Prater, Apolo_ENGL300A-Timeline Tuesday by

Beginning of American History

apolop21 — 2024-10-24 18:28:48 UTC

as we know it

Native Americans: Characteristics

apolop21 — 2024-10-24 18:29:28 UTC

1. Oral literature: epic narratives, creation myths, stories, poems, songs.

2. Use stories to teach moral lessons and convey practical information about the natural world.

3. Deep respect for nature and animals.

4. Cyclical worldview.

5. Figurative language/parallelism.

2200 B.C.—Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9)

apolop21 — 2024-10-24 18:29:44 UTC

2200 B.C. to 1600 A.D.

apolop21 — 2024-10-24 18:30:00 UTC

1607—Early settlement at Jamestown

apolop21 — 2024-10-24 18:30:19 UTC

Native Americans: Fact #1

apolop21 — 2024-10-24 18:32:14 UTC

Native Americans spoke more than 300 languages.

Before the arrival of Europeans in United States, the Native American Tribes used to have more than 300 languages going on across the land.

Present Day

apolop21 — 2024-10-24 18:33:39 UTC

as we know it

Native Americans: Fact #2

apolop21 — 2024-10-24 19:18:54 UTC

Native Americans had a vast tradition in literature.

They would orally pass down their stories, poems, songs from generation to generation.

Puritanism and Early Settlement of First American colonies

apolop21 — 2024-10-26 16:27:58 UTC

1600-1800

Characteristics of the Period:

apolop21 — 2024-10-26 16:29:13 UTC

1. Wrote mostly diaries and histories, which expressed the connections between God and their everyday lives.

2. Sougth to "purify" the Church of England by reforming to the simpler forms of worship and church organization described in the New Testament.

3. Saw religion as a personal, inner experience.

4. Believed in original sin and "elect" who would be saved.

5. Used a plain style of writing.

1507: Early Settlement of the first American colonies - Jamestown

apolop21 — 2024-10-26 16:30:52 UTC

End of week #2 // Beginning of week #3

apolop21 — 2024-10-26 16:31:11 UTC

1692: Salem Witch Trials

apolop21 — 2024-10-26 16:32:20 UTC

1741: Jonathan Edwards "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"

apolop21 — 2024-10-26 16:32:34 UTC

Puritanism: Fact #2

apolop21 — 2024-10-26 23:39:36 UTC

Puritans also had a huge impact on literature, law, education, communication and especially the culture.

Puritanism: Fact #1

apolop21 — 2024-10-26 23:40:55 UTC

Puritans have a huge influence to America in relation to faith/religion, and brought to the USA the understanding of religion as an inner relationship with God, as well as they also brought to Americans the importance of Scripture.

Present Day

apolop21 — 2024-12-26 23:42:07 UTC

as we know it

End of Week #3, Beginning of Week #4

apolop21 — 2024-12-26 23:43:09 UTC

Rationalism

apolop21 — 2024-12-26 23:43:39 UTC

"The Age of Reason"

"The Enlightenment"

Characteristics of the Period

apolop21 — 2024-12-26 23:44:24 UTC

1. Mostly comprised of philosophers, scientists, writing speeches and pamphlets

2. Human beings can arrive at truth (God's rules) by using deductive reasoning, rather than relying on the authority of the past, on religious faith, or intuition

1607 Early Settlement—Jamestown

apolop21 — 2024-12-26 23:46:15 UTC

1775-1783 Revolutionary War

apolop21 — 2024-12-26 23:47:05 UTC

Rationalism: Fact #1

apolop21 — 2024-12-26 23:50:24 UTC

The Age of Reason was not an atheistic movement; however, it was used as a radical criticism method to religion as an institution and to the inerrance of the Bible.

Source : https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Reason:_Being_an_Investigation_of_True_and_Fabulous_Theology

Rationalism: Fact #2

apolop21 — 2024-12-26 23:50:39 UTC

Even though it doubted the inerrance of the Bible, the movement did not reject it. During the Age of Reasons, the Reasonists believed that God was real, but he would not need to prove himself real by miracles. That is primarily why they reject the Bible as the Total Word of God.

However, Reasonists would recognize some parts of the Bible as a good guide for philosophy, marriage and some other subjects...

Source :

https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Reason:_Being_an_Investigation_of_True_and_Fabulous_Theology

Present Day

apolop21 — 2024-12-27 00:10:00 UTC

as we know it

End of Week #4, Beginning of Week #5

apolop21 — 2024-12-27 00:10:42 UTC

Transcendentalism

apolop21 — 2024-12-31 18:11:48 UTC

The American Renaissance

Characteristics of the Period

apolop21 — 2024-12-31 18:12:46 UTC

1. Everything in the world, including human beings, is a reflection of the Divine Soul.

2. People can use their intuition to behold God's spirit revealed in nature or in their own souls.

3. Self-reliance and individualism must outweigh external authority and link conformity to tradition.

4. Important social and political movements include the Abolitionist, Utopian, and Women's Suffrage Movements

1840-1860 Transcendentalism

apolop21 — 2024-12-31 18:13:37 UTC

Transcendentalism: Fact #1

apolop21 — 2024-12-31 18:16:11 UTC

INFO: https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=2&psid=3551#:~:text=The%20American%20Transcendentalists%20were%20a,fundamental%20mysteries%20of%20human%20existence.

Transcendentalism: Fact #2

apolop21 — 2024-12-31 18:16:22 UTC

INFO: https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=2&psid=3551#:~:text=The%20American%20Transcendentalists%20were%20a,fundamental%20mysteries%20of%20human%20existence.

End of Week #5, Beginning of Week #6

apolop21 — 2024-12-31 18:34:22 UTC

Romanticism

apolop21 — 2025-01-14 16:15:54 UTC

The European artistic movement

Characteristics of the Period

apolop21 — 2025-01-14 16:16:44 UTC

1. Valued feeling, intuition, idealism, and inductive reasoning.

2. Placed faith in inner experience and the power of the imagination.

3. Shunned the artificiality of civilization and sought unspoiled nature as a path to spirituality.

4. Championed individual freedom and the worth of the individual

5. Saw poetry as the highest expression of the imagination

6. Dark Romantics: used dark and supernatural themes/settings (Gothic style)Washington Irving
—"Rip van Winkle"

Famous Author and Works

apolop21 — 2025-01-14 16:17:50 UTC

Washington Irving ("Rip Van Winkle"),

Emily Dickinson (poetry),

Walt Whitman ("Leaves of Grass"),

Edgar Allan Poe ("The Raven"),

Nathaniel Hawthorne ("The Scarlet Letter").

Romanticism: Fact #1

apolop21 — 2025-01-14 16:20:35 UTC

Romanticism is famous for what we call:

"The 5 I's of Romanticism";

1) Immagination

2) Intuition

3) Individuality

4) Idealism

5) Inspiration

Romanticism: Fact #2

apolop21 — 2025-01-14 16:21:31 UTC

Nature in Romantic Period;

Whenever in history a specific group of people decide to focus and emphasize on themselves and on their own spirituality, they tend to have strange beliefs about supernatural things. The Romantics were no different, as they used to feel the presence of unseen power in Nature, and were very attracted to ghosts, fairy tales, witchcraft and supernatural experiences.

Example 1) Marco Granconato

apolop21 — 2025-10-21 11:35:38 UTC

When I think of someone who takes a stand in modern day culture, that would surely be Marco Granconato.

Marco Granconato is a Brazilian preacher who has been known, respected and regarded as one of the best preachers in Brazil, he is probably the best in the area of Systematic Theology and Reformed Theology, also very good in the area of apologetics and he is not worried about becoming disliked, he is often on the news for his messages and he is often exposing heretics.

Break of the Traditional Timeline!

apolop21 — 2025-10-21 11:36:24 UTC

Modern Day Connections of people who took or take a stand nowadays.

End of Week #6, Beginning of Week #7

apolop21 — 2025-10-21 11:39:04 UTC

Example 2) Paulo Junior

apolop21 — 2025-10-21 11:48:27 UTC

The second person that comes to my mind when I think of someone taking a stand, that would be Paulo Junior, (Marco Granconato's best friend). Paulo Junior is an ever better preacher than Marco; however, he is not as intellectual as Marco. Paulo Junior has been expelled from his Church because people could not accept the biblical truths he was preaching, but he never backed down. He is an awesome example of someone taking a stand. He defends the Christian faith and Biblical Theology with eagerness, but always in love.

This friendship reminds me of Martin Luther and Phillip Melanchton. Martin Luther would be the natural leader, while Melanchton would be the studious Systematic theologian. In this case, Paulo would be Luther and Marco would be Melanchton.

Interesting Fact #1 about Puritans

apolop21 — 2025-10-23 11:35:24 UTC

Puritans are called Puritans because they wanted to purify the Church of England (the Anglican Church) from their Roman Catholic Practices.

Interesting Fact #2 about Puritans

apolop21 — 2025-10-23 11:35:46 UTC

Puritans had strong moralistic doubts about participation in capital markets, and were prone to scold and eventually even excommunicate merchants.

End of Week #7, Beginning of Week #8

apolop21 — 2025-10-23 11:46:04 UTC

Industrialism 1800 - 1860

apolop21 — 2025-10-23 11:49:21 UTC

War of 1812

California Gold Rush

1947 - 1954 McCarthyism Era

apolop21 — 2025-10-23 11:57:36 UTC

During the Cold War (1947-1991), there was a period in USA focused on containing the growth of communism and looked forward to stop Communism before it would get in to America.

It was so focused on being Anti-communist, that it was called; ''RED SCARE''.

Interesting Fact #1 about McCarthyism Era

apolop21 — 2025-10-23 12:03:42 UTC

McCarthyism was not the first "Red Scare" in US History, as there was an Anti-Communist ideology in US History before, after World War 1 in 1917. The US President at the time, Woodrow Wilson and Mitchell Palmer were the leaders and deported a large amount of unlawful immigrants.

Interesting Fact #2 about McCarthyism Era

apolop21 — 2025-10-23 12:14:03 UTC

Communists were not McCarthy's only targets, as McCarthyism saw both; Communism and LGBTQ Movement as ''unsafe risks''. That ideology became known as "The Lavender Scare".

End of Week #8, Beginning of Week #9

apolop21 — 2025-10-23 12:17:07 UTC

Poet of Choice: E. E. Cummings.

apolop21 — 2025-10-23 12:21:24 UTC

E. E. Cummings (Edward Estling Cummings), was an American poet, writer and painter. He was born in October 14, 1894 and died at 67 years of age in September 3, 1962.

Interesting Fact #1 about E. E. Cummings

apolop21 — 2025-10-23 12:24:25 UTC

E. E. Cummings served as a volunteer in the Red-Cross Ambulance Corps as the ambulance-driver in France during War World 1.

We do not have much information about the reasons behind it.

- Source: Poetry Foundation

Interesting Fact #2 about E. E. Cummings

apolop21 — 2025-10-23 12:28:38 UTC

E. E. Cummings was arrested by French authorities in 1917 while his time working as an ambulance driver. He was held in a detention camp for 3 and a half months. He was arrested for suspicion of espionage and undesirable activities, such as anti-war sentiments expressed in letters to a friend. He later wrote a book about this, "The Enormous Room".

- Source: https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/ee-cummings-enormous-room/

End of Week #9, Beginning of Week #10

apolop21 — 2025-10-23 12:30:52 UTC

Ralph Naldo Emerson

apolop21 — 2025-10-28 21:07:17 UTC

Nature
"Self-Reliance"

Henry David Thoreau

apolop21 — 2025-10-28 21:08:26 UTC

Walden
Life in the Woods

Louisa May Alcott

apolop21 — 2025-10-28 21:08:51 UTC

Little Women

End of Week #10, Beginning of Week #11

apolop21 — 2025-11-11 11:48:14 UTC

Interesting Fact #3 about E. E. Cummings

apolop21 — 2025-11-11 11:50:45 UTC

E. E. Cummings was restrained from his daughter, Nancy Thayer, for almost 20 years. Nancy Thayer was born in 1927, she grew up with her stepfather (Scofield Thayer) as her biological father. In 1946 she met her biological father, (E. E. Cummings). In that strange meeting; Estling asked her: "Did anyone ever told you I am your father?" and she replied "You cannot mean it!"

- Source: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/apr/23/featuresreviews.guardianreview31

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/seven-fun-facts-about-e-e-cummings/

Poet of Choice: Stephen Crane.

apolop21 — 2025-11-12 00:10:56 UTC

Stephen Crane (November 1st, 1871 - June 5, 1900). Born in Newark, New Jersey, United States and died in Badenweiler, Germany; Stephen was an American poet, a writer and novelist.

Interesting Fact #1 about Stephen Crane

apolop21 — 2025-11-12 00:19:11 UTC

Stephen Crane was the youngest of 14 children.

- Source: https://homework.study.com/explanation/how-many-siblings-did-stephen-crane-have.html

Interesting Fact #2 about Stephen Crane

apolop21 — 2025-11-12 00:22:00 UTC

Stephen Crane wrote so well about War that people thought he was a veteran, most notably his work; "The Red Badge of Courage".

- Source: https://www.loa.org/news-and-views/1889-stephen-crane-8220an-episode-of-war8221/

Interesting Fact #3 about Stephen Crane

apolop21 — 2025-11-12 00:27:49 UTC

Stephen Crane had a methodist upbringing, as his parents were devout Methodists, his grandfather and his father were Methodist ministers and he himself became a Methodist Pastor at Drew Methodist Church.

- Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Crane#:~:text=Crane%20became%20the%20pastor%20of,he%20retained%20until%20his%20death.

End of Week #11, Beginning of Week #12

apolop21 — 2025-11-12 01:00:23 UTC

Poet of Choice: Emily Dickinson

apolop21 — 2025-11-12 02:25:28 UTC

Emily Dickinson (December 10th, 1830 - May 15th, 1886). Born in and died in Amherst, Massachussets, USA. Emily was an American poet, and is one of the most important figures for American poetry.

Interesting Fact #1 about Emily Dickinson

apolop21 — 2025-11-12 02:38:26 UTC

In 1965, Amherst College purchased the homestead (Dickinson's family's house) as a homage to Emily, to preserve the home of one of America's greatest poets.

- Source: emilydickinson.net

Interesting Fact #2 about Emily Dickinson

apolop21 — 2025-11-12 02:45:56 UTC

Emily Dickinson actually did not want most of her works to be published, as she thought publication was a form of "Auction/ Of the Mind of Man" and that sharing her works would be a violation of her private world.

- Source:

https://www.poetryfoundation.org

and

emilydickinson.net

Interesting Fact #3 about Emily Dickinson

apolop21 — 2025-11-12 02:54:10 UTC

Emily has a weird relationship with Christianity in general; her family were devout Christians (who followed Reformed Theology), she lived in a time of constant revivals in her teenage years, her peers were constantly converting to Christianity; however, she did not.

Even though she never publicly converted to Christ, we can find in her works Christian themes and quotations of the Bible, which means her family probably played a role and had a impact on her thoughts.

- Source: https://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org

End of Week #12, beginning of Week #13

apolop21 — 2025-11-12 02:54:35 UTC

Realism

apolop21 — 2025-11-20 23:19:36 UTC

1850-1900

Characteristics of the Period

apolop21 — 2025-11-20 23:20:44 UTC

1. Feelings of disillusionment.

2. Common subjects: slums of rapidly growing cities, factories replacing farmlands, poor factory workers, corrupt politicians.

3. Represented the manner and environment of everyday life and ordinary people as realistically as possible (Regionalism).

4. Sought to explain behavior (psychologically/socially).

1861-1865 Civil War

apolop21 — 2025-11-20 23:21:19 UTC

1865-1877 Reconstruction Era

apolop21 — 2025-11-20 23:21:37 UTC

Famous Authors and Works

apolop21 — 2025-11-20 23:23:17 UTC

Mark Twain
-Huckleberry Finn

Jack London
-Call of the Wild
-"To Build a Fire"

Stephen Crane
-"The Open Boat"

Ambrose Bierce
-"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"

Kate Chopin
-"Story of an Hour"
-The Awakening

Realism Fact #1

apolop21 — 2025-11-20 23:23:48 UTC

The Civil War (1861-1865) was the first American war to be heavily photographed. Photographers would take cameras onto battlefields, creating some of the first realistic war images in history. The civilians were shocked, it was their first time seeing the realities of the battles that were taking place at the moment.

- Source : https://www.archives.gov/research/still-pictures/civil-war

- Picture : https://www.archives.gov/research/still-pictures/civil-war

Realism Fact #2

apolop21 — 2025-11-20 23:23:57 UTC

Because of the advance in photography and its technology, soldiers were able to carry miniature pictures in their pockets. They would carry pictures of their "loved ones" to use it as a motivation and to remind themselves what they were fighting for.

Just as I like to say, if a man has a purpose, he will pass over anything.

- Source: ChatGPT because I could not find any other fun fact.

- Picture: AI generated picture, because I could not find any in the internet about this specific subject.

End of Week #13, Beginning of Week #14

apolop21 — 2025-11-20 23:54:25 UTC

Poet of Choice: Walter Braden ''Jack'' Finney

apolop21 — 2025-11-26 22:43:05 UTC

Best known as "Jack Finney", Walter Braden Finney was born in 1911 and died in 1995. He was an american novelist and short-story writer.

Interesting fact #1 about Jack Finney

apolop21 — 2025-11-26 22:55:46 UTC

His name was not really Jack, as his full name was Walter Braden Finney. He got that nickname after his father's death, as his friends did not want to confuse him with his father (also a Walter).

Interesting Fact #2 about Jack Finney

apolop21 — 2025-11-26 23:00:00 UTC

As readers are able to see throughout his works, he was obsessed with the concept of time travel and with the feeling of nostalgia. This passion shaped Time and Again, where he recreated 1880s Manhattan so accurately that historians praised the book for its detail more than some academic works. He was so obsessed with it that he actually researched time travel as if it were an actual science. Treating it like a real experiment, he even wrote about it giving instructions, not stories.

Interesting Fact #3 about Jack Finney

apolop21 — 2025-11-26 23:01:56 UTC

Because of his obsession with time travel, nostalgia, old things and etc... Jack Finney collected small, random objects from the past and kept them as "time anchors". He kept old coins, ticket stubs, train schedules, keys, and bits of antique paper scattered around his writing desk. When surrounded with real objects of the past, he felt the time period more clearly, almost like portals into history.

End of Week #14, Beginning of Week #15

apolop21 — 2025-11-26 23:13:27 UTC

Poet of Choice: Sandra Cisneros

apolop21 — 2025-11-27 20:53:13 UTC

Sandra Cisneros (1954-today) is a Mexican/American writer. Sandra is well known for "The House on Mango Street". She usually writes about family life, Latina identity, culture and the struggles of growing up in between two worlds (Mexico/USA).

Interesting Fact #1 about Sandra Cisneros

apolop21 — 2025-11-27 20:55:16 UTC

Sandra Cisneros once lived in a bright purple house. She stated that she wanted a purple house not only because she liked expressive and vivid colors, but because she thinks that houses have individual personalities.

- Source: https://www.texasmonthly.com/style/the-purple-passion-of-sandra-cisneros/

Interesting Fact #2 about Sandra Cisneros

apolop21 — 2025-11-27 21:03:58 UTC

One thing about Sandra Cisneros that almost no one knows is that she once worked as a teacher at the Latino Youth Alternative High School, in Chicago.

- Source:

National Women's History Museum Org

Interesting fact #3 about Sandra Cisneros

apolop21 — 2025-11-27 21:09:42 UTC

At one point at Sandra Cisneros' journey as a writer, she was so discouraged that she seriously considered never writing again. That was right before her career launched and thankfully she did not manage to do so.

- Source: https://www.arts.gov/stories/blog/2020/hispanic-heritage-flashback-friday-sandra-cisneros-recognizing-ourselves#:~:text=My%20whole%20life%20is%20a,from%20all%20kinds%20of%20people.

End of Week #15, Beginning of Week #16

apolop21 — 2025-11-27 21:11:44 UTC

Modernism

apolop21 — 2025-11-28 19:10:53 UTC

1900-1950

Characteristics of the Period

apolop21 — 2025-11-28 19:11:39 UTC

1. Sense of disillusionment and loss of faith in the "American Dream": the independent, self-reliant, individual will triumph.
2. Emphasis on bold experimentation in style and form over the traditional.
3. Interest in the inner workings of the human mind (ex. Stream of consciousness).

World War I

apolop21 — 2025-11-28 19:12:07 UTC

1914-1918

The Great Depression

apolop21 — 2025-11-28 19:12:17 UTC

1929-1939

World War II

apolop21 — 2025-11-28 19:12:24 UTC

1939-1945

Famous Authors and Works

apolop21 — 2025-11-28 19:13:07 UTC

Lorraine Hansberry
-A Raisin in the Sun

F. Scott Fitzgerald
-The Great Gatsby

William Faulkner
-"A Rose for Emily"

Eudora Welty
-"A Worn Path"

Robert Frost
-poetry

T. S. Eliot
-The Waste Land
-"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

John Steinbeck
-Of Mice and Men
-The Grapes of Wrath

Interesting Fact #1 about Modernism

apolop21 — 2025-11-28 19:24:22 UTC

Influential Modernist writers were obsessed with breaking rules. Writer like James Joyrce and Gertrude Stein intentionally ignored grammar, punctuation and narrative structure. Joyce's work "Ulysses" was even banned in the U.S for years because its experimentation was considered obscene.

- Source: ChatGPT (could not find any other)

Interesting Fact #2 about Modernism

apolop21 — 2025-11-28 19:29:43 UTC

In 1917, Marcel Duchamp (a French/American Modernist artist) submitted a urinal as a sculpture and called it "Fountain". Critics thought it was an absurd pran. Today, it is considered one of the most influential artworks of the 20th century and a defining moment in Modernism.

- Source: https://www.news.iastate.edu/news/100-years-later-duchamps-fountain-still-influential

End of Week #16, Beginning of Week #17

apolop21 — 2025-11-28 19:30:16 UTC

The American Dream

apolop21 — 2025-11-28 22:25:43 UTC

During 1920s

Interesting Fact #1 about The American Dream in the 20s

apolop21 — 2025-11-28 22:32:51 UTC

Due to consumerism and the ambition to achieve the American Dream, consumer debt exploded. People would fake to have achieved the Dream, buying luxury cars and items and other things they could not really afford. By the end of the decade, millions of families were in debt just to look successful.

- Source: https://study.com/academy/lesson/american-economy-in-the-1920s-consumerism-stock-market-economic-shift.html#:~:text=Table%20of%20Contents,attributed%20to%20its%20widespread%20adoption.

Interesting Fact #2 about The American Dream in the 20s

apolop21 — 2025-11-28 22:39:17 UTC

In the 1920s, the American Dream literally had a "measuring tool", called: "the Standard of Living Index". And it was believed by the index that if you did not have:

- a radio

- a phonograph

- a washing machine

you were "below the American standard".

- Source: https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2014/article/one-hundred-years-of-price-change-the-consumer-price-index-and-the-american-inflation-experience.htm

End of Week #17, Beginning of Week #18

apolop21 — 2025-11-28 22:39:37 UTC

The American Dream

apolop21 — 2025-12-02 03:43:05 UTC

During 1930s-1940s

Interesting Fact #1 about The American Dream in 1930s - 1940s

apolop21 — 2025-12-02 03:53:05 UTC

During 1930s-1940s, American movies were exported to Europe and Latin America. For many people abroad, movies were their first encounter with the American Dream, showing freedom, cars, suburbs, romance, dinners, jazz and opportunities.

- Source:

https://americancompass.org/immigrants-and-the-american-dream/

Interesting Fact #2 about The American Dream in 1930s-1940s

apolop21 — 2025-12-02 04:00:54 UTC

In 1942, the "Bracero Program" was created. The Bracero Program was a mutualistic system of working for Mexicans workers during times the USA would need, specially in agriculture.

- Source:

https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2023/09/27/the-bracero-program-prelude-to-cesar-chavez-and-the-farm-worker-movement/

End of Week #18, Beginning of Week #19

apolop21 — 2025-12-02 04:01:28 UTC

The American Dream

apolop21 — 2025-12-02 17:51:03 UTC

During 1950s

Fun Fact #1 about the American Dream during 1950s

apolop21 — 2025-12-02 17:57:58 UTC

Fast-food restaurants were literally designed to look futuristic to symbolize the American Dream. McDonalds, for example; looked like bold neon signs, shiny metalls and etc...

- Source:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/crispy-salty-american-history-fast-food-180972459/

End of Week #19, Beginning of Week #20

apolop21 — 2025-12-02 17:58:24 UTC

Fun Fact #2 about the American Dream during 1950s

apolop21 — 2025-12-02 17:58:55 UTC

Credit cards were introduced because the Dream became too expensive for cash. The first modern credit card (Diners Club, 1950) appeared because Americans wanted to buy more: cars, TVs, appliances, (goods in general).

The Dream shifted from "success" to "successful lifestyle" and credit cards were the engine for it.

- Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/the-first-credit-card-1779328 + ChatGPT

Harlem Renaissance, 1920-1940

apolop21 — 2025-12-02 22:39:57 UTC

Also called:

"The Jazz Age"

"The Roaring 20s"

Period Characteristics:

apolop21 — 2025-12-02 22:41:04 UTC

1) Black cultural movement in Harlem, New York
2) Some poetry rhythms based on spirituals and jazz, lyrics on the blues, and diction from the street talk of the ghettos
3) Other poetry used conventional lyrical forms

1919 - 1925 The New Negro Movement

apolop21 — 2025-12-02 22:42:35 UTC

1920 - 1933 Prohibition

apolop21 — 2025-12-02 22:43:02 UTC

Famous authors and Works

apolop21 — 2025-12-02 22:43:52 UTC

James Weldon Johnson

Claude McKay

Countee Cullen

Langston Hughes (poetry)

Zora Neale Hurston

Fun Fact #1 about Harlem Renaissance

apolop21 — 2025-12-02 22:47:00 UTC

Magazines were actually crucial to the Movement, not just as background media, but as engines that created, spread and sustained the Movement itself. Magazines would often launch the careers of writers, for example: Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston and Countee Cullen.

- Source: https://historyfacts.com/us-history/article/the-story-of-the-harlem-renaissance-in-6-facts/

Fun Fact #2 about Harlem Renaissance

apolop21 — 2025-12-02 22:47:17 UTC

The Harlem Renaissance was boosted by the ban on alcohol (1920-1933), creating, then; perfect conditions for Harlem's jazz culture to explode. Prohibition encouraged innovation and improvisation and Jazz is and has always been about innovation and improvisation itself.

- Source: https://historyfacts.com/us-history/article/the-story-of-the-harlem-renaissance-in-6-facts/

https://harlemstandard.com/harlem-and-jazz-during-the-prohibition-the-harlem-renaissance/

End of Week #20, Beginning of Week #21

apolop21 — 2025-12-02 22:47:42 UTC

The American Dream

apolop21 — 2025-12-03 22:36:50 UTC

1960s - 1970s

Interesting Fact #2 about The American Dream during 1960s-1970s

apolop21 — 2025-12-03 22:37:19 UTC

During the 1970s, economics crisis turned the buying of houses almost impossible, keeping savings was also not as easy as before, moving upward was harder than it had ever been before. Because of this, comic strips and late-night TV literally made fun of the American Dream, something that would have been unthinkable in the 1950s, for example.

- Source:

https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/16/archives/the-70s-america-learns-to-expect-a-little-less-the-frustrating-70s.html#:~:text=Economic%20growth%20was%20slowed%20as,size%20of%20the%20American%20automobile.

Interesting Fact #1 about The American Dream during 1960s - 1970s

apolop21 — 2025-12-03 22:41:16 UTC

It was during 1960s that the movie: "Easy Rider" was launched. Little (or much) did Hollywood know that this movie expose the dark side of the American Dream, portraying the American Dream as corrupted or unreachable.

And in this same decade, (a lot due to this movie) was when people openly asked themselves: "Is the Dream real or is it a scam?".

- Source:

https://www.edgarallanpoets.com/easy-rider-freedom-rebellion-and-the-american-dream/

End of Week #21, Beginning of Week #22

apolop21 — 2025-12-03 22:41:34 UTC

The American Dream

apolop21 — 2025-12-04 23:28:13 UTC

1980s

Fun Fact #1 about the American Dream during 1980s

apolop21 — 2025-12-04 23:38:55 UTC

During 1980s, homelesness actually skyrocketed. While wealth boomed at the top, homelessness increased harshly, especially in big cities, such as: New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington D.C, Chicago and many others...

- Source: Time Traveling Table Website + https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-homeless-retrospective-20161027-story.html

Fun Fact #2 about the American Dream during 1980s

apolop21 — 2025-12-04 23:39:29 UTC

During this time period, the American Dream also became about fitness and health. Gyms, diet culture and aerobics tapes turned physicality into part of the American Dream, as a perfect body became a symbol for "personal success", this phenomenon was called "The Fitness Craze".

- Source: Time Traveling Table Website + https://www.goretro.com/2011/09/80s-fitness-craze.html

End of Week #22, Beginning of Week #23

apolop21 — 2025-12-04 23:40:21 UTC

The American Dream

apolop21 — 2025-12-05 01:05:46 UTC

1990s - early 2000s

Interesting Fact #1 about the American Dream during 1990s - early 2000s

apolop21 — 2025-12-05 01:13:57 UTC

During this time period, immigration reshaped the Dream, as USA saw major waves of immigration. Many immigrants received the American Dream because for them, it meant:

education for their children
entrepreneurship possibilities
financial stability
and other things...

This period became one of the most diverse in modern US history, shaping USA to be what it is nowadays as well.

- Source:

https://immigrationhistory.org/item/immigration-act-of-1990/

Interesting Fact #2 about the American Dream during 1990s - early 2000s

apolop21 — 2025-12-05 01:16:12 UTC

It was during this time period that college degrees became mandatory for the American Dream, as college was widely seen as the only path not only to success, but also the only path to a stable job and to a middle-class life. As a result of it, student loan debt began skyrocketing, which is an early warning sign of modern debt burdens.

- Source:

https://www.hireright.com/blog/college-degree-required-how-1990s-of-you

End of Week #23, Beginning of Week #24

apolop21 — 2025-12-05 01:21:20 UTC

Contemporary "Postmodernism"

apolop21 — 2025-12-05 01:31:36 UTC

1950 - present

Period Characteristics

apolop21 — 2025-12-05 01:32:18 UTC

1. Influenced by studies of media, language, and information technology.
2. Sense that little is unique; culture endlessly duplicates itself.
3. New literary forms and techniques: works composed of only dialogue, or combining fiction and nonfiction, experimenting with physical appearance of their work.

Korean War

apolop21 — 2025-12-05 01:32:47 UTC

1950 - 1953

Vietnam War

apolop21 — 2025-12-05 01:33:36 UTC

1954 - 1975

Famous Authors and Works

apolop21 — 2025-12-05 01:34:22 UTC

Alice Walker

Wallace Stevens

e.e. cummings

Maya Angelou

Anne Sexton

James Baldwin

Richard Wright

Sandra Cisneros

Amy Tan

Interesting Fact #2 about Contemporary Postmodernism

apolop21 — 2025-12-05 01:41:00 UTC

Some scholar actually argue we are now in "metamodernism", which supposedly refers to the new era after postmodernism from which we supposedly evolved from. Apparently, metamodernism is the new era where people oscilate between modernism, postmodernism and somewhere in between.

- Source: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00293652.2025.2452292?af=R

Interesting Fact #1 about Contemporary Postmodernism

apolop21 — 2025-12-05 01:47:37 UTC

Postmodern Architecture is characterized by its lack of strict rules and seriousness, making it seem like a rebellion to traditional architectures. Postmodern Architecture is weird on purpose, massive, playful, colorful and blocky buildings or arts are made like that on purpose to symbolize modernity.

- Source: None (This one I knew everything I wrote).

End of Week #24, End of the Course (?)

apolop21 — 2025-12-05 01:48:01 UTC