American Idol

Why is the media vital to our society? The media overwhelms society with drama and entertainment. In “Supersaturation, or, The Media Torrent and Disposable Feeling” by Todd Gitlin, paintings were what television is today: entertainment. The rich surrounded themselves with paintings similar to the way media surrounds us. Gitlin feels as though media desensitizes people and therefore modern day feelings seem “disposable.” Society moves from one topic to the next to keep up with trends displayed in…

dolls. I remember wishing to be the black Barbie doll. I would throw pennies into wishing wells and make wishes on shooting stars that I would wake up as the black Barbie. It was then that I realized the difference of my white skin in comparison to my idol that had dark skin. My mother taught at a title one elementary school, and I was enrolled in the head start next door. The majority of the children that were enrolled were Hispanic. I went from head start to fifth grade with mainly Hispanic…

The United States is the land of the free and home of the brave, it is a place that welcomes everyone. Many different ethnicities living in the same nation as a whole makes up a melting pot nation. We coexist with each other and have overcame many obstacles, together, throughout many years. In recent years, issues have emerged amongst the minorities of our nation wanting equal rights and freedoms. The main focus is on black rights and police brutality against them. These issues have been…

Who’s Dream?: A New Historicist Analysis of The American Dream in the 50’s and 60’s I The mantra the United States of America was founded upon proclaims that all men are born with natural rights and created equal. While promising freedom and protection to all its citizens, the very heart of the country only beats for a small percentage of its able bodied, sound minded, financially stable, men of certain races and lifestyles. Although the 50’s and 60’s are often portrayed as ideal decades for…

What does it mean to be a “lady” in the American South during the 1930’s? Southern Literature is rife with stereotypes of the feminine ideal--a woman of genteel and refined “background” who is devoted and utterly subservient “to her man.” In To Kill a Mockingbird (1960), Harper Lee deconstructs that ideal by proposing an alternate version of womanhood. The story traces the experiences of her narrator, Scout as she learns to navigate the complexities of traditional norms, customs, and values.…

Nate Hendley, the Author of American Gangsters Then and Now says that Capone committed over a dozen murders and ordered many more during his time as Chicago’s most feared gangster. Many were thought out and elaborately planned and others were spur of the moment and in front of many…

black athletes ever that doesn’t include Tiger Woods is not something I can get behind. This list, the result of public responses to surveys conducted by SurveyMonkey for The Undefeated, could be called “50 Great Athletes People Admire Most” or “Americans’ 50 Favorite Black Athletes.” But it ain’t a credible list of the greatest if it doesn’t include Tiger. You can dislike Tiger and you can dislike golf, but if you fail to acknowledge his competitive brilliance, his dominance of the oldest…

my desire for an American one. I wanted nothing to do with being Vietnamese or Asian because all that it had brought me was a sense of inferiority and constant bullying. My desire to suppress my Vietnamese identity brings up a point that is brought up by Ms. Mori, the protagonist’s friend with benefits. During one of their conversations, she asks, “So why are we supposed to not forget our culture? Isn’t my culture right here since I was born here?” (73). She is a Japanese American who has…

cultural and historical background of rap music. Historical Background and Slave Songs AFRICAN SECTION The music examined in this essay was developed in the urban areas of the United States in the last century, largely amongst working class African American men; however, it began much earlier. The earliest recordings of ‘black’ music can be traced back to West Africa and the Groits people who would tell stories through the use of rhyme over the beat of a drum (PBS, 2014). According to Paul…

black snakes slithering across her wrists and elbows. Names of various rock stars and movie actors: Alice Cooper, Christopher Lee, Tim Burton, C.C. DeVille, Johnny Depp, John Carpenter. She had made her skin her own permanent autograph book for her idols. She had driven in from New Jersey this morning on a mission to get the signature of A.J. Pero, the drummer of Twisted Sister. Then, as she told me, she would have all the signatures of her favorite band marked permanently on her skin. Upon…