Cold War American Lit - Test 1

Party Line

“Tow/Follow the party line” – you believe what the communist party tells you to believe, doing/believing what the leaders tell you. It originally appeared in 1828 before the communists (according to the Oxford English Dictionary)

Red

communist if you don’t like communists

Socialism

a way of organizing society in which society comes before the individual

In contrast, in America individual liberty is the most powerful value that our society is organized to protect

Redistirbution

taking from the rich and giving to the poor     

If everyone on board with socialism, there would be no problem

Communism

a type of socialism

New Deal

depression area programs under Roosevelt that created many of the things of American life, like social security, dams giving electricity to rural Americans, and how electricity is going to give heating and cooling to rural American too.

Voting Right act, Section V

Required states with a history of interfering with black peoples access to voting to pre clear changes in voting with the justice department

Encacted August 6 1965

Suspended 2015

Executive Order 11246

Required businesses receiving federal contracts not ot discriminate on the basis of race in employment policies, and to act affirmatively to include racital minorities

Signed September 24, 1965

Rescinded Twenty Days ago

Give a overview of the Cold War. What was it? What is the historical timeline?

A.     Principally about the conflict between the USA and the USSR (Union of Soviet … Republics) – often the US would refer to it as Russia

B.     Soviet Union was worldwide exporter and center of communism

C.     Great deal of alarm since 1917 following the Soviet Union’s creation

D.     1920s – Red Scare

E.      1930s- High water mark of Socialism

F.      In WWII the Soviet Union (by the end) were on the US side (we were allies) and were key in defeating Hitler. However, at first Hitler and Stalin (leader of USSR) had a pact to leave each other alone, and amazingly Hitler did not keep it so the USSR went to the US side.

a.      However, Hitler had made part of his career by being an anticommunist – so some Americans were like this guy is pretty good he is protecting the world from communism.

During the Cold War - What was left and right wing?

Right wing was for small government, and Left wing for big government

Left & Right Wing: Was the new deal expansion of governments scope good?

a.      Right-wing: No

b.      Left-wing: Yes

Today: Nevertheless, everyone agrees Social Security cannot be eliminated

But, there are certain things that a right-wing want to get right of “take your government hands off my medicare!”

Left & Right Wing: Does government solve some of our problems, or is government our problem

   Right-wing: “Government is our problem

  Left-Wing: government can solve some problems

Left & Right Wing: Should government regulate private enterprise in order to achieve what elected representatives decide are important goals?

Right-wing: No: Government regulations stilfe innovation and keep us pooer

Left-wing: Yes

Left & Right Wing: Should government use its power to enforce good morals, for example by banning contraception?

Right-wing: Yes- Use the state to enforce favored morality systems

Left-wing: no

Left & Right Wing: Should the government instead of private enterprise own the means of productions – a central idea in socialism?

Right-wing: No

Left-wing: No

Left & Right Wing: Should the federal government regulate how states run elections to insure that all citizens can vote?

Right-wing: No, Example: if a state has laws making it so black people cannot vote that is the states business

Left-wing: Yes

Left & Right Wing: Should government use it s power to require private entities to make an effort to include people of all races in their programs or employments (affirmative action)?

Right-Wing: No

Left-Wing: Yes

Voting Rights Act of 1965

To guarantee that southern states not prevent black people from voting g

                                 a.      The largest block of people who didn’t vote for it were democrats

                                 b.      Why? Abe Lincoln was a republican

                                 c.      The south was democratic at this time because they would not be in the same party as Abe Lincon – but they were affectively right wing in everything but party.

                               d. at the same time – there were republicicans who were pro- new deal but were very anti-communissts. Could be called “Big government republicans”

      e. By our time this “confusion” or “mixing” has gone away

Left & Right Wing: Should government tax the rich to improve the lot of the poor (i.e. should wealth be redistributed)?

Right-Wing: No

Left-Wing: Yes

Anti-Hero

protagonist of a novel but he is the complete opposite of what you think a hero would be

Zeitgeist

the spirt of the times (in german)

Eleusis, Eleusinian mysteries

a place in Greece where people would have festivals and get healing

Master Narrative

a big story that makes sense of the little stories that our lives are composed of.

E.g. – tells you where you are in the history of the cosmos, tells you where you came from and where your going, gives meaning to the events of life.

Or Marxism – like the chrisitan fall, here it is  for chrisitians it is  the second coming and Marxists it is the crumbling of the state

What was hoovers part during the Cold War (and right-wing perspective)

Hoover did do some things – public works programs (including hoover dam and San Francisco bridge, etc. But FDR did it much more and is remembered for more.

From a Right-wing perspective: Hoover and FDR was bad because he did too much, he should have let the depression rip and it would have been over more quickly (a minority position)

Affect of Cold War on Civil Rights

A.     While the U.S government wanted to say we were liberal and the most liberated place in the world but we separated races

B.     The communists took this – saying if you have capitalism then that (race division) is what you get

C.     Eisenhower sent in troops to help with integration in schools – not necessarily to help civil rights rather so that we could do better in propaganda against the communist

D.     On the other sides, those against integretaion would say things like “Race mixing is communism”

Affect of Cold War on the Interstate

A.     Eisnhower pushed through the interstate system – mostly to facilitate transportation and commerce but also a defense aspect (we can move people out of cities if there is a nuclear attack or move troops into a city if we need to)

Dangling Man - What might Joseph hate Vaniker so much

He may shee himself in him - the scene where Iva calls one of them “oh the fool”

Dangling Man: Why would Bellow feel that Jospeh is a worth-while character to follow?

Because he is an a.      architype/representative for/of other men during the time who were in a similar situation (going into the army or maybe more broadly his view on the world – how a war and depression affect a person)

He is representative of a generation that grew up during the time. He shows the zeitgeist of cold war.

Dangling Man: What is the impact of Nietzsche’s philosophy on Joseph’s outlook?

Joseph is looking for a purpose but that purpose -which once was found in God - has been thrown away. (pg. 43 - dinner at Amos’ they laugh at mention of God). As a result Joseph spends the movie trying to find a new purpose (pg. 24, 29, 39 - Servus party- Joseph trying to make new “rituals” to replace the old one, but it fails or pg. 5- making reading the paper a new ritual -getting importance from history and finding a new metanarrative now that the old one of God has been through out). - Joseph being Jewish and rejecting it in lew of this new philosophy exposed by nietzsche is a big part of what makes him him.

Metanarrative

Marxism and Christianity provide them, big overarching stories that help you make sense of the individual story that is your life. Can also be used for smth narrower like to describe how you feel about America, how to understand 20^th centuray american history

– e.g. in EO 14190 “Patriotic Education” means a presentation of the history of America grounding in a … clear examination of how the United States has admirably grown closer to its noble principles throughout its history. You can have different metanarratives to help you understand things in different ways.

Naturalism

Late 19^th century, Emilie Zola – preminente writer (French) “Nana” -story of a prostitute, Zola is also interested in depicting alcoholism, the idea that if you what to get to what is really real, to understand reality, you have to focus on the grimery and seediers side of life. It shows  us what we really are. More refined settings are covering up what we really are. Shows up in American Literature

Realism

does not imply a fascination with what is seedy and disgusting. Often, when you read about its definition, might see determinism vs a belief in free will (we choose what we do)

Determinism

the idea that you only think you make choices, your actions are actually determined by things outside you (your DNA or upbringing). We are just programmed by culture or our genes to do what we do. We feel free but are not, everything we do is determined.

Naturalism vs. Realism

naturalism is like realisms snarky younger brother, it focuses on the seedier stuff.

Motif

something that keeps coming back up

Versimilitude

it makes something more realistic

Dangling Man: How does the book show versimiltude? How does this differ from the traditional novel of the 18th century?

During the 18^th century the invention of the novel, it was seen as having smth to do with the rise of the middle class during the time. The novel was going to be a genre where middle class folks saw themselves represented.

Through 18^th, 19^th, 20^th, novel was THE most prestigious literary form. Sharing the same presitigous that say tragedy did during shakespeares time

According to Luckacs the novel depicts a world where meaning is up for grabs, and has not been defined yet

Originally there was the form of the novel in which everything included musst be of importance (as in Dickens) it must all come together in the end. This novels rejects that on pg. 81 when it includes short, mundain entries that do not propel the plot or connect latter on. They are meant only to make the novel feel more real

From the point of view of this novel – the form of the dickens novel is a line – everything is not connected together. But. meaningless things also need to be expressed in the form of the novel. Compared to a dickens novel you might say this novel is formless, just ebbs and flows

Dangling Man: How do Geroge Bellows and Cary Leobowitz’ art relate to the naturalism shown in the novel?

Bellows: Painted gritty, real scenes of low class neighborhoods, a realist, thought poverty also needed to be explored

Cary Leobowtiz - banners with words - showing a new metanarrative

When looking at page 13 and 12 - the descprition of the junky reality of the world is in line with their art - in particular Belllows

Dangling Man: What metanarrative’s to characters seem to take on after rejecting the religious metanarrative?

Joseph - pg.5 - reading the paper, a new ritual, and feeds his view of the world (also feeds Iva’s later when she fears cashing her check for fear of being robbed pg131-132)

Etta - pg. 48 - Joseph is saying hers way of speech has been influensed by the media/movies she watched, she is mediated by these movies