David+M

1. Modernism is a new way of thinking. In literature it applies to the new style of writing the authors use in their novels. In the 1930's the writing style of many authors would have been about jazz and the struggle of blacks fighting for equality. The novel by Oscar Wilde called “Another Country” the modernist style was about the fight for rights and the suffering many faced. In the 2000’s a common figure in novels, or the modernism that is found surrounds 9/11, and the war that has dragged on the 6 years. The pre-9/11 thinking was not crowded by the fears of the public. It was filled with the chilling novels by tom Clancy and James Patterson. While the new age of writing has brought them into the 21st century, the culture of America and the world often influences the writings of our time. -David Myer

3. The poem "the love song of j" is modernist for several reasons. The author wrote this poem sometime before the 20th century and he uses language that stands out against others of his time. "Do I dare Disturb the universe?In a minute there is time. For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse". (Alfred Prufrock) The modernist philosophers were about challenging the traditional. In the poem the man goes out in defiance of what the women and others will say about him. Like a patient etherized upon a table. Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets, The muttering retreats Of restless nights. Etherized means to apply an anesthetic, and that would make you numb to life. the character struggled with his life, and fought the fight of a modernist. -David Myer

4. The world today is a material one. The people covet material possessions more than they do life itself. Existentialists have been fighting this idea, trying to show people that it is more important to find yourself, than something material. During the industrial revolution factories sprung up everywhere. They called to the poor, and needy. These factories throw people into the earliest from of the cooperate machine. Albert Camus and Jean Paul said “existence over essence” (Shingler). Existence over essence means that people value the inward over the outward. It is the equivalent of loving ones self today. This idea pushed through the factories and gave the average man his own voice. -David Myer