AMST 3700 post #5

Today I am writing about the beautifully written book "Bombingham". One of the main themes that I enjoyed seeing in the book was how their was a constant juxtaposition between the war Walter Burke was fighting in Vietnam and his memories of the violence he witnessed in his childhood in Birmingham, Alabama. Both times ending with him learning a little bit more about himself and his place in the world. I felt like even though I do not live in the world he did, I can relate.

I can relate because all kids at the age of Walter think the same. The little things he would pick up on such as the way he would explain how big adults were is very reminiscent to how I thought adults were. He always mentioned his father as being this very large man but in reality he probably was not that big. When I grew up past 15 I did not think that my dad was that big.

Also in "Bombingham" Walter and Lamar got into trouble very similar to the kind of trouble that I got in as a kid. Of course I never really experienced the racial prejudice that they did growing up I can remember getting into petty trouble as a youngster.

Overall, to me, I enjoyed the book because it acted as a collage to my own life. Showing me things that I have not done in a while or people I have not seen in a while.

AMST 3700 post #4

This weeks blog I am going to discuss the assigned reading "The Man in The Gray Flannel Suit". I would first like to discuss how the book shined a mirror on the traditional executive position of the 1950's business man. The ability to depict how one man tries conform with a movement larger than him in both lifestyle and leisure activities was beautifully translated in the novel. The dull way of life of the "yes man" is found in most industries, in most countries, but in America and in this time period it was especially unique. I am personally a big fan of the era before and during this period and this was a great look at the hopelessness that surrounded the typical American business man. Not only was it that they worked for firms that required them to fit this niche but it was also that the book addressed issues surrounding them being WWII veterans. Veterans who were unsatisfied with the excitement of their own personal lives.

In the book this has a negative affect on the relationship between Tom and his wife Betsy. It is like he is not so much unsatisfied with her but it seems that way because his past life experiences make him believe that there is something more to life. Throughout the story this is made evident in Tom's strive for a better life where he is risking his present relationship with thoughts of his past lover during the war.

The characters in the novel and their lifestyle are parellel to the AMC television show "Mad Men". I feel like the story lines and ability to look into social norms is depicted perfectly in the television series and book.

AMST 3700 post #3

In reading "Building Suburbia" I am taken back first and foremost about how manipulated the average American was to buy a home in the suburbs. I guess it is because everyone at the time and even in today's society did so. According to the first chapter mass marketing was partly to be held responsible for a flood of families to planned neighborhoods during different times of the 19th and 20th century, and even today.

Living in a "neighborhood" created a micro society in each suburb of America that brought out new gender roles not seen in it's past. Men were often seen as the bread winners of the family that went to a job everyday and women were the ones who cooked cleaned and took care of the children. Advertisements and marketing were huge in making this picturesque ideal larger than life. Once this has been established, there became a flood of new businesses, transportation companies and owners of utility companies that were ready take advantage of the market.

This is very interesting to me because I feel like this still exists but in a more diverse way, with niches being taken care of too when it comes to advertising. For instance in the book the author writes about how hair salons were huge in flooding the suburbs. Now, there is more than just hair salons, there are nail salons, tanning salons and in most small cities there are even nail supply shops. You could open up your own store if you would like.

AMST 3700 post #2

So far I am about half way through "America As Second Creation" and it is really blowing my mind. I realize we are to read up to chapter 7 according to our syllabus so I am assuming that "half way" means that I am "done" with the book for the class.

So far, here are my thoughts about some of the interesting things talked about in chapter 6 and 7:

The middle of the nineteenth century had two criticism coming from two different sides. The first to criticize were criticizing because of the exploitation of the average mill worker. The second to criticize was most likely not from the mill worker and their concerns about the mills negative affect on the environment. Mills of all forms were being critiqued for their negative environmental affect. A professor from Harvard, Louis Agassiz, blamed one of the many aspects of pollution, the decline of fish, on sawdust, dyes, acids, and the many different industrial wastes. The American way of thinking, where they are creating a second creation, is actually destroying the first creation instead. This is a brilliant realization that I feel leaves no real room for argument. The colonists, then the innovators, who used "second creation" as an excuse for spreading their own selfish initiatives are now being confronted about it in a very real way. This argument between the two still goes on to this day and I doubt it will end any time soon.

In Chapter 7 the discussion begins about the beginning of the extensive maze of rail roads and canals that were meant to unite the young nation. Canals showed a big increase in investments, especially in 1817 with the Erie Canal. The Canal was two times longer than any canal in Europe. Which showed a form of dominance that the young nation was having on it's older brother of England. It was common to compare the first canals to railroads, the chapter says.

I only got about half way through the first chapter but it looks good.

Steven

AMST 3700 Post #1

Hello! This is my first blog post for my American Studies 3700 class on Monday and Wednesdays from 11-12:15. I read the introduction and the first chapter of America As Second Creation and I feel like it is starting off very interesting. The author, David E. Nye, starts off by writing about how the technological innovations really progressed the intentions of the stories that were being written throughout the history of America.