An Analysis of the Main Theme Presented within Willa Cather’s text A Wagner Matinee

The expectation for new opportunity in America was an aspiration held by all those willing to leave their native counties—seeking a land of promise. While the United States certainly provided a chance of these fortunes, these freedoms came at a steep price. The initial process of traveling abroad was grueling. Away from the comforts of home, precious belongings and a culture that felt familiar—adjusting to

Throughout documented United States history, immense changes in social, political, and economic establishments have been brought about by perplexing people or conditions. Often, these changes mark a turning point in the progress of civilization as new ideas are formed, new governments raised, or new discoveries put to use in the interest of progress. Whether these pivotal moments in history may be triggered due to a single nonconforming individual or a vast, radical multitude, each turning point has explicit influences and outcomes which shaped America for years to follow. Every important decision has two key dimensions. The first is the outcome in the immediate case, and the second is as

Over the past few weeks of class, we have covered the first five chapters of our textbook, written by George Brown Tindell and David Emory Shi called, “America, A Narrative History.” Each chapter told the reader a narration of the history of America, as opposed to an expository version of America’s history. Each chapter had its own main idea over a portion of history, along with many details that cover the importance of the main idea. As a reader, one may obtain a deeper appreciation for the country 's history, prior to entering the class on the first day. The most important aspect of history, besides the battles that are fought, is the different cultures that make up today’s modern America.

Throughout history society has to go through many changes that not only affect many of the people but also the areas around the transformation. The main point of Fredrick Jackson Turner’s thesis is what the real essence of America is, and how we’re all influenced by the many changes we have to go through. He believes that American history should not be focused on the extension of European enterprise. The society will have to realize that America will have to be emancipated because of the fact that we had a country with an unlimited amount of boundaries and have to come to realization that we have many closed-spaced limits. The views in the seminal essay share his thoughts on the idea of how the frontier shaped

In population Nevada is one of the smallest states of the fifty states in the Union, but it invites and receives more intense national publicity than many others. “It is a testing ground for unorthodox social theories and an outpost of solid American conservatism” (313). Because the state is so large and its centers of population is so widely scattered, no single generalization about it will suffice for a historical summary. Nevada, with its 110,000 square miles, would cover more than half of Spain. Nevada is not the largest state in the Union, but it is big enough to inspire awe in its visitors” (2).

As American singer-song writer Duncan Sheik once said, “It’s inevitable your environment will influence what you do.” It is not a secret that the environment a person grows up in helps shape their views of the world and how he or she perceives different issues. The United State of America are known as the melting pot. We have many cultures and races all living within the same cities working together peacefully for the most part. To outsiders America is the place to come to achieve the “American Dream”, and it is the place where fresh starts, entrepreneurship, and individualism are highly encouraged. There are freedoms in American that many other people across the world are not as lucky to have.

“As a ‘double whammy’ of drought and depression deepened on the Great Plains, more and more farmers gave up or were forced off of their land” (Winter). According to Bart Robinson, an eyewitness, “Many people thought it was a plague” (Robinson). The migrant workers started moving away. “When pioneers headed west in the late 19th century, many couldn’t resist the lure of the tall grassy land in the semiarid Midwestern and Southern plains of the United States” (“Black Sunday”). Many people did travel to other states. Though “the exact scale of migrants is unknown but it’s estimated that up to 400,000 Southwesterns moved west during the 1930s and to 300,000 moved into California a decade earlier” (Sander). Dust Bowl refugees found roots in California (Winter). “Sometimes they found work, but mostly they found heartbreak and anger” (Robinson). They had once “owned profitable farms. Then they had nothin’ but hunger and dirt and two cents a barrel” (Robinson). Some migrant workers had trouble finding houses within their price range. “Many of the migrant workers lived in labor camps”

As Washington said, “The name of ‘American,’ which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism, more than any [name] derived from local discriminations.” Washington supported this appeal to national unity by noting that each geographic region of the United States benefits from the preservation of the “Union of the whole,” whether by expanded trade, by greater strength against foreign nations, or by the security that internal peace within the United States

America: “The land of the free, and the home of the brave” (Key 7-8). When our forefathers overcame the colonial reign of the British Empire, they formed the United States of America based on the premise of enlightened ideals promoting life, ownership of land, and liberty. But after the revolution, the country’s problems were far from solved. The country’s post-revolution issues sparked a Civil War, which was followed by a reconstruction. In some ways, the Civil War and Reconstruction helped the United States accomplish its original goals, but in many ways, that was not the case.

The South fought the American Civil War as a movement to separate themselves from the Union and establish its own national citizenship. As a result of their resounding loss, Southerners chose to focus their energies on maintaining their individual ethnic group which sets them apart from the rest of the nation. According to John Shelton Reed, author of The Enduring South, “The three functional characteristics of an ethnic group are that: It serves psychologically as a source of group identification; it provides a pattern network of groups; and it refracts the national cultural patterns of behavior and values through the prism of its own cultural heritage.” Reed allows his readers to grasp the intensity in which Southerners met, and still meet today, all three of the functional characteristics of an ethnic group. Throughout his book, Reed purposes to enlighten the reader that Southern-ness is attained by three different measures: birth, achievement, or unwilling thrust (such as the African Americans who were brought to America under duress). The Enduring South exposes the element of Southern identity as pride in its heritage, culture, customs, and ideals.

The United States today, as we know it, is a very culturally, economically, politically and religiously diverse country. This is due, in part, to the differences and division among its founding thirteen English colonies along the country’s east coast. Those thirteen states collectively made up the Northern or New England colonies, the Mid-Atlantic or Middle colonies and the rural Southern colonies. Each of which had their own way of living and several differences that were unique to those regions. For the men and women who populated these colonies, their ‘new’ world may have slightly resembled England, hence the names New England, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Netherland – later renamed New York, but they wanted it not to be exactly like their

These are some of the efforts by our regions “players”. The Kennedy administration’s efforts to abolish poverty trace the rediscovery of Appalachia by federal policymakers as the sign of underdevelopment in what was known as the “other America”. Growing on the internal colony model, and with the work of local activists like Whitesburg, Kentucky, native Harry Caudill, the Kennedy administration launched a federal development program in our region. Collaborating with the Conference of Appalachian Governors, the Kennedy administration started an effort to secure funds for

Just as a child may go on to become a powerful and independent adult, the 1790-to-1820’s was a period for the United States of America that reflected much of the same principles of growth and self-actualization. It was during these years that the whole of America was able to find a sincere sense of who they wanted to be, and how they would be just that, hence developing a greater perception of independence and self-sufficiency. Over the course of those 30 years, the United States not only transformed physically through the Louisiana Purchase but politically and socially through the “Jacksonian Era” and the rise of the “common man”.

States were quick to point out the cruel conditions it brought. However, The Patriot’s History of the United States, had a different perspective. Larry Schweikart spoke more positively of the

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was one of the greatest opera writers of all time. He helped to take opera to a whole new level from even Verdi and Puccini. Some say that Wagner was very egotistic, however; “his extreme egotism rested on conviction, Wagner had the ability to do great things” (Colles 207). He was extraordinary at composing music as well as formulating words. He was not a prodigy however his musical skills surpassed many other composers from his time period.