Ragtime

Nicole Paschal

At first I was very confused about why some people had names while others were simply referred to as their title. I have decided that his happened for multiple reasons. I realized the book described many historical events, yet then incorporated these real people in with those created by E.L. Doctrow. Since many of the characters are historical people it seems reasonable that they are the ones referred to as their real names. Figures such as Evelyn Nesbit and Harry Harry Houdini make appearances in the novel. Having the characters who are not real be left without names helps reader to understand the difference between historically important events and major plot points.

Since the imaginary characters do not have names it helps readers to understand their role within society. Characters such as Mom, Dad, Tateh, Little Boy and Little Girl are quickly recognized because of their simplicity of names. I feel that their names are so general because these characters are supposed to represent people of this time, and not only these characters. Mom and Dad represent the wealthier American citizens of the time where as Tateh and Mameh represent the immigrants traveling to America for a better life. The different general names represent the stereotypical family environment for American citizens and people who had recently migrated to the States. Using these vague names instead of a specific first name helps people to see that these situations were not specific to only these families. The final reason for the characters not having specific names is to promote creativitiy. Without names the individual reader can come up with their own image and name for the characters in the novel. This method has many purposes including helping creativity as well as greater a general picture of what life was like during this time period.

A Different Mirror

The first and last chapters of A Different Mirror, by Ronald Takaki, speak about the diversity in America today. He talks about how it is important to emphasize cultural education and begin to learn about the other ethnic groups living in America. There are so many different groups living here, but it has become important for us to all blend together as one cohesive people. Instead of seeing the United States as many different nationalities, we should start to see ourselves as one whole, instead of many different groups of people. Takaki believes that in order for us to be one unified public we must have a better understanding of each ethnic group. In school we should learn about the different groups, along with developing a better understanding of the group dynamic in America. We used to see our country as purely black and white but we need to look at Hispanics and Asians as well since they are becoming a dominant part of our society.

The book also gives a considerable amount of history about the origins of African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics, Irish, Jews and Indians. Looking at each ethnicity’s voyages here can help us to understand the similarities and differences between each group. All groups have contributed to the building of American economy and making the United States the prosperous nation we now live in. Students are becoming more willing to learn about the histories of different nationalities so they can have a better understanding of themselves and be less ignorant about the start of their homeland. The best way for people to learn more about our history is to listen to stories of diverse people. When people tell their stories we are “looking back in the mirror called history”. When we look at our past we can see the role and influence of each ethnic group.

The last chapter is mostly about the history of each nationality, which I found to be very confusing. The chapter talks about each nationality and the specific efforts in took to be considered equal when they arrived in America. Many minorities didn’t care how they were treated in war as long as the Americans saw they were loyal to their country, and would hopefully treat their families better than how they were individually treated. I found this chapter to be ironic, since so many of these minorities moved to America in search of a better life and were then treated unfairly. Takaki concludes that most of the tension in America comes from this idea that we are not willing to accept the fact that we are an extremely diverse society. I agree with this book that we need to look at the various minorities, see our differences, and then form one unified country. I think all the differences can help our nation to prosper. We have citizens with so many different talents and such a vast history that each individual group can help the prosperity of America.

The Strange Disappearance of Civic America

The article The Strange Disappearance of Civic America, written by Robert D. Putman, describes the various possible factors in why there has been an increasing lack in social capital, along with civic engagement. The writter came up with numerous different ideas of what could have caused this to occur, and then researched which idea seemed to cause people to be less connected to one another.

Group membership and citizen’s time spent together has dramatically decreased within recent decades. Since our country has changed considerably during this time all of the changes occurring had to be looked at as possible effects for our country’s social downfall. After coming up with a list of potential suspects, Putman then asked several questions of each possibility. The questions included whether each topic was related to community trust and involvement, if the change was relevant to the specific factor, and whether each factor would be the cause or effect of civic disappearance. Each of these questions helped the author to gain a better idea about the significance of each change, and its potential in limiting social life and causing people to distrust their community.

As I continued to read the article the author kept disproving the different possibilities. Each of the changes in our culture did not seem to be directly related to fewer people participating in group activity and having less trust in the people around them. I began to believe that the author would not be able to conclude that one particular factor was the main cause of this occurrence. As we neared the end of the article Putman brought in this idea of television limited social contact between citizens. Of the many changes in our environment including people’s moving, women’s involvement, focus on education and pressure about timing, the most significant to people being less involved is the creation of new technology.

Putman concludes that the time of television’s appearance is closely related to the time in which people began to participate less. Since people are spending time watching television they are spending less time on hobbies such as reading newspapers and books. The author mentions that reading has the ability increase knowledge, as well as trust in community. The negative images presented by television shows and the news make people fear interacting with other members of community. I do agree with Putman that television has become a very important part of our community. Even when people do spend time together television is often involved which will limit their contact with one another. I feel that it is important for people to watch television less and participate in community groups and social interaction more. I feel that communicating with others not only increasing the sense of social closeness, but also deepens knowledge of ourselves, fellow community members, and our own culture.