Why are people so paranoid? How can something so frivolous and unbelievable bring out the worst in us? There was a time when everyone was going hysterical over nothing, thousands of artists were getting laid off for no good reason, and a national communist scare had the nation at a standstill. In premise, it sure reminds me of Arthur Miller's The Crucible, where a small town in Massachusetts goes stark crazy over what seems to be a huge witch hunt but in this case, it's not the 1600's anymore and it's hard to believe this was the United States in 1954 under the iron-mouthed Senator John McCarthy.
There were several communist scares in the United States such as the Red Scare in the 1920s and the Palmer Raids that followed, but in February 1950 Senator John McCarthy acquired quite a following when he began pointing fingers at alleged communist sympathizers. The hysteria and paranoia that had existed post World War I returned in full swing once more, but this time the threat was even greater and movie directors, actors, writers and other artists were being deemed potential communists and were chastised. Black listing, which was a list that had prevented the people on it to acquire jobs because of the potential communist threat, made many artists whom lost their jobs were unable to acquire any more work; lives were ruined.
The madness finally ended in 1954 when McCarthy accused the secretary of the Army for concealing foreign espionage activities. The secretary fought back in a widely publicized set of debates. McCarthy was then seen as brash and temperamental, with little evidence to back up any of his claims, and then his following had died like the hysteria that he had brought with him; this had thus set the stage for Miller's play The Crucible. .
Arthur Miller had rewritten the Witch-hunt that had occurred there in 1692 into a fictional literary piece. The play The Crucible used the historical witch-hunts with fictitious characters to subtly question the actions that the government was taking to prevent communist spreading.
Not long after the publication on the polka, Chopin's first literary piece was published. ... Much of the influence for Chopin's work comes from the writing of French short story master Guy de Maupassant. ... The setting seemed to throw the reviewers off. ... However the reviewers looked upon the book as strange because of the setting. ... The novel became a nationwide conversation piece (Ewell 24). ...
Every piece of literature is based upon a theme. ... As we know, any piece of literature must obtain a setting and plot in order to inform the reader with more specific details. ... The time period in which the setting takes place around is an essential detail because it expresses what the outlook on the social environment is at that day in time. However, the atmosphere and geographic area is just as essential as the time period in literature. ... A child who is interested in reading all literature should be mature or shouldn't easily be influenced by the text. ...
Several literary elements such as setting, characterization, and theme depict the environment's huge influence on Miss Emily's relationships. The great extent to which the environment influences the relationships between Miss Emily and Homer Barron and the two generations of the townspeople is evident in the literary element of setting. Faulkner uses the element of time to enhance details of the setting and vice versa. ... Once again, time stands in her house, while the rest of the setting, the town, changes. ... The great extent to which the environment influences the relations...
After studying at Cambridge he launched his literary career in Berlin and Paris. ... Big publication names like Vanity Fair also wrote about the authenticity of the master piece saying it was, "The only convincing love story of the century," (Vanity Fair, Gregor von Rezzori). ... Lolita really was about America though and not just to do with Humbert's road tripping all over it with his Lolita but the whole story unfolds in relation to the setting and everything that America was offering its population at the time like the youth being heavily influenced by Hollywood and the evolv...
Brilliant, prolific, and still controversial, Rudyard Kipling remains one of the most widely popular authors in literary history (Page 1). Kipling's greatest influences on his works were his own life experiences. ... He paints pictures of the setting with dramatic descriptive language. ... Kim defines his identity by being open to influences and finding people he can look up to, like the lama, and Colonel Creighton while warding off influences that he does not feel he can look up to. At the beginning of the story, t...
This language evolved into recognized national languages that became acceptable vehicles for literary expression. ... During the Renaissance, artists were no longer regarded as mere artisans, as they had been in the medieval past, but for the first time emerged as independent personalities, comparable to poets and writers. ... As these innovations were taking place, music also grew increasingly secular and was enjoyed in many settings outside of the church. ... A piece that used this type of method was the "Sumer is icumen". ... Influencing literature, visual arts, and music, humanism emba...
Paschal, "The author's central meaning or the theme of a literary work" (372). ... In fact, one can determine the idea by looking closely at other literary elements involved, such as characterization, setting, events, point of view, tone, irony, imagery, etc. In other words, idea is illuminated through these literary elements. ... Cather's presentation of why Paul has no regard for authority comes simply from their attitudes towards him, that in the midst of crying out no one would take the time to listen. ... Just as idea in "Paul's Case" is important for an in-depth study...
This time the book was not published anonymously, but under the name Edgar a. ... He has influenced literature in many ways, but his greatest influence comes about in the murder mystery. ... The sophistication of Poe's psychology is the major factor in the story's success as a nightmare piece. The setting of the tale is a " dull,dark, and soundless day in the autumn" with clouds hanging oppressive and low. ... Some critics and scholars see this piece as an exploration of the artistic imagination; others view it as one dealing with erotic, sexual interests. ...
By making literary works open to such criticism, we may never truly know what the correct meaning of the work is. ... Different things determine how different types of people look at a piece of literature such as Dickinson's. ... They do not fear death, and they have the mindset to embrace it when it is time to pass. ... By seeing all of the different qualities and traits a person has that influences how they read literature, it's easy to see why everyone has their own take on any given piece. Emily Dickinson's piece touches on many controversial ideas between all of the catego...