WELCOME TO THE ENGLISH 11 BLOG!
REMEMBER THE RULES: This BLOG must remain appropriate...you are putting it on the WORLD WIDE web, you know....
This is a site where you can post and comment on the literature that we are reading. Sometimes we will discuss deep ideas and sometimes we will just have fun; fun that might lead to deeper things. This is one of those weeks.
Thanks for the GREAT comments in regard to the first readings. I am impressed. I would like to turn your attention now to our three essential questions: What does it mean to be an American? What is the American Dream? What (or who) is the quintessential American?
Let's play with the concept of America and the word "quintessential". Merriam Webster defines quintessential as 1 : the purest form of something 2 : the most perfect type or example. In an article on About.com on Benjamin Franklin, Mary Ballis says "Historians have called him the quintessential American because of his creative pragmatism, scientific innovation, and democratic spirit."
http://inventors.about.com/od/fstartinventions/a/Franklin.htm
In your opinion,
1.What is the quintessential American music? Explain your choice!
2.What is the quintessential American food? Describe briefly.
3.What is the quintessential American literature? Why?
4.What does the quintessential American town look like? Describe briefly.
5.What is the quintessential American sport? Why?
19 comments:
I think the quintessential American food is French fries. Americans love french fries! In America you will find french fries served in every fast food resteraunt, as well as all the formal resteraunts. Carnivals and amusement parks-French fires are everywhere in America. A little salt and a little vinegar, we as Americans love them.
The quintessential American food is the cheeseburger. First of all it was invented in America by a man named Lionel Sternberger, and is not to be confused with the regular hamburger. Not only was it invented in America, but eating cheeseburgers has become a national pastime thoroughly enjoyed by almost everyone. It has also been transformed into a capitalistic jackpot. Today, it is very likely to see a McDonalds or Burger King in any good sized town that you happen to be wandering through. It is clear that cheeseburgers make some sort of profit or else they would not be so popular. You also must think about the contents of one of these wonders. Beef and cheese, preferably AMERICAN CHEESE. Cattle ranching was and still is a large part of America because beef is a major part of the American diet. If it's one things we Americans love, it's beef and dairy. It's not hard to argue, because we Love Cheeseburgers!
I got my facts from: http://www.culturefreak.com/tale.html
I would have to say that the quintessential American styles of music are oldies and country. While I write this, those are exactly what I'm listening to. Almost anyone can identify with them in either one way or another. At least 90 percent of the people I know listen to at least one of these styles. Many of the songs tie in with the most quintessential american food, or drink too. The quintessential American foods and drinks are hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, soda, and french fries. I have never known an American that hasn't eatenand drunk all of these. Most eat and drink them on a regular basis. Last night for supper I had hamburgers and a coke. However all of these foods pale in comparison of the most quintessential American food or drink: alchohol. In almost every movie, cartoon, book, tv show, newspaper, and magazine, there is some mention of alchohol. It has even invaded our schools. When I was a freshman, two seniors were kicked off of the soccer team for drinking. Last year in baseball season, three of our players recieved four-game suspensions for drinking. That all of these foods and drinks are quintessential to Americans is very sad. It should make us all stop and think about whether our country is as stable as we believe.
-ben
Hey "Discontention", what do you think the quintessential genre of music is?
Ohhhh, Discontention, can you give us a different answer than "I just like to cause 'dis'contention?" We need a voice like yours (within reason ;) to make this blog exciting and to make it useful! Can you elaborate on your answer? Is there a type of music that more than others typefies American culture? Or do the different genres typefy different, interlocking parts of American culture? We're embarking on a persuasive unit, and this is the perfect arena for you guys to start to practice backing up your opinons with well crafted support and with stylistic devices!
In response to question 3:
The quintessential American literature is The Bible. Now some might say that my statement is very controvercial or byist but honestly it is based on facts. Since 1815, over 6 billion copies have been sold making it the best-selling book of all time. Not, only has the Bible been on the Best-Seller list for years, but our country was founded by people, our for-fathers, who trusted it's teachings. Our national father's made for certain that we would be encirled by it everyday by engraving these same teachings on our currency which states; "In God We Trust." Whether you choose to accept or deny it, our country was founded on this one peice of literature and if seeing this viable evidence everyday is not enough to prove this literally quintessential truth, than frankly you must be blind.
So, I leave you with this. If our nation was established on the teachings of The Bible, while knowing that it is the best-selling book of all time, why aren't it's teachings being seen today? Why aren't we using this quintessential literature to benfit ourselves morally, spiritually, and most of all nationally? If we were founded on it, then why not stand by it?
What is the quintessential American music?
That would have to be the Blues/Jazz category. If you think about it, Blues music was a result from American slavery; slaves would sing the blues to pass time as they labored. Blues also influenced much of music that we know of today. Rock for instance, slowly came into formation once Elvis Presley (the King of Rock) modified his blues music to have a rockish vibe to it. Blues/Jazz holds America's history in it, as well as a heavy influence to our present music.
What is the quintessential American food?
To answer this question, we first need to know what food is: Food is any substance, usually comprised primarily of carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, water and/or proteins, that can be eaten or DRUNK by animals (including humans) for nutrition and/or pleasure. (Definition from Wikipedia) With that said, the quintessential American food is Coke. Why? Because cola - a carbonated, sweetened and often caffeinated beverage - was invented in America in 1886 by a company appropriately named Coca-cola. Despite the fact that Coke has launched a new era in beverages; the "cola age", it is today the world's most popular soft drink. Nearly anywhere in the world you can order a cola. More importantly, every foreign nation knows that cola is a product of America.
What is the quintessential American sport?
That would be baseball or American football (not to be confused with European), since those sports originated here. Yes, basketball and other sports orignated in America too, but they are not becoming internationally as famous as baseball has become. And Football is growing exponentially in fame world-wide, which is why it may possibly also become a contender for the spot of the quintessential American Sport.
Ashleigh wrote:
"Maybe the Bible was what we were based on morally, but as culture evolves and knowledge expands we have to adapt. The Bible gave us a way to seek a higher statandard of living. Now we have it."
So, let me see here; Are you saying that since we, as Americans, "evolved" past the ways of the Bible that we should disregard the influence it has had and continues to have on our society? It's not that we have adapted away from Christianity, it is that Christianity has adapted to American ways. Open your eyes a little and you'll see. For instance, does not nearly every person who considers themself an American tend to celebrate Christmas and even Easter? I think you need to look again at just how much "evolution" our culture has gone through.
Now, I am not saying that the Bible is the quintessential piece of American Literature, but it is however one of the most influential pieces (as all religious books tend to be). We have to realize that the Bible goes way beyond America; it's a world-wide piece, as it has historical roots in many other countries, and those roots are certainly more deeper than those in America's soil. Wars have been waged, people have been saved, and billions of lives have been altered just based on this piece of literature and by what it represents. Therefore, we cannot call the Bible as the Quintessential American Literature, instead, it is the Quintessential National Literature.
Alright, guys, as moderator, I am going to step in. You have all touched on some important ideas, but we are absolutely not going to argue religion on the English 11 blog. There are two reasons for this. One, no matter how anyone personally feels about that state of affairs, in today's America, in a public forum such as this, we need to be extremely careful not to even remotely appear to be proselytizing. Two, religion is so personal that it simply is not appropriate to argue it in this forum. When we mess with core beliefs, someone always gets hurt, and sensitivity to other's beliefs, religious or otherwise is of paramount importance. Finally, a literary note on all of this. Knowledge of the Bible and of the Puritan interpretation of the Bible is integral to the writings of the Puritans and, to some extent, it has remained so down through modern American literature. In truth, the Bible, as literature, has influenced most of Western culture, just as the Koran has influenced Middle Eastern culture. A lesser example of this would be trying to say that the plays of Shakespeare haven't really influenced Western Culture. You will see this demonstrated as we continue through the year NOT for religious purposes, but in order for you to understand the allusions and images of the texts we read. For example, when we read the stories from the early 1900's about WWI, people respond to it with images of the Apocalypse which, of course, was first written about in the Bible. So it could be argued that the Bible is not a national literary treasure, but in fact a universal literary treasure, that has been alluded to throughout Western civilization. With that in mind, in English 11, as is appropriate, it will be treated as literature. I am discussing this now because, for instance, William Bradford, whom we will be reading this week, wrote Of Plymouth Plantation in the simple, artful language and cadence of the Geneva Bible. And he took it even further than that because he was not simply writing history. In the words of one author, Bradford was writing a mix of unvarnished reportage and religious exhortation. Since Bradford's book put into words the way that Americans first defined themselves and still do today to some extent, certain core values that the Bible exhorts have certainly (and deliberately) become a part of the American identity. Thanks for your participation so far on the blog and in class. I look forward to very rewarding literary discussions in the near future. We also will be having a conversation around the difficulties of email/blog communication, particularly in tone. (Which is lovely, because that's also, coincidentally, one of our literary devices for this week!) See you tomorrow or Tuesday! Mrs V
Please don't bring cheese into this, that's just unfair.
I have to say this: if you're going to disagree with people and put your opinions, you should not be afraid to say what your name is, rather than doing it anonymously, discontention and hand that rocks the empty cradle. In my opinion if you're not brave enough to say what your name is, you should just keep your mouth shut.
Also, bendystraw
Nobody can seem to come up with the quintessential American literature. How about Garfield? Now, before you all laugh at me, hear me out. Garfield represents all of the bad qualities of Americans. For this everybody loves him. Doesn't this tell us something about our values? If we as Americans love our bad qualities, are we as good people as we think? I don't believe so. If we find it funny to see Garfield kick Odie across the room every few days, what will we find so funny next? A serial killer? A school bombing? Maybe we should stop and think about what we find funny. Mabe we should stop being childish, and grow up. Maybe we should stop laughing at violence and other bad qualities. Everybody reads Garfield, and everybody finds it hilarious. Stop and think next time you read the comics. Think about the underlying motives and currents in them.
Ben, you are a genius. I disagree with you a lot but that is just genius.
I agree…I would have to say I think that American Football is the Quintessential American sport. I mean it doesn’t get much more American then you and your Buddy’s getting together to watch a Football game, with all the chicken wings and bags of chips everywhere. Then there’s the Super Bowl which is the same situation except a lot bigger, everyone watches it. People that don’t even really care for football will watch the Super Bowl anyways because they know its such a big event. If you don’t agree ask Mr. Vigue.
Sorry Micah. Anyone else going to reveal who they are?
Hey, V Chris V,
Mr. Vigue didn't do anything with Mrs. Vigue for the last Superbowl...or, come to think of it the one before that...no chips, no salsa, no buddies, no "nuthin"...do you know something I don't know? :P
Mrs. V
There are four sports that could be called the quintessential American sport. Lacrosse could be, as it was invented by Native Americans. Basketball could be, as it was invented solely by Americans. Football or baseball could be, as they were invented in America. However, lacrosse is somewhat obscure, football is an American cross between the European sports of soccer and rugby, baseball is a takeoff on the European sport of cricket, and basketball, though gaining popularity, is still not all that well-liked. Hockey is also gaining popularity, but as it originated in Holland and Russia and is not very easy to play in warm states, it could not really be called quintessential. In my humble opinion, hiking is the quintessential American sport. Almost everyone I know has hiked a mountain at least once. In the song America the Beautiful, consider the phrase "Purple mountain's majesty." This embodies our country's quintessential sport.
From v chris v:
"People that don’t even really care for football will watch the Super Bowl anyways because they know its such a big event. If you don’t agree ask Mr. Vigue."
He's trying to make us succumb to his opinion through logos by appealing to Mr. Vigue's ethos! Must....Resist....
;)
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