Favorite Literary Movement

     The American literature we have read and studied this year has been, to me, more interesting than appealing. I know that seems a little contradictory, but it's true. I found the progression of writing fascinating, the changes and tweaks from movement to movement intriguing. I was impressed with the writers' mastery of capturing their time period, as well as creating a definitive style. So congrats, Hawthorne, Franklin, Thoreau, London, I applaud you. But I wouldn't buy your books.
     That's the thing. While reading, I enjoyed the fact that I was picking up on how and why the authors wrote their prose, but I didn't particularly enjoy the actual book. Okay, okay, Huck Finn was decent, but I'm not so keen on the whole realism movement. So where does that leave me for this blog post?
     Though I'm not overwhelmingly obsessed with one particular literary movement, I think I have to declare Modernism as the winner. Why? Gatsby captured my heart. It didn't hit me until I was finished with the book and confirming my suspicions about symbolism and all that jazz via Shmoop. I realized that Fitzgerald was a literary genius and Gatsby was this never ending puzzle of hidden meaning and commentary and importance. The night before the Gatsby test, all I wanted to do was read the whole book again -- it was kind of like the feeling you get when someone points out some tiny detail in a movie that you didn't notice and your first instinct is to go watch it again from start to finish.
     I'll admit that I wasn't crazy about The Old Man and the Sea, but I appreciated how Hemingway could convey such huge ideas into such simplistic writing. That's truly what I like about Modernism: hidden meaning. It makes literature more interesting, more challenging. Another plus is that Modernism was at its height around my favorite historical time period, with World War I, World War II, and all that good stuff.
     So there you have it. Modernism takes the cake. But if and when Harry Potterism is created, I'm updating this blog post immediately.

American Dream or American Nightmare?

Ask the average person what the American Dream is and you'll hear the typical, elementary response: a white picket fence and 2.5 kids -- maybe even a golden retriever thrown into the mix. You would have elicited the same response from me, too, just a few weeks ago. After reading The Great Gatsby and looking over all the evidence from the classroom debate, I have come to the conclusion that the American Dream has more to it then some white paneling and children running rampant. To me, the American Dream stems from the belief that in America, one who works hard and seizes every opportunity has the ability to rise up in society, to succeed, to prosper. This is why millions upon millions of people have staked their claim in the land of the free and the home of the brave -- to live the Dream. Some argue, however, that the Dream is dying -- or that has long been dead. Head honchos of colossal corporations are hogging America's wealth, they say, and making it extremely difficult -- almost impossible, even -- for the average Joe to be as successful as he should be. The poor are getting poorer while the rich are getting poorer -- and perhaps more corrupt, as Fitzgerald points out in Gatsby. I don't know all the facts and figures, and I'm certainly not an expert on the subject, but I think that we should not be so quick to declare the age-old Dream dead. Opportunity is still around every corner, whether it be in the form of scholarships, the growth of home businesses, or the explosion of Internet successes. The average American is far wealthier than their ancestors -- it is commonplace for a family to live in a comfortable house and own a computer, a TV, and at least two cars. Sure, corporate giants may be enjoying a larger slice of the pie, but it is only because they are slyly maximizing every opportunity they get to make more money, to push the envelope, to become more successful. It is them, ironically, who are making the Dream more lively than it has ever been before.