E. L. Doctorow

Undoubtedly, one of the most tragic moments in history was the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion. On January 28th, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded just 73 seconds after liftoff , killing all 7 of the crew members onboard. There were many theories about what could have caused the explosion to occur. One report claimed that there was a certain pattern with the smoke trail indicating that the shuttle ran into a jetstream. However, freezing temperatures hardened rubber o-rings on one…

Charles Pierce author of Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free, graduated in 1975 from Marquette University with a degree in journalism. Pierce is currently a senior journalist and on-line political blogger at Esquire Magazine. His writing has been published with the New York Times Magazine and LA Times Magazine along with Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. While searching the provided list of books to choose for this review, I chose Idiot America: How…

Both Graham Greene’s book, The Quiet American and Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s movie adaptation of “the Quiet American” have the three same main characters, as well as the general storyline. Fowler and Phuong are happily together, but then The American, Pyle, arrives in Vietnam and pursues Phuong for her hand in marriage. While the characters and their dramatic love triangle remains the same, there are discrepancies between the actions and personalities of the characters, especially The American. By…

I would definitely say that this film broadened my understanding of the great depression in a way that a lecture never could. I have learned about the great depression many times throughout my education but I never realized how desperate these people really were. Tom and his family's trip is a great example of this. It amazed me that Tom’s entire family fit in a single car and drove across the country to look for work that wasn’t even guaranteed. Then the family found out, from a man in the…

January 28,1986, was a tragic day in history. It was the day that the STS-51-L mission was the 25th flight launch of the Space Shuttle Program. The mission ended as a tragic, the Challenger suddenly had a catastrophic disaster with only 73 seconds from lift off, the shuttle killed all seven crew members. The Space Shuttle Disaster has a rememberance memorial in Washington D.C in the Arlington National Cemetery. The national Aeronautics and Space Administration will always remember the day that…

Most of the books and films about the Space Shuttle Challenger that I could locate focused on the technical side of the explosion. I could not find anything that focused on Christa McAuliffe and Allan McDonald as the events unfolded. I want to start off my film with a quote by Gus Grissom; he is a famous astronaut who perished during a pretest launch for Apollo I. Grissom said, “If we die, we want people to accept it. We are in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us it will…

The Church of Scientology considers itself to be a religion due to its focus on the human soul and the awareness of the spirit. Scientologists believe in a God or something like a god, but they do not offer a doctrine or any details to support it. L. Ron Hubbard founded Scientology and he noted the importance of the belief in a “Supreme Being” to all humanity. “God is, therefore, the Eighth Dynamic, which is also known as Infinity. Scientologists who progress to the Eighth Dynamic come to their…

Throughout the movie the Wizard of Oz the Scarecrow would say “if I only had a brain”. However, the Scarecrow didn’t even need a brain; he already had what he wanted. This was shown in multiple scenes of the movie; one being when Dorothy tries to pick apples from the tree. In the movie, the Scarecrow’s smarts are shown by how he gets apples for Dorothy. Dorothy tries to pick apples from a tree and they yell at her and Dorothy is frightened. Next, the scarecrow pulls Dorothy away from the trees…

On January 28, 1986, seven astronauts Christa McAuliffe, (an American History and English teacher), Judith Resnik, (Mission Specialist), Francis (Dick) Scobee, (Spacecraft Commander),Ronald McNair, (Mission Specialist), Michael Smith, (Pilot), Ellison Onizuka, (Mission Specialist),and Gregory Jarvis, (Payload Specialist), dove into an adventure that would take one American citizen (a teacher) into the depths of space. The Challenger was an extremely inspirational mission, just not in the way…

In “A Trickster’s Tale: L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” William R. Leach argues that Baum’s work is not the fairy-tale celebration of America we see in the 1939 Judy Garland movie; it is actually a celebration of values responsible for making America the economic power it is today. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz amplifies the American ideology of mind-cure, American Urbanization through its use of color, and embodies the real American “trickster.” Leach believes Baum’s use of these…