A Raisin In The Sun

A Raisin in the Sun had many instances of racism that are still prominent today. That is also why the narrator says that the setting is placed in a time "between World War II and the present" (Hansberry 24). The problems that they family experiences are still happening to other families today and it will probably go on to be like that for a while. This is why saying the time is up to the present is very accurate. For example, the part in the book when the Younger's get their new house in the white neighborhood, and they are later greeted by a representative of the new home's community. This is also seen in the video about redlining where the initially the whites said that the "N******" were coming. They didn't want them to taint there already perfect small community, and as a result the whites started to leave the homes. This opened up even more homes for the blacks and even more opportunities for the whites to take advantage of them and force them to make monthly payments. This is also seen in the play when Mama has to make a down payment on the house so that the owner will know that they are willing to pay every month. This just like when Mattie Lewis and the others in the video were required to pay monthly as if they didn't own the house unlike the whites who owned everything about the house. The direct result of these racist actions is also explained in the video, which are the ghettos of Chicago and other cities as well. 

The Date Plam as Big as The Ritz

So I think I did pretty well on the compare and contrast essay, but my grade will probably show otherwise. So as I wrote my essay on The Diamond As Big As The Ritz, I thought I would be able to talk about the other examples of the story that I didn't get to write about. First is the fact that John is from Hades. The name also belongs to the god who is the gate keeper of hell. This creates a symbolic connection between John and where he is from. It says that because John is not as wealthy as the others that go to his school, he is considered under them, and therefore he is from Hades (representing the underworld). This connection also showed the decline of morality within society as its corruption from wealth extends onward. The mention of Hades can also be compared to The Valley of Ashes in The Great Gatsby. As they both might represent the lower classes compared to those around them, they are seen as inferior and come from a dark place. This is on the contrary to those with a lot of wealth, as they are seen as coming from above, from the bright white lights. The next example was about the name Washington itself. Because the name Washington is associated with the start of our country and the creation of the basis of which society lives on today, it was shocking that the rich family was given such a powerful and meaningful name. This naming symbolizes that our nation was built on corruption, like the family, and that it was made from the power of wealth. This, on the other hand, represents the decline of the reality that our country is perfect and is above all others. Both the decline of reality and morality is seen throughout The Diamond as Big as The Ritz and The Great Gatsby.

The Grape Gatsby

First, I'd like to present the following tweet of me from the last Friday. 

"He hadn't once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well−loved eyes. Sometimes, too, he stared around at his possessions in a dazed way, as though in her actual and astounding presence none of it was any longer real. Once he nearly toppled down a flight of stairs. His bedroom was the simplest room of all except where the dresser was garnished with a toilet set of pure dull gold. Daisy took the brush with delight, and smoothed her hair, whereupon Gatsby sat down and shaded his eyes and began to laugh. "It's the funniest thing, old sport," he said hilariously. "I can't -When I try to −." He had passed visibly through two states and was entering upon a third. After his embarrassment and his unreasoning joy he was consumed with wonder at her presence. He had been full of the idea so long, dreamed it right through to the end, waited with his teeth set, so to speak, at an inconceivable pitch of intensity. Now, in the reaction, he was running down like an overwound clock. Recovering himself in a minute he opened for us two hulking patent cabinets which held his massed suits and dressing−gowns and ties, and his shirts, piled like bricks in stacks a dozen high. "I've got a man in England who buys me clothes. He sends over a selection of things at the beginning of each season, spring and fall." He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one, before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel, which lost their folds as they fell and covered the table in many−colored disarray. While we admired he brought more and the soft rich heap mounted higher shirts with stripes and scrolls and plaids in coral and apple−green and lavender and faint orange, and monograms of Indian blue. Suddenly, with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily. "

This passage is one of the most important in the whole book in my opinion. That's what makes it so interesting to me, along with how the passage portrays the characters and its imagery. This passage is about how Gatsby is having his first interaction with Daisy and they are currently in Gatsby's house. Gatsby is dumbfounded after looking at Daisy the whole time they are at the house. He can't take his eyes off of her, not even as he almost falls down a flight of stairs. Gatsby is so "consumed with wonder at her presence" that he isn't able to speak at all only stare at her. This is also the part where Daisy sees all of Gatsby's wealth for the first time. As she is obliviously attracted to it, she starts to realize her lost love for Gatsby, so she starts crying about how the shirts (wealth) are so beautiful. 

Another key line in the passage above was when Nick called Gatsby an "overwound clock." This is relating to not only the clock that Gatsby almost smashed, but the desire that Gatsby has to try and make things like they were in the past. He had been waiting all this time to get to Daisy, but now that he is with her, he turns out to be broken and messed up, like an overwound clock. He cannot go back to the way things were, like in his past, and this is what ends up eventually destroying him. Now that Daisy has moved on with Tom, Gatsby starts to feel that he is left out and this amplifies his feelings for Daisy. Ultimately, this passage is a shift in the book, as the characters are shown under a new light for the first time, and that is the reason why this is one of my favorite passages.

Modernism's Mandarins

Modernism is all about change and reform. New ideas are popping up everywhere with new inventions, types of literature, and advertisements, just to name a few. Modernism fostered a period of experimentation in the arts from the late 19th to the mid-20th century. This era is almost mainly about industrialization and social changes. More knowledge through advertising and other processes was obtained by many. This led to a direct result in lots of new technologies. For example, new cars, radios, refrigerators all came out during this time; however, one of the most important appliances was the washer and dryer. This saved a huge amount of time for women all across the country allowing them, for the first time, to do other things they wanted. A result of this was the 19th amendment, with woman's suffrage laws and the right to vote coming in. As shown by the picture below, a few women are working on a car, a scene not so typical before modernism. These women learned how the car works and are able to fix it, not having to solely rely on men to do this type of job.



Modernism could arguably be called one of the most crucial times to this country. Not only did this have a direct effect on the country, but also the world as. Our economy grew because of these new technologies and scientific advances, in turn helping allied countries as well. As said by Mother Teresa, "I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples" meaning that she can help influence people to change and reform their lives in order to better the community  and the world.