The Roaring Twenties and The Savings and Loan Crisis :: American History Economics

The Roaring Twenties and The Savings and Loan Crisis The movie It's A Wonderful Life starts off in the town of Bedford Falls in the time period just prior to the Great Depression. (I will discuss the Great Depression in more detail in a later essay). It is a prosperous time-the "Roaring Twenties." Many people have invested money in the stock market and are earning quite a bit of money, there are many parties had by all with music, food and drinks, and good company and fun. There are also an abundance of inventions (such as the radio) being introduced into the economy. Furthermore, more people are able to afford such luxuries as telephones, electricity, transportation, etc†¦ During this time, in general, a lot of exchange seems to be occurring, as well as overall rapid technological change. This time period is also associated with the rise to dominance of the capitalist system, as more and more people were changing from being self-employed farmers to becoming employees who were paid a wage for their labor time. Another characteristic associated with the 1920s is the growth and expansion of the financial sector. This of course makes sense and seems justified and logical as, in order for the business sector to expand, access to capital (monetary resources) is necessary so that machinery can be bought and labor be "purchased" and employed. The financial sector (banks) took the household savings which were deposited and then loaned them out to big businesses. The big businesses were then able to continue expanding and improving and hiring people, and thus this helped to perpetuate the prosperous economic environment of the 1920s. The Buildings and Loan, as shown in the movie, (the same as what we refer to as the Savings and Loan Industry) was instituted so that individuals (not corporations) might borrow money to build homes. Therefore, where individuals were previously unable to borrow funds, they now could through this institution. This also seemed to help spur along the prosperous envi ronment of the 1920s-at least for a while. In 1929 when the financial markets collapsed, corporations could no longer afford to purchase new machinery or pay for more workers. Workers could not afford to purchase things because they were not making enough money from their wages. This decrease in demand further caused the companies to stop producing goods and to lay off more workers.

Amiri Baraka- Black Arts Movement

The Black Arts Movement Experience The spirit of the 1960s’ Black Arts Movement is captured in Amiri Baraka’s â€Å"AM/Trak,† which addresses the theory of the underlying relationship between art and culture. This simple theory of how culture works and how art reflects and influences the culture that produces it was the whole purpose of the literary movement led by Baraka. In order for one to understand their own experiences, they must acknowledge what factors have influenced how they have shaped their lives.By doing so, they will self-consciously discover and create themselves. The basis of Baraka’s poem, â€Å"AM/Trak† illustrates the defining concept of the Black Arts Movement; the notion of creating identity influenced by experiencing racial and social alienation. The development of a modernized black culture is continually drawn to question because there are many outliers that can influence the basic fundamentals of experience. â€Å"What make s experience such an important concept for Baraka is how it frames the relation between the individual and the collective†(Punday 782).The Black Arts Movement was a period of an assembled reaction against several things including the Korean War, capitalism, and the assassination of Malcom X. Although Baraka incorporates these historical events into â€Å"AM/Trak†, the history of the Beats is approached more by expressing an individual’s reaction, rather than a single technical change or influence of history on society. The appreciation of the degree of exposure from an artist or individual models how the Beats linked the identity of black culture to specific trials and tribulations.A desirable relationship between culture and society is a focalized theme in African American literature, but has been obliterated by the constant severance between historical transitions and the lack of ethical alertness (Quayson 1). Isolation of the African American population from w hite America has been influenced by harsh racism and inequality for several centuries. Although the discrimination thrived for thousands of years, the collective attitude towards the relations of the past began to deviate into a different outlook in the 1960s.The black community began to celebrate an emphasized change when exercising their self-proclaimed freedom of personal expression to improve social and economic conditions of the African American community (Yost 2). In order to establish a distinct black identity against the social reality of separation, they incorporated music, literature, and other forms of art as a way of advocating their presence not only in the United States, but the world.Baraka captures the true meaning of the new scholarly awakening with the influence of the Beat-generation by describing John Coltrane in â€Å"AM/Trak†, in which he uses a distinct style of writing to portray not only the life of the artist, but specific annotations of his music. T he musical embodiment of his work prevails that he was undoubtedly a major contributor to the spirit of the 1960s’. By analyzing Coltrane’s passion and transformation during this decade with extreme expression and struggle against racism, â€Å"AM/Trak† is brought to life: Trane was the spirit of the 60’sHe was Malcom X in New Super Bop Fire Bahhhhhh Wheeeeeee . . . Black Art!!! (152-155). The poem is a clear representation of not only the musical development of John Coltrane’s career and repressed life, but also the importance of how African-American musical expression extrapolates the expectations and contributions of individuals under the pressure of alienation (Quayson 3). According to literary critic, Henry Lacey, Baraka uses imagery to encompass the variety of ways the poem portrays the inspiring musician to be the â€Å"interpreter of the Black experience† through his music (Lacey 14).The different stages of achievements, hardships, a nd responses during Coltrane’s life are a direct narrative of the same ones produced throughout the history of the Black American life. There is an undeniable similarity of technical elements displayed in Amiri Baraka’s writing that support the same individualist revolution. One painful aspect of the African American experience begins with the lack of consciousness influenced by authority and pressure. Baraka begins the second section of the poem by describing the early experiences of Coltrane’s career in a very degrading fashion.The mood of the poem immediately digresses when Baraka mentions the names of alto saxophonist, Johnny Hodges, John Burks Gillespie, and Eddie Vinson and Blues vocalist, Big Maybelle (Lacey 15). Amiri even incorporates an allusion from Langston Hughes poem â€Å"Jazzonia,† in which he writes †Trees in the shining night forest† (Lacey 16). The tree is used as a direct reference to the lack of originality Coltrane embodi es while he works with the Joe Webb Blues Band, followed by Miles Davis.As the poem continues, the depression of the main character develops into a substance addiction and even an abusive relationship with a fellow musician, Davis. In fact, Amiri uses the word â€Å"honk† to symbolize the repetition of his continued unimportance at performances and as cry for help in the only way he knew how to; musical expressionism. It was not until Coltrane could accept his past and everything he had learned, that he could regain full consciousness of his true identity and potential future as a great musician.Similarly, the Black Arts Movement began in spite of depression and the constant repetition of haunting racism. More specifically, the death of civil rights activist, Malcom X, hindered Amiri Baraka’s determination to reform the presence of the African American culture in the United States. Consequently, the African American culture endured a period of recovery, as did Coltrane . Coltrane quest to continue searching for his identity as a musician began again by joining Thelonious Sphere Monk, co-founder of bebop, in part four of â€Å"AM/Trak† (Lacey 18).Baraka’s disjunctive mood swings represent how Coltrane conveys his emotions with Monk’s unique style of expressionism and unexpected musical transitions to understand music on a deeper level. Which then leads to the entire Be-bop movement. Coltrane uses this time as a period of regaining consciousness of the experiences that have shaped him. There was nothing left to do but be where Monk cd find him that crazy mother fucker duh duh-duh duh-duh duh duh duh duh duh-duh duh-duh duh duh duh duh duh-duh duh-duh duh duh duh uh Duuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhh (71-80). At first glance, the lines representing Monk’s compositions differ from any syntax or vocabulary used in the previous allusions. Baraka uses the distinct sounds of Monk’s work in a disjunctive manner that can only be approach ed if read aloud. When read aloud, the simple word transforms into a series of playful melodies. â€Å"Trane stood and dug / Crazy monk’s shit,† provides substantial evidence that the short time spent with Monk, Shadow Wilson, and Wilbur Ware had a lasting impact on John Coltrane’s career.In fact, it also suggests the sources essential to his success in music were also responsible for shaping his identity despite past alienation and struggle. Similarly to many African Americans during the Blacks Art Movement, Coltrane was allowed to completely expose himself. â€Å"This was Coltrane’s College. A Ph motherfuckin d / Of Master T Sphere† (100,104). As Amiri Baraka wrote the poem, he also established symbolism that the reader may relate to exemplify Coltrane’s efforts to battle several obstacles.Accordingly, in American society graduating college and especially receiving your PhD is one of the highest accomplishments recognized in our country. U tilizing this metaphor near the end of section four not only summarizes his success, but also leads the reader to question, ‘What’s Next? ’ because of the lengthy section that follows. â€Å"AM/Trak† undergoes another mood change as section five introduces the destructive forces of class struggle and maintaining true identity after being exploited by the public.Although the poem portrays the hardship of life of a musician and inspiration leader, Lacey refers to Coltrane as the â€Å"prophetic voice of his age† (Lacey 18) or as described in the poetry â€Å"A man/ black blower of the now† (121-122). However, Baraka does not immediately persuade the reader to believe that Coltrane has collectively reshaped the Be-bop movement and the black cultural identity; he forces them to establish an answer themselves based on their individual experience after reading the poem.Based on the dynamics of writing style portrayed in the poetry, Coltrane influen ces future musical generations to come with the creative features within that clearly influenced the Black Arts Movement within the text, the validity of the following quote by literary critic, Joyce A. Joyce, â€Å"An understanding of Negro expression cannot be arrived at without a constant reference to the environment which cradles it,† can be useful in making a final decision as the reader. Amiri Baraka continues the poem by concentrating the rest of the text on his own impression of Coltrane’s influence on the Blacks Art Movement, musicians, and society.He precisely acknowledges the relationship between the collective and individual response to the end of the revolution of identity and creation of the reputable quartet: â€Å"Jimmy Garrison, bass, McCoy Tyner, piano, Captain Marvel Elvin / on drums, the number itself-the precise saying / all if it in it afire aflame talking saying being doing meaning (169-171). The quartet inspired the African American community t o become believers and to preserve their true identities despite social alienation and harsh racism.If the band expressed their opinions and identity freely, then the entire black culture should have possessed the same rights without limitation as well. Fortunately, at the end of the poem, the Black Arts Movement was reflected as the turning point in accepting cultural identity; a representation of their contributions that shaped the historical experience. But did the Black Arts Movement really change â€Å"black† and â€Å"white† cultures and criticism? Literary critic, Joyce A. Joyce disagrees with the idea that white America has changed its attitude toward the African American population.Although there has been a significant transformation in the merger of black literature and white literature in our society through out the past century, African Americans are usually forced to adopt the mainstream values and lifestyles of those of in the modern American society. Joy ce disassociates Black literary criticism with mainstream analyses because African Americans have a unique duty to express their own ideas without a predetermined and uniformed consciousness based on culture or even color (Joyce 339-341).The poet’s opinions remained somewhat vague until the narration of the poem alters from Trane to Amiri Baraka, the poet himself. His vulnerability exposes his current condition and state of mind when recollecting his wearisome life compared to Trane’s portrayed personal anecdote expressed in his music: ( I lay in solitary confinement, July ‘67 Tanks rolling thru Newark and whistled all I knew of Trane my knowledge heartbeat and he was dead They saidWhen Baraka was confined in prison for the Newark riots of 1967, Lacey notes that â€Å"the poet attributes his survival to the memory of Coltrane’s music† (Lacey 19). As the poem concludes, Baraka decides to choose life over death because he is influenced by character of his own work of art and the actual inspirational of the power of his music. Most scholars would agree with Gayle, Jr. claim that, â€Å"The question for the black critic today is not how beautiful is a melody, a play, a poem, or a novel, but how much more beautiful has the poem, melody, play, or novel made the life of a single black man?How far has the work gone in transforming an American Negro into an African-American or black man? † (Joyce 340). This is perhaps an attempt to illustrate the fact that both the artist lives are surrounded by changes revolved around freedom of expression through art and alienated culture. Without enduring these experiences, good or bad, the identity of an individual cannot be defined, nor the basis of an individualistic black culture. Work Cited Lacey, Henry C. â€Å"Baraka's â€Å"AM/Trak† Everybody’s Coltrane Poem. Obsidian II: Black Literature in Review. 1. 1-2 (1986): 12-21. Print. Joyce, Joyce A. â€Å"The Black Canon: Re constructing Black American Literary Criticism. † New Literary History. 18. 2 (1987): 339-341. Print. Punday, Daniel. â€Å"The Black Arts Movement and the Geneaology of Multimedia. † New Literary History. 37. 4 (2006): 777-794. Web. 7 Dec. 2011. Quayson, Ato. â€Å"Self-Writing and Existential Alienation in African Literature. † Research in African Literatures. 42. 2 (2011): 30-45. Web. 1 Dec. 2011.

Bowling for Columbine Is Not a Documentary Essay

Michael Moore’s ‘Bowling for Columbine’, the film which won an Oscar for best documentary, is not in fact a documentary, but rather more of a persuasive essay in film format. The widely accepted definition of ‘documentary’ is a film emphasizing or expressing things as perceived without distortion of personal feelings, insertion of fictional matter, and minimal editting, and ‘Bowling for Columbine’ does not show any of these characteristics. Instead of presenting a neutral view of the issues, it is clearly biased and purposely manipulates the viewers into agreeing with Moore’s opinions. In the process, Moore frequently uses incorrect statistics and information. In some cases fabricated evidence is also inserted. Documentaries should have close to no editing of the evidence, however in some cases Moore uses sly editing techniques to deceive the viewers. A prominent example of this can be seen in Charlton Heston’s speech. It appears as though the NRA president is holding protest rallies in response to the gun related incidents in Columbine and Flint Michigan, holding a musket up and proclaiming â€Å"I have only five words for you: ‘from my cold dead hands’† whilst the crowd cheers. Moore makes a point of cutting from scenes of heartbroken victims to Heston’s ‘arrogant’ speeches. The purpose of this is to demonize Heston, and also all the members of the NRA. He wants the audience to perceive all gun lovers as heartless, selfish monsters. However on closer observation, it turns out Moore simply grabbed segments from Heston’s former speeches, splicing them together to form a new one, completely different from what the president had intended. Documentaries are meant to lay out the truth, whilst here the film has morphed the truth into a lie instead. Going back to the definition, Bowling for Columbine again falls short of being a documentary through it’s failure to include only correct, factual evidence. Moore chooses to use incorrect ‘facts’; the national gun murder statistics that seem abnormally high are sourced from the National Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, and is a combination of gun related and non gun related incidents, so is therefore irrelevant to what the documentary was trying to say. The rockets shown in the Lockheed Martin sequences and being driven though the streets of Littleton in the night are in fact space launch vehicles, not weapons of mass destruction as Moore claims. These â€Å"facts†, false in nature, are again put there to distort the truth and make the viewers believe that things are more horrifying than they actually are, so that they are more susceptible to Moore’s mental manipulation. One of the fundamentals of a documentary is that it must present facts, and obviously â€Å"Bowling for Columbine† has not fulfilled that requirement. Throughout â€Å"Bowling for Columbine†, Moore presents an extremely biased view of events. Moore does everything in his power to manipulate viewers into see things from his eyes. Many are many persuasive techniques are used to achieve this. The film horrifies the audience with confronting scenes from the 9/11 attacks and the Columbine shooting. ‘A Brief History of America’ makes people see Americans as cowardly and pathetic. Charlton Heston’s ‘speech’ angers the audience and makes them turn against gun lovers. There are many more examples, however the point is that documentaries should be neutral and informative, yet the film actively tries to force the viewers to a narrow-minded conclusion. In summary, although â€Å"Bowling for Columbine† may be a creative persuasive film, it is most certainly not a documentary. Not only does the film fail to adhere in any way to the definition of a traditional documentary, it largely utilises deceptive techniques to push Moore’s artificial and contrived point of view.

Free Essays on Shakespeare Sonnet 60

Time They say that the only certainty in this life is change. Each day brings new order to unorganized chaos. Whether we like it or not, life’s unending train ride carries us to undiscovered destinations. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 60 seems, likewise, seems to take us on a little journey through time stressing the many different facets that exist as we go through this thing we call life. I seem to get a vision through his lines that they create a link one to another, much as our life moves on from one experience to the next. The opening line of this sonnet begins with, â€Å"Like the waves make towards the pebbled shoreâ€Å" This must be a comparison of our time here on earth, only it is representative as waves that crash upon the shore of the beach. When I think of a pebbled beach, I think of how hard it is to walk on, as compared to a smooth, sandy beach. Perhaps this could compare to how life experiences are. We would all like to ease through life much as you can walk barefoot across a smoothly sandy beach. Yet, I think we all know that it is inevitable that we will once in awhile have to walk across many cracks and faults along the way. I reflect to the times I’ve seen the ocean, I always know that I will see the waves coming in and out, it’s constant, never changing. This could be a direct metaphor for time. Time is the one thing we can never change. We are always aware that when one wave crashes along the shore, yet another is just waiting to follow. Much like the waves crashing along the shore, â€Å"So do our minutes hasten to their end†. I think that is fairly self explanatory, our time here on earth continues to move forward, all the while, it seems to be gone in an instant. It’s interesting to me, when you’re young, it seems as though you will never be an adult. Yet, when you get to be an adult you’d almost give anything to be a kid again. Time seems to just race forward once you grow into maturity. The third li... Free Essays on Shakespeare Sonnet 60 Free Essays on Shakespeare Sonnet 60 Time They say that the only certainty in this life is change. Each day brings new order to unorganized chaos. Whether we like it or not, life’s unending train ride carries us to undiscovered destinations. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 60 seems, likewise, seems to take us on a little journey through time stressing the many different facets that exist as we go through this thing we call life. I seem to get a vision through his lines that they create a link one to another, much as our life moves on from one experience to the next. The opening line of this sonnet begins with, â€Å"Like the waves make towards the pebbled shoreâ€Å" This must be a comparison of our time here on earth, only it is representative as waves that crash upon the shore of the beach. When I think of a pebbled beach, I think of how hard it is to walk on, as compared to a smooth, sandy beach. Perhaps this could compare to how life experiences are. We would all like to ease through life much as you can walk barefoot across a smoothly sandy beach. Yet, I think we all know that it is inevitable that we will once in awhile have to walk across many cracks and faults along the way. I reflect to the times I’ve seen the ocean, I always know that I will see the waves coming in and out, it’s constant, never changing. This could be a direct metaphor for time. Time is the one thing we can never change. We are always aware that when one wave crashes along the shore, yet another is just waiting to follow. Much like the waves crashing along the shore, â€Å"So do our minutes hasten to their end†. I think that is fairly self explanatory, our time here on earth continues to move forward, all the while, it seems to be gone in an instant. It’s interesting to me, when you’re young, it seems as though you will never be an adult. Yet, when you get to be an adult you’d almost give anything to be a kid again. Time seems to just race forward once you grow into maturity. The third li...

Differences Between Après vs. Derrière and Avant vs. Devant

Differences Between Aprà ¨s vs. Derrià ¨re and Avant vs. Devant Aprà ¨s and Avant convey a notion of time or space. Aprà ¨s refers to doing something after while Avant refers to doing something before. Je le retrouve aprà ¨s/avant le dà ©jeunerIll meet up with him after/before lunch Aprà ¨s/avant le bois, il y a un cheminAfter/before the wood, there is a path Derriere and Devant convey a notion of precise space. Derrier refers to being behind something, or someone and Devant refers to being in front of something or someone. La petite fille est cachà ©e derrià ¨re larbreThe young girl is hidden behind the tree Pour la photo, comme tu es plus petite, va devant Camille.For the picture, since you are smaller, go in front of Camille.   Derrià ¨re le bois, il y a un cheminBehind the wood, there is a path Aprà ¨s and Derrià ¨re Are Not Interchangeable So, what is the difference between the two sentences aprà ¨s le bois, il y a un chemin and derrià ¨re le bois, il y a un chemin? They both give a piece of space-related information, but one is more precise, just like in English. Same exact logic applies to avant versus devant. Aprà ¨s Que Indicative / Avant Que Subjunctive A common mistake is Aprà ¨s que plus a subjunctive. Its a very common mistake, even among French people, because honestly, the indicative sounds terrible there. Avant que is followed by the subjunctive  because we dont yet know if the action is going to become a reality. With Aprà ¨s que, the action has taken place already: there is no doubt left, hence no need for the subjunctive. Aprà ¨s que subjunctive sounds so bad to a French ear that we will do our best to use a noun instead of a verb after. You can use the same trick with avant que et avoid using a subjunctive. Je dois commencer aprà ¨s quil part. (or aprà ¨s son dà ©part)I must start after he leaves (or after his departure). Je dois commencer avant quil parte (or avant son dà ©part).I must start before he leaves (or before his departure) By the way, even if we use le derrià ¨re in French (although this is extremely polite, just like saying the behind in English), French people use the preposition derrià ¨re without thinking about it at all. Just like in English you use behind without thinking about that part of the anatomy.

Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) - Essay Example Increased efficiency and productivity are the main goals of TPM that are focused in this study.   Jindal Steelworks is a global company - a fast growing steelworks and fabrication company, with more than 7,000 employees. The company has recently been hit hard by the global recession and is presently facing hardships in maintaining its profits. The company management has decided to implement various management techniques with the help of available technological and HR management systems in the industry. A number of production and operational management techniques were utilized to increase the value of the system routing through a well defined systematic approach that assisted the company to identify better profits.   With the purpose of sustaining the future growth options, from a finer product based business approach towards higher operational excellence of the company, the management has decided to evaluate modern techniques, TPM, being one of them. By putting in the new management applications in the form of techniques like TPM, TQM, supply chain and inter-enterprise systems, Jindal Steelworks has been able to push through higher goals, better operational excellence, higher cost savings and competitive advantage, (Roberts, 1997).   With the effects of recession on the company profit margins, and changing industry scenario, the company management has been searching for low cost operational and production techniques, along with higher effciency results and customer orieted reuslts. TPM has gained a lot of attention within the steel industry and has been successfully able to eliminate common problems to steel plants like machinery breakdowns, onsite accidents, procedural defects and lack of standards and work safety. Introduction of TPM at the work floor of Jindal steel works has helped to improve work conditions, reduced accidents rates and breakdowns by a considerable margin. TPM

M.boivs between bafflo in canada Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

M.boivs between bafflo in canada - Essay Example The disease described is bovine tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium bovis and aside from affecting cattle and humans; it can also be transmitted to other animals like goats, bison, swine, and cervids which include elks and deer. Proper disease management can only be achieve through familiarization with the means of disease transmission, diagnosis through proper identification of signs and symptoms, and employment of prevention strategies that will limit the spread of the disease. The objective of this paper is to provide basic information about the fundamentals of bovine tuberculosis for use in the formulation of disease management strategies for buffalo in Canada. Transmission of the causal organism M. bovis can take various paths. The pathogen can be spread through breathing-in of infected aerosols, by ingestion, and by passage through open wounds (CFSPH, 2009). Infected animals pass the bacteria with their feces, saliva, semen or vaginal fluid, blood, and milk. Contact with these infected bodily fluids as well as fresh carcass of dead infected animals may lead to infection because M. bovis has a relatively low infectious dose (PHAC, 2010). In the disease’s spread, it is important to be familiar with zoonosis and the role of reservoir hosts and spillover hosts. Normally, diseases have a certain genetic barrier and are confined to be infective only to members of the same or related species. But there are certain diseases that do not operate by this rule. Zoonosis is the term used to classify diseases that can naturally be transmitted from vertebrate animals to humans and vice versa. M. bovis is usually maintained in cattle populations but zoonosis is possible for monkeys, parrots, sheep, dogs, and cats among other animals (PHAC, 2010). Humans, cattle, and diseased animal tissue are the reservoir host of the bacterium. Reservoir hosts are organisms in which vast numbers of the