emotion. Stearns chose his writers very carefully. He wanted each of them to be blunt and straight to the point in their essays, especially when writing on these three themes. In his preface, Stearns himself states:
"If these main contentions seem severe or pessimistic, the answer must be: we do not write to please; we strive only to understand and to state as clearly as we can" (vii). It is obvious that Harold Stearns wanted to voice his ideas and those of his counterparts in an open, bold fashion and that is why each essay touches on the main themes mentioned above.
Critic Arthur Schlesinger, however mentions in his critique of Civilization that if there are any common themes in these essays at all, that they certainly are not the ones Harold Stearns mentions. Rather, Schlesinger hints that the theme is that Americans are "cocksure but bewildered children in a world [they] cannot understand" which is new and constantly changing (168). He feels that overall, each author wrote his or her own opinion and didn't follow a common theme in the true sense of the word. It is apparent to me that the critic has a valid point and his opinion coincides with my own opinion. Stearns may have had a common theme in mind when he organized the writing of Civilization, but it seems as if the authors went a bit off track.
Some of the topics discussed in Civilization in the United States were "The Intellectual Life," "The City," "Economic Opinion," "History," "Business," "Engineering," "Politics," "Journalism," and "Philosophy" to name a few. As critic Arthur Schlesinger notes in his review of the book, the topics and authors included in this account of
George Browm Tindall, David Emory Shi. American History: 5th Brief edition, W. W. Norton & Company; November 1999
Tindall, George, and David Shi. America: A Narrative History. Ed. 9, Vol. 1. New York: WW. Norton & Company, 2013. 185,193. Print.
Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the greatest American novels ever written. The story is about Huck, a young boy who is coming of age and is escaping from his drunken father. Along the way he stumbles across Miss Watson's slave, Jim, who has run away because he overhead that he would be sold. Throughout the story, Huck is faced with the moral dilemma of whether or not to turn Jim in. Mark Twain has purposely placed these two polar opposites together in order to make a satire of the society's institution of slavery. Along the journey, Twain implies his values through Huck on slavery, the two-facedness of society, and represents ideas with the Mississippi River.
A number of historians and social critics have attempted to describe the American society and its culture of the 1920’s. Underneath the façade of richness, glamour and content, it contained hypocrisy, shallowness and debauchery. Historians commonly refer to the twenties as the lost generation. Harold E. Stearns’, Civilization in the United States faced a lot of criticism from intellectuals after it ruthlessly and negatively assessed the American society during the 1920’s. Although there is a common understanding among most intellectuals that the culture incorporated a lot of debauchery and corruption, critics of the 1920’s and later decades, such as the 60’s and 80’s have shown disapproval of Stearns’ overly negative assessment. Others, on the other hand, have criticized Stearns and the other authors for being too confident in the future of the American society.
Tindall, George B., and David E. Shi. America: A Narrative History. 7th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 2007.
Tindall, George B., and David E. Shi. America: A Narrative History. 9thth ed. Vol. 1. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2013. N. pag. Print.
In 1455 Joan’s family asked for another trial to reconsider Joan’s charges and a year later she was announced innocent (Schmalz). In 1920, Joan was canonized as a saint (“Joan of Arc”). Joan’s many contributions have made a huge impact on our history. It is impossible to know what the western world would be like today without Joan’s immense influence during the Hundred Years’ War. Even though she was a woman and acted in a different position than tradition dictated, Joan of Arc impacted the Hundred Years’ War immensely, influencing significant strategic wins more than any other warrior, and turning the tide of the war from an English victory to a French triumph.
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Overall the book was high-quality book written by a seventeen year old to express the stupidity of gangs and social classes. Hinton may not have been the best writer because of her young age but she revolutionized the way book were wrote after The Outsiders. Hinton was effective in getting her points across through her characters, the plot, and the themes of the story.
Robert Gonzales, from Bakersfield, seemed like an average, ordinary man. One night however, he was accused of splashing beach on a small dog, and wrapping the dog’s mouth with duct tape. His goal was to discipline the dog. Gonzales was caught and arrested for abusing the animal. Animal abuse is an occurring problem in the U.S. But can be prevented if we take action.
Divine, Robert A. America past and Present. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education/Longman, 2013. 245. Print.
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The Young Reader's Companion to American History. Ed. John A. Garraty. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994. 384+. Print.