Final Essay

Over the last fifty years, the place people call home has shifted in drastic ways. Whether this is due to the lack of a good economy, or the use of American troops in war, home isn't always the same when the years change. The dictionary defines home as, "the social unit formed by a family living together." Even if the environment changes around the American people, home still has a basic rule; "home is where the heart is."

Throughout the 1950's women were able to vote and join the work force. Women were able to establish their own identities, and getting the chance to live their lives to the fullest. For many families this meant, mother and father were going off to work in the mornings and wouldn't be home till much later. During this time era, there were less stay at home moms and a larger group of working mothers. This created the home to be empty at many times during the day. Children would then come home to empty houses. If home is where the heart is, then the heart of mother's in this generation were in the work force. There is nothing wrong with this new passion in American mothers. This just shows a new stage of American females. With this new opportunity to join the work force, many women did. It was an opportunity they hadn't yet experienced.

In the book, "The Stepford Wives," women were controlled by higher sources to work as stay at home mothers. This called for cleaning the kitchen, yard work, and various places around the house. With women in the 1950's being able to participate in the work force along side men, this book demonstrated a town polar opposite to that of America's new generation; where women belonged in the kitchen. One scenario in "The Stepford Wives," reads as follows, "Dear Good! 'And you stay home every night and do housework?' 'There's always something or other that has to be done.' Carol said. 'You know how it is. I have to finish the kitchen now. Good night.' In this story, home is shown by women establishing a solid and safe home while the husbands and children go about their daily lives; returning home where they find a place of stability.

In the late 1950's and early 1960's, the television was created. The television allowed families to come together around dinner time and partake in sitcoms. This new form of entertainment brought families away from their busy schedules and into their homes for quality time with each other. Despite mother working as a stay at home mom and holding down a part time job, father working to bring in the most money for the family, and the children growing up and learning new things in school; the television brought all of these lives together in a fun enjoyable way. Home in this time era was presented as quality time spent with one another.

With threats of an atomic bomb being set off on American land and communism in the early 1960's, home also had a new feel. Home could be defined in this generation as a place of safety. Many citizens were terrified of the Soviet Union setting there atomic bomb off. Many children learned in school what to do if the atomic bomb were to be set off. The students learned forms of safety precautions and adults had to tell their children everything would be alright. Where ever families found safety, whether that be in eachother's words, or any other form, this was what defined home.

For African Americans in the late 1960's, the didn't have a strong place to call home. In fact, they felt violated. They were not considered to other Americans of the white race. African Americans and white Americans were separated in anything and everything, whether is be school, cafeteria, or the bus. African Americans fought for their rights, they had many leaders to help them, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks and the unforgettable Martin Luther Kind Jr. Even so, they had no place to call home, in fact, they were looking for one.

During the late 1960's, the Vietnam war occurred. Many American men went off to fight in this war. This left the homes filled with mothers, women, girls, and children. While many men were off in the Vietnam War, they longed to be back home, holding their children and wives again. This is where their hearts were, back in America. However, back home, many women and children had a vacant spot at the dinner table and their hearts were not resting well at night. They longed for their loved ones to return, until they did, they found home in one another's sadness and longing.

Today, people find home in many different places. Teenagers can find their homes within time with their friends, adults can find their homes in the lives of their children, and children can maybe find their homes in the backyard finding a new buried treasure. Today there are many more places one can call home, our nation is much more advanced now and there are many races represented in America that will each find their place of comfort in a different way; a place of safety. Wherever you one goes about finding this place of home, we together make up the American population, all of us with different backgrounds and comforts. For home is "where the heart is."

Weekly Reflection

This past week of school consisted of Ben's teaching, Craig was still out of town. In history we discussed the civil rights movement in the 1950's. One thing that stood out to me was comparing Martin Luther King Jr to Malcolm X. I think I was one of the only people to prefer Malcolm X over MLK Jr. Don't get me wrong, I did like that MLK Jr brought out that white and colored people should be treated equal, however, I liked how Malcolm X displayed his feelings more. Malcolm X was blunt and wouldn't take anything from anyone. He explained how he actually felt toward the white people and stood up for himself describing exactly what he wanted. I just enjoyed this more than the kind words of MLK Jr.

Film, Women, and Identity

Throughout the 1950's, the norm for American women was changing drastically. Women were gaining the right to participate in politics, joining the work force, and the public was beginning to view men as their equals. In reaction to this new change in trends, many women had a hard time figuring out their own personal identity. As a result, some women began to struggle with defining who they were. Meanwhile women in this time era were searching for a good man to spend their lives with, like they had in all the years before. However, in the 1950's women had a harder time finding such a man to commit to. This was because women weren't sure what kind of women men were interested in now that the norm was changing. Men could be interested in the traditional woman or the more modern rebellious type. Women reacted to this in a confused way, they were searching for their identities in all the wrong places, and at the same time, struggling to display the type of woman attractive to a good man. These struggles have been displayed in many films made during this time era. Three excellent films that display this struggle appropriately are 'Splendor in the Grass,' 'Rear Window,' and 'Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman.' All of the leading women in these films struggle with self identity.

In the first film, 'Splendor in the Grass,' Deanie is the lead women. This film is made up of sexual tensions between teenagers during the 1950's. Before the 1950's families and couples had viewed the action of sex as one only used for marital purposes. However, many teens had begun to experiment with premarital sex during this time with individuals they knew they were going to eventually marry. Many opinions of American teenagers were on the border line about the act of premarital sex. They grew up knowing it was just for married couples, but now that the norm was changing there was a lot of thoughts floating around from couple to couple. In this film, Deanie takes the side of the older traditions, waiting until the married life to have any sort of sexual actions. Yet, she still struggles because she does want to conform to the other side and live life in a different light at times. She hopped from side to side because she did not have any sense of who she was, in fact, she placed her identity in her boyfriend Bud. Whenever he said something, she would rethink it if it didn't match her opinion, because she used him to help make up her own self identity. Due to her boyfriend Bud not taking the traditional side, and Deanie having mixed feelings, he had sex with another woman. Deanie became overwhelmed with emotions. She was not stable enough in her identity to make it through this situation. Deanie shows that she does not know what her identity is by showing her struggle in how she views her own morals. Deanie struggles with settling an opinion on the act of premarital sex and therefore cannot stand firm in one opinion. If Deanie were to have decided on one side, she would have had an easier time coping with such a situation as Bud leaving her. However, Deanie was indecisive which allowed her emotions to overtake her and her lack of self identity. She was confused and therefore was unable to be confident and certain on her views when Bud pushed her in ways she was uncertain of.

In another 1950's film, 'Rear Window,' the leading male, Jeff, has a broken leg and has nothing else to pass the time by with except observing his neighbors and how they go about their daily routines. In this film the leading lady, Lisa, also struggles with her identity; like that of Deanie in 'Splendor in the Grass,'and many of the American women in the 1950's. In the beginning of this film, Lisa wants everything in the relationship she has with Jeff to be her way, and at the same time Jeff wants it all his way. Jeff finds Lisa boring, she isn't adventurous or rebellious like the type of women the new norm is creating. This shows that Jeff is the type of man in this time era who wants a new type of woman. Lisa is a traditional, rich, and 'perfect' woman. Jeff does not want her at first, however, as the film goes on Jeff starts to bring to Lisa's attention that his neighbor is acting strange. Once Lisa begins to get involved in this secret mission she becomes more extreme, and turns into the woman Jeff wants to be with. Lisa didn't have much of a self identity and was constantly trying to get Jeff to fall in love with her. However, both of them knew her ways weren't working. Lisa not having any self identity ended up conforming to Jeff's standards and became the woman he wanted all along. In the end, Jeff and Lisa are both together, but they didn't change for each other. Lisa, and her lack of self identity, met Jeff where he wanted to be met.

In the last film example, 'Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman," the leading lady, Nancy, is married to a man by the name of Harry. Harry is not satisfied with Nancy and is longing for a more scandalous woman. Also known as a woman that applies to the new norm. Nancy displays that she does not have a sense of self identity and therefore gets outraged when Harry is with another woman, Honey. Matters only get worse as Nancy is put on medicine to help her 'insanity.' The medicine Nancy is given goes wrong and creates her to gain massive height and weight; she then becomes the fifty foot woman. While in this form Nancy is still set in her mind to find her husband Harry, and seems to care more about finding his location than in helping herself shrink back to normal size. This act preformed by Nancy shows that she has no self identity, she runs to the only comfort she has; Harry. Nancy never spent time deciding what kind of woman she was and how she compared to Harry's taste in women. Instead, Nancy did not know who she was and spent time trying to please Harry, hoping that she would discover who she was. Like that of Deanie in 'Splendor in the grass,' Nancy looks toward her husband for identity. Due to Harry's dissatisfaction in Nancy, Nancy ends up letting these emotions get to her head and kills Honey, the other woman. If that's not enough she ends up killing Harry and herself as well. If Nancy would have established her own identity outside of Harry she would have been able to handle this stressful situation in a healthier matter.

The 1950's brought new norms for women. Women were able to experiment with who they wanted to be. Some women chose to become the rebellious type, scandalous, safe or traditional. These new norms and types of women brought on lack of self identity. This then resulted in women depending on men for their comfort and self worth. All people need to have their own identity to get by. Otherwise, the world has issues like that of the women in the 1950's.

Essay #3 Draft

The norm of America women during the 1950's was changing drastically. Women were gaining their right to participate in politics, joining the work force, and beginning to be viewed equally to American males. In reaction to this new change, many women had a hard time figuring out who they were and what they wanted to be in this new stage of American life. This resulted in women struggling to define themselves, women in the 1950's longed to find a good man to spend their lives with like they had in all the years before. However, in the 1950's women had a harder time finding that man of their dreams. Women weren't sure what kind of women men were interested in now that the norm was changing. Men could be interested in the traditional woman or the more modern rebellious type. These struggles are displayed in many films made during this time era. Three good films that display this struggle appropriately are 'Splendor in the Grass,' 'Rear Window,' and 'Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman.' All of the women in these films struggle with identity. This is due to the lack of a solid norm in the woman's role during 1950's America.

In the first film, 'Splendor in the Grass,' the lead women is Deanie. This film is made up of sexual tensions between teenagers during the 1950's. Before the 1950's families and couples had viewed the action of sex as one only used for marital purposes. However, many teens had begun to experiment with premarital sex during this time with others that they knew they were going to marry eventually. Many teenagers were on the border line about premarital sex. They grew up knowing it was just for married couples, but now that the norm was changing there was a lot of thoughts floating around from couples to couples. In this film, Deanie takes the side of the older traditions, waiting until the married life to have any sort of sexual actions. However, due to Bud not taking the same side, he has sex with another woman. Deanie is now overwhelmed with emotions. She was not stable in her identity and she did not for sure which type of woman she wanted to be. She was confused and therefore was unable to be confident and certain on her views when her boyfriend Bud pushed her in ways she was uncertain of.

In another film, 'Rear Window,' the main character, played by Jimmy Stewart, has a broken leg and has nothing else to pass the time by with except observing his neighbors and how they go about their daily routines. In this film the leading lady, Lisa, struggles with her identity as well.

Weekly Reflection

Craig wasn't in class this past week and therefore Ben proceeded to help with the class discussions in place of him. We watched three films this past week in class. I enjoyed the last two, I was not in class the day of the first film. The film I got the most from was 'Rear Window.' I enjoyed this film due to the amount of woman's lead roles. Throughout the entire film, the actor Jimmy Stewart is contained to a wheel chair and therefore has his girlfriend doing all the hard work. This work consisted of going over to the suspect's apartment and taking a couple risky chances. I thought this was a good display for woman during this time era.

Weekly Review and Reflection

This week we discussed, "The Lottery," during my class discussion. This was by far my favorite reading out of all the pieces we have discussed. I liked that this tradition would be considered strange in our society, but in this society the tradition is planned and normal. I am looking forward to reading, "We have always lived in the castle," the same author of "The Lottery," wrote this book.

Reflection of the Week

We watched a video in Ben's class called, "The War." In this video there is actual video footage of what occurred during WWII. I have always heard stories through teachers, family, and friends about the events that occurred in the war, both at home and out in battle. However, I have never seen anything myself. To tell you the truth, watching videos in school has trained my brain to not pay attention. However, with this video I found a great deal of interest in what was being displayed before me. When the topic of Jews in camps came up, I'd never seen, or known, how many people were put into bunks and rooms in these camps. It terrified me to see how starved and hurt these Jews had become.

In literature this past week we read a few plays. I really enjoyed. "The Children's Hour." At first, I wasn't too sure how I felt about this play. But after reading it and watching the film in class I found it can be viewed as an important piece for history. Not being straight was viewed upon as awful, and sinful, during this time ear that the play was set in. I never knew how much of an impact this had on people.

My History Video

When making this video, I used video footage to bracket the pictures. I thought this would set up good structure. Both of the video clips I chose were used for specific reasons. The first video described how hard the great depression was on the citizens of America. Along with these facts it stated that the president (Hoover at the time), wasn't doing much to fix the situation at hand. After this video I played a portion of pictures that represent the struggle of the American citizens that the president was ignoring. While showing these pictures I used the song, "Save me," by The Rocket Summer. This song's lyrics for the part of this song I used are as follows,

"I'm stuck and alone in the traffic lines,
While couples in love in the H-O-V fly by,
I don't get it,
I'm not asking for much,
But everybody wants to just have something.

So I'll be picking me up,
Breaking me down,
I was lost, was i found?
I want to feel everything.
When everything feels wrong with me.
Take a look,
And brace myself,
Everybody wants to make it count.

Save me,
Because I can never float
Sinking.
Amaze me,
And I would be there holding on for life.

Sitting again,
Sitting inside this drab apartment,
The walls are blank,
Its like they're talking to me.
I put a picture on the wall.
I took a chance, I took a fall.
She took off fast and gracefully.
Yes I was blind and now I see."

I felt that these lyrics best described the situation of the American Citizens in the great depression. They wanted help. After these pictures are displayed, I play another short video clip. This clip is of the new president, Roosevelt. He is stating that since he as become president there is more work being done for the American people. This work helped them gain back money, jobs, and peace. I felt this clip was good to use at the end of my video because it can be compared to the first video clip. The first one described how Hoover handled the situation and the second clip shows what happened one another president took over, how Roosevelt handled the situation. At the end of the second clip with Roosevelt, he states "it isn't over." This I felt was a good ending because it leaves the situation open, there was need for more change. This can also be compared to today's economic situation. We still need help.

Today's reflection

Today in class we worked on our videos that we are making in lack of Ben's presence. I really wanted to make my own sort of video blog but finding out that I can't made me change my idea for this video. I am going to be using mostly old video and audio clips from the great depression. I won't be using as many pictures because I realize everyone else in the class will basically making a slide show of pictures with music. So far the pictures I enjoy are found online (http://www.english.illinois.edu/MAPS/depression/photoessay.htm)(http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/lange/index.html). I also found some interesting video footage on youtube. One picture I found the most interesting was the following.

Remembrance

Remembrance, "an act of recalling to mind; a memory of a person, thing, or event." All people remember different milestones in their lives. These can vary from birthdays, dinners, new encounters, or classes they take in school. No matter what the event may be, all individuals have their own ways of remembering these times.

In the years of 1918 to 1920, the first World War was occurring. With the act of participating in war, led to a result in many of our soldiers dying. The families of now dead soldiers wanted to have unique graves for their loved ones. This would be an ac of remembrance. Year after year these families could come visit their passed away soldiers and be able to recollect memories of him or her. However, the American government wanted their to be a solid unity for all the American people and therefore thought the best way to handle the dead soldiers was to create all the grave stones exactly the same. There would be no special head stones, instead there would be basic plaques at each head stone saying the name of the soldier. The government thought that this symmetrical grave set up would bring back unity and equality for the American public. Instead the American citizens became angry that they couldn't honor their dead in a personal way.

Today, people feel the same way about the remembrance of their loved ones. Families still feel the need to create a unique gravestone for their dead relatives. Other then graves, people have posting online postings that recall lives of the dead. One major site that is well known for these postings is "My Death Space." On this site people can post links to myspace pages of individuals who have passed away. Along with this people can post their feelings on the individuals and pay their respects. This is a modern day way of remembrance, instead of that of the ways to remember in the 1920's.

I find that the modern day and 1920's ways of remembrance both portray literature. This is because grave stones and memorials express a story. Whether you're looking at a name on a grave stone or a comment on a myspace page their is a memory and story behind it. A great example of this is the 'Unknown Soldier.' The unknown solider was a member of the military in World War I that stood for all the soldiers who had passed away that could not be identified. This unknown soldier is the best example of remembrance in literature. Many families could identify with this body and many stories were portrayed through this man. Literature, as mentioned before, is a way to express an story or events. This has occurred through the years with the event of death in loved ones.

Overall, remembrance is a natural act that happens over time and will never stop occurring. Remembrance can be compared to history, and literature. One way to look at remembrance is in the loss of a family member or loved one. There are many different ways to remember. Through gravestones, internet postings, and through individual's stories to one another to keep the memory alive and well. How do you remember?

1. Webster Dictionary. 2009. [online] (http://www.merriam-webster.com/)
2. My Death Space. [online] (http://mydeathspace.com/)

Review of Week Three

Within this week we, as a class, learned more about the view of women in the early stages of them earning rights. This knowledge was gained mostly through the literature readings. We read pieces on the "flapper era," which described a new view of women. The flappers brought out a new group of women creating a total of three groups. During a class discussion I helped lead, "Was there a sexual revolution in the 1920's?" allowed everyone to see and understand these three groups of women. The groups consisting of the traditional woman, the flapper, and the suffragist. I found it interesting that each woman was classified, even not caring about these woman's issues classified you.

Review on Week #2

Being in the second week of class, we have started deeper readings. We started our reading in "The Sun Also Rises," I found this book to be different then other books I've read. I enjoy the style of writing that Ernest Hemingway produces. In this book, the character Brett displays the different kind of out of the box women that come up out of this time era. These kind of women are ones that don't conform to the norm, such as stay at home moms and conservative, careful women. Along with this book, there are other readings that display the way women have reacted and stood out, going against the standard. Another example of this is in class this week we read, "Herland." This piece of work explains the life of a society filled with just women. I enjoyed this reading the most, it showed how life would be like if women had the primary role, unlike how men have this role today.

Week #1 review

This first week of school has been different than what I had expected. Knowing that I was going to be taking a literature and history class made me think I would be bored every time class began. However, I'm shocked, and pleased, to discover that I actually look forward to class. I am super excited to read the books Craig has picked out for us, they look really interesting. I got all my books in the mail and started to read a couple, but I didn't want to spoil anything so I put them down. For history, I am really finding the time era we're studying very interesting. I am actually learning things too, that's a first. In school, I usually pull out the whole "pretend to know this stuff so you can pass the tests" mind set. But not now, I am legitimately learning things that I like. I'm looking forward to learning more about our country's past, reading novels, and any other information I pick up in the weeks to come.

Importance and Need of American Literature

“Importance and Need of American Literature”

American literature is defined as, “imaginative or creative writing, especially of recognized artistic value; the body of written works of a language, period, or culture.”1 American Literature grows and changes form throughout the years, whether this is the material used, or the way it is discussed. However, the importance of this study has never changed.

One major importance of the study of American Literature is that these pieces display ideas, communities, and morals. This is useful when relating to other people; American literature shows us where different norms and actions come from. For example, by reading a piece about Buddhism we can see this belief reflected in the writing and understand more about this culture. In an article I read, it stated, “Literature is diverse in its portraits of life and its claims about the world. Why take the time to read it then? Because humanity is valuable.”2 This settled in my mind, I asked myself how I know what other cultures are like. I thought about all the stories people have told me about different cultures, and different things I might have seen on television. However, I realized the only actual proper demonstration of culture, beliefs, and people is in literature. There is no better reflection of these traits then in literature.

Along with seeing and processing other cultures, this helps us discover the differences between our own culture and that of others. This can help us see why our culture may be distant from that of another. We can then take these distances and find ways to get closer to that other culture. For example, if many years ago when it was acceptable to have slaves, we read a piece of literature reflecting the life of a slave. This would help us fix the relationship we have between the slaves and slave owners. This would help us better relate the two and help both become a little happier. Not just one person ruling over the other.

American literature alone can help us know ourselves. I know growing up I haven’t learned too much about America’s past through reading. I used to learn about these events through a school teacher, lecture, or movie. However, American literature can display direct facts about our Nation’s past more than any teacher could ever display. It has been proven that by reading a piece of information it will settle longer in your brain than if you were to hear it verbally. Along with this, information can get distorted when passed from person to person verbally. When one person shares a story it can get over exaggerated, and twisted when told by the next person, and so on and so forth. However, if something is written and read the facts cannot change. This will then lead to accurate information. Not distorted and different than the original.

Some of the oldest literature found is in the early stages of America. One example of this is, “Arthur Barlow, The First Voyage Made to the Coasts of America,” this was written in 1589. This piece demonstrates how America was in its first years. We can learn about our past by reading this. This literature was written in the action and is a direct person. We can gain a better perspective of who we are and what makes up the people here.3

1. "Literature." Answers. 2009. 30 Mar 2009 .
2. Cowan, Louise. "Why Study American Literature." Invitation to the Classics 1998 30 Mar 2009 .
3. Campbell, D. "Brief Timeline of American Literature." 2007 30 Mar 2009 .