As we've discussed in class, during the antebellum period, many romantic writers, reformists and abolitionists began to comment on American society, its problems, and how they should be improved. The question I pose to you is, what books out there are commenting on American society today? Research one (or if you've read it, even better!) and tell us about it by adding a comment here. One example, whether you agree with it or not, would have to be Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. It has certainly affected the discussion on the environment and how it relates to American industry and pollution.
13 Comments
Kayla Randall
10/25/2010 07:32:55 am
An example of a book that comments on American society would be the best-selling, Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson. The book is widely credited with helping launch the Environmental Movement. Accusing the chemical industry of spreading disinformation and documenting the effects of pesticides, Silent Spring also facilitated the ban of pesticide DDT in the United States. Not only is this book an awesome read, it helped change the way Americans look at the environment and world around them.
Reply
Tati Jouett
10/25/2010 08:41:54 am
One book that comments on American society is The Chamber by John Grisham. This book contains elements of legal commentary and surrounds complications in the legal/justice system and various legal issues, a couple of examples being racism and the death penalty.
Reply
Torey Duncan
10/25/2010 09:03:11 am
A book that comments on American society today is Old Money: The Mythology of America's Upper Class by Nelson W. Aldrich. This book talks about the huge difference in the way the upper, 'elite' class is so vastly differnt from the rest of society. In his novel he states that its the way we wanted it and the way it was meant to be. Focusing mainly on education he demonstrates the variances between the society we built and live in today.
Reply
Keith Lewis
10/25/2010 10:29:02 am
A good novel that comments on American Society is "Fast Food Nation", by Eric Schlosser. It brings to light the still sub-standard factory conditions and the trials of those who work in them. It also comments on the viscious use of illegal immagrants.
Reply
Kelsey E. Nunn
10/25/2010 10:32:31 am
Another book that comments on American Society is The Looming Tower: The Road to 9/11. It explains how and why the events of 9/11 occured. This was a MAJOR event in recent years. This book goes into graphic detail about this day that changed the way we deal with things in America.
Reply
Chris Barnett
10/25/2010 11:26:57 am
A great book that comments on American society today is "The Shadow Factory," by James Bamford. This book explains how the NSA's failure to detect the two 9/11 hijackers led them to extend their policy of spying into the United States. Bamford exposes the NSA's unapproved surveillancing and their hunt for info about today's elusive enemies.
Reply
Shelley
10/25/2010 11:34:23 am
"Third World America: How Our Politicians Are Abandoning the Middle Class and Betraying the American Dream" by Arianna Huffington is a great example of a book talking about today's society. The books is about different issues that are happening in America including the economy and stability of our country. It talks about how the middle class is important to our country and how it is shrinking.
Reply
Justin Moore
10/25/2010 12:39:26 pm
A great respected novel commenting on American society today is the best selling novel William J. Bennett- The Broken Hearth: Reversing the moral collapse of the American Family. In this novel William J. Bennett depicts the idea of the Utopian family and the way the typical American family is in today's world. There has been a drastic negative change in the way families are looked at and what is acceptable in the public view. In the early 90's a change from the majority of children being born in wedlock to children being born out of wedlock as this was a more common occurrence it gradually become acceptable in the public views. As time has changed the norm has changed the norm as also changed it is now acceptable to have a child out of wedlock and many children with different fathers and mothers or, in vulgar terms, bastard children.
Reply
Brandi Geisler
10/25/2010 08:35:43 pm
One book that comments on American society today is The Working Class Majority: America's Best Kept Secret. This is about how the majority of America's society is not middle class, but it is the working class. But the author states that when America let's the working class disappear into the middle class, America allows people who want to dominate with power and want capitalism, to disappear within the rich. This is a good book to read because it's based on our classes in society and how people can disappear within others. This also gets the word out there in our nation that there are problems within our "perfect world" of America.
Reply
Michaela Schnorbus
10/26/2010 01:43:38 am
One book that comments on American Society is In the Shadow of No Towers by Art Spielelman. This book comments on America affter the Twin Towers were destroyed during 9/11. It tells his story of how he felt while living in Manhattan before, during and after the towers were destroyed. His anguish soon turns to hatred toward the United States government in his search to find the truth behind the situation.
Reply
Staci Stewart
10/26/2010 01:47:34 am
A book that truly demonstrates American society today is Freakonomics. In this book Steven Levitt argues that everyday life is more connected than anyone thinks and just by digging further into statistics and data, one can make connections within everyday life. From teachers and sumo-wrestlers to drug dealers living with their moms, Levitt takes any aspect of everyday life and finds connections between them to show how they affect each other. This book shows how things have changed in history and why they have changed.
Reply
Hope Bradford
10/26/2010 02:05:26 am
A great book that commetns on American Society today is Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich. In this non-fiction bestseller, Ehrenreich worked at many low wage jobs to experience living only off the wages she made. She wanted to see if she could make a sufficient amount of money with these jobs. Throughout the book, many facts are revealed about the places she works at and how it affects the people that work at there.
Reply
Geoffrey Murphy
10/27/2010 12:55:31 am
Old Money: The Mythology of Wealth in America by Nelson Aldrich is a novel about American Society. The novel is about how the wealthy families of today gained their money generations ago. It includes many families from all different locationsin America. The book also depicts if the families would have been able to gain money today without the past being as it was.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
May 2014
Categories
All
|