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Plymouth Colony
An early settlement in American founded on religion, specifically Protestant Christian. This Colony practiced theocracy and wished to remove themselves from the corrupt Anglican Church. The Colony's head figure for religion was John Robinson who often preached about Men and Women roles in society. He believed women were inherently weaker and should follow men like sheep. This ties into the Scarlet letter through the intense religious setting and women's empowerment. -
Salem Witch Trials
Colonial America suffered from mass hysteria when people were being accused of witchcraft. This lead to trials and witch hunts attempting to snuff out threats. Obviously witchcraft isn't real but when the crops did poorly the colonies searched for a scapegoat. Unfortunately this caused many deaths of innocents. They ostracized the possible witches in the community like Hester was ostracized in The Scarlet Letter. -
Sinner in the Hands of an Angry GOD by Jonathon Edwards
A long sermon detailing God's ability to cast anyone into hell at anytime with no real effort given. This type of sermon was common for the time and was meant to strike fear into anyone who wasn't living a perfect christian life. This correlates to The Scarlet Letter because Hester and Arthur have extreme regret and fear in their hearts from the act they committed and know god could send them to hell at any time. -
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Existenialism
Existentialism is a philosophy that we are simply a speck of dust in an infinite universe and we cant just stand around and wait for purpose. We must find our own purpose and follow it or we will be no more than that speck of dust. This is seen as a theme in The Catcher in the Rye. Holden is out of his comfort zone searching for his own meaning in a great big city even though he is only a child. -
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Women's empowerment
Women have been oppressed for a very long time. This period marks the beginnings of the fight for equal rights. Unfortunately equality still hasn't been attained but as long as women and men continue fighting anything is possible. Many things we have read this year have empowerment as a strong theme, for instance Cinderella by Anne Sexton. This poem breaks down common myths of how women should act or be portrayed as it diminishes them as people. -
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorn
A novel about Hester who has had an illegitimate baby with a popular priest in town. Her Husband she assumed had died shows and and begins scheming, meanwhile Hester Gets over her guilt and runs away with the Priest. -
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Jim Crow Laws
Laws created by civilians and not the government after African Americans were given equal rights. These were created to hold down African Americans and were successful for a long time. These laws tie into To Kill a Mockingbird where the prosecution of an African American is clearly tainted by racism. -
Because I could not stop for Death by Emily Dickinson
A poem about reflection on ones self and the inevitability of death. This poem illustrates the beauty of eternity after death. The Idea of Mortality vs Death shines boldly in this poem. This symbolizes the change from religious writing about god to a more introspective style focusing on inner thoughts. -
There Will Come Soft Rains by Sara Teasdale
This poem is about the world after humans and how Nature endures our stupidity. We seem inclined to murder ourselves but nature with outlive us all. This foreshadows the cold war and how close we are to killing ourselves. -
Bootlegging Alcohol
America banned the product, consumption, and sale of alcohol. In the Great Gatsby alcohol is seen almost everywhere even though it was banned at the time. Jay Gatsby was mentioned to have made a fortune in bootlegging and supply his giant parties with alcohol from his bootlegging activities. -
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The Roaring 20's
A time of lavish parties and hardworking Americans. The economy was booming and prohibition was amended. This time period gave us great books like The Great Gatsby. -
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
This book takes place in the 1920's during prohibition and a booming economy. It is filled with flashy, rich lifestyles, drama and love. This book personifies wealth. Jay Gatsby spends his whole life to get back to Daisy. Throwing Parties every week even though he dislikes them. Only to be murdered after achieving his goal. -
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The Great depression
The stock market crashed leaving America in shambles. This time period brought extreme hardship and sadness. The need for work caused by World War II stimulated the US economy pulling America out of the great depression. -
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Nazism
An Ideology which is extremely antisemitism and has ties to Fascism. The reason for World War II and capitalistic economy. "After Auschwitz" uses this philosophy as a background to commentate on the evil world we live in. -
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World War II
Germany used the Jewish religion as a scapegoat for its hardships and it built a fascist government on this belief. This government waged war on the whole war but ended up losing the fight and was crushed to a small portion of its previous self due to reparations. This brought much literature over the topic of evil men like After Auschwitz. -
The Cold War
Conflict between the US and the Soviet Union. We pointed nukes at each other until one agreed to stand down. This time was extremely stressful for US citizens knowing that at any moment we could be annihilated. Communism was sweeping through Asia at the time which increased the stakes knowing that this could lead to communism control over the world. -
Arms Race
A flexing match between two national superpowers. This leads to the cold war and changed warfare forever. -
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McCarthyism
A wild witch hunt for communists in government sparked by a crazed senator. This brought about a great scare in America because people thought communist spies were littered through america. This brought skepticism toward ones own neighbor. -
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
A coming of age tale about Holden Caulfield, he has recently suffered a traumatic experience when his younger brother Ollie passed from leukemia. He hates himself because he thinks Ollie was a better person. We follow Holden as he traverses his change from the innocent boy who wants to see the ducks at a park, to the young man who accepts the loss of his younger brother and embraces his family. -
Lord of the Flies
Lord of the Flies dissects how people act left without authority. In the book the boys lose reason and try to kill each other. This book inspects the actions of an anarchist civilization. -
Brown v. Board
Segregation in school was found unconstitutional in the supreme court sparking nationwide outrage. As schools merged they got major backlash from racists, parents, and government officials. This ties into To Kill a Mocking Bird in the way that African Americans were treated horribly. -
To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
A book ultimately about racism in America. The book centers around a rape trial where a black man is falsely accused. It is clearly shown through the evidence but he is convicted guilty. Atticus Finch represented him and is a symbol of morals and goodness. Sadly this book was an accurate representation of racism at the time. -
"I Have a Dream" by Martin Luther King Jr.
A speak given at the march on Washington. Arguably the most powerful and influential speech of all time, it swayed many to join the civil rights fight. Martin Luther King Jr. was an extremely influential person in the civil rights fight. sadly he was murdered for his courage but this speech is a great memory of a great man. -
Cinderella by Anne Sexton
A poem which plays on the Cinderella story and its sexist themes. Anne Sexton plays fun with the common story elements in a Cinderella story. This poem is a great empowerment poem for women because it shatters typical societal norms for women. -
After Auschwitz by Anne Sexton
This poem is set explaining the evil nature of a Nazi but can be explained in a much more broad assessment. The poem dissects the evil of a Nazi but this applies to all power hungry figures who are willing to commit horrible acts to attain enjoyment, power, or money. This can be seen now in the extreme exportation of wealth from the poor and unfortunate by the wealthy businessmen and women at the top of the economy.
