Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Evolution Of The American Dream, Zi-Ning Choo '13

2010 Fall Semester

Achievement of the American Dream is and has always been a hope of many Americans. Like many other aspirations, however, the American Dream itself is continuously evolving. The promises of the modern American Dream differ considerably from the possibilities voiced by early Americans.As described by Crevecoeur and Franklin, the original American Dream is the potential of economic success regardless of birth or class. However, David Kamp, Bharati Mukherjee, Jonathan Kozol, Malcolm Gladwell, and Bill McKibben present a less-idealistic modern American Dream. In comparison to the modest, attainable, and satisfying original, the modern American Dream is more extravagant, less accessible by …

Bravery, Honor, And Loyalty As Morals In Beowulf, Eleanor Cory '12

2010 Fall Semester

Since it originated in oral tradition, the epic Beowulf has no known author. It does, however, serve as a representation of the Anglo-Saxon culture it originates from. As a work of art, it also serves its purpose of moral instruction, today serving as a demonstration of what values were important to the Anglo-Saxon people. Especially seen through the characters of Beowulf and Wiglaf, the poem Beowulf illustrates three important morals of its time: bravery, honor, and loyalty.

Art: A Handbook For Morality, Wendy Bindeman '12

2010 Fall Semester

Morals begin with parental instructions and pure bribery, such as promising playtime if children follow instructions and putting them in time-out if they act out inappropriately. However, over time, this outwardly enforced moral code must become internalized for a person to truly be ethical. Internalization happens when a person develops a sense of boundaries and behavior to live by without prompting. This process of creating standards draws on one’s experiences and knowledge of how the world views and responds to certain actions. The moral lessons present in art, which everyone is exposed to beginning at a very young age, help …

The Imsa-Sf Paradigm: Why It’S All The Same To Me, Sarah Weitekamp '11

2010 Fall Semester

On what must have been my third or fourth day of IMSA, I remember an upperclassman asking me, “You’ve read Ender’s Game, right? You have to read that book—everyone at IMSA does.” I had, in fact, read the book, and I immediately felt relieved. I felt had passed my first test at IMSA, plus I was geeked to learn that my taste in books wasn’t out of place here. I shouldn’t have been so surprised. IMSA is overflowing with science fiction fans of all varieties—we are a nerd school after all, even if the Admissions Office disapproves of my …

Scientific Speculators: Imsa As Training Ground For Science Fiction Readers, Lisa Akintilo '11

2010 Fall Semester

Science fiction (SF) is one of the world’s fastest-growing literary genres. Created as a separation from traditional writing styles, it challenges its followers to question the framework of societies across the globe. One would think that such a genre would allow people of all different ages, shapes, and sizes to enjoy its distinctive novels, but this is not the case. Readers of SF must be inquisitive, opinionated, and confident; in other words, be extremely similar to a student at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. IMSA’s belief statements and learning standards perfectly align with editor David Hartwell’s description of an …

Female Liberation In The Awakening And “The Yellow Wall-Paper”, Kevin Chen '10

2010 Spring Semester

Kate Chopin’s The Awakening and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wall-Paper,” both initially published in 1899, present strikingly similar stories of the plight of women in society. Both texts adopt a markedly feminist bias, narrated from the point of view of a female protagonist who wrests with the restrictive conventions of a misogynistic society before finally breaking free through separation from the thinking world, via suicide in The Awakening and insanity in “The Yellow Wall-Paper.” Some would argue that the women themselves are flawed, through either mental instability or rampant libido, and thus the stories are skewed through the eyes …

Puppies, Pearls, And Corpses On The Road: F. Scott Fitzgerald’S Treatment Of Women In The Great Gatsby, Eleanor Cory '12

2010 Spring Semester

“…That’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (21). These are the words of Daisy Buchanan, a woman around whom the entire novel seems to revolve. Her story is one of a woman who loses her first love and instead marries a man who proved unfaithful and angry. Knowing that the story was written as a critique of society at the time, one might expect Daisy to eventually empower herself to leave this situation and escape the stereotype of the weak woman. The actual story could not be more different. In his attempts …

Crane And Chopin: Ideas Of Transformation, Vijay Jayaram '11

2010 Spring Semester

Though Stephen Crane’s Red Badge of Courage and Kate Chopin’s The Awakening are largely considered unrelated novels, they share one major idea: that of the failure of transformation. This is depicted in the respective evolutions of Crane’s Henry Fleming and Chopin’s Edna Pontellier, each of whom suffers a loss of identity in their respective awakenings. This idea is borne not out of imagination, but rather, the experiences of the authors themselves. Crane created Fleming to satirize his post-war world, while Chopin invented Edna to do the same in her sexually repressive society. Through the unsuccessful evolutions of their protagonists, these …

The Possibility Of Female Autonomy In The Awakening And “The Yellow Wall-Paper”, Liana Nicklaus '10

2010 Spring Semester

Both The Awakening by Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wall-Paper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman present female main characters pursuing individual autonomy. At first, it would appear that both of these characters gain their freedom in the course of their respective stories. In The Awakening, Edna is able to escape from her husband into a new house, and pursue romantic interests with other men, and at the end of “The Yellow Wall-Paper,” the protagonist exclaims, “I’ve got out at last!” (Gilman 20). However, there are several elements in each piece which hint that liberation is not truly achievable. In actuality, societal …

Can We Really Make A Difference?, Michael Atten '12

2010 Spring Semester

Over the course of history, which type of person makes a bigger impact, an active manipulator fighting to stay alive or a passive observer floating along in the sea of life?

Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, and Maus, by Art Spiegelman, answered this question differently. Billy Pilgrim, the main character of Slaughterhouse Five, was so passive and uncaring about his fate that he effectively came “unstuck” in time. Conversely, Vladek Spiegelman of Maus put up a fight at every opportunity and never willingly traveled along in life. However, neither character made a difference on the events of the Second World …