The Unknown Citizen: W.H. Auden - Summary and Critical Analysis The Unknown Citizen by W.H. Auden is a satiric poem. It describes an average citizen in a government-controlled state. In many big cities, there is a monument to the Unknown Soldier that stands for the thousands of unknown soldiers who die for their country. Wystan Hugh Auden The citizen to whom the monument has been built has been found to be without any fault. He had good health and although he went to the hospital once, he came out quite cured. The Unknown Citizen is a typical Auden’s poem in that it shows the poet’s profound concern for the modern world and its problems. In the phrase ‘The Unknown’ the word ‘unknown’ means ordinary, obscure. At the end of the poem the poet asks two questions.
The Unknown Citizen Study Guide During the 1920s and 30s, many American writers left the states to become expatriates overseas, particularly in Europe. Ernest Hemingway, T. S. Eliot, and F. As a poet, Auden is a chameleon capable of writing in many different forms and styles. The poem is written in the voice of a fictional government bureaucrat – someone who sits at a desk and shuffles papers all day – whose decisions affect the lives of people he has never met. "The Unknown Citizen" is a great poem to read in an election year. Why? The person Auden calls "The Unknown Citizen" is a composite of information from every poll and survey that politicians use to figure out what the people called "swing voters" are really like. With his completely inoffensive background, we think the Unknown Citizen would do well running for office himself.
Satire - Examples and Definition of Satire Satire Definition Satire is a technique employed by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society by using humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule. It intends to improve humanity by criticizing its follies and foibles. A writer may point a satire toward a person, a country or even the entire world. Satire and Irony Satire and irony are interlinked. Examples of Satire in Everyday Life Most political cartoons which we witness every day in newspapers and magazines are examples of satire. Some shows on television are satire examples like The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and The Larry Sanders Show. Let us see a sample of Stephen Colbert’s social satire: “If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn’t help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we’ve got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don’t want to do it.” Example #1
The Migrant Experience A complex set of interacting forces both economic and ecological brought the migrant workers documented in this ethnographic collection to California. Following World War I, a recession led to a drop in the market price of farm crops and caused Great Plains farmers to increase their productivity through mechanization and the cultivation of more land. This increase in farming activity required an increase in spending that caused many farmers to become financially overextended. At the same time, the increase in farming activity placed greater strain on the land. Although the Dust Bowl included many Great Plains states, the migrants were generically known as "Okies," referring to the approximately 20 percent who were from Oklahoma. California was emphatically not the promised land of the migrants' dreams. Arrival in California did not put an end to the migrants' travels. Robin A. Voices from the Dust Bowl
More's Utopia (wiki) Utopia (in full: De optimo reip. statv, deque noua insula Vtopia, libellus uere aureus, nec minus salutaris quam festiuus ) is a work of fiction and political philosophy by Thomas More published in 1516. English translations of the title include A Truly Golden Little Book, No Less Beneficial Than Entertaining, of the Best State of a Republic, and of the New Island Utopia (literal) and A Fruitful and Pleasant Work of the Best State of a Public Weal , and of the New Isle Called Utopia (traditional). [ 1 ] (See " title " below.) The book, written in Latin , is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious , social and political customs. [ edit ] Title The title De optimo rei publicae statu deque nova insula Utopia literally translates, "Of a republic's best state and of the new island Utopia". One interpretation holds that this suggests that while Utopia might be some sort of perfected society, it is ultimately unreachable (see below). [ edit ] Plot
Arthur Miller, "Are You Now Or Were You Ever?" McCarthyism U.S. anti-Communist literature of the 1950s, specifically addressing the entertainment industry During the McCarthy era, thousands of Americans were accused of being communists or communist sympathizers and became the subject of aggressive investigations and questioning before government or private-industry panels, committees and agencies. The primary targets of such suspicions were government employees, those in the entertainment industry, educators and union activists. Suspicions were often given credence despite inconclusive or questionable evidence, and the level of threat posed by a person's real or supposed leftist associations or beliefs was often greatly exaggerated. Some conservatives regard the term as inappropriate and deprecate what they say are myths created about McCarthy.[6][7][8][9] Origins[edit] The historical period that came to be known as the McCarthy era began well before Joseph McCarthy's own involvement in it. Institutions[edit] Executive Branch[edit] J.
Decoding the Salem Witch trials, Part 1 | US History Scene The witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony, in 1692 represent the most famous Puritan moment in American history; it is the one thing most people think of when they think of the New England Puritans. Usually, it is seen as a shocking and indisputable indictment of the Puritans’ intolerance and ignorance, and even sexism. To get at the truth of what happened in Salem and to understand why it happened, we have to get a little background on Puritan ideas about witchcraft. Then we’ll set the scene for events in Salem, taking into account the political and religious strife occurring in that venerable town in the late 1600s. Remember, Salem is actually an anomaly in the history of the New England Puritans. It generated remarkably little comment in New England at the time. Puritans and Witches In most scholarly and popular accounts, Puritans believed in witches, witchcraft, the devil, and the active presence of a spirit world in their daily life. Why Salem?
Charles Dickens Charles Dickens (1812-1870), English Victorian era author wrote numerous highly acclaimed novels including his most autobiographical David Copperfield (1848-1850); “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show. To begin my life with the beginning of my life, I record that I was born (as I have been informed and believe) on a Friday, at twelve o'clock at night. It was remarked that the clock began to strike, and I began to cry, simultaneously.” As a prolific 19th Century author of short stories, plays, novellas, novels, fiction and non, during his lifetime Dickens became known the world over for his remarkable characters, his mastery of prose in the telling of their lives, and his depictions of the social classes, mores and values of his times. Some considered him the spokesman for the poor, for he definitely brought much awareness to their plight, the downtrodden and the have-nots.
Définition Dystopie - La Cité de l'ombre La dystopie est en quelque sorte l’inverse de l’utopie en littérature et au cinéma. En effet, elle est parfois nommée contre-utopie ou anti-utopie; aucun terme ne fait réellement consensus et dépendamment des situations, l’un sera préféré aux autres dans certains milieux. Quoi qu’il en soit, la dystopie se définit comme la représentation d’un monde sombre – souvent temporellement situé dans un avenir lointain – où les libertés individuelles sont fréquemment bafouées et ou généralement l’autorité d’un régime dictatorial ne doit jamais être remise en question. Cependant, le sens du terme dystopie est large et il n’existe pas réellement de définition qui fasse consensus. Très souvent, une volonté de dénoncer une tare sociopolitique ou d’exprimer une crainte face au tournant que prends le monde est sous-jacente à la création d’une œuvre présentant une dystopie.
The Help | Peter Viney's Blog Written & Directed by Tate Taylor From the novel by Kathryn Stockett L to R: Aibileen, Minny, Skeeter, Hilly Emma Stone … SkeeterViola Davis … Aibileen Octavia Spencer … Minny Bryce Dallas Howard … HillyJessica Chastain – Celia Our small town cinema had queues outside, was virtually full on a cold Monday (400 +), the audience was 80-90% female, and it got loud clapping over the credits … very rare in Britain. Aibileen (Viola Davis) The story and film’s centre is segregation in early 60s Mississippi from the female viewpoint. Segregation is hard to understand from a distance. Skeeter (Emma Stone) Kathryn Stockett’s Afterword to the novel goes to the dichotomy at the core of the story: that white children were raised by black maids, and there was deep love felt in both directions, but then those kids grew up and regarded black people as both inferior and repugnant. What the film makes clear is the love was two-way. Celia (Jessica Chastain) and Minny Minny (Octavia Spencer) Music Like this:
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck Set during the Great Depression of the 1930s, John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath tells the story of the Joads, a family of tenant farmers driven from their Oklahoma home by the Dust Bowl and related financial hardship. Along with thousands of other "Okies," they migrate along Route 66 to California in search of jobs and opportunities. The novel explores themes of poverty, discrimination, social justice, and sacrifice. Published in 1939, it provided social commentary on the experience of real migrants struggling to survive in the historical moment in which it was written. As part of his research, Steinbeck relied heavily on records from Tom Collins, director of Arvin Camp in California, photographs taken by Dorothea Lange, and interviews conducted by Sanora Babb, as well as his own journalistic writings on the migration. The Grapes of Wrath won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and is considered an American classic.
The Awakening, by Kate Chopin