The American Experience Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The American Experience - Term Paper Example Thus, there were some forms in the eighteenth-century writing that did not conform to the general notions about genres and other forms. There were many interesting themes which could be found in the text of Letters from an American Farmer. The features included the nature of an American character such as their work ethic, the duties of an individual, anti-intellectualism, the farmer seen as a prototype representing the American character, the treatment of the slaves, the way of viewing new immigrants together with their ethnicity, literary resonances that showed the escape from the civilization as in Letter XII and stereotypical nature of the American characters. The Letter was divided into twelve sections that depict the way American soil, its life, slavery, and culture was perceived by Crevec?ur. He was probably the first writer who described Europeans by employing different American English terms. He emphasized the life seen on the American frontier and tried to explore the idea b ehind the so-called American Dream. In his writings, he portrayed American society to be characterized by the principles stressing on the equal opportunity as well as self-determination. His work was successful in providing a lot of useful information together with an understanding of the presumed "New World" which helped in creating utopian American identity (Crevecoeur xi). This was done for the prevailing European minds by describing the area as an entire country and not just another regional colony. The writing in The Letters celebrated the American ingenuity and its uncomplicated lifestyle. It was written to describe the inclusion and the acceptance of religious dynamics in a society that was created from several varieties of ethnic as well as cultural backgrounds. The letters that were written by him depicted the rural life of America. He introduced the cultivation of several European crops, notably the alfalfa, in the American country and the American potato in Normandy. He t ried to understand America from the purview of a farmer. He tried to find the answer to the question what actually consisted of American, this new American man. â€Å"He is an American, who, leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he holds† (Crevecoeur 54). â€Å"The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles; he must, therefore, entertain new ideas, and form new opinions. From involuntary idleness, servile dependence, penury, and useless labor, he has passed to toils of a very different nature, rewarded by ample subsistence. --This is an American† (Crevecoeur 56) Literary analysis Crevecoeur in his letters portrayed his love for nature from the perspective of a farmer. His respect towards nature and his compassion towards all living beings are obvious and is the principal backdrop of all his letters. Crevecoeur feels that man and natur e are interlinked, and without the right balance in nature, man cannot survive. Similarly, man’s compassion and caring attitude can preserve the sanctity of nature. He also feels that Americans do not display their compassion towards nature in the way that is needed.  

King Kong (1933) and Scarface (1932) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

King Kong (1933) and Scarface (1932) - Essay Example But for film makers to present their stories in an excellent manner there are a couple of factors they need to be considered. These factors may be numerous but are highly interrelated and thus they have to ensure that each of them is well connected to the total make up of the film. Three of these factors are story structure, cinematography and editing. In instances where any of these three pillars is misplaced, there is a very high tendency that the whole story of the film will be misplaced and this would affect the subtext stories used in the film production. The present essay therefore looks at how makers of the two films King Kong (1933) and Scarface (1932) used the elements of story structure, editing and cinematography to bring out the subtext of their films clearly. Story structure of the two films The story structure of King Kong (1933) is set around the theme of love. Indeed, in the plot of the film, the producer is careful in presenting the theme of love in a clear cut manne r without ambiguity right from the start of the film. One of the major strengths in the film’s story structure would perhaps have to do with the fact that the film depicts the theme of love from several angels including love affair that was not built between two human beings. This is because at the beginning of the story structure, there is an indication of love for a person’s job when Carl Denham decided to look for a female actress by himself after Charles Weston refused to do so. The eagerness with which Carl set off in the search gave a strong undertone of a story of love for his work. Consequently, there is another story of love told between Ann and Driscoll, who until meeting Ann had said that a woman had no place on his ship. Indeed, Driscoll would throw his personality of toughness away to embrace love. As if this was enough on the subject of love, the gigantic beast known as Kong is introduced into the movie, only to come and also fall in love with the beautif ul Ann. Indeed, this was a mighty beast, which had the power of destroying the whole world at a go. But the only thing that would make it calm was the love of a beautiful woman. Without any doubt, the subtext in King Kong is the power of love in suppressing human personality. The story structure in the film Scarface (1932), was quite different from that of King Kong. This could greatly be blamed to the story line and the theme selected by the writer. Unlike King Kong, which had a central theme of love, the central theme in Scarface was power and authority. This was contrasting only in terms of how it was presented in the story structure. This is because King Kong also had a theme of power and authority vested in the character and personality of the Kong. However, this was not made to be the major running theme in the story structure of King Kong. Yet again, there was a theme of love in Scarface when Tony’s sister Cesca married Guino, who was Tony’s friend. Indeed, the writer had an option of making that love relationship a central theme in the story structure but that was left to the power and authority struggle that Tony and Lovo was going through. It was not for nothing that in the plot, the marriage ceremony between Cesca and Guino was made to be a secret one (Sanghi, 2007). In all this, the writer made the topic of love to the subtext of Scarface because at a time when Tony had deeply offended his sister and