Ragtime

In the novel Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow, the main characters have no names. They go by as Mother, Father, little boy, Mother’s Youngest Brother, Mameh, Tateh and the little girl. All the other characters in the novel are historical figures and have actual names. I believe that Doctorow did not use names to describe his characters to allow the readers to relate to their lives. With the loss of names and formality, the reader can become one with the novel, and connect their lives to the events. The novel takes place in the 1900’s a time when the United States was a melting pot of immigrants looking to find a better life. Many readers who have immigrated or have families that have come over to America understand the struggles of living in a different world. Tateh and the little girl give us an insight to the life of immigrants living in poverty. While Mother and Father’s family show the opposite, the life of a prosperous family. With the elimination of names in the novel Ragtime the readers are able to relate to the experiences of the characters. They can put themselves in the character’s shoes as the story seems less personal without names.   

A Different Mirror

In Ronald Takaki’s novel A Different Mirror he discusses the different races of immigrants that have come to make up America. The United States is melting pot with people from different countries all around the world. People come to America to find a better life, in a place that is built on equality and freedom. Through Takaki’s revelations he points out the injustices of the immigrants, and the racism that has taken a place in the history of America.

In the early days of colonization, European immigrants were the vast majority and made up the colonies. As of today one-third of the American people do not trace their origins back to Europe (Takaki). Over the years racism has become an increasing problem, and I believe it all stems off the first settlers, the Europeans. All Europeans have white skin, and therefore there is no observable difference based on appearance. With the introduction of slavery to the country, Black Americans have been the basis of much racism due to their different color skin. The problems did not stop there, Asian Americans have also become victims due to their observable differences. They have exotic features and therefore are unable to assimilate (Takaki). In 1882 the Chinese Exclusion Act actually prohibited the entry of the Chinese into the United States. Due to the apparent skin differences the law was able to exist. At the time Irish were still immigrating in great numbers, but with their white skin they were able to blend in with the current population.

These are just a few examples of the racism that continues to exist today. The Black Americans and Asian Americans are constantly discriminated against due to their differences in skin color, and appearance. America is supposed to be based on equality, and if this is so, why does this happen? In Ronald Takaki’s novel he goes into the histories of all the non-Anglo people that make up this country. It is an eye opener of the racism that has played such a central role in America’s history.

"Strange Disappearance of Civic America"

Throughout the 1960’s to the 1980’s the amount of time that American people have spent socializing has decreased greatly. There has been a decline in visiting, social groups, clubs, organizations and associations. In Robert Putnam’s essay “Strange Disappearance of Civic America,” he researched the cause for this action. He looked at all the possible factors that may have contributed to this decline and through careful detective work and use of surveys and studies he attempted to find an explanation.

By the end of his paper, Putnam came to the conclusion that television was the main culprit for bringing on the disappearance of civic America. Through research he found studies that American’s watched about four hours of television a day. With television taking up most of an average American’s free time, there is little room left in the day for socializing. Television became ones leisure activity for the day which replaced the need to go out to social gatherings. I completely agree with Putnam’s finding. With the popularity of televisions in the average American home, outside social interaction has been on decline as people are too busy spending their free time sitting at home on their couch with a remote in hand.

Robert Putnam’s essay was written more than a decade ago in 1996 and is quite outdated. I would be interested to see current study done about the social interaction done outside the home and have it compared to numbers in the 1990’s. I believe that the numbers would have decreased much more. In the past decade not only the television has had an important role in the average American’s home but the computer and internet have also been introduced. With the wide spread availability of the internet over the last decade, I would be interested to see the amount of time spent on the computer compared to the amount of time watching television. I would not be surprised if the computer was much greater. The internet has brought communication, entertainment and work all together in one place. Not only adults, but especially teens and even young children take advantage of the computer for games, email, word processing, or just surfing the web.

With the great advancements of technology people are less likely to leave home to spend their free time in clubs or social organizations. Through the internet you can join forums of any kind to socialize and are able to attend at your own convenience. With the busy life of an American, the leisure time in ones day is constantly diminishing, and the convenience and endless opportunities of the internet are replacing the need to leave the home to socialize.

Robert Putnam found through his research done in 1996 that since the 1960’s television was the major reason for the disappearance of Civic America. Television was only the start of the technology wave being brought into an average American’s home. With the introduction of computers and the internet, American’s have become even more disengaged from community activities.