Comparing Let Us Now Praise Famous Men and An American Exodus: A Record

Comparing Let Us Now Praise Famous Men and An American Exodus: A Record of Human Erosion The Great Depression, which began with the stock market crash of 1929 and lasted for the next decade, was a time of desperation and disorientation in America. In an effort to bring the country back on its feet, President Roosevelt initiated the Farm Security Administration (FSA) project. Photographers were hired and sent across the United States to document Americans living in poverty, and Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans were two of those photographers that were sent out. Along with their partners Paul S. Taylor and James Agee they started their projects which were approached through two different methods. Agee and Evans project Let Us Now Praise Famous Men and Lange and Taylor’s project An American exodus: A Record of Human Erosion, are two similar, though different types of work. Both projects are of the poor tenant farmers in the south and the sharecroppers living during the Great Depression during the 1930s. The first difference I noticed is the way the pictures are presen ted in the two projects. By this I mean how they are taken and how Evans and Lange chose which ones that were to be included in the books. A second difference is that Agee and Taylor had two different writing techniques and these are the biggest differences between the two books. Despite the similarities in the two texts presented by the authors and photographers, their work is presented in two various ways. Agee and Evans project was done after living with three tenant families and Evans photographs are completely separate from Agees text. There are not any captions or names and they do not tell us where the photos are taken or who the people in the pictures are. Lange and Taylor’s project on the other hand is written in a way that helps us read the photographs and it is easier to see the connections between the text and pictures. The captions underneath the photos are based on words formulated by the people in the picture. However, the photos that do not have any people in them still have captions, but in this case we can assume that someone has told the photographer or author what to write for each photo. By this method the true meaning of how the turmoil during this period affected the people in question is more precisely illustrated because it inc ludes the words uttered by the people thems... ...f it hurts you, be glad of it. As near as you will ever get, you are inside the music; not only inside it, you are it; your body is no longer your shape and substance, it is the shape and substance of the music.† (101) Here the structure of the text is visible, but to me it becomes messy and confusing. I feel he tries to say more than is needed and the meaning behind the words becomes tedious. In conclusion, all though the projects of the authors and photographers are very similar they are very different as well. The only common element the two books contain is the depictions of the people during the Great Depression. They both try to illustrate the conditions during this time, but that’s were the similarities end. As mentioned earlier, the difference lies in the how the text is written and the methods chosen to present the pictures. I feel that Lange’s and Taylor’s book is a more accurate presentation of the Great Depression than the book written by Agee and Evans is. Agee and Evans’s book seems to be more of a depiction of how they perceived the Great Depression rather than how it really was. Therefore, I feel their project is more of an â€Å"art-piece† rather than a documentary. Comparing Let Us Now Praise Famous Men and An American Exodus: A Record Comparing Let Us Now Praise Famous Men and An American Exodus: A Record of Human Erosion The Great Depression, which began with the stock market crash of 1929 and lasted for the next decade, was a time of desperation and disorientation in America. In an effort to bring the country back on its feet, President Roosevelt initiated the Farm Security Administration (FSA) project. Photographers were hired and sent across the United States to document Americans living in poverty, and Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans were two of those photographers that were sent out. Along with their partners Paul S. Taylor and James Agee they started their projects which were approached through two different methods. Agee and Evans project Let Us Now Praise Famous Men and Lange and Taylor’s project An American exodus: A Record of Human Erosion, are two similar, though different types of work. Both projects are of the poor tenant farmers in the south and the sharecroppers living during the Great Depression during the 1930s. The first difference I noticed is the way the pictures are presen ted in the two projects. By this I mean how they are taken and how Evans and Lange chose which ones that were to be included in the books. A second difference is that Agee and Taylor had two different writing techniques and these are the biggest differences between the two books. Despite the similarities in the two texts presented by the authors and photographers, their work is presented in two various ways. Agee and Evans project was done after living with three tenant families and Evans photographs are completely separate from Agees text. There are not any captions or names and they do not tell us where the photos are taken or who the people in the pictures are. Lange and Taylor’s project on the other hand is written in a way that helps us read the photographs and it is easier to see the connections between the text and pictures. The captions underneath the photos are based on words formulated by the people in the picture. However, the photos that do not have any people in them still have captions, but in this case we can assume that someone has told the photographer or author what to write for each photo. By this method the true meaning of how the turmoil during this period affected the people in question is more precisely illustrated because it inc ludes the words uttered by the people thems... ...f it hurts you, be glad of it. As near as you will ever get, you are inside the music; not only inside it, you are it; your body is no longer your shape and substance, it is the shape and substance of the music.† (101) Here the structure of the text is visible, but to me it becomes messy and confusing. I feel he tries to say more than is needed and the meaning behind the words becomes tedious. In conclusion, all though the projects of the authors and photographers are very similar they are very different as well. The only common element the two books contain is the depictions of the people during the Great Depression. They both try to illustrate the conditions during this time, but that’s were the similarities end. As mentioned earlier, the difference lies in the how the text is written and the methods chosen to present the pictures. I feel that Lange’s and Taylor’s book is a more accurate presentation of the Great Depression than the book written by Agee and Evans is. Agee and Evans’s book seems to be more of a depiction of how they perceived the Great Depression rather than how it really was. Therefore, I feel their project is more of an â€Å"art-piece† rather than a documentary.

Lyndon Baines Johnson

Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th President of the United States (1963–69), was born in a farmhouse on the Pedernales River near Johnson City, Texas[i]. Johnson grew up amidst poverty. On both sides of his family he had a political heritage mingled with a Baptist background of preachers and teachers. He graduated (1930) from Southwest Texas State Teachers College (now Southwest Texas State Univ.), in San Marcos. He taught in a Houston high school before becoming (1932) secretary to a Texas Congressman. In 1934 he married Claudia Alta Taylor and they had two daughters, Lynda Bird and Luci Baines. A staunch New Dealer, Johnson gained the friendship of the influential Sam Rayburn, at whose behest President Franklin D. Roosevelt made him (1935) director in Texas of the National Youth Administration. In 1937, Johnson won election to a vacant congressional seat, and he was consistently re-elected through 1946. Despite Roosevelt's support, however, he was defeated in a special election to the Senate in 1941. He served (1941–42) in the navy. In 1948, Johnson was elected U.S. Senator from Texas after winning the Democratic primary by a mere 87 votes. A strong advocate of military preparedness, he persuaded the Armed Services Committee to set up (1950) the Preparedness Investigating Subcommittee. Rising rapidly in the Senate hierarchy, Johnson became (1951) Democratic whip and then (1953) floor leader. As majority leader after the 1954 elections he wielded great power, exhibiting unusual skill in marshalling support for President Eisenhower’s programs. He suffered a serious heart attack in 1955 but recovered to continue his senatorial command. Johnson lost the 1960 Democratic presidential nomination to John F. Kennedy, but accepted Kennedy's offer of the vice-presidential position. Elected with Kennedy, he energetically supported the President's programs, serving as an American emissary to nations throughout the world and as chairman of the National Aeronautics and Space Council and of the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunities. After Kennedy's assassination on Nov. 22, 1963, Johnson was sworn in as president and announced that he would strive to carry through Kennedy's programs. Congress responded to Johnson's skilful prodding by enacting an $11 billion tax cut (Jan., 1964) and a sweeping Civil Rights Act (July, 1964). With Johnson's insistent backing, Congress finally adopted a far-reaching civil-rights bill, a voting-rights bill, a Medicare program for the aged, and measures to improve education and conservation. Elected (Nov., 1964) for a full term in a landslide over Senator Barry Goldwater, he pushed hard for his domestic program. The 89th Congress (1965–66) produced more major legislative action than any since the New Deal. During the Johnson Presidency, Medicare and Medicaid were established to provide medical insurance for those over 65 and those too poor to pay. During the Johnson Administration, the first environmental legislation was passed. A bill providing free medical care (Medicare) to the aged under Social Security was enacted, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 provided new safeguards for African-American voters, and more money went to antipoverty programs. The departments of Transportation and of Housing and Urban Development were added to the Cabinet. Johnson's domestic achievements were soon obscured by foreign affairs. Johnson's actions (Feb., 1965) of bombing on North Vietnam aroused widespread opposition in Congress and among the public and developed vigorous antiwar movement. As the cost of the war shot up, Congress scuttled many of Johnson's domestic programs. After Senators Eugene McCarthy and Robert Kennedy began campaigns for the Democratic presidential nomination, Johnson announced (Mar., 1968) that he would not run for reelection. When Johnson retired from office (Jan., 1969), he left the nation bitterly divided by the war. He retired to Texas, where he died [ii]. In 1964 the American people seemed to give overwhelming endorsement to his achievements. His reelection was followed by the notable series of legislative victories establishing the Great Society–the most visionary domestic program in American history. Conventional wisdom suggests that President Lyndon Baines Johnson pushed each Congress to the limit to obtain a maximum number of controversial legislative victories. Consequently, slim margins were often expected and indeed planned for. A key Johnson legislative aide, Henry Hall Wilson, made this point explicitly, â€Å"When we have a fat Congress as we did in the Eighty-ninth, then we can hike up our demands to fit the situation. When votes are not razor thin in either case, then we are not doing a good job[iii]. Johnson used just about everything in his extensive repertory to get Congress moving and excelled. According to Hugh Sidey, â€Å"During 1965, Johnson would zero in on a congress- man or a senator and get what he wanted, a good deal. He would lie, beg, cheat, steal a little, threaten, intimidate. But he never lost sight of that ultimate goal, his idea of the Great Society[iv]. Substantial preparation was required to identify that the linchpin of the whole system was â€Å"the treatment,† Johnson's personal techniques of political persuasion and political skill[v]. â€Å"A Great Society† for the American people and their fellow men elsewhere was the vision of Lyndon B. Johnson. In his first years of office he obtained passage of one of the most extensive legislative programs in the Nation's history. During World War II he served briefly in the Navy as a lieutenant commander, winning a Silver Star in the South Pacific. After six terms in the House, Johnson was elected to the Senate in 1948. In 1953, he became the youngest Minority Leader in Senate history, and the following year, when the Democrats won control, Majority Leader. With rare skill he obtained passage of a number of key Eisenhower measures. Johnson's Great Society program was designed to fight poverty in the United States. It consisted of a series of legislation, which included the Job Corps, to provide vocational training for disadvantaged youth; Volunteers in Service of America (VISTA) – a domestic Peace Corps; Head Start, to instruct disadvantaged preschoolers, among other programs. The other part of the Great Society program was the passage of civil rights legislation proposed by the Kennedy Administration. In the 1960 campaign, Johnson, as John F. Kennedy's running mate, was elected Vice President. First he obtained enactment of the measures President Kennedy had been urging at the time of his death–a new civil rights bill and a tax cut. Next he urged the Nation â€Å"to build a great society, a place where the meaning of man's life matches the marvels of man's labor.† In 1964, Johnson won the Presidency with 61 percent of the vote and had the widest popular margin in American history–more than 15,000,000 votes. The Great Society program became Johnson's agenda for Congress in January 1965, an aid to education, attack on disease, Medicare, urban renewal, beautification, conservation, development of depressed regions, a wide-scale fight against poverty, control and prevention of crime and delinquency, removal of obstacles to the right to vote. Lyndon Johnson faced the toughest transition after Kennedy's death[vi]. Johnson had to confront the grief and despair many people felt over the loss of a beloved leader and their antagonism toward someone who, however much he identified with JFK, seemed like a usurper, an unelected, untested replacement for the man the country now more than ever saw as more suitable for the job. Johnson understood the essential need for continuity, for reassuring people at home and abroad that the new President would be faithful to the previous administration. The death of a President was trauma enough, but Kennedy's assassination made his passing a national crisis in self-confidence, a time of doubt about the durability of the country's democratic system and its tradition of non-violent political change. Despite his private fears, Johnson was an inspiration to the country. His public appearances, his use of language, his management of the press promoted feelings of continuity and unity[vii]. The hallmark of his Great Society social reform program, the War on Poverty strove to achieve what LBJ's mentor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, could not, an end to the nation's most distressing social ills and recognition that racism still divided the nation into distinct economic and social groups. For American Jews, LBJ's reformulation of New Deal liberalism into a group-based, race-sensitive political philosophy challenged long-held assumptions about the role of the state and pressed the community's organized leadership into the forefront of national public policy debate. Millions of Democratic voters registered their disapproval of LBJ by abandoning their long-time political home and bolting to the Republican Party[viii]. Johnson's cynical idealism and the unmanageable mysteries of the times converged into the early-American, frontier-style presidency that finally forced us to begin to redefine our nationhood. Lyndon Johnson was rude, intelligent, shrewd, charming, compassionate, vindictive, maudlin, selfish, passionate, volcanic and cold, vicious and generous. He played every part, he left out no emotion; in him one saw one's self and all the others. He was not an idealist, but he served ideals when it suited and pleased him. He was not a reactionary, but he fanned reaction when it helped him advance himself. He was tireless and diligent, but he was also narrowly political, and he was suspicious of new ideas. He berated intellectuals because he envied them. He was as personally responsible for American history since 1950 as any other man of his time. Throughout his career he was consolidating his private wealth by a calculating use of public power, and there is an affinity between this squalid side of his success and the corruptive commercialism in the national ethos[ix]. President Johnson's Presidency will be remembered for the â€Å"Great Society† programs for which he wanted to be remembered, and for the Vietnam War, which eventually forced his resignation. [i] On both sides of his family he had a political heritage mingled with a Baptist background of preachers and teachers [ii] Encyclopedia Article Title: Johnson, Lyndon Baines. Encyclopedia Title: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Publisher: Columbia University Press. Place of Publication: New York. Publication Year: 2004. [iii]   Doris Kearns, Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream ( New York: New American Library, 1976. [iv] Merle Miller, Lyndon New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1980. [v] Bernard J. Firestone.1988.Lyndon Baines Johnson and the Uses of Power. Editor, Robert C. Vogt Publisher: Greenwood Press. Place of Publication: New York;Page Number: 7. [vi] At the height of his power as Senate leader, Johnson sought the Democratic nomination for president in 1960. When he lost to John F. Kennedy, he surprised even some of his closest associates by accepting second place on the ticket. [vii] Robert Dallek .2004.Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President. Publisher: Oxford University Press. Place of Publication: New York; Page Number: 227. [viii] ) Marc Dollinger .2001.The Other War: American Jews, Lyndon Johnson, and the Great Society. Contributors: – author. Journal Title: American Jewish History. Volume: 89. Issue: 4. Publication Year: 2001. Page Number: 437+ [ix] Ronnie Dugger .1982.The Politician: The Life and Times of Lyndon Johnson the Drive for Power, from the Frontier to Master of the Senate. Publisher: W. W. Norton. Place of Publication: New York; Page Number: 13.   

The Banking Concept Of Education - 904 Words

For many years education in the United States has been taught the same way over and over again. It has put children through many years of boring lectures to learn something and eventually will be forgotten. In the Banking concept Freire gives his opinion on the traditional way students have learned for many years. He Calls it the Banking Concept of Education, it is when a student knows nothing and the teacher has to educate them with boring long lectures that will eventually be forgotten by the school year is over. This form of teaching has not really helped students succeed especially when they get to the college level. It has not let students think about what they are learning and think critically about everything they are learning. The banking concept way of teaching has only let students learn a ton of materials but not so much in depth because of a lack of time and too many topics to cover. Students today have been struggling to succeed in their future because of the banking con cept, and some countries have already passed the education in the United States. Students are being taught the wrong way according the Freire. Freire mentions narration leads the students to memorize mechanically the narrated content. Worse yet, it turns them into containers, into receptacles to be filled by the teacher(pg. 1). In other words this means that s a teacher s or instructor s job is to teach the children all the requirements that are needed and they expect them to know all theShow MoreRelatedThe Banking Concept Of Education958 Words   |  4 PagesIn the excerpt from â€Å"The Banking Concept of Education† the author, Paulo Freire explains the critical flaw in the current education system. He continues by offering his believed solution to this problem. The two concepts Freire discusses in this excerpt are the â€Å"banking concept† of education and the â€Å"problem-posing method† of education. The â€Å"banking concept† is talked about rathe r negatively, whereas the â€Å"problem-posing method† is talked about highly. Freire believes in the â€Å"problem-posing method†Read MoreThe Banking Concept Of Education881 Words   |  4 Pages The banking concept is a term used by Paulo Freire to describe the â€Å"traditional† educational system. With this concept, students seem to learn all they need to know by narration of the teachers. â€Å"Narration leads the students to memorize mechanically the narrated account†(Freire, page 1). Because of this method, students are being referred to as depositors since teachers’ deposit information into their brains and the students receive, memorize and repeat. This concept has shown that people lack creativityRead MoreThe Banking Concept Of Education951 Words   |  4 PagesWhen I first read Freire’s writing, â€Å"The ‘Banking Concept’ of Education†, I felt really passionate about it. The reason I felt so passionate about it, was because once upon a time I wanted to be a teacher. Until I began to see the struggles that teachers’ had, trying to teach large class sizes all of the same information. The longer the teachers taught, the more they lost their passion. In class there was never enough time for teachers to show their passion, or explain why they really loved the subjectRead MoreThe Banking Concept Of Education Essay1834 Words   |  8 Pageshours studying. We could agree that the method of our education has also been the same; listening, note taking, memorizing, and hoping to God that we did not just bomb our most recent test. What if someone told us in high school that this grueling and boring process was all wrong? Well, this is exactly what, Paulo Freire, a Brazilian educator and philosopher, proposes in his essay, â€Å"The Banking Concept of Education.† Freire argues â€Å"banking education† stunts and discourages critical thinking and creativityRead MoreThe Banking Concept Of Education1277 Words   |  6 PagesTrue Education at Its Best In The Banking Concept of Education, Paulo Freire evaluates the teacher-student relationship and the concept of Banking education which he thought not to be a suitable process of education. Education is a systematic body of knowledge that is acquired through life experiences, schooling, and the environment. It is an important tool that applies in the contemporary world to succeed and to mitigate life challenges. Also, the knowledge gained through educationRead MoreSummary Of The Banking Concept Of Education1519 Words   |  7 PagesDominants and Subordinates in Education In â€Å"The ‘Banking’ Concept of Education,† from the Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Revised Edition, Paulo Freire discusses two different types of education: â€Å"banking† and problem-posing. The banking concept of education is when teachers â€Å"make deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat† (318), and ‘problem posing’ is when the teachers and students are equal. Instead of being treated as human beings that have their own thoughts and ideas,Read MoreThe Banking Concept Of Education Summary1133 Words   |  5 Pages0701 23 September 2017 The Banking Concept of Education In the essay, â€Å"The Banking Concept of Education†, Paulo Freire compares two teaching concepts used in education, which are the â€Å"banking concept† and â€Å"problem-posing†. In the â€Å"banking concept†, the educator assumes that the students are passive, so they take full control and instill students with information without explaining it to them or receive their input. Freire believes that problem-posing education allows people to develop their humanRead MoreBanking Concept of Education Essay685 Words   |  3 PagesBanking Concept of Education Philosopher and educator Paulo Freire once said, â€Å"Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.† In Freire’s work of â€Å"the Banking Concept of Concept†, he describesRead MoreThe Teaching Concept Of Banking Education1098 Words   |  5 PagesPhilosophy Statement Essay Introduction Effective teachers are able to meet the student’s individual needs by modifying the curriculum, being involved in the community and involving the parents in the student s education. I teach in San Luis, AZ, a community composed mainly of Hispanic families and Spanish is the primary language. In order to build a positive relationship with the community and parents, it is important to understand and implement the culture in the curriculum. Setting an open doorRead More The Banking Concept of Education and The Achievement of Desire1463 Words   |  6 PagesThe Banking Concept of Education and The Achievement of Desire Education is a topic that can be explored in many ways. Education is looked at in depth by both Richard Rodriguez in his essay, â€Å"The Achievement of Desire†, and by Paulo Freire in his essay, â€Å"The ‘Banking’ Concept of Education.† After reading both essays, one can make some assumptions about different methods of education and exactly by which method Rodriguez was taught. The types of relationships Rodriguez had with his teachers