American Cultural Values: Whitman and Otsuka
America has been criticized and praised as having one of the most individualistic systems of cultural values in the world, rather than any cohesive system of national ethics. This is partly the result of America's status as a nation of immigrants. However, merely because America is an individualistic nation, and made up of many peoples and ways of life does not mean that the American government and populace has not acted in a racially exclusive and oppressive manner, at times, such as the case of the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
The poet Walt Whitman embodies the individualistic, idealized system of American values in his verse, although he oversaw the tragic consequences of American racism in his own lifetime, in the form of the civil war. When but when Whitman the poet wrote that he sang of himself, he not only celebrated his own individual identity, shorn of any specific references to his lineage or to the religious tradition he comes from, but he celebrated the individualism and plurality of America. Whitman expressed himself in long, winding stretches of free verse that seemed to speak against anything that is of the formulaic European tradition of literature. "Spontaneous me, Nature," he cried. As a poet, he stated, he was one with all that he saw, man and woman,...
Society's Views Of The Aging Populace This is not an undisclosed secret that the contemporary society is obsessed with beauty and perfection. A world in which no one ever gets sick, crops and animals grow faster and better and parents choose the physical features of their children sounds great. This perfect way of life has been made possible due to the advancements in genetic engineering. However, this technological modification has both
Society vs. Individuality in James' The Portrait of a Lady Henry James' novel, The Portrait of a Lady, takes an exclusive look at the conflict between the individual and society. Isabel Archer is a lucky woman because she is afforded the luxury of knowing freedom and independence at a time when women were generally seen and not heard. Because of Isabel's upbringing, she can resist the proposals of men for the sole
However, it is already clear that the music industry had been irrevocably changed as the revenue potential shifts from traditional sources to those corresponding to the way music is typically enjoyed and shared by youthful consumers today (Halbert & Ingulli, 2007). Conclusion Regardless of the many ways that modern technology and societies have changed the way music is produced, in many respects, music still provides many of the same functions as
North American Literature of the 20th Century: A Literature of Alienation North American literature of the twentieth century began as a predominantly white male-dominated literature, on the heels of 19th century romantic literary expression, such as within the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Mark Twain, William Dean Howells, Stephen Crane, and others. Similarly, in the early decades of the 20th century, American literature was dominated by the likes of William
OCTAVIO PAZ "TRANSPLANTED LANGUAGES" Octavio Paz's 1990 Nobel Lecture accentuated the issue of transplanted languages and the literature that emerged in a transplanted culture. Latin-American and Caribbean literature is good example of the use of transplanted languages since the influence of European and American cultures is quite pronounced. When people migrate from one place to another or are forced to endure foreign rule, the impact on the language is usually the
House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton. Specifically, it will look at the theme of success in the novel, and how a success-oriented society can destroy the weak and untrained. THE HOUSE OF MIRTH" Lily Bart begins her tumble into poverty from the very beginning of the book, because she does not conform to society, and she cannot become a success in the world of business, because she does not even understand
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