The Poetic Science: An Analysis Of America's Hidden Figure

Americans had high expectations of the space programs which intended to provide the United States a great sense of achievement. The significance of the space program lies in essence in which symbolized American glory in science and technology. (Lambright)

Katherine Globe, one of these three women, was a mathematician that calculated many of the important equations that allowed the Friendship 7 capsule to orbit the Earth and return safely. Katherine demonstrates many leadership qualities throughout the film. She is a well-rounded leader that did not lead using one specific leadership style rather, she uses the behavioral approach to leadership to adapt to different situations and handle relationships. (Northouse 71). This is first evident when she is assigned to the Space Task Group, where she became the only color women in the room. Her first day, she grabbed coffee from the only pot in the room, which cause the white males in the room to immediately started and act uncomfortable. The next day, they were two pot of coffee one which was labeled “colored people”. Katherine understood what this meant and used the right pot. She also realized that the only colored people bathroom was on the other side of the NASA building which

Due to the fact that the space race took place between the years of 1957-1975, the height of the civil rights movement was in effect. Considering the fact that much more was happening in the 1950s-60s, the year that this movie is taking place, these people are not incorrect when they say that there was more racial conflict present than just the segregation of colored and white bathrooms. Nevertheless, the purpose of Melfi’s film was not to depict all of the racial injustices towards African-Americans in the 1950s and 1960s, but an emphasis on how inequality directly affected the work that they did inside NASA. As seen in the film, the primary focus is on the work they do that is imperative to their work at NASA. For example, Melfi shows Vaughan being questioned in the library for looking at a book in the white section of the library. Although she is outside of NASA, Melfi portrays that Vaughan needs the book to learn about how to program the IBM machine at NASA. Melfi’s exclusion of other prevalent racial injustices was for the purpose of focusing all of the attention on what they faced as African-American mathematicians at NASA. John A. Murray writes in agreement, as he writes about the purpose of Hidden Figures, states that “African-American women working for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (later known

Americans had high expectations of the space programs which intended to provide the United States a great sense of achievement. The significance of the space program lies in essence in which symbolized American glory in science and technology. (Lambright)

Progression in technology comes with progression of education. The movie “Hidden Figures” highlights the opportunities involved when intelligent, courageous women take strides to create the math to send astronauts to the moon. This movie is about three historical African American women who worked as “human computers” at the NASA Research Center in Langley, VA in the early 1960’s. Katherine Johnson (fellow mathematician), Dorothy Vaughn (programmer) and Mary Jackson (engineer), contributed to NASA space program to successfully send John Glenn, the first man to orbit around the earth, Project Mercury and later Apollo II mission. The film is a powerful reminder of the destructive consequences of discrimination. It holds important career lessons about how to manage and excel at work even under challenging circumstances.

Born in Senegal around 1753, Phillis Wheatley became an important American poetic figure. At the age of 8, she was kidnapped and brought to Boston on a slave ship and upon her arrival to Boston, she was quickly sold to John Wheatley (Bio). Under her new family, Phillis adopted the master’s last name, taken under the wife’s wing, and showed her deep intelligence. Even though suffering from poor health, Phillis’s intelligence did not go unnoticed; she received lessons in theology, English, Latin and Greek. Being a slave did not stop Phillis from learning and experiencing her life, she participated in the master’s family events and eventually became a family member. The irony in this situation is

The movie Hidden Figures is about 3 African American women who work for NASA during the 1950’s.The three women are Katherine Johnson,Dorothy Vaughn,and Mary Jackson.Katherine Johnson had a hidden talent that most of the people that worked at NASA didn't know she had , she was a master with the numbers.Dorothy was the manager of NASA's segregated West Area Computing Unit and she was also good with the numbers,just not as good as Katherine.Mary Jackson was an American mathematician and aerospace engineer that worked at NASA,along with the other three girls.Many African American women worked for NASA they just don't receive much recognition but these three women seem to have changed the game for everyone.

The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,

During this era, segregation was still a major theme in society. In this scene, we see Katherine coming inside soaked from the rain. Harrison, Katherine’s boss, then proceeds to ask why she’s gone for hours every day. Katherine, soaking from the rain, finally has enough. She releases all the pain and anger she had that was building up inside of her. Katherine furiously yells at Harrison explaining how she must run a mile every day to use the bathroom because she’s not allowed to use the “white women’s bathroom”, how she must drink/make her own coffee in her own pot and finally how she’s only allowed to wear pearl jewelry -which she can’t afford- because NASA doesn’t pay colored people enough money to own one. After the rant, Katherine furiously walks off. The scene then shifts to Harrison hitting the “COLORED WOMEN” bathroom sign inside the West campus. The scene ends with Harrison saying, “At NASA, we all pee the same color”. We felt that this scene was the lowest point in the movie because how out-of-control and racist everything

Claude McKay uses his poem “America” to highlight key issues, such as racism and the limitation of a voice, African American’s experienced during the 1920s. He, like countless other African American poets, such as P. L. Dunbar, used his work to comment on the politics of the time, as well as a means of escape, to divulge the suffering many experienced. Poetry was one of the only ways African Americans could raise awareness and represent themselves in a truthful way, as rioting only seemed to further present them in a negative light. McKay utilizes his work to stress upon his readers the need for change and movement away from the institutionalised racism that had become the societal norm.

Hidden Figures is a film based on a remarkable true story about three colored women in the 1960s. The movie follows the lives of Dorothy Vaughn, Mary Jackson, and Kathrine Johnson. These women used their intellect at NASA to contribute to the launch of the first American into space. Hidden Figures also represents the contribution of these women to society. They helped put a man in space, yet they didn’t receive the proper appreciation during their time. Hidden Figures helps give those women gratitude for all that they did for NASA and the United States. Even though this film acknowledges their achievements, it recognizes the hardships the women faced while working for NASA as well as the hardships of all other African American women in the workplace. A few of the hardships they faced were sexism, discrimination, and ageism.

American Romanticism is a journey away from the corruption of civilization and the limits of rational thoughts, and toward the integrity of nature and the freedom of imagination. In other words, it is a journey away from industrialism or rationalism, which is working hard and earning money. This movement, originally started in Europe and later reached in America. It can be best defined as a thought that values feeling and intuition over reason. Some of the characteristics include the importance of feeling and intuition over reason, placing faith in inner experience and the power of imagination, preferring youthful innocence over educated sophistication, finding beauty and reality in exotic locales. It encouraged people to enjoy the integrity of nature and freedom of imagination. It also encouraged one to have faith in imagination and inner experience. In addition, romanticists found inspiration in myth, legend, and folk culture and found poetry as the highest expression of imagination. Romanticists believed that the landscape was regarded as an extension of the human personality, capable of sympathy with man 's emotional state, whereas nature was regarded as a vehicle for spirit just as man; the breath of God fills both man and the earth. However, romantics would create chaos when the issues were connected with human rights, individualism, and freedom from oppression (Arpin 138-150).

Katherine Goble became the first African-American in the Space Task Group as Al Harrison, the director, needed someone to double check the numbers. However, she had to go a

Katherine Johnson is the main focus in the movie. She gets moved from the West computers where the colored women work to work for Al Harrison who is the director of the space test group in the East Area. Katherine Goble Johnson becomes Harrison’s analytical geometry computer. When she gets there one of the men give her the trash can because he thinks that she is the custodian. Also, Katherine goes to get a cup of coffee and all the men stare at her. The next day there is a coffee pot that says colored. Katherine goes to poor it but the pot is empty. Then Katherine has to use the bathroom and asks her supervisor where’s the bathroom and her supervisor says “I don’t know where your bathroom is.” So she ends up having to run half a mile to the bathroom and back. Further on in the movie Johnson goes to bathroom on a rainy day and when she comes back Al asks her where she goes everyday for 40 minutes. Katherine ends up flipping out explaining that she gets paid poorly,can’t afford pearls,and how she feels because all of them don’t wanna touch the coffee pot just because she’s a colored woman. In the end Katherine goes on to perform calculations for the Apollo II mission to the moon and space shuttle. The movie states that in 2016 there was a building dedicated for her and her work with space travel called Katherine Goble Johnson Computational Building. Also, at the age of ninety seven she was awarded with the Presidential medal of freedom. One of Katherine’s colleges that

At its beginning, American poetry was extremely influenced by its European roots. This is evidenced by the fact that the first colonists were English, who also brought along their poetic styles and patterns. These European traits set the standard for the genesis of American poetry, which will later we further developed and adapted by Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson, who are now considered to be the first great American poets.