The New Rag
Monday, 16 April 2007
Headline
~Realistic Writers~
The American 4 Fathers
The Realism Era took place in the United
States took place in the late 1800’s and early
1900’s. The most notable writers of this time are
William Faulkner, Jack London, Upton Sinclair, and
last but not least Mark Twain. The Literary Realism
Era was a period in which authors started writing
about contemporary life and society. Aside from the
lovely happy endings in the Romanticism Era, these
authors focused on natural everyday life and the
hardships we might go through.
William Faulkner was an active American
novelist who is most well known for his novels; The
Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying. Faulkner,
being from Mississippi, sets a few of his books in
his native southern state and in the south. For
example his book As I Lay Dying was set in
Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi. Upton Sinclair was
considered as one of the best investigative
journalist of his time. His Book The Jungle is a
prime example of how he used his journalistic
strengths to inspire the government to create the
Pure food and Drug Act.
Jack London was one of the first of the
“American 4 Fathers” who made it big financially
through writing. Many of London’s writings were drawn
from his own personal experiences. For example his
story A Piece of Steak was a story about a young
boxer and an old boxer. London himself was a enthused
boxing fan. Although his real name is Samuel
Langhorne Clemens, Mark Twain was his pen name. Twain
was best known and admired for his work as a
satirist. His book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is
his most notable novel. This novel being full of
situational satire of the time setting.
These 4 writers are in my opinion the most
influential writers in the Realism Era. Said writers
demonstrated exactly what it meant to be a Realistic
writer and set the bar for those to follow in their
footsteps.
Saturday, 14 April 2007
Life and Times
By. Dewon Crumpton
They died..
Worthy Cause?
The time of Martin Luther King Jr. was a very
controversial period in our nations history.
Racism and segregation was a huge issue in society.
Dr. King was one of the most notable Civil rights
leaders in history. From protest marches to
desegregation pins. He tried his hardest to make
the rest of the country accept the fact that change
was on the horizon. The idea of acceptance in an
equal society is what he strived so hard for. He
was an inspirational figure to many and to some a
threat to their society. He showed our nation that
you should always fight for what you believe in no matter how much resistance.
Acceptance is defined as the mental attitude that
something is believable and should be accepted as
true. This definition describes exactly what Dr.
King wanted. He wanted the nation to believe that
we needed to change our ways and do away with
segregation. Dr. King wanted the nation to accept
the fact we the human race are all equal and that
no one is any better than the other regardless of
race, sex, or religion. These ideas that he
presented attracted others to join the cause, but
there were always the people who figured that they
were superior to other races. One of these people
in turn killed Dr. King for just wanting change.
The United States 35th President John
Fitzgerald Kennedy supported racial integration and
civil rights. President Kennedy also telephoned
Coretta Scott King, the wife of the jailed Reverend
Martin Luther King, Jr. John and Robert Kennedy's
intervention secured the early release of King from
jail. JFK was also a supporter of change and
nationwide equality. Although once again he like
Dr. King was assassinated for invalid reasons. The
ideas of these men and many others did fade away
though. Today we live in a world in which we all
can look back on the things that happened during
their time and feel sorrow. Now our nation has come
together not as separate people on a piece of land
but as diverse people in a glorious country.
Opinion
~ Why Kill? ~
“Human Mockingbird”
In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird
Atticus, one of the main characters in the story
tells his son Jem, “Remember it’s a sin to kill a
mockingbird.” When Jem questioned his father’s ruling
their friend Miss Maudie replied, “Your father’s
right,” she said. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing
but make music for us to enjoy . . . but sing their
hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a
mockingbird.” I’ve come to the conclusion that this
explanation does in turn pose in ironic question.
This question being: If it is a sin to kill in
innocent bird, then why do people in history feel
that it is not a sin to kill an innocent person?
If you have read the novel To Kill a
Mockingbird then you would know the person who is
killed is an older African American man named Tom
Robinson. Robinson was accused of raping a young
white woman by the name of Mayella Ewell. Tom was
granted a “fair trial” by jury, but since the equal
protection clause had not been enacted the jury was
composed of all white southerners. The trial left
many questions open for a reasonable jury to decide
upon, but this was not your present day jury. It was
as if the jury had already made their decision before
anyone had to testify. The testimonies that were
heard did not tie together, it was as though the
plaintiff’s council were leading the witnesses, and
the woman supposedly violated changed her own story
a few times. Yet the fact still remained that in this
type of society and time period the verdict would
have an obvious outcome.
When I use the term “Human Mockingbird” I
refer to the role of the mockingbird given by Miss
Maudie. Human Mockingbird being defined as: Human
being who lives their life as though everyone is the
same and does no real harm or wrong to anyone. Not
only Tom Robinson but thousands of African Americans
have in the past killed for no real reason. For Mr.
Robinson it was basically being in the wrong place at
the wrong time. For some looking at the wrong person
or even just walking down the street was reason
enough for racial prejudice to be taken out.
Although the book and the events I speak of
are mainly placed in an early post Civil War time
period, but many similar events took place before and
after this. Even now similar events are still taking
place. We as a society are continuing to overcome
the issues represented in this book. I only hope I
live to seethe day when all of the chaos is put to an
end and we unite as one.
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