Stefan Grabinski's The Motion Demon

The article, “Creating the System: Railroads and the Modern Corporation”, informs us all about the development of the transcontinental railroad and how it helped drive the nation west and also transformed western North America into a economy that had many opportunities. The railroads have always interested me when it comes to this period of time. What I learned from the reading that I didn’t know before was that the Western railroads were primary carriers of grain, other agricultural produce, livestock, coal, lumber and minerals. Also seeing the prices that the farmers shipped their products for, and what they paid for the freights rates was very interesting. Overall, if the railroads wouldn’t have been built in a time when there was so little

The image of the train appears several times; including when Big Boy heads home for the final time. “Big Boy slowed when he came to the railroad. He wondered if he ought to go through the streets or down the track. He decided on the tracks. He could dodge a train better than a mob.” In this section, the train serves as the carrier of Big Boy’s adulthood. By staying on the tracks he believes he is still innocent; still hidden from the mob that is after Big Boy because he murdered—certainly a crime not associated with youthful innocence. Because Big Boy is black, he never really has true innocence. He has to be mindful of his surroundings at all times, knowing that whites are always out to get him. But whatever

The idea of what a monster is and how it pertains to modern day society has fascinated readers and writers for decades. Before taking this class, I was aware of what a monster is and the function it served in today’s society. Furthermore, after taking this class, I am now aware of what a monster truly is, and what really separates a monster from a regular person. The piece of text that I mainly chose to focus on and elaborate closely to demonstrate the aspects of a monster is appropriately named, Monster, by Walter Dean Myers. The reason I chose this piece of literature is because, Monster thoroughly elaborates what a monster is in todays society and how it functions in the modern day world. In this essay I will elaborate on

o “Whitman attempts, and succeeds at making the train come to live as a regal and powerful entity. The engine’s

This vivid description captures the startling newness with which the Industrial Revolution swept the Victorian people. Kemble is at a loss for words to describe her railway experience, which I’m sure was common during this era because riding the train wasn’t routine. Her admiration is on display from the onset: “A common sheet of paper is enough for love, but a foolscap extra can alone contain a railroad and my ecstasies” (1091). Kemble’s vivid description clearly captures her amazement. For example, she writes, “You can’t imagine how strange it seemed to be journeying on thus…” (1092). Similar to our class discussion, industrialism completely restructured English society. That fact is very evident in this passage. There was a great expansion of commerce through railroads, transforming the landscape and causing pollution. Kemble mentions the landscape on her journey, describing how the rocky walls “already clothed with moss and ferns and grasses…” had been “cut asunder to allow our passage thus far below the surface of the earth… (1092). She even mentions the “black smoke” which accompanies the

The growing industry of travel in the United States can be somewhat attributed to the massive birth of railroads in the 18th century. Incredibly fast movement of both goods and people along rails has changed how business plan expansion, where people live, how ideas and knowledge move around the continent, as well as how people travel for pleasure. This paper details the development of the locomotive and railroad over the 18th century, describes the societal and economic impact of railroads, and lists the desires reflected within the United States that led to the advent of railroads.

Railroads became extremely popular in America in the 1800’s. The railroad industry itself began to boom; it was supported by its reputation for speed and efficiency. But, along with the booming industry of railroads came the strong debate that

The book The Ghost Map: The story of London’s most terrifying epidemic—and how it changed science, cities, and the modern world” by Steven Johnson is about the 1854 cholera epidemic in London. There were no sewage systems to get rid of waste in London at the time, so the people would throw their untreated wastes into the Thames River and pits called cesspools. This increased with the invention and popularization on the water closet, which drained even more wastes into the cesspools. This way of ridding of wastes then proceeded to contaminate the city’s water supply and spread diseases faster. During the summer of 1854, the mother of a sick baby, baby Lewis, washed her child’s soiled cloth diapers in a bucket of water that she poured into the house’s cesspool cellar, starting the cholera epidemic. Coming into contact with the contaminated water led many of the city’s people to contract the disease and die.

The train in Prevalence of Ritual represent time and freedom but it also depicts slavery, poverty, inequality, lack of education, division and under civilization in the African American community. Braeden wrote about Prevalence of Ritual “I use the train as a symbol of the other civilization, the white civilization and its encroachment upon the lives of the black. The train was always something that could take you away and could bring you where you were. And in little towns its black that live near the trains” (Pohl 515). Our book agrees with Bearden and stated that “musicians also use train to represent movement of time and space” (Pohl 515) and possibility of freedom that might not be achievable because of segregation, racism, police brutality, poverty, lack of equal access education, and inequality.

Also, as the train goes down the hills and loops, it experiences a free fall effect.

To anyone from New York City, the dangers of train cars are evident. This is why, when the reader begins to see that the children are acting recklessly, he becomes quite worried. This is because there are countless numbers of warnings on trains,

As the train hit the brake run, the brakes tighten with impressive force and speed, bringing the train to a smooth stop. The combination of grace and power and its disorienting array of twists and turns is impressive.

Pruitt reported the story of the Nazi “Ghost Train” to inform readers of the possibility that researchers are the closest they have ever been to uncovering the mystery of the train. She also enlightens readers on the dangers of the exhibition, such as the major worries about methane gas which could cause major destruction to the local area. The overall informative purpose of the article is to communicate to the readers that there is an enormous possible discovery as well as the consequences which may follow if excavators make a mistake. With these consequences, Pruitt herself seems to be skeptical of the possible discovery and this skepticism is seen in the tone of the article.

Throughout his novel Everything Flows, Vasily Grossman provides numerous occasions for defining freedom. In the midst of attempting to give meaning to freedom, Grossman greatly invests in wrestling with the issue of why freedom is still absent within Russia although the country has seen success in many different ways. Through the idea and image of the Revolution stems Capitalism, Leninism, and Stalinism. Grossman contends that freedom is an inexorable occurrence and that “to live means to be free”, that it is simply the nature of human kind to be free (200-204). The lack of freedom expresses a lack of humanity in Russia, and though freedom never dies, if freedom does not exist in the first place, then it has no chance to be kept alive. Through Grossman’s employment of the Revolution and the ideas that stem from it, he illustrates why freedom is still absent from Russian society, but more importantly why the emergence of freedom is inevitable.

Powers consisted of six paintings – Conversation: Sky and Earth, Primitive Power, Rolling Power, Steam Turbine, Suspended Power, and Yankee Clipper. All six were produced in 1939 (Friedman 22). Rolling Power was strangely not a painting of a full train; it was simply just two big drive wheels and a bogie wheel, which made me question why would Sheeler zoom in so much? These three wheels are the sole power that makes the train move. The wheels give the purpose to the painting, actual rolling power. The two big drive wheels are next to one another and take up the majority of the composition. The bogie wheel falls in line next, with the puff of smoke near it. Near the wheels, Sheeler added a puff of smoke that conveys movement of the train. Is the train moving backward or forward? The smoke does not show a trace of where it may begin, just the roundness of the small cloud. Train designer, Henry Dreyfuss’, had made the most efficient and powerful railroad engine available in 1939. Sheeler’s color palette was a mixture of browns and grays in frieze, low relief. Some areas on the train were darker and brighter, suggesting shadows and the sun’s reflection on it. Sheeler had started painting during the day, which can be determined how the sun is cast on certain parts of the train. How was he able to paint in such a short time to keep the lighting just right? After all, he was also talented in photography. Sheeler would take photographs of his studies to keep their composition and come back to continue his work (Friedman 13). He had to do this in order to have a consistent image to look off of since the sun would not produce the same lighting when it was at another time. Taking an image also aided in the production of his painting because the train would also be constantly active. “The dependency on photographic studies culminated in the hyperrealism of