Contemporary Rural America Captured in Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Most Americans probably believe our times are different from Washington Irving’s era. After all, almost 200 years have passed, and the differences in technology and civil liberties alone are huge. However, these dissimilarities seem merely surface ones. When reading “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” I find that the world Irving creates in each story is very familiar to the one in which I
following is an excerpt from Black Noise, a book written by Tricia Rose, that describes the importance and background of rap music in society. "Rap music brings together a tangle of some of the most complex social, cultural, and political issues in contemporary American society. Rap's contradictory articulations are not signs of absent intellectual clarity; they are a common feature of community and popular cultural dialogues that always offer more than one cultural, social, or political viewpoint. These
also briefly discuss exactly how much “liberty” contemporary America has politically and the level of racial inequality that continues to exist in this “democratic” country. Before explaining how the US Constitution has contributed to the complexity of slavery, we must first understand the development of the constitution itself. The development of the constitution goes back to when the democratic government was on trial in the early makings America during 1775. The thirteen British colonies then
Lonesome Traveler, Jack Kerouac describes crossing the border between America and Mexico: "It's a great feeling of entering the Pure Land, especially because it's so close to dry faced Arizona and Texas and all over the Southwest B but you can find it, this feeling, this fellaheen feeling about life, that timeless gayety of people not involved in great cultural and civilization issues" (22). Mexico is at once "close to" America and yet distinct from it, a "Pure Land" removed from the fallout of Spengler's
Postmodernism and the Fundamentalist Revival For contemporary Western—particularly American—thought, there have been two prevailing theories, at polar ends of the spectrum. There is the belief that there are absolute ethical forces, and there is the belief that there are no set standards of judgment. Both of these views seem extreme, attacking our sense of modernity and our sense of personal values. Consequently, most people find their place somewhere moderately between the two. As between
is rapidly taking over American society and spreading to the rest of the globe, it is not something unjustly imposed on the American people. The consumerist culture of America has groomed the public to seek efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. These principles grow in importance and value in contemporary America. Even when given the choice to avoid a Mcdonaldized establishment or product, people will flock to it. I agree with Ritzer’s analysis of a Mcdonaldized society, but I feel
Invisible Man is a novel based on the journey and experiences of an unnamed Negro man during contemporary America. He is in search of success, companionship, and himself. Irving Howe says that, "The beginning is a nightmare," because it begins with a black timid boy who is awarded a scholarship and sent to the South and invited to a ballroom with other black boys and they observe and are frightened by a woman dancing nude. The boys who are blindfolded create a "battle royal" or a raucous, but after
change for the better. Teens are usually not prepared for marriage. Marriage comes with many responsibilities; most of which teens are not prepared to handle. “Early marriage, though possessing certain inherent dangers, is widely practiced in contemporary America” (Teenage 1). Even if teens feel they have the potential for a lasting marriage, they should still wait to become married. One of many arguments against this is that if the teens feel they are “destined” to be together and they wait to become
six editions of plays, eight books of essays, and countless more umcollected works (Kellman 487). As the format for her writing varies, so does her subject matter. Her creations cover a wide range of genres, but Oates' main fascination is contemporary America with its "colliding social and economic forces, its philosophical contradictions, its wayward, often violent energies" (Johnson 8). Oates' works, and somethimes even Oates herself, have been subject to responses ranging from extreme praise
The Requiem Scene in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman The death of Willy Loman was remembered by few. He was mourned not because of his tragic death but because of his despairing life. The Requiem scene in Death of a Salesman describes the ill-attended funeral of Willy, the tragic hero who struggled to fulfill his vision of the American Dream. This scene brings closure to the play because the audience realizes that only in death is Willy able to accept the failure and false success that
pull them apart more then together. In Barlows article, he describes how cyberspace has created its own community, or virtual community if you will, by bringing people together with common interests and experiences. Like the community in contemporary America, virtual communities had a place where peoples hearts remained even if they physically moved around the country. The virtual community also provides a feeling of comfort from this large support group-like place where tragedies one may encounter
very difficult topic to approach. To discuss religion, is to walk through a mine field. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and beliefs. In contemporary America, it is popular now turn from established religions or to have no religion at all. It is not difficult to believe how science and technology played a major role in contemporary religion in America by making our society secular. As our ability to attain knowledge through technology broadens, it allows people to analyze their own religion
Shakespeare in Contemporary Movies In the middle of Looking for Richard, Al Pacino's documentary about making Richard III and bringing Shakespeare to the people, there is a moment which illuminates the relationship of scholarship, Shakespeare and popular culture. The director is ranting at Pacino for offering (threatening?) to bring a Shakespearean scholar into the film: You said you were going to find a scholar to speak directly into the camera and explain what really went down and I'm telling
Immigration in America Every single person in the world is different from each other. The way one is or acts are a way to distinguish a person from another, but there is something that can tell us part from others and that is our race. The United States is made up of many races, most being Whites, Black or African, and Hispanic or Latino. Many of these people came as immigrants and some became citizens. Those that didn’t and stayed illegally became a problem in the United States. There was so many
Contemporary American Class Structure Social class is defined as 'people having the same social or economic status' (Wordnet). In contemporary American society, social class is based on the amount of money and property you have and also prestige. Prestige is given to a person through the line of work or the family that they come from. For example, upper-upper class member Jennifer Lopez reeks of prestige not only because she has millions of dollars in her bank account, but she has very expensive
Trends of Contemporary Russian Thought (1) ABSTRACT: This paper focuses on the most recent period in the development of Russian thought (1960s-1990s). Proceeding from the cyclical patterns of Russian intellectual history, I propose to name it 'the third philosophical awakening.' I define the main tendency of this period as 'the struggle of thought against ideocracy.' I then suggest a classification of main trends in Russian thought of this period: (1) Dialectical materialism in its evolution
Dis/located Identities: Swinging and Contemporary Sexual Space A committed relationship without monogamy sounds like a contradiction in terms to those raised in America, or most any country at this point in history. The nature of commitment suggests that it requires a single partner and the promise to remain faithful to that person. Swingers choose a slightly different route and yet it is one that can involve more trust and openness than monogamous relationships offer. Swingers [1] are couples
A Contemporary Performance Issue Commuting is a perfect example of a contemporary performance issue, “traffic congestion can steal valuable time from employees’ personal lives” (Wells par. 1). The typical employee is concerned with the time lost in commuting to work and not spent at home with their family. The family could be spouse, children, pets, parents, siblings etc.…If your everyday lifestyle started with the concern and time wasted just for commuting to and from work, you already started the
A Comparison of Classic And Contemporary Philosophers Why is it so important that young children in our society receive a good education? The answer to that question is very simple; because they are our future. The old saying “the youth of today are the leaders off tomorrow” holds more truth than many people realize. By giving children a good start at an early age we are only helping ourselves as well as the children. A good example of this is can be seen in our society. By the time a teacher in
Identity, Perception, Action and Choice in Contemporary and Traditional "No-Self" Theories ABSTRACT: The ego is traditionally held to be synonymous with individual identity and autonomy, while the mind is widely held to be a necessary basis of cognition and volition, with responsibility following accordingly. However Buddhist epistemology, existential phenomenology and poststructuralism all hold the notion of an independent, subsisting, self-identical subject to be an illusion. This not only raises