Yesterday we discussed many ways that American literature was developing during the mid 1800s and was influencing American culture and beliefs. Discuss a book written in the last 10 years that you feel has impacted American society and culture and compare that to some of the literature we have discussed in class. Which was more significant? How does the impact of your book compare to a Walden, Leaves of Grass, or Uncle Tom's Cabin? Feel free to elaborate on any of these subjects and comment on others' ideas.
20 Comments
Olivia McSwain
12/5/2012 02:54:48 am
One of the most popular books of the last decade is the Harry Potter franchise. Although these books were published in the UK, they are extremely popular in the States as well. These books range in popularity between young children to the elderly because of the author, JK Rowling’s ability to satisfy such a large demographic with her adventures. Harry Potter books have impacted American society because they greatly encourage a new generation of children to read for pleasure, and making them more likely to become smarter than if they did not read as much. Compared to the transcendentalist’s novels of the late 19th century, Harry Potter books have left barely a dent on American society. For example, in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” exposes the real life of a slave and the misery they experienced. Before “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, it was impossible for a white person to relate to a slave’s life, and UTC radically changed how American’s felt toward African American’s, thus starting the abolitionist movement.
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Maggie Lewis
12/5/2012 05:26:13 am
I have found the novel "Kite Runner" a pretty influential book. Other than being a good read and well written, it also started society talking about Afghanistan. It gave a more personal description of the inhumane things that went on in Afghanistan just like "Uncle Tom's Cabin" showed the life of a slave. "Kite Runner" was especially eye opening because since it wasn't happening here in the U.S, its hard to know what was going on so far away.
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Taylor O'Hara
12/5/2012 07:40:52 am
I feel that "The Help" has become a very powerful and inspiring novel in America. The story deals with the African-American civil rights movement and its underlying theme of racism also deals with some pertinent issues like feminism and domestic violence. We see the daily lives of African-Americans in the 1960s American society, which was plagued by racism. This novel closely relates to "Uncle Tom's Cabin", which, as Olivia said, exposes the daily life of a slave and the hardships they faced.
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Tim Mains
12/5/2012 08:30:31 am
I believe that one of the most influential book is "The Da Vinci Code." The novel has a different point of view on Christianity and on Jesus. The novel gets people to think that Jesus is not who the Christians say he is and that Christianity is all a conspiracy. Just like "The Da Vinci Code,' "Uncle Tom's Cabin" also shows a different point of view of slavery and the life of a slave. These two books change a lot of peoples opinions on the subject of Christianity and slavery.
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Laura Finke
12/5/2012 10:37:58 am
The book Getting Away with Murder is a book the influenced America culture. The book tells the store of Emmett Till and his gruesome murder during segregation in America. This book not only shows the judicial system as being prejudiced towards African-Americans, but it also shows what horrible things occurred during segregation in American. I believe this book can be said to be like Uncle Tom's Cabin. This because Uncle Tom's Cabin shows the true conditions of slavery and changed how it was looked at; this like Getting Away with Murder due to it showing true hardships as well.
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The Nazi
12/5/2012 11:00:43 am
The only book I can think of that has been written in the last century, that has had a great impact on America is The Jungle. Now "The Jungle" was written a hundred years ago, but I really can't think of any other. In this book it tells the story of an immigrant who came to America and the life he had. The book showed the evils of the stockyards, of how people had to live alone to survive, and how the only way to live comfortably is to be a crimiinal. This is just like "Uncle Tom's Cabin" because "The Jungle" provided an insight on immigrant life and "Uncle Tom's Cabin" told the story of slave life. Both books showed truths that people were denying to make them feel better. (P.S. Really hard to not choose Mein Kampf and sorry Mr. Haynes that were all comparing it to Uncle Tom's Cabin.)
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Parth Patel
12/5/2012 11:04:24 am
In my opinion “The Book Thief” has been one of the most influential books written in the last ten years. The book is about Liesel Meminger and her foster family as they hide a Jewish man in dangerous times. “The Book Thief” is impactful on American society because it thought-provoking and helps society remember the atrocities that occurred in Germany under Hitler so that they don’t happen again. It shows the suffering that people, especially Jewish people, faced in Nazi Germany, just like in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” which shows the suffering of slaves. Both of these novels are significant because they are influential on the evils of slavery and persecution.
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Kristen Wesley
12/5/2012 08:59:11 pm
Like Maggie, I also think that "The Kite Runner" has impacted society. It revealed why was really happening in Afghanistan and opened our eyes to how well off we are in the United States, much like "Uncle Tom's Cabin" revealed the truths of slavery.
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madelyn neidhardt
12/5/2012 09:02:47 pm
The novel an iconvienent truth is one that has had an impact on society. Al Gore wrote it to raise awareness on global warming and at the time it was not recognized as true. Today most people recognize global warming as true. It also lead to more people recycling, more enerdy efficient cars, and thepossibility of alternative energy sources. Just like with Uncle Tom's Cabin it raised awareness of a very much ignored issue.
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Maggie Lewis
12/5/2012 09:02:57 pm
In response to The Nazi *cough, cough, Alex* I really wanted to talk about "The 50 Shades Gray" and hour it shaped the way women think about sex.
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Megan
12/6/2012 07:07:28 am
Maggie!! I agree with the 50 Shades of Gray comment... I think you could have used it as your book. Apparently, we're expecting the next "Baby Boom" due to such great literature;) I think we can already see this happening at school... That's an impact on society, how will these children feel when they grow up to know that they weren't exactly planned, but rather spur of the moment thanks to a book? We could potentialy see a decrease in reading, kids might begin to think that babies come from books. (HAHA) And really this will effect Haynes because he'll have more dill-bags to deal with... I think an early retirement is in his future.
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Desiree
12/6/2012 01:21:56 am
"And Tango Makes Three" is a childrens book about the two male penguins at a zoo that take care of a baby penguin had a huge impact on our society because of the story line. The children's book had an impact because the parents of the children did not want their children to think that it was okay for their children to raise children with the same sex. The book changed the way society viewed homosexuality.
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Llama
12/6/2012 03:58:29 am
The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss, Dr. Arthur Agatston, is one of the most influencial books in our society today. With obesity becoming a large problem in America, many people have resorted to "self help", "diet", books such as this in order to regain control over their life. By controlling their dietary habits people can contribute to lowering the obesity numbers.
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Shelby
12/6/2012 10:55:57 am
I like food.
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Destiny
12/6/2012 05:07:41 am
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote has made an impact on our society because it caused people who lived in small towns like Holcomb, Kansas to be more fearful of the people around them. It changed how everyone felt about strangers and people they didn't know, and it gave people an insight into how murderers think and what things go through their mind before, during, and after murdering someone.
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Haynes the Librarian
12/6/2012 05:09:54 am
Harry Potter is, of course, the first thing that comes to mind as it has become the impetus for a societal shift in literature for children. HP is the first series of books for children to consistently surpass 300 pages & it's popularity proved that kids are willing and capable of reading books of such length if the story is compelling and the writing exceptional. It is also one of the first series to appeal to all ages, kids, teens and grownups lined up to buy (or check out!) the latest addition to the series (the only other aeries that might compete is L of the R). Publishers really changed their business model after the HP success. While quality literature for children has existed for a long time, it has often been the exception rather than the rule ( a look at award winning books compared to bestsellers illustrates this point nicely).I would argue that the average book that is published today is of higher quality than those in the 30 years before HP. And, the number of books published for children has increased exponentially every year since HP & the Sorcerer's Stone was published (nearly 10% per year). Publishers have also learned to target adults as readers of fiction for children and teens: Twilight, Hunger Games, among others. In the library, we have seen a change in patron demographics in the kid and teen sections, observing more adults peruse the shelves for their own books. HP was a game changer for a large segment of society, but it did not create as great a societal shift as Uncle Tom's Cabin.
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Kristin Hemingway
12/6/2012 06:11:51 am
I would have to agree with the Nazi on this one. (Even though it was around 100 years ago...10 x 10 is 100 and 10 is in that. So that should count!) "The Jungle" is a good book that has influenced America because of immigration as well as how terrible conditions were for preparing the food that we consume. With the showings of the stockyards and the gruesome acts of the ways that they took in killing animals for meat, was unsanitary and surreal. Working in these conditions were the only way that families from different countries that moved to the Americas could survive. Both "The Jungle" and "Uncle Tom's Cabin" were novels that could relate to one another due to immigration and slavery because the working conditions in "The Jungle" could be considered for how harsh slaves had to work as well. Overall, things have changed since then and it isn't the same and good outcomes have come out of both. (Ex. Pure Food and Drug Act passed, Meat Inspection Act passed, and slavery being abolished)
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Adi
12/6/2012 07:37:52 am
"A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khalid Hosseini,really shoved the truth about the treatment of women in Afghanistan and other countries, in America's face. Sure, we all knew that they were treated poorly, and they had some sort of crazy "Nazi" thing going on with all the stoning and hand-cutting...the Taliban...terrorism. It all sounds pretty bad, but America can't point a finger if they just sat there and watched, knowing it was wrong, and did nothing to stop it. Of course, no one really watched. but knew. I feel like it wasn't until this novel, and of course, journalist that published their work on the issue, that women in this part of the world were being helped. And even then, they have SECRET women's shelter.
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Katherine Zumba
12/6/2012 09:22:53 am
I believe that the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime is a pretty influential book. It opened people's eyes about autism and made the health department become aware of that and begin ways of preventing it. People with autism shouldn't be discriminated because of how they were born; they could be capable of huge things like finding your mother as in the novel.
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Shelby Green
12/6/2012 10:53:08 am
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hossieni is a very influential novel. By it being told through women's respective made it relatable therefore creating more of an impact. There has obviously been a huge amount of controversy between the U.S. and the middle east.This novel was able to break stereotypes that some Americans had on people from that region. In stead of the hate that some American's had towards their culture through ignorance of the situation, this novel informed them on how life really is there, and had them feel sympathy.
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