Iraq War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Iraq War - Essay Example Supporting the development of a strategy for troop safety, a special interagency branch was assigned to identify and locate any oilfield risks that the US-led coalition army might face upon entering the country crossing its northern and southern borders.   This special branch identified probable areas of the oilfields that were supposed to be booby-trapped by the Iraqi soldiers. Also it attempted to trace out other natural oilfield dangers such as toxic gases, fire-risk and pressurized equipment.   USCENTCOM's strategy for deploying troops in Iraq included these safety measures based on the intelligence reports provided by this special branch. Dividing the whole invasion strategy into a number of phases depending on their priority, USCENTCOM J2 and the â€Å"Defense Intelligence Agency† (DIA) jointly launched thirteen crisis secret service communicative partnerships in order to provide critical intelligence support to field operations in the Iraqi battlefields during the a llied invasion, the â€Å"Operation Iraqi Freedom†.   During the peak hours of the battle in Operation Iraqi Freedom, more than 900 secret agents and other subsidiaries in and outside Iraq were committed to assisting USCENTCOM. Before the commencement of the Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Missile and Space Intelligence Center (MSIC), an military technical adventure operated by the â€Å"Defense Intelligence Agency† (DIA) launched a â€Å"Ballistic Missile Portal† (BMP) that would collect â€Å"pictures, descriptions, order of battle, infrastructure, technical parameters, and signatures unique to ballistic missiles†2. The whole service Community, including both the expert agents and the fighters in the battlefield, provided data to the BMP, which enabled the operators at the Central Command to locate and hit the threatening targets effectively. In response to the Intelligence personnel’s requirements for quick and the best possible flawless assessme nts of the possible Iraqi counter actions and strike, DIA authority built a â€Å"RED CELL† in order to replicate the decision-making process of the Iraqi military high command. The cell prepared about twenty policy papers that reflected different aspects and functioning processes of the Iraqi high command3.  The series of Intelligence effort exerted a direct and effective impact on the US-led Coalition’s forces’ strategic invasion planning and policy making. In an all-inclusive effort to provide support to the Intelligence community prepared a list of 3000 Iraqi personalities including the 55 most wanted who were classified according to their level of posing threat to the US-led coalition. Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) formed a team of 12 analysts and on-battle foreign resource utilization specialists from DIA's MSIC, called the â€Å"Joint Captured Materiel Exploitation Cell (JCMEC)†. The JCMEC team played a crucial role in locating, collecting, assessing, utilizing, and evacuating the â€Å"captured enemy materiel and weapons of strategic or intelligence value throughout the Iraqi theater of operations†

Managing a Large Financial Project Essay Example for Free

Managing a Large Financial Project Essay Introduction As the manger of a large financial project for company Bev shoes I am facing some challenges. The project is running behind schedule and we have a new CEO. In the meeting with the CEO I had to make him aware that the project deadline is at risk and his response was to take staff from a project with less importance and put them on the financial project. From the outside this looks like a great solution to the problem because more staff could get the work done faster and put the project back on schedule. I have to disagree with the CEO’s point of view because just assigning more people to this project will not solve the problem. We need to have staffs that are knowledgeable in the business process and the technology architecture related to the financial project. I will give my support to my response of why this is a bad idea by first explaining the importance of getting the business process correctly. Process Definition A business process is a group of activities designed to create a specific output for a specific objective. This is from having people and system interactions. Furthermore, a business process stresses how the work is performed within a business. This process should be clearly defined with a starting point and an end point with input requirements and expected output results. We spend a lot of time studying and understanding business process for this project and involving new staff at this time would further extend the time line for this project. On the financial project, the staff consists of individuals who have a deep understanding of the business process as it relates to what is being implemented. They have analyzed the existing business process and are actively working on implementing of these processes into the new financial  system. In other words these staffs are considered to be a key user. According to Oliver Schmid †¦ [a] â€Å"key-user is an employee that is intimately familiar with all business processes and requirements as it pertain to their job function and/or department†. This happens to be the case with the staff already in placed on the financial project. Technology Architecture Plan The staff on the financial project has already defined the types of hardware, software, and communication networks requirements .In other words they have a technology architecture plan in place for the financial project. In order to come up with this plan, the staff did some analyst work in each component of the technology architecture. Laury Verner describes an overview of the technology architecture: * Conceptual The conceptual area is where we define the ‘what’. In technology terms this means ‘what’ technology capabilities are required to provide the appropriate technology infrastructure for the enterprise. For example, Data Integration Services is a technology capability that * Logical-The logical area is where we define the ‘how’. In technology terms this is the next level of abstraction of ‘how’ the ‘what’ will be achieved. These deals in terms of the classes of technology and the technology products that is available to realize the Technology Capabilities. * Physical The physical captures the implementation and deployments of technology in the enterprise. In the technology layer this means the lowest level of abstraction and captures the instances of the technology products and where they are physically deployed. The staff has a clear understanding of what work for the implementation of this project and it would be disruptive to add staff to this project that they would have to spend time training at this late stage (p.1). Impact from lack of Process and Standard A successful project implementation has to adhere to certain standard and process. The person working on the financial project at this time has exhibit this understanding. Just because we are behind schedule for completing this project does not mean that we can just add more resources as the CEO recommended. The result of this would just further delay the project. Taking staff from a lesser important project to work on this  financial project means that they lack clarity of the business process. This would require some significant amount of time to bring them up to speed. This new staff would come in with a poor understanding of the business process and ultimately impact the project in a negative way. Solution to CEO questions The solution to the problem with the financial project falling behind schedule is to hire consultant with expertise in implementing a financial project of this magnitude. These resources would come with years of experienced and it would be easier for them to understand the business process and the technology architecture. This would put the project back on track to meeting the deadline. Conclusion Simply adding more staff to the financial project is not the solution to getting this project back on track to meeting deadline as the CEO recommend. There are key process that an individual needs to understand first before they can contribute this project such as the business process and the technology architecture. It is more than just adding staff and that is why I recommend consultants with expertise that can have an immediate impact. The objective is to get the project back on track and this is the way to achieve that goal. References Satzinger, J.W., Jackson, R., Burd, S.D. (2009). Systems analysis and design in a changing world (5th.ed.).Cengage Learning/Course Technology. Trash, J. (2006). Enterprise Architecture VS. Technology Architecture. Retrieved August 9, 2012www.flashmapsystems.com/resources/articles/articles29.htm Verner, L. (2004).The Challenge of Process Discovery Retrieved August 9, 2012ww.w.bptrends.com//05-04%20WP%20Process%20Discovery%20-

Herzs Theory of Political Realism

Herzs Theory of Political Realism Focusing on one of the key tenets of political realism, Herz emphasizes that in modern international relations, power was, and remains the ultimate means of solving problems and settling contentious issues. Sometimes, however, occur deviations from this principle when elements such as, for example, the economic interests of a particular group or religious consideration, moral, or even a personal plan of government policy gone clean power, mechanical, linear relations. In this case, for example, a Catholic country can join the union, contrary to their own interests, the other Catholic country, or state decides to intervene in the affairs of another state not for reasons of Realpolitik, but only because in that other State infringed the interests and rights class or minorities that the first state is seeking to protect. Nevertheless, despite the occasional deviations of this kind, in the international arena is dominant it Realpolitik. Just as economic competition within the state led to the emergence of economic man and the dominance of economic incentives, competition for power, force, power (power) led to the emergence of powers (powers) and to dominate the relations between states factors force power. Once power has appeared in international relations, all other considerations are superseded. Attempts to base its policy on any other principles would weaken and ultimately destruction of the state. Speaking of the international system Herz indicates that in general terms they can be understood as the distribution or concentration of military power, economic wealth, the other elements of power, but treat them as objective factors that determine the views of the management of foreign policy decisions on is not realistic. Herz earlier believed that the policy of the balance of forces determines the requirements of contemporary (modern) state system, but now it has come to the conclusion that in fact the existence of a balance of power depends on the views of the leaders of member states of the system. Even in the XVIII and XIX centuries, which are considered the heyday era policy of balance of forces, the balance of power system, according to Herz, existed only in the minds of British statesmen who practiced maintaining balance in international politics. For most public figures other European powers foreign policy was soon arena of struggle for dominance, in which the balance wa s only a passing episode in the dynamic process of constant change. In 1914, Germany finds himself surrounded by superior forces of the three countries, while these countries felt that Reich breaks for hegemony. As demonstrated by the end of the war, namely, that the Allies had to seek assistance from the United States, the latter view was more correct, that is, more in line with reality of international politics. Herz considers it necessary to emphasize that a different understanding of the international system and led to the outbreak of war. Similar differences, in his opinion, there are today. Some researchers suggest the existence of a bipolar balance between the two nuclear units, while others say that there are three, or even five poles. Some see the emergence of Soviet hegemony, whereas immediately after the Second World War, the international system was evaluated as the American empire. Other scientists say that should not be seen as a system of international relations of traditional unions powers competing in a force field, they argue that this understanding of the world is out of date and highlight the importance of factors such as the economic power groups such as OPEC, the power and influence of transnational actors ( such as transnational and multinational corporations ). Such differences indicate Herz, and there on the concept of force, which is the fundamental, but also the most difficult to define the concept of realism. Most realists do not adhere to a narrow, limited understanding of force only in terms o f military power. Power is seen as a number of factors and conditions from the economic resources to the morale of the population. As a rule, however, stipulated Herz, realistic perception ignored the subjective factor : the elements of the image, status and prestige. Power depends on perception. What they think of one other State itself may increase or decrease the force. Herz believes that the power of France in the period between the two world wars overestimated, which gave her considerable leeway in the international arena. The strength of the Soviet Union, by contrast, was underestimated, which consequently reduced the freedom of action of the USSR in world politics. Therefore, concludes Herz is necessary to study the role played by the images and their creation, the role of status, ranking diplomatic symbolism, recognition and non-recognition. Perception of form views, views of the flow of action. Herz believes that power politics in the modern world largely consists of image-making, the role of creating an image more increases with the importance of the people in the foreign policy. At the moment, says Herz, can hardly be called aspect of foreign policy, which would have been deprived of propaganda tones, designed to create the appropriate image for the allies, enemies and neutral states, and for the population of their own country. Huge bureaucracies busy representative functions. Herz also believes that the traditional understanding of the power becomes more relative. Nuclear superpowers are increasingly helpless when faced with blackmail terrorist groups and governments, while the tiny pseudo- sovereign country in which, according to Herz, there is nothing but sand and oil, can cause trouble sizable mightiest states in the traditional sense. Conceptual link between the notion of power and other basic concept of political realism, the national interest, is the concept of security. However, the safety indicates Herz, even more difficult to determine than the force as it is to an even greater extent is based on the feeling, perception. Neo-isolationism, according to Herz, it is very convincing because in traditional approaches is difficult enough to justify the need for a global advocate of U.S. national interests. According to Herz, the Americans feel they can not take Israel, West Berlin, Norway or New Zealand. And not only because the bound ( stick to their means to maintain the image and break them means losing face ), but because it would otherwise be lost soul foreign policy goal. In the nuclear age, said Herz, foreign policy objectives and interests of the state must be defined in such a way as to preserve the world recognize the important interests of all. This implies the need for deterrence, the need to delineate the dividing lines that separate spheres of influence. Division of the world into spheres of influence reduces the chances of the West to spread liberal democratic principles into the country under the control of the Soviet Union, but also reduces the chances of the spread of communism to liberal- democratic countries. The proposed combination of foreign policy objectives with the fundamental principle of the conservation of the world, according to Herz, is the direct opposite ideologies crusade in the spirit of both Woodrow Wilson and Lenin. Such ideology emphasizes Herz always condemned political realism. Herz expresses its full agreement with the statement by Robert Jervis ( which traditionally referred to neoidealistam ) that explain human actions can not be out of touch with their worldview. In addition, this also applies to the future. According to Herz, our future is the way we understand it ( It is noteworthy that the key to social constructivism of Alexander Wendts article, written in 1992, called Anarchy is how it is understood by the state ). Actions based on the perception of the past, present and future, determine what kind of future will materialize out of the chaos of possibilities. On the other hand, anyone claiming to be realistic prediction of the future must come from the givens of the current situation. The main thesis Herz now granted indeed interdependent global world in which happens in one place affects the people and processes worldwide. Ultimately, concludes Herz, globalist worldview is the closest to reality, and the development of global communication and information networks makes a similar outlook for its increasingly growing number of people. Information and images can still be manipulated. Nevertheless, it is hoped that global problems are so urgent that the traditional limited, parochial views give way to such views that recognize the interdependence of nations and peoples, as well as common problems. One can hope Herz believes that governments and peoples are aware of, except for the threat of nuclear annihilation, the gravest threats to the triad : demographic problems caused by avalanche population growth, economic problems related to the depletion of scarce resources, environmental issues extinction liveable space. In other words, we must recognize that, for the first time in human history, the very existence of the human species is endangered. Herz, making characteristic of political idealism conclusion concludes that it is necessary to change the international order to ensure the cooperation of national and subnational actors with international and multinational organizations. States should transfer part of their sovereignty to supranational agencies and thereby give them more power. Radical changes should move away from the traditional approach to disarmament and security issues, to radically change corporate social and economic structures, the dominant reality in most ind ustrialized nations, transform prevailing in developing countries militarist alliance plutocratic elites with multinational corporations, which leads to exploitation population of these countries, change the international order, which is still determined by the tendency of States to preserve its sovereignty at all costs. Thus, despite the fact that he J. Herz still considers himself a realist, in fact his position combines the basic elements of constructivism in the form in which it expounded Alexander Wendt, and neoliberal institutionalism. Apparently, the only reason to attribute these views to the paradigm Herz classic American political realism can serve only its own statement that these views reflect objectively existing reality.

Directing Television Programs :: Media Entertainment Essays

Directing Television Programs Directing Television programs requires hardwork and dedication and this involves taking some risks about your life too because as a television director you have to work with different people of different characters and when people are on stage performing they have to work according to your directions. People become tense on stage and they sometimes become frustrated easily by being asked to repeat the same thing so many times and some end up losing temper and they can sometime injure the director both emotionally and physically. There is never free time for television directors, instead of paying more attention to the family needs they devote so much time to their work because of the artistic ideology they posses, wherever they are they should be thinking about how they will direct in the next project and what new things to add on that particular program to put a new look hence giving inadequate attention to their partners/family. â€Å"Rafkin recounts how his directing of temperame ntal actors, as he confronted their frustrations and dodged their blows, made life on TV set a world unto itself. Indeed, having a good sense of humor helped him survive three divorces and as many open-heart surgeries ( Alan Rafkin, Tales from TV's Most Prolific Sitcom Director). † Directors hardly find time to rest since some of them work from morning until sunset and they can have problems with their health. According to Joe Michael from early morning news and talk shows, â€Å" Directors of network morning news programs have one of the toughest jobs. They are responsible for directing ten hours of live programming per week, fifty-two weeks a year. It is a formidable challenge, not only because of the sheer quantity of material, but also because of its variety. The 7-9 a.m. morning programs are a grab bag of formats, combining news, interviews, cooking and lifestyle segments, live remotes, and musical performance (Brian Rose 1). In an interview between Larry Auerbach and David Pressman from the Daytime Dramas, they said. â€Å"Directors of soap operas are hard working directors in the entertainment industry. Unlike their counterparts in film and theatre, their activities are not limited to one or two projects a year, with lots of long planning and down time in between. Even the directors of prime time television, who they most closely resemble, still lead a life of comparative ease, with a schedule measured by, at most, a little more than a dozen hours of actual on-air production per season, mixed with repeats and months off a summer vacation. Directing Television Programs :: Media Entertainment Essays Directing Television Programs Directing Television programs requires hardwork and dedication and this involves taking some risks about your life too because as a television director you have to work with different people of different characters and when people are on stage performing they have to work according to your directions. People become tense on stage and they sometimes become frustrated easily by being asked to repeat the same thing so many times and some end up losing temper and they can sometime injure the director both emotionally and physically. There is never free time for television directors, instead of paying more attention to the family needs they devote so much time to their work because of the artistic ideology they posses, wherever they are they should be thinking about how they will direct in the next project and what new things to add on that particular program to put a new look hence giving inadequate attention to their partners/family. â€Å"Rafkin recounts how his directing of temperame ntal actors, as he confronted their frustrations and dodged their blows, made life on TV set a world unto itself. Indeed, having a good sense of humor helped him survive three divorces and as many open-heart surgeries ( Alan Rafkin, Tales from TV's Most Prolific Sitcom Director). † Directors hardly find time to rest since some of them work from morning until sunset and they can have problems with their health. According to Joe Michael from early morning news and talk shows, â€Å" Directors of network morning news programs have one of the toughest jobs. They are responsible for directing ten hours of live programming per week, fifty-two weeks a year. It is a formidable challenge, not only because of the sheer quantity of material, but also because of its variety. The 7-9 a.m. morning programs are a grab bag of formats, combining news, interviews, cooking and lifestyle segments, live remotes, and musical performance (Brian Rose 1). In an interview between Larry Auerbach and David Pressman from the Daytime Dramas, they said. â€Å"Directors of soap operas are hard working directors in the entertainment industry. Unlike their counterparts in film and theatre, their activities are not limited to one or two projects a year, with lots of long planning and down time in between. Even the directors of prime time television, who they most closely resemble, still lead a life of comparative ease, with a schedule measured by, at most, a little more than a dozen hours of actual on-air production per season, mixed with repeats and months off a summer vacation.

Financial Crisis of 2008 Essay

The financial crisis is the problem that is faced by many countries like United Nations, Canada and others. It came as a result of economic difficulties triggered by the financial markets, currency fluctuations and liquidity shortfall in banking. The problem started from financial markets to the entire economy. The crisis in 2008 triggered falling of prices for homes. The homes prices in United States dropped after the depression of home sales (William, 2012). There was high rate of unemployment and tighter credit. This led to the drop of real estate prices which encouraged massive increase in construction and extraction of home equity. The housing price affected the recession and economic recovery in United States. United States is recovering slowly from the financial crisis after 2008. The studies show that the financial crisis comes as a result of growth-stifling policies. They clarify their issue in political perspective by showing that in 2012 the voters blamed their political leader especial president Bush for the financial crisis in their country. They still blame president Barrack Obama for the weak recovery (Davis, 2014). According to the research of Kenneth Rogoff and Carmen Renhart, they claim they predicted the financial crisis before it took place. They also claim that their research showed there would be slow recovery. This is seen in how United States experiences slow recoveries and people blaming their leaders for it. The recession took place occurred when the governments, households and corporations were in great debt. This is what triggered a high rate of crisis in finance. The research show that on the issue of crisis Bordo argues that recession tend to lead into strong recovery. He does not concur with Kennetth and Carmeths research. The financial crisis started in 2007 in United States resulted in the federal bank of US investing in financial markets. By the year 2008, the crisis had worsened and the markets around the world had become volatile. Those who had taken up loans were unable to pay for mortgages and borrowers found themselves with negative equity. The other aspects that also led to financial crisis were the collapse of Lehman Brothers (Davis, 2014). Due to their collapse the government was forced to work hard in order to restore its financial institutions. In order to secure itself it had to propose a plan that required around 700 billion dollars. The plan failed due to opposition from people. Instead, people started to invest in gold and US dollar euro as an alternative to save the country from financial crisis since housing market had collapsed. President Obama helped restore United States to its place by spending one trillion dollars. Despite of his effort the people blame him of the slow recovery. According to Lothian & Dwyer (2011), the United States support for current recovery is similar to that of the Great Depression. They do not provide support to link low employment and the high employment in the current recovery. They focus on low aggregate demand and policies that decreases productivity in the country. The research shows that there is a high rate of poverty levels, low birthrates and crippled middle class. This shows that America is still under crisis. According to the president the slow recovery is to the deep recession faced by the country. He claims it will take long time before US recovers. According to Williams (2012) the Federal Reserve has made a lot of effort by taking a step to combat the issue of financial crisis in countries like United States and Canada. It has developed great goals of maximizing employment and make sure there is stable prices. Although the Federal Reserve is doing its best unemployment is still on a high rate. The economic crisis encountered at the early 2000 when the state was still recovering from the recession caused a deep depression in the country. Before the states had recovered full another crisis took place in 2008. The housing market was the only thing that took off to boost the economy of the country in United States. People become wealthier financially. Housing was the main business that boosted the economy of the states financially. The buyers ended up in the housing business in the market with courage of it expanding in future. Acquiring mortgages became much easier and the business mushroomed afterwards (Williams, 2012). The financial engineers took steps of selling mortgages to investors all over the world. The lenders on the other hand emerged and they could sell mortgages with high rate interest. The financial crisis began again when people who had low income just signed up for a mortgage and walked away without making a down payment. This is due to the financial institutions making lots of money at that time since the rise of housing markets had reduced. After the boom on the housing, the financial institutes and lenders encountered great loss which resulted in placing big bets on mortgages. This shows that U.S has not fully recovered and is still doing so slowly due great depression in housing market. The first recovery they conducted was by spending resources on construction and household goods. The Federal Reserve has exerted its effort to recover countries from financial crisis (World Bank, 2010). It innovated the world by setting up Large-scale asset purchases (LSAPs). The LSAPs introduced liquidity to boost the economy through banks purchasing financial assets like mortgages. This helped raise the financial situations in markets not just in united states but worldwide. Their collaboration with the banks helped lower the level of financial assets. The Federal Reserve has done its best to help retain United States to its sustainable economic growth (Williams, 2012). Despite all this efforts the economy of U.S remains weak and inflation below what the Federal Reserve has been targeted. According to Reinhart research, Americans still commit the same mistakes of having weak banks that are unable to make new loans and encourage economic growth. He claims the banks are not performing and may lead to financial crisis again. Some recent studies points out that the financial crisi s may lead to other quick recoveries and studies need to be conducted to focus on how long it will take for the economic standard to return to its level. As for Canada they did not experience high rate of financial crisis as compared to United States. The main problem they encountered was with the Canadian marketing collapsing. Both public and private sectors helped to resolve the situation (Lane & Ontara, 2014). The recession that occurred in Canada led to collapsing of exports. This did not affect Canada alone but also United States since a half of its products were exported to United States. It encountered great loss since both countries were facing financial crisis. Their business was linked to economic investments and housing that collapsed due to recession in the country and United States (Lane & Ontara, 2014). To save itself from economic decline it initiated monetary policy to expand Canadian households and companies to rise to its level. Canada made sure that prices for natural resources remain elevated to help its country quickly pick up. This enabled boost its income, employment and government revenue. Canada is among the countries that have quickened its process to recover from financial crisis. In 2010 it had already passed pre-crisis peak and employment was back into track (Lane & Ontara, 2014). Although it picked up quickly than other countries it needs to lay down more excellent strategies to fully recover from financial crisis. Its economic standard is unbalanced which causes problems to financial system. Its efforts of United States to strengthen its export with Canadian did not work. This shows that it is still facing some financial crisis since U.S was the main country it exported its goods to. However, Australia is also among the countries that faced financial problems but it has done its best to combat the problem. Their president delivered a budget in order to fight inflation. He guaranteed bank deposits with 10.4 billion dollars. It enabled pay for care, families and seniors. He also gave help to automotive industry since lenders at that time had withdrawn from the market. Their withdrawal left banks empty. In 2009 they announced another stimuli package of 47 billion dollars to help boost the economy of Australia (Lane & Ontara 2014). These helped built schools, repair roads, boost small business, construction of new homes and to pay taxpayers. Australia among other countries has made a great improvement to its economy and financial state is not at risk. Nevertheless, among the countries that faced global crisis Poland turns out to be a little bit of resistance for a long time. It was not affected by the first crisis. It has made efforts to heighten its credit policies and the banks being re-assessed. Poland is the only country that has raised its economic growth in the first half 2009(Jungmann & Segemann, 2011) due to its minor share in machinery and equipment in exports. The global crisis had little impact on its economic situation. Their economic growths in 2007 only fell for a little rate. It has increased financial due to construction and assembly production. Employment and wages is not an issue since it is of a high rate compared to other countries. Apart from that, their profit of construction business gives positive results (.Jungmann & Segemann, 2011). The financial crisis in 2008 had little impact to its construction growth. It only affected its investment growth and deterioration in financial cooperation. In 2010 the reces sion spread all over in the construction and engineering. Despite of the effects on the sector Poland has shown slight improvement in the sector. This shows how its construction sector still faces little financial crisis. Since 2008 the countries continue to suffer the financial crisis due to the boom that took place in 2008. Lack of oversight and regulation by united states is a major contributions to the crisis which led to the huge costs to investors. The united states remain to be central in the problems of financial crisis. To solve the global financial crisis countries such as China, India and Russia have collaborated with advanced industrial nations of North America and others to combat the financial crisis (Ciro, 2013). The financial crisis has also enabled large currency reserves to assume higher profiles in financial circles. President Obama conducted a congress required to close attention and skills to manage relations with Chinese leadership. This is due to Chinese being a contributing factor to United States Mortgage bubble (Ciro, 2013). United state still faces financial crisis due to having many trade crisis. Trade is very important it is able to reduce financial vulnerabilities and red uce financial shock to countries. The main reason why United States still faces the financial risks is due to lack of tires with its traders. The only country that did not suffer from high rate of financial crisis in 2008 is china. It is the only country that has brought recovery in many countries. It has played a big role of a main engine in restoring economy in the world. According to the World Bank (2010) china still maintains high percentage in growth. The global economy is still recovered slowly. This has forced china as country with its expanding market to shift from export oriented to domestic- pull (World Bank, 2010). China economics has improved becoming the second biggest growth engine. The World Bank explains out that the financial crisis in many countries have reduced due to the prices in the economy strength. Countries like Korean have difficulties in combating the problem of financial crisis. Their government policies have been exhausted creating difficulties to remedy the financial crisis (Lin, 2013). Apart from that, South Africa has picked up since the financial crisis economy has improved. This is due to the hosting of world cup in 2010. Their banking system has remained stable. They have been introduced diversification by building manufacturing industries to address unemployment crisis (Lin, 2013). As to Brazil the economic situation is unsteady but with the large capital inflows and taxes imposed on foreigners, Brazil is trying to recover from the crisis. The financial crisis continues to be a problem due to epidemics such as viruses, and the gap between countries that perform best and worse in trade. Many business people are missing out on opportunities in the markets to expand their growth. There is marginalization and lack of unemployment to teenagers. House prices are still a major problem and due to this many people are left homeless. Despite of all of this has, globalization has helped incur the financial crisis that took place (Bann, 2014). The globalization has boosted the trade system and in future many countries will recover fully and gains trillions. The international interaction has boosted the economy since people are able to do businesses together. Globalization has worked as a connection index to link people together in boosting trade and export systems in markets (Bann, 2014). Many countries such as china and United States have linked together to do businesses. This has enabled fight the problem of financial crisis in many countries. Globalization has led to negotiations among bilateral and regional trade which has facilitated access to markets. Some countries are able to access different markets and acquire large market share through exports. The large market share increases their financial levels. The countries mentioned have encountered financial crisis and still are going through the same problem. This is due to the boom that took place in 2008. Many countries have not recovered and they are doing their best to get back to track. The only country that remains strong is china due to its stability in economic growth. It is the only country that tried to resist financial crisis unlike other countries. Countries like Canada and United States continue to face financial crisis and their recovery is slow. This comes as a result of aspects such as unemployment, poverty and reduction in house marketing business. They face trade crisis which comes as a result of their trade with other markets collapsing. They are unable to manage financial crisis due to trade. The recession affected main businesses that boosted the economy revenue of many countries. Accumulation imbalances in financial sectors need to be reduced and provide equality to all areas to enable fight for financial crisis. In order to survive in the market and boost the countries revenue, economies should be vulnerable to external stocks. They should encourage higher growth rates and political risks should be involved when unemployment rate still remain at a high level. After the normal recession that took place earlier the economy still remains the same as it was and recoveries have lost ground. Research on how the crisis will be solved shows that it will take a long time since the process will be slow. People need to take action but not rely on leaders to bring change. Everyone possesses entrepreneurial spirit. This is what is needed to help boost the economic standards of many countries. The entrepreneurs need to sustain their families and businesses to help boost the economic growth of the countries. Conclusion Although the researchers claim the recession brings a quick recovery, it cannot solve the issue of financial crisis. Once a country has fallen into deep depression it takes time and efforts to recover from the incidences, it cannot take a short period neither can the country recover quickly. Recovering from financial crisis needs time that’s why many countries are still facing financial crisis. Leaders cannot be a solution for the problem in the state, but the help of other people is also required. Countries working together will help in boosting the financial revenue of their states. Since, the financial crisis has not been recovered yet, it will take time for countries like United States to do so. References Bonn (2014) globalization is recovering financial crisis, DHL global connectedness index reveals Ciro, T. (2013) the global financial crisis: triggers responses and aftermath. Print. Davis, J. (2014) Global financial crisis- what caused it and how the world responded. Retrieved on 2th December 2014 Jungmann, J., & Sagemann, B. (2011). Financial crisis in Eastern Europe: Road to recovery. Wiesbaden: Gabler. Lin, C. Y.-Y. (2013). National intellectual capital and the financial crisis in Brazil, Russia, India, China, Korea, and South Africa. New York: Springe Lothian, J.R. & Dwyer, P.G (2011) the financial crisis and recovery . Retrieved on 2th December 2014. M.C.K (2012). Is the slow recovery unsual? Retrieved on 2th 2014. Timothy, L. & Ontara, O. (2014) are we there yet? The united states and Canada after the global financial crisis. Retrieved on 2th December 2014 William, C.J. (2012) the federal reserve and the economic recovery. Retrieved on 2th December 2014 World Bank (2010). Global prospets 2010: crisis, finance and growth. Source document

American Literature Essay

When the English preacher and writer Sidney Smith asked in 1820, â€Å"In the four quarters of the globe, who reads an American book? † little did he suspect that less than two hundred years later the answer in literate quarters would be â€Å"just about everyone. † Indeed, just a few years after Smith posed his inflammatory question, the American writer Samuel Knapp would begin to assemble one of the first histories of American literature as part of a lecture series that he was giving. The course materials offered by American Passages continue in the tradition begun by Knapp in 1829. One goal of this Study Guide is to help you learn to be a literary historian: that is, to introduce you to American literature as it has evolved over time and to stimulate you to make connections between and among texts. Like a literary historian, when you make these connections you are telling a story: the story of how American literature came into being. This Overview outlines four paths (there are many others) by which you can narrate the story of American literature: one based on literary movements and historical change, one based on the American Passages Overview Questions, one based on Contexts, and one based on multiculturalism. TELLING THE STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE Literary Movements and Historical Change American Passages is organized around sixteen literary movements or â€Å"units. † A literary movement centers around a group of authors that share certain stylistic and thematic concerns. Each unit includes ten authors that are represented either in The Norton Anthology of American Literature or in the Online Archive. Two to four of these authors are discussed in the video, which calls attention to important historical and cultural influences on these authors, defines a genre that they share, and proposes some key thematic parallels. Tracking literary movements can help you see how American literature has changed and evolved over time. In general, people think about literary movements as reacting against earlier modes of writing and earlier movements. For T E L L I N G T H E S T O R Y O F A M E R I C A N L I T E R AT U R E 3 example, just as modernism (Units 10–13) is often seen as a response to realism and the Gilded Age (Unit 9), so Romanticism is seen as a response to the Enlightenment (Unit 4). Most of the units focus on one era (see the chart below), but they will often include relevant authors from other eras to help draw out the connections and differences. (Note: The movements in parentheses are not limited to authors/works from the era in question, but they do cover some material from it. ) Century Fifteenth– Seventeenth Eighteenth Era Renaissance American Passages Literary Movements. (1: Native Voices) 2: Exploring Borderlands 3: Utopian Promise (3: Utopian Promise) 4: Spirit of Nationalism (7: Slavery and Freedom) 4: Spirit of Nationalism 5: Masculine Heroes 6: Gothic Undercurrents 7: Slavery and Freedom (1: Native Voices) 6: Gothic Undercurrents 8: Regional Realism 9: Social Realism (1: Native Voices) 10: Rhythms in Poetry 11: Modernist Portraits 12: Migrant Struggle 13: Southern Renaissance 1: Native Voices 2: Exploring Borderlands 12: Migrant Struggle 14: Becoming Visible 15: Poetry of Liberation 16: Search for Identity Enlightenment Nineteenth Romanticist Nineteenth Realist Twentieth Modernist Twentieth Postmodernist Each unit contains a timeline of historical events along with the dates of key literary texts by the movement’s authors. These timelines are designed to help you make connections between and among the movements, eras, and authors covered in each unit. 4 W H AT I S A M E R I C A N L I T E R AT U R E ? Overview Questions The Overview Questions at the start of each unit are tailored from the five American Passages Overview Questions that follow. They are meant to help you focus your viewing and reading and participate in discussion afterward. 1. What is an American? How does literature create conceptions of the American experience and American identity? This two-part question should trigger discussion about issues such as, Who belongs to America? When and how does one become an American? How has the search for identity among American writers changed over time? It can also encourage discussion about the ways in which immigration, colonization, conquest, youth, race, class, and gender affect national identity. 2. What is American literature? What are the distinctive voices and styles in American literature? How do social and political issues influence the American canon? This multi-part question should instigate discussion about the aesthetics and reception of American literature. What is a masterpiece? When is something considered literature, and how is this category culturally and historically dependent? How has the canon of American literature changed and why? How have American writers used language to create art and meaning? What does literature do? This question can also raise the issue of American exceptionalism: Is American literature different from the literature of other nations? 3. How do place and time shape the authors’ works and our understanding of them? This question addresses America as a location and the many ways in which place impacts American literature’s form and content. It can provoke discussion about how regionalism, geography, immigration, the frontier, and borders impact American literature, as well as the role of the vernacular in indicating place. 4. What characteristics of a literary work have made it influential over time? This question can be used to spark discussion about the evolving impact of various pieces of American literature and about how American writers used language both to create art and respond to and call for change. What is the individual’s responsibility to uphold the community’s traditions, and when are individuals compelled to resist them? What is the relationship between the individual and the community? 5. How are American myths created, challenged, and re-imagined through this literature? This question returns to â€Å"What is an American? † But it poses the question at a cultural rather than individual level. What are the myths that make up American culture? What is the American Dream? What are American myths, dreams, and nightmares? How have these changed over time? T E L L I N G T H E S T O R Y O F A M E R I C A N L I T E R AT U R E 5 Contexts Another way that connections can be made across and between authors is through the five Contexts in each unit: three longer Core Contexts and two shorter Extended Contexts. The goal of the Contexts is both to help you read American literature in its cultural background and to teach you close-reading skills. Each Context consists of a brief narrative about an event, trend, or idea that had particular resonance for the writers in the unit as well as Americans of their era; questions that connect the Context to the authors in the unit; and a list of related texts and images in the Online Archive. Examples of Contexts include discussions of the concept of the Apocalypse (3: â€Å"Utopian Visions†), the sublime (4: â€Å"Spirit of Nationalism†), and baseball (14: â€Å"Becoming Visible†). The Contexts can be used in conjunction with an author or as stand-alone activities. The Slide Show Tool on the Web site is ideal for doing assignments that draw connections between archive items from a Context and a text you have read. And you can create your own contexts and activities using the Slide Show Tool: these materials can then be e-mailed, viewed online, projected, or printed out on overhead transparencies. Multiculturalism In the past twenty years, the field of American literature has undergone a radical transformation. Just as the mainstream public has begun to understand America as more diverse, so, too, have scholars moved to integrate more texts by women and ethnic minorities into the standard canon of literature taught and studied. These changes can be both exhilarating and disconcerting, as the breadth of American literature appears to be almost limitless. Each of the videos and units has been carefully balanced to pair canonical and noncanonical voices. You may find it helpful, however, to trace the development of American literature according to the rise of different ethnic and minority literatures. The following chart is designed to highlight which literatures are represented in the videos and the units. As the chart indicates, we have set different multicultural literatures in dialogue with one another. Literature African American literature Video Representation. 7: Slavery and Freedom 8: Regional Realism 10: Rhythms in Poetry 13: Southern Renaissance 14: Becoming Visible 15: Poetry of Liberation Study Guide Representation 4: Spirit of Nationalism 5: Masculine Heroes 7: Slavery and Freedom 8: Regional Realism 9: Social Realism 10: Rhythms in Poetry 11: Modernist Portraits 13: Southern Renaissance 14: Becoming Visible 15: Poetry of Liberation 16: Search for Identity 6 W H AT I S A M E R I C A N L I T E R AT U R E ? Native American literature 1: Native Voices 5: Masculine Heroes 14: Becoming Visible. 1: Native Voices 2: Exploring Borderlands 3: Utopian Promise 4: Spirit of Nationalism 5: Masculine Heroes 7: Slavery and Freedom 8: Regional Realism 14: Becoming Visible 15: Poetry of Liberation 16: Search for Identity 2: Exploring Borderlands 5: Masculine Heroes 10: Rhythms in Poetry 12: Migrant Struggle 15: Poetry of Liberation 16: Search for Identity 9: Social Realism 12: Migrant Struggle 16: Search for Identity 9: Social Realism 11: Modernist Portraits 14: Becoming Visible 15: Poetry of Liberation 16: Search for Identity 1: Native Voices 2: Exploring Borderlands 3: Utopian Promise 4: Spirit of Nationalism 5: Masculine Heroes 6: Gothic Undercurrents 7: Slavery and Freedom 8: Regional Realism 9: Social Realism 10: Rhythms in Poetry 11: Modernist Portraits 12: Migrant Struggle 13: Southern Renaissance 14: Becoming Visible 15: Poetry of Liberation 16: Search for Identity 2: Exploring Borderlands 5: Masculine Heroes 10: Rhythms in Poetry 11: Modernist Portraits 12: Migrant Struggle 13: Southern Renaissance 14: Becoming Visible 15: Poetry of Liberation 16: Search for Identity Latino literature 2: Exploring Borderlands 10: Rhythms in Poetry 12: Migrant Struggle 16: Search for Identity Asian American literature 12: Migrant Struggle 16: Search for Identity Jewish American 9: Social Realism literature 11: Modernist Portraits 14: Becoming Visible 15: Poetry of Liberation 16: Search for Identity Women’s literature 1: Native Voices 2: Exploring Borderlands 3: Utopian Promise 6: Gothic Undercurrents 7: Slavery and Freedom 8: Regional Realism 9: Social Realism 11: Modernist Portraits 12: Migrant Struggle 13: Southern Renaissance 15: Poetry of Liberation 16: Search for Identity Gay and lesbian literature 2: Exploring Borderlands 5: Masculine Heroes 10: Rhythms in Poetry 11: Modernist Portraits 15: Poetry of Liberation 16: Search for Identity T E L L I N G T H E S T O R Y O F A M E R I C A N L I T E R AT U R E 7 Literature cont’d Working-class literature Video Representation 2: Exploring Borderlands 4: Spirit of Nationalism 5: Masculine Heroes 7: Slavery and Freedom 9: Social Realism 12: Migrant Struggle 16: Search for Identity Study Guide Representation 2: Exploring Borderlands 4: Spirit of Nationalism 5: Masculine Heroes 7: Slavery and Freedom 9: Social Realism 10: Rhythms in Poetry 12: Migrant Struggle 14: Becoming Visible 15: Poetry of Liberation 16: Search for Identity LITERATURE IN ITS CULTURAL CONTEXT When you study American literature in its cultural context, you enter a multidisciplined and multi-voiced conversation where scholars and critics in different fields examine the same topic but ask very different questions about it. For example, how might a literary critic’s understanding of nineteenthcentury American culture compare to that of a historian of the same era? How can an art historian’s understanding of popular visual metaphors enrich our readings of literature? The materials presented in this section of the Study Guide aim to help you enter that conversation. Below are some suggestions on how to begin. Deep in the heart of the Vatican Museum is an exquisite marble statue from first- or second-century Rome. Over seven feet high, the statue depicts a scene from Virgil’s Aeneid in which Laocoon and his sons are punished for warning the Trojans about the Trojan horse. Their bodies are entwined with large, devouring serpents, and Laocoon’s face is turned upward in a dizzying portrait of anguish, his muscles rippling and bending beneath the snake’s strong coils. The emotion in the statue captured the heart and eye of critic Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, who used the work as the starting point for his seminal essay on the relationship between literature and art, â€Å"Laocoon: An Essay on the Limits of Painting and Poetry. † For Lessing, one of the most common errors that students of culture can make is to assume that all aspects of culture develop in tandem with one another. As Lessing points out, each art has its own strengths. For example, literature works well with notions of time and story, and thus is more flexible than visual art in terms of imaginative freedom, whereas painting is a visual medium that can reach greater beauty, although it is static. For Lessing, the mixing of these two modes (temporal and spatial) carries great risk along with rewards. As you study literature in conjunction with any of the fine arts, you may find it helpful to ask whether you agree with Lessing that literature is primarily a temporal art. Consider too the particular 8 W H AT I S A M E R I C A N L I T E R AT U R E ? strengths of the media discussed below. What do they offer that may not be available to writers? What modes do they use that complement our understanding of the literary arts? Fine Arts Albrecht Durer created some of the most disturbing drawings known to humans: they are rife with images of death, the end of the world, and dark creatures that inhabit hell. Images such as The Last Judgement (below) can be found in the Online Archive. In Knight, Death, and the Devil (1513), a devout Christian knight is taunted by the Devil and Death, who gleefully shakes a quickly depleting hourglass, mocking the soldier with the passing of time. Perhaps the tension and anxiety in Durer’s print resonated with the American poet Randall Jarrell in his struggle with mental illness. In â€Å"The Knight, Death, and the Devil,† Jarrell opens with a description of the scene: Cowhorn-crowned, shockheaded, cornshucked-bearded, Death is a scarecrow—his death’s-head a teetotum . . . Jarrell’s description is filled with adjectives in much the same way that the print is crowded with detail. The poem is an instance of what critics call ekphrasis: the verbal description of a work of visual art, usually of a painting, photograph, or sculpture but sometimes of an urn, tapestry, or quilt. Ekphrasis attempts to bridge the gap between the verbal and the visual arts. Artists and writers have always influenced one another: sometimes directly as in the case of Durer’s drawing and Jarrell’s poem, and other times indirectly. The Study Guide will help you navigate through these webs of influence. For example, Unit 5 will introduce you to the Hudson River [7995] Albrecht Durer, The Last School, the great American landscape painters Judgement (1510), courtesy of the of the nineteenth century. In the Context focusprint collection of Connecticut ing on these artists, you will learn of the interCollege, New London. connectedness of their visual motifs. In Unit 11, William Carlos Williams, whose poems â€Å"The Dance† and â€Å"Landscape with the Fall of Icarus† were inspired by two paintings by Breughel, will draw your attention to the use of ekphrasis. Williams’s work is a significant example of how multiple traditions in art can influence a writer: in addition to his interest in European art, Williams imitated Chinese landscapes and poetic forms. When you encounter works of fine art, such as paintings, photographs, or sculpture, in the Online Archive or the Study Guide, you may find two tools used by art historians helpful: formal analysis and iconography. Formal L I T E R AT U R E I N I T S C U LT U R A L C O N T E X T 9 [3694] Thomas Cole, The Falls of Kaaterskill (1826), courtesy of the Warner Collection of the Gulf States Paper Corporation, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. analysis, like close readings of poems, seeks to describe the nature of the object without reference to the context in which it was created. A formal analysis addresses such questions as Where does the central interest in the work lie? How is the work composed and with what materials? How is lighting or shading used? What does the scene depict? What allusions (mythological, religious, artistic) are found in the work? Once you have described the work of art using formal analysis, you may want to extend your reading by calling attention to the cultural climate in which the work was produced. This is called an iconographic reading. Here the Context sections of the Study Guide will be useful. You may notice, for example, a number of nineteenth-century paintings of ships in the Online Archive. One of the Contexts for Unit 6 argues that these ships can be read as symbols for nineteenth-century America, where it was common to refer to the nation as a â€Å"ship of state. † The glowing light or wrecked hulls in the paintings reflect the artists’ alternating optimism and pessimism about where the young country was headed. Below are two possible readings of Thomas Cole’s painting The Falls of Kaaterskill that employ the tools of formal analysis and iconography. W R I T E R A : F O R M A L A N A L Y S I S In this painting by Hudson River School artist Thomas Cole, the falls that give the painting its name grab our attention. The shock of the white falls against the concentrated brightness of the rocks ensures that the waterfall will be the focus of the work. Even amidst this brightness, however, there is darkness and mystery in the painting, where the falls emerge out of a dark quarry and crash down onto broken tree limbs and staggered rocks. The descent is neither peaceful nor pastoral, unlike the presentation of nature in Cole’s other works, such as the Oxbow. The enormity of the falls compared to the lone human figure that perches above them also adds to the sense of power the falls embody. Barely recognizable as human because it is so minute, the figure still pushes forward as if to embrace the cascade of the water in a painting that explores the tension between the individual and the power of nature. W R I T E R B : I C O N O G R A P H Y I agree with Writer A that this painting is all about the power of nature, but I would argue that it is about a particular kind of power: one that nineteenthcentury thinkers called the â€Å"sublime. † Cole’s portrait of the falls is particularly indebted to the aesthetic ideas formulated by Edmund Burke in the eighteenth century. Burke was interested in categorizing aesthetic responses, and he distinguished the â€Å"sublime† from the â€Å"beautiful. † While the beautiful is calm and harmonious, the sublime is majestic, wild, and even savage. While viewers are soothed by the beautiful, they are overwhelmed, awestruck, and sometimes terrified by the sublime. Often associated with huge, overpowering natural 10 W H AT I S A M E R I C A N L I T E R AT U R E ? phenomena like mountains, waterfalls, or thunderstorms, the â€Å"delightful terror† inspired by sublime visions was supposed to both remind viewers of their own insignificance in the face of nature and divinity and inspire them with a sense of transcendence. Here the miniature figure is the object of our gaze even as he is obliterated by the grandeur of the water. During the nineteenth century, tourists often visited locales such as the Kaaterskill Falls in order to experience the â€Å"delightful terror† that they brought. This experience is also echoed in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay â€Å"Nature,† in which he writes of his desire to become a â€Å"transparent eyeball† that will be able to absorb the oversoul that surrounds him. The power that nature holds here is that of the divine: nature is one way we can experience higher realms. How do these readings differ? Which do you find more compelling and why? What uses can you see for formal analysis or iconographic readings? When might you choose one of these strategies over the other? History As historian Ray Kierstead has pointed out, history is not just â€Å"one damn thing after another†: rather, history is a way of telling stories about time or, some might say, making an argument about time. The Greek historian Herodotus is often called the father of history in the western world, as he was one of the first historians to notice patterns in world events. Herodotus saw that the course of empires followed a cyclical pattern of rise and fall: as one empire reaches its peak and self-destructs out of hubris (excessive pride), a new empire or new nations will be born to take its place. Thomas Cole’s five-part series The Course of Empire (1833) mirrors this Herodotean notion of time as his scene moves from savage, to pastoral, to consummation, to devastation, to desolation. This vision of time has been tremendously influential in literature: whenever you read a work written in the pastoral mode (literature that looks back with nostalgia to an era of rural life, lost simplicity, and a time when nature and culture were one), ask yourself whether there is an implicit optimism or pessimism about what follows this lost rural ideal. For example, in Herman Melville’s South Sea novel Typee, we find the narrator in a Tahitian village. He seeks to determine if he has entered a pastoral or savage setting: is he surrounded by savages, or is he plunged in a pastoral bliss? Implicit in both is a suggestion that there are earlier forms of civilization than the United States that the narrator has left behind. Any structural analysis of a work of literature (an analysis that pays attention to how a work is ordered) would do well to consider what notions of history are embedded within. In addition to the structural significance of history, a dialogue between history and literature is crucial because much of the early literature of the United States can also be categorized as historical documents. It is helpful, therefore, to understand the genres of history. Like literature, history is comprised of different genres, or modes. Historian Elizabeth Boone defines the main traditional genres of history as res gestae, geographical, and annals. Res gestae, or â€Å"deeds done,† organizes history through a list of accomplishments. This was a popu- L I T E R AT U R E I N I T S C U LT U R A L C O N T E X T 11 lar form of history for the ancient Greeks and Romans; for example, the autobiography of Julius Caesar chronicles his deeds, narrated in the third person. When Hernan Cortes and other explorers wrote accounts of their travels (often in the form of letters to the emperor), Caesar’s autobiography served as their model. Geographical histories use travel through space to shape the narrative: Mary Rowlandson’s captivity narrative is an example of a geographical history in that it follows her through a sequence of twenty geographic â€Å"removes† into Indian country and back. Annals, by contrast, use time as the organizing principle. Information is catalogued by year or month. Diaries and journals are a good example of this genre. These three genres can also be found in the histories of the Aztecs and Mayans of Mesoamerica and in those of the native communities of the United States and Canada. For example, the migration legend, a popular indigenous form of history, is a geographical history, whereas trickster tales often tell the early history of the world through a series of deeds. Memoirists also mix genres; for example, the first section of William Bradford’s Of Plimouth Plantation is a geographical history, whereas the second half is annals. Today the most common historical genres are intellectual history (the history of ideas), political history (the story of leaders), and diplomatic history (the history of foreign relations). To these categories we might add the newer categories of â€Å"social history† (a history of everyday life) and â€Å"gender history† (which focuses on the construction of gender roles). Finally, history is a crucial tool for understanding literature because literature is written in—and arguably often reflects—a specific historical context. Readers of literary works can deepen their understanding by drawing on the tools of history, that is, the records people leave behind: political (or literary) documents, town records, census data, newspaper stories, captivity narratives, letters, journals, diaries, and the like. Even such objects as tools, graveyards, or trading goods can tell us important information about the nature of everyday life for a community, how it worshipped or what it thought of the relationship between life and death. 12 W H AT I S A M E R I C A N L I T E R AT U R E ? Material Culture [6332] Archibald Gunn and Richard Felton Outcault, New York Journal’s Colored Comic Supplement (1896), courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division [LC-USZC4-25531]. When you look at an object, it may call up associations from the past. For example, for the first-time viewer the clown figure in the image above may seem innocuous, yet at the end of the nineteenth century his popularity was so intense that it started a newspaper war fierce enough to spawn a whole new term for sensationalist, irresponsible journalism—â€Å"yellow journalism. † Objects such as this comic supplement constitute â€Å"material culture,† the objects of everyday life. In Material Culture Studies in America, Thomas Schlereth provides the following useful definition of material culture: Material culture can be considered to be the totality of artifacts in a culture, the vast universe of objects used by humankind to cope with the physical world, to facilitate social intercourse, to delight our fancy, and to create symbols of meaning. . . . Leland Ferguson argues that material culture includes all â€Å"the things that people leave behind . . . all of the things people make from the physical world—farm tools, ceramics, houses, furniture, toys, buttons, roads, cities. † (2) When we study material culture in conjunction with literature, we wed two notions of â€Å"culture† and explore how they relate. As critic John Storey notes, the first notion of culture is what is often called â€Å"high culture†Ã¢â‚¬â€the â€Å"general process of intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic factors†; and the second is â€Å"lived culture†Ã¢â‚¬â€the â€Å"particular way of life, whether of a people, a period or a group† (2). In a sense, material culture (as the objects of a lived culture) allows us to see how the prevailing intellectual ideas were played out in the daily lives of people in a particular era. Thus, as Schlereth explains, through studying material culture we can learn about the â€Å"belief systems—the values, ideas, attitudes, and assumptions—of a particular community or society, usually across time† (3). In reading objects as embedded with meaning, we follow Schlereth’s premise that â€Å"objects made or L I T E R AT U R E I N I T S C U LT U R A L C O N T E X T 13 modified by humans, consciously or unconsciously, directly or indirectly, reflect the belief patterns of individuals who made, commissioned, purchased, or used them, and, by extension, the belief patterns of the larger society of which they are a part† (3). The study of material culture, then, can help us better understand the cultures that produced and consumed the literature we read today. Thomas Schlereth suggests a number of useful models for studying material culture; his â€Å"Art History Paradigm† is particularly noteworthy in that it will help you approach works of â€Å"high art,† such as paintings and sculptures, as well. The â€Å"Art History Paradigm† argues that the interpretive objective of examining the artifact is to â€Å"depict the historical development and intrinsic merit† of it. If you are interested in writing an â€Å"Art History Paradigm† reading of material culture, you might look at an object and ask yourself the following questions, taken from Sylvan Barnet’s Short Guide to Writing about Art. These questions apply to any art object: First, we need to know information about the artifact so we can place it in a historical context. You might ask yourself: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. What is my first response to the work? When and where was the work made? Where would the work originally have been seen? What purpose did the work serve? In what condition has the work survived? (Barnet 21–22) In addition, if the artifact is a drawing, painting, or advertisement, you might want to ask yourself questions such as these: 1. What is the subject matter? What (if anything) is happening? 2. If the picture is a portrait, how do the furnishings and the background and the angle of the head or the posture of the head and body (as well as the facial expression) contribute to our sense of the subject’s character? 3. If the picture is a still life, does it suggest opulence or want? 4. In a landscape, what is the relation between human beings and nature? Are the figures at ease in nature, or are they dwarfed by it? Are they one with the horizon, or (because the viewpoint is low) do they stand out against the horizon and perhaps seem in touch with the heavens, or at least with open air? If there are woods, are these woods threatening, or are they an inviting place of refuge? If there is a clearing, is the clearing a vulnerable place or is it a place of refuge from ominous woods? Do the natural objects in the landscape somehow reflect the emotions of the figures? (Barnet 22–23; for more questions, see pp. 23–24) Material culture is a rich and varied resource that ranges from kitchen utensils, to advertisements, to farming tools, to clothing. Unpacking the significance of objects that appear in the stories and poems you read may help you better understand characters and their motives. 14 W H AT I S A M E R I C A N L I T E R AT U R E ? Architecture Most of the time we read the hidden meanings of buildings without even thinking twice. Consider the buildings below: Above: [9089] Anonymous, Capitol Building at Washington, D. C. (1906), courtesy of Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress [LC-USZ62-121528]. Right: [6889] Anonymous, Facade of the Sam Wah’s Chinese Laundry (c. 1890 –1900), courtesy of the Denver Public Library. Even if we had never seen either of these buildings before, it would not take us long to determine which was a government building and which was a smalltown retail establishment. Our having seen thousands of buildings enables us to understand the purpose of a building from architectural clues. When first seeing a work of architecture, it is helpful to unpack cultural assumptions. You might ask: 1. What is the purpose of this building? Is it public or private? What activities take place within it? 2. What features of the building reflect this purpose? Which of these features are necessary and which are merely conventional? 3. What buildings or building styles does this building allude to? What values are inherent in that allusion? 4. What parts of this building are principally decorative rather than functional? What does the ornament or lack of it say about the status of the owners or the people who work there? 5. What buildings surround this building? How do they affect the way the building is entered? 6. What types of people live or work in this building? How do they interact within the space? What do these findings say about the relative social status of the occupants? How does the building design restrict or encourage that status? 7. How are people supposed to enter and move through the building? What clues does the building give as to how this movement should take place? L I T E R AT U R E I N I T S C U LT U R A L C O N T E X T 15 These questions imply two basic assumptions about architecture: (1) architecture reflects and helps establish social status and social relations; and (2) architecture i