Contrasting in tone, style, and content, Grigorij Machtet’s depictions of American rural life in the mid-late 1870’s, “The Prairie and the Pioneers” and “Frey’s Community,” nonetheless share some common themes with Maxim Gorky’s portrait of American urban life in the beginning of the twentieth century, “City of the Yellow Devil.” While similarly disparaging the actions…
Literature
Postmodernism Through Film
It is generally agreed upon that postmodernism has no single or easily-identified definition. It is more of an idea or concept rather than a specific term. As a result it has become easier to define ‘postmodernism’ through examples rather than words. Considering this fact, between class discussions, personal observations and opinion, I have come to…
Nature and Significance of Adam Smith’s: Invisible Hand
“As every individual, therefore, endeavors as much as he can both to employ his capital in the support of domestic industry, and so to the direct that industry that its produce may be of the greatest value; every individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. He…
American Indians in National Parks
Until the late 1990s, there were thousands of books about American Indians, a considerable body of literature on national parks, but almost nothing linking the two. Two monumental works on government Indian policy, Federal Indian Law by Felix Cohen and The Great Father by Francis Prucha, contain one passing reference to national parks between them.…
Mary McCarthy: “The Company She Keeps”
Of all the works of literature read in regard to the social issues of the 1930s, Mary McCarthy’s The Company She Keeps proves the most artistic. Her compilation of short stories calls attention to the conflicts of women in the era with both honesty and grace. McCarthy tackles prevailing issues of marriage, intellectualism, and the…
Family Values: A Learned Lesson
Family Values consist of positive qualities, and negative qualities from which come values. Parents teach values so that their children will live within limits of conscience. Understanding the difference between right and wrong, and living by the Golden Rule is very important in living well in society. Family values are the Golden Rule of society…
The Meaning of “The Names”
Billy Collins was born in 1941 in New York City. He was a Professor at Lehamn College for thirty years. “He is also a writer-in-residence at Sarah Lawrence College and served a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library. (libweb.com) Billy Collins is an American original, a metaphysical poet with a funny bone and…
Epic Proportions: The Odyssey and The Divine Comedy
Upon reading the epics The Odyssey by Homer and The Divine Comedy – Inferno by Dante Alighieri, it is evident how different these two stories are. In The Odyssey, Odysseus is fighting to reach his home, which he did not see for twenty years. The theme for his story is one man’s desire to go…
Survival through Ecofeminism
The struggle to accept and overcome a shattered and profoundly tragic history, along with its subsequent suppression of self-actualization, is wearisome at best, and nearly impossible at worst. The confusion that muddies one’s purpose in living – given that tragedy and pain lurk behind every corner of one’s life – is often numbed through self-destruction, and sometimes suicide. The choice to surmount and triumph over the anguished hardships and injustices that one is dealt – especially in both an historical and an individual context – is one that a few make, and many more do not. The life story of Chickasaw Linda Hogan speaks of suffering, desperation, injustice, and tragedy. However, it also tells of persistance, enlightenment, and triumph. In Hogan’s The Woman Who Watches Over the World: A Native Memoir and The Book of Medicines, a collection of poetry, Hogan applies ecofeminist perspectives to her struggles, in order to better understand them, learn from them, and grow stronger from them. Her identity as a Native with inherent connections to the earth plays a vital role in her own survival and strength of character.
The Crusades by Michael Paine
When doing research on the Muslim leader Saladin, Michael Paine’s book, The Crusades, revealed fascinating details. This narrative depicts the battles of the crusades chronologically from 1099 until 1291. While it was mainly an overview of the Crusades, in clear, bite-sized chapters, Paine successfully traces the history of the Crusades from Pope Urban II’s call to arms in 1095 through the sacking of Constantinople Readers will learn how disease sometimes crippled the Christian forces and in general, how Christian enthusiasm began to wane after the First Crusade. in 1204 to the final fall of Ace in 1291. He does an admirable job in condensing this riveting and often confusing history into just over 130 pages.