Modernism Project

Works Cited:

Anderson, George Parker. "modernism." In Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J. Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds. Encyclopedia of American Literature, Revised Edition: Into the Modern: 1896–1945, Volume 3. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL1234&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 24, 2011).

Byrd, Steven. "Modern America, 1914." The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. .

"Exploring the Function of Heroes and Heroines in Children's Literature from around the World. ERIC Digest." ERICDigests.Org - Providing Full-text Access to ERIC Digests. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. .

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Lathbury, Roger. American Modernism (1910-1945). New York, NY: Facts On File, 2006. Print.

Lorcher, Trent. "Modernism in Literature: What Is Modernism?" Bright Hub. Ed. S. Forsyth. 26 Dec. 2009. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. .

Porky Pig That's All Folks. Photograph. WIT Work. Comp. P. Hafford. 2011. Web. 26 Apr. 2011. .

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Taylor, Karen L. "modernism." Facts On File Companion to the French Novel. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CFN346&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 24, 2011).

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Journal #43

The first small section in the beginning has been the only part to really give me anything inside my head, and it is currently at about three minutes. I imagined a sad man slowly trudging through some sort of grassy knoll or snowy field. Then for the next two and a half minutes, there was a long series of seemingly random notes being played very fast and consecutively. It was certainly very impressive, but it was doing nothing to give me a picture of what the song is feeling or is about. Right now, there is a trumpet blast of power, but there aren't real emotions in random noise. I guess I just do not have the appreciation for this kind of music. All it reminds me of is either a set of elevator music because it does not stop or slow down but coherently combines multiple instrumental solos to make a very long piece of music or an old jazz club like I see on television sometimes. They are always full of piano and drum music because they are the main driving force to most of jazz music. If this guy tried to describe his life, I am pretty sure he failed because it was not interesting, and it changed mood twice. But, also, jazz is supposed to be upbeat and exciting, which, hopefully, accounts for most of the random series of notes going on throughout the "song." Jazz itself is a genre usually in awkward places, such as an elevator or a lobby of some sort, where people are there and wanted to be there, but no one wants to talk to anyone else because it would be extremely awkward. Ugh, I hate it when I just start rambling, there is nothing I can really do about it. There is just nothing I want more than to be done with this horrible blog entry. Oh! this song can remind me of a bumbling hummingbird because of the random, sporadic sets of notes, jumbled together in crazy compilations of sound and rhythms.

Realism and Modernism

Realism and Modernism are definitely two interesting times in literary history. Realism, when we were studying it, was a very boring time. I did not really like the pieces we were reading, if we were even reading literature, which I cannot remember. Modernism, however, is much more like how I would like to read and write. Modernism writing is still popular in many authors today because it is using more common dialect, not as dull or boring as many of the Realism pieces. Also, the philosophies themselves vary drastically when you really look at them. Realism deals mainly with a general attempt to depict subjects as they are considered to exist in the real life. Realism writers would take a beautiful garden scenery and turn it into a small patch of land, containing disgusting little insects falling all over the colorful plants. To me, it seems like making an real point of view involves searching for the little, pointless things to bring down or negate the wondrous effects of beauty on the human body and soul. Modernism was a revolt against the Realism movement, which had gotten too boring and monotonous for many of the people who liked to read current literature. Now, keep in mind that revolting in literature is not the same as revolting in, let me say, the streets. Creating a riot is actually pretty easy when you have the right opinion and the right amount of shut down against those with that opinion. That would be an example of a public revolt. A revolt in literature, more or less, is a somewhat subtle change in how author's write. For example, one author, let me name him Alfred, would say to himself, "wait a second, this is dumb. Why do I need to keep writing like this? People have changed the way we write before, so why can I not change it just one more time?" So, then Alfred would start creating his own writing style in whatever ways he wants. Later at some time, he would go down the street to get a cup of flour for the loaf of bread he is making, strike up a conversation with his friendly neighbor, Mr. Spenner, and chat with him about his new philosophy of writing literature. Then, Mr. Spenner would say something like, "Oh my, that sounds peachy keen! I think I want to write like that, too! Thank you, neighbor Alfred, for telling me all about your brilliant new plan! I will tell all of my other friends!" But, unfortunately, Mr. Spenner does not have any other friends, but then people would be able to read these kind of works from a multitude of sources. Eventually, more and more writers would be using this technique, and that is how a literary revolt comes about. Of course, there are various versions of how a revolt comes, but that is just an example. Modernism no longer depended on real perceptions of stuff during the day, but it made a brand new concept for writers to take their own spin off of.

Job Shadowing Reflection

I thought being a structural/civil engineer would be exactly the same as what it turned out to be. Honestly, it was all pretty boring, and it takes a certain brand of person to do the job because it just looked like an eight-hour workday of torture. Everyday, the person who I shadowed, Mr. Megginson, comes to work in his drury second floor office and deals with the same line of work. His job is to approve bridge drawings and send them to IDOT to be approved. His smaller-classed workers would have made the plans, and then the IDOT plans would be sent to a contractor. His position is more that of a manager and not really a leave-the-office person. This really does not seem to appeal to me because I really would not like to sit in an office doing literally the same thing every day of a twenty, or more, year section of my life. Also, I have already done some research into what I want to do, and mechanical engineering would be more along the lines I am looking for. I did learn about the life of a structural/civil engineer, though, and how I do not want it.