Issue 6

WWII Propaganda: The Influence of Racism

Images created in times of war reveal the tensions and fears ignited by the conflicts between nations. Close analysis shows that the attached World War II propaganda poster is one such image. This 1942 poster, titled This is the Enemy, circulated in the United States following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Its purpose was to embody the entire Japanese nation as a ruthless and animalistic enemy that needed to be defeated.

If You Give Your Love Some Chemo…

My boyfriend has cancer. With cancer you can never say, “had”, because even after you complete your treatment and your scans come up clear, you never really get to be called “cured”. After that diagnosis the best you can ever hope for is “cancer-free” and I suppose that’s accurate, because after having cancer your life and the lives of those around you are never the same.

Nature’’s Voice: A Review of Environmental Literature

I started this essay with the intention of crafting a new chapter, a 21st century update, to Rachel Carson’'s Silent Spring. What I soon found was that this task is fundamentally impossible. There can’t be another Silent Spring because it isn’t 1962 anymore. The context has changed. This train of thought brought me the realization that the environment of a writer is inherent in his work.

In the Water, Everyone is Equal

The conflict has been raging for over half a century. Israel and Palestine are like two brothers; brothers that are sprung out of the same core and host religions and nations that share the same origins. But in spite of these commonalities, the dispute is still ongoing, with no promise of a near-end resolve.

FUTURE TENSE

When Emoticons rule the World Virtual Eyes will shimmer and wink Digital Lips will smile and curl Messages will not waver or blink

Charlotte and Elizabeth: Guardians of the Female Mind in Pride and Prejudice

In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen’s depiction of womanhood is both varied and expansive. A woman can be gentle in spirit, incapable of finding ill in others. Daughters can be impossibly “silly” in their romantic endeavors. Wives are sometimes obnoxious, meddling fools with easily disturbed nerves. Even women linked by their intelligence, such as Charlotte and Elizabeth, differ in terms of practicality and adherence to social norms.

U.S. Syphilis Study at Tuskegee and Minority Participation in Research

The U.S. Syphilis Study at Tuskegee studied the condition and progress of nearly 400 African-American males with diagnosed syphilis. Lured to the hospital with promises of free transportation, lunches, medical care, and burials, the subjects were observed for nearly 40 years and never informed of their condition. These subjects also were never notified of their participation in a research study, and, though efficient syphilis medications were available, they were not administered treatment.

Vaudeville and the American Dream

Vaudeville was an expressive, innovative, and quirky form of popular entertainment in America that spanned the turn of the twentieth century. Yet, vaudeville was more than mere entertainment for the American mass culture—it was a reflection of the rapidly changing waters of American life. In the era of vaudeville, from the early 1980s to the early 1930s, American enjoyed a time of unparalleled growth and urbanization, increasing diversity, and upward social mobility.

“Work while the white folks play:” Meta-theater and Greek Chorus in Show Boat

Based on the 1926 Edna Ferber novel of the same name, Show Boat (1937) is an American musical composed by Jerome Kern (1885-1945) with book and lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960). It is regarded as a pioneering development in musical theater; deviating from the contemporary trend of loosely connecting collections of popular songs with an inconsequential plot, Kern’s music in Show Boat artfully illustrates a complex story, its characters, and their relationships.

Representation through Documentary: A Post-Modern Assessment

Like photography, documentaries are a representational medium: They record and occasionally reconstruct the everyday reality viewers typically cannot experience themselves. Because photography is an indexical sign signifying truth, audiences understand the documentary, a moving photograph, to signify truth also. However, they are able to make the distinction between the “everyday reality” presented by documentaries and the fictive “reality” of cinematic films.