The Crying Of Lot 49 By Thomas Pynchon

In an age where the printed novel has been somewhat on the decline, and the necessity of readable fiction has almost faded into obscurity. I believe that literature still harbours a crucial part within our society; from the very foundations of most theatrical adaptations, to preserving the culture and encapsulating the feelings of generations past. In this case literature cements itself as one of the most decisive elements of our civilisation, and combining it with history makes it become a testament to who we are as people, as well as the conservation of both our progression and degradation. I have always enjoyed reading literature, from reading J.R.R Tolkien’s classic ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy within my childhood, to perhaps more sophisticated,

The literary modernism time period was a movement in literature that started in the early 1890s and was very eventful. During this era there were many considerable events taking place such as The Great War (also known as “World War One”), which started in 1914. This War lasted for four years and finally ended in 1918, but its effects lasted much longer. The financial instability of Europe and death caused by this First World War gave people a sense of patriotism that unified them. It made people think of not only the society as a whole, but themselves as individuals ("Modernism."). This new individualist mindset made people think more about their thoughts and actions than they had ever previously done before. Because individuals thought

Which of the following American poets helped establish "jazz poetry"? a) Robert Frost b) Rita Dove c) Maya Angelou d) Langston Hughes

The decades that provided the most new information were the 1960’s and the 1970’s. Although there were a lot of launch failures, there was also many information about a variety of things and and plenty of missions that were successful. Over the course of a decade there was more than 90 missions and new information supplied from and by many diverse sources.

People who identified with different sexual orientations also challenged norms and fought for their basic rights. Homosexuals were looked upon with disgust and unaccepted in society until people acknowledged and accepted that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 did not allow gender identity-based employment discrimination because it is a form of sex discrimination (National Archives). Instead of rejecting these people who became more and more open about their diverse sexuality, American culture slowly adapted to accept this new branch of diversity and worked to include them into society. “The acceptance of homosexuality has improved; however, heterosexuality is still viewed as the normative” (Teliti). Despite still being the unconventional, homosexuals stood for themselves and successfully protected their rights. In the Landmark Supreme Court case, United States v. Windsor,

Christian art is classified as Byzantine, but It is also very difficult to know when Christian art

New Age is a Western nation religion that came about during the nineteen-seventies. New Age is unlike other "formal" religions because there is no "holy text", central organization, ordained clergy, dogma, creed or formal membership. It's ideologies are based on spiritualism and adopts a belief in an holistic form of divinity. New Age is very big on the spiritual authority of oneself, channeling, "self help", energy based healing, holistic healing, occultism and astrology. The desire brought about by the New Age Movement was to change society's collective consciousness. The New Age Movement doesn't approach spirituality from any perspective but it's own, however, not every New Age group will say that their beliefs and or practices are any type of religious. Many people who identify with the New Age Movement describe their dogma as secular or scientific using self-help philosophies. New Age unites science and spirituality.

From the mid-19th century to the early 20th century, specifically from 1865 to 1915, America was changing from an agricultural society to an urban one. People were starting to move to the West and gender and racial inequality were increasing social issues. These, among other historical events influenced literary styles of the era such as realism, naturalism, frontier realism, regionalism and African American literature. Writers like Mark Twain, Jack London and W.E.B. Du Bois thrived in their writing during this era and captured perfectly what the people could relate to.

Liberalism is generally differentiated into two categories which are classical liberalism and modern liberalism. According to Heywood (2003), classical liberalism was the most primitive tradition which nothing can surpass. The forming of the ideas of classical liberalism between the seventeenth to nineteenth century was due to the disruption of feudalism in Europe followed by the reconstructed to capitalism. However, modern liberalism is the advanced alternation from classical liberalism which is based on its fundamental basis. This is one of the reasons that some people argued both classic and modern liberalism are partly similar. Yet, this essay will be more focus on the discussion of the distinction between classical liberalism and modern

1. Art has evolved over the last century moving from Modernism to Postmodernism. Modernism 's birth is somewhat controversial but our text puts it at 1910. Paul Cezanne, who was closely tied with Cubism, has been credited as one of the fathers of Modernism. A lot was changing during this period which produced a slew of new styles such as, Post Impressionism, Symbolism, and Surrealism to name a few. Modernism thrived from the early 20th century until the period denoted by World War II at which point it fell out of favor. Modernism was characterized by a trust in science/rationalism, celebrating change brought on by the industrial revolution, and a move away from magic and religion. This began to change after World War II when artists began to question how could such a terrible thing could have happened. A new style of art formed which was called Postmodernism, which is believed to have taken hold in the 1980s, where artists rejected science/rationalism, questioned authority, were critical of progress, examined moral codes, and were skeptical. This new style is better thought of as strategy for making art since it appears in many forms using a wide variety of materials and techniques. It has been described as, “creating visually interesting, messy, sometimes contrary, and often political images that mock the rules of Modern art.” (Stokstad & Cothren 2011) They are like modern day djs taking material from multiple sources and combining them in a unique way to

Born out of conflict, both modernism and postmodernism were movements that explored the pieces that two global wars had left behind. Modernism focused heavily on the rise of nationalism and capitalism as well as the exploration of individual identity. Some of the more notable literary figures to arise from this period were Virginia Woolf, T.S. Eliot, and Wallace Stevens. Postmodernism, on the other hand, emphasized the rejection of metanarratives, healthy skepticism of universalisms, and the creation of fictional worlds. The influential literary titans from this era include the likes of Kurt Vonnegut, Jorge Luis Borges, and Vladimir Nabokov.

The distinction between modernism and postmodernism has never been a clear-cut dichotomy, and it probably never will be, and thus can best be interpreted as a continuum (Childs 2008: Malpas 2005). For brevity’s sake, I will not (and cannot) fully explore the complex intellectual debates that function as the foundations of modernism and postmodernism, as it is not this paper’s goal to fully explore the nuanced difference between modernism and postmodernism, but instead I will provide the basic concepts and features of each period, since these two genres are crux to understand McHale’s theory of dominants, but also to understand modernist and postmodernist fiction (cf. Herman 1991 for a more in-depth analysis of modernism versus postmodernism). The following paragraphs will largely be based on three works: Peter Childs’s Modernism (2008), Malpas’s Postmodernism (2005) and McHale’s contribution in the Cambridge Companion to Thomas Pynchon (2013).

Societal change is an unstoppable force, followed by an inevitable outcome. This phenomenon is yearned by some, yet dreaded by others. Regardless of human opposition, nature inexorably takes its course, gradually transitioning from one seemingly immutable concept to the next. These shifts can range anywhere from the subversion and replacement of established cultural norms with fresh new ideals, to the inescapable advancement and refinement of technology. Over time, a society’s constituents begin to recognize certain motifs, which emerge in an epoch’s progeny, ensuing from the evolution of human thought and attitude. As a result, the people have imbued these time periods with names that best encapsulate their meaning and significance. In this research paper, I will delve into the fundamentally unique and directly opposed worlds of Modernism and Postmodernism, two time periods which lie beside each other and yet share almost no common ground. Modernism is based on rational thinking, logic, and the scientific process, aimed at creating a clear and rational view of the world while advocating the belief that there is much to learn from the past that could be beneficial to the present. Postmodernism, on the other hand, advocates the belief that there is no universal truth. It questions the rationality of Modernism and its ideologies, believing that there is no connection between the past and the present, a complete opposite view as compared to Modernism. Through the

The history of humanity is an extraordinary span of countless years that consists of wonderful advancements, extremely significant developments, new constructions of ideas, and astounding movements. Humans have continuously driven to develop new ways of understanding the world and have tried reshaping the intricate perceptions of the world throughout the course of time. While the entire past of humanity is full of astonishing explorations and powerful events, only very few centuries could possibly challenge the importance of the twentieth century. The early portion of the twentieth century was a very crucial period of time that carried great momentum for multiple revolutions across the globe, multiple wars, and major developments in constructing the world. This influenced not only extravagant ways of thinking and understanding new concepts, but also drove new movements of art and literature into cultures everywhere. This gave ideas such as Surrealism, Naturalism, Futurism. Realism and Romanticism the ability to thrive and reform the perceptions of literature as a whole. However, one of the artistic key movements in the early twentieth century that shaped literature today and made these other movements in literature possible is the Modernist movement. Modernism was substantial in Europe throughout the early twentieth century, sweeping the minds of many marvelous writers and artists such as Virginia Woolf and James Joyce. These two authors are significant influences not just

To get to the bottom of everything, the background knowledge must be built up before anything. The Modernist Period came to English Literature around the beginning of the twentieth century and marked its way with groundbreaking ways of viewing tradition and worldly views. A series of events would have been happening around this time to shape such views; one such event would be named the War to End All Wars. World War I had just broke out and continued to ravage Europe from the years 1914 through to 1918 and the horrors that happened during this war had shocked the people of that time greatly, which left such an impact on their lives. This in turn made the citizens question their humanity and what the world was becoming of, thus turning all the past beliefs and assurance in things like religion, politics, or society now no longer relevant since “ two world wars in the span of a generation [had] effectively shell-shocked all of Western civilization” (Rahn 1). Religion in the past provided the citizens coherency, guidance, and even insight into the human condition, but as times were changing it seemed as though religion was becoming to be replaced by art, literature, etc. Not all modernists rejected religion though, some stayed neutral and rather just questioned the beliefs and aspects of the past enlightenment thinkers. With the new and becoming age of the industrialized world, politics came to be ignored as well by the anti-conformists of the period, proving to be too