Joseph E. Brown

Beethoven Center The Beethoven Center, located on the fifth floor of the MLK library, holds many historical artifacts and background on Beethoven and his time period. The center was much smaller than what I had originally anticipated. However, I was able to learn a lot of new facts that fascinated me about Beethoven during the visit. The person conducting the presentation for the class seems to be highly educated about Beethoven’s entire life. It was nice to hear her play different pieces by…

Without a doubt, Achebe would challenge such a sentimental depiction of his characters and the people they represent. In fact many Western essayists who wrote on expansionism (counting Joseph Conrad) were against colonialism, however, were sentimental in their depiction of “respectable savages” — primitive and carnal, yet uncorrupted and pure. Achebe sees this thought as an unsatisfactory contention and also a myth. The Igbos were not…

The books Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness are both about African tribes and white men taking them over. While there are similarities, there are far more differences. One of the most obvious differences is the point of view of which the stories are told. While Things Fall Apart is told from the perspective of a powerful tribe leader, Heart of Darkness is told from a European workers point of view. These two viewpoints are excellent examples of how white people can skew the way African…

Katie Fukushima AP Literature and Composition Mrs. Engelkes 19 October, 2015 Novel Notebook: Catch-22 Setting/Matter: Catch-22 is set in Italy during WWII, amidst the army. It is not a happy place or circumstance that many are in. It is mentioned in the foreword that Catch-22 takes place on the island of Pianosa, but the author explains, “The island of Pianosa lies in the Mediterranean Sea eight miles south of Elba. It is very small and obviously could not accommodate all of the actions…

In contemporary times, the word “myth” signifies a misrepresentation of facts, rumors, or imaginary stories. According to William Bascom, “Myths are prose narratives which, in the society in which they are told, are considered to be truthful accounts of what happened in the remote past (9). In other words, a myth narrates important historical, religious, and social aspects of a period, but contains a famous cultural hero that mirrors that society. For example, the life and death of the Volscian…

During the WWI and WWII, many of the Americans feared the Red Scare and what would the attackers possibly have in mind to do to the United States. The American government instilled much of their fear in its own citizens towards the communist government. The Red Scare started shortly after the end of the World War 1 and the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia by the Communists. This scare went world wide after the Communists had…

Debora Arko-Mensah Ault AP Lang 07 October 2015 McCullers, Carson. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company Stories Book The story , The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter is focused mainly on a peculiar individual named Mr.Singer and how his interactions with people affected them. When the story starts, it illustrates two deaf-mutes presiding in a Southern town who are very good friends. Their names John Singer and Antonopoulos. All is well until Antonopoulos becomes sick and the…

"The Founding Brothers", written by Joseph J. Ellis, can be described as a nonfiction that summarizes the events in the revolutionary generation and its great leaders, by incorporating them into six individual stories. The six stories in “The Founding Brothers”, talked about six completely different topics, which were all centralized around Ellis thesis in “The Founding Brothers”. Ellis’ main purpose in writing “The Founding Brothers” was to illustrate, the connections between the political…

At the time Conrad wrote this novel the “Scramble for Africa” was taking place. Many Europeans nations were in competition with each other to see who could have the most wealth and power: this was accomplished through the colonization of Africa. Conrad had worked as a sailor and spent some time commanding a steamship along the Belgian Congo. The colony that had received the most brutal treatment was the one along the Belgian Congo. The natives received one of the worst treatments from the…

Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness represents this overwhelming divide between what we namely think of as civilized people and those who are not encroached by rules and regulations. Surprisingly, the sailor retelling his journey in Africa, Charles Marlow, realizes that in fact, there is little that separates himself from the natives living within tribal territories in the jungle. Furthermore, Conrad ironically denotes this fear that we all have of being free from society’s chains placed upon us.…