Essays on Counterculture

Every period in the history of a country differs not only in a number and sequence of events happening, people playing critical roles in it, or culture which defines people’s attitudes and behaviors. They also differ in perception of things and events by people, hence the variety of meanings people associate with certain ideas. It is true that meaning of an idea changes with the flow of time depending on historical environment, on the complex of events which happen in the given period. Therefore, the idea of freedom has been changing through American history, and the goal of ...

Steve Jobs was a highly controversial but extremely successful leader of one of the largest and most successful companies in the world. Jobs dazzled the business world and the general public with his drive for excellence, but annoyed at even angered many of his executives and employees with his single-minded vision. Jobs was remarkable and visionary, and he helped to revolutionize personal computers and the digital industry as a whole. Thanks for this, Apple enjoyed massive sales any time a new iPhone, iPad or iPod hit the market. All of this convinced the world in general and business circles ...

Introduction

Even if music can be viewed as a universal language, music still differs from society to society largely due to the culture in which that specific music is associated in. In other words, every separate human society has their more or less unique variant of music, which contributes to the characteristic of their culture in general. For example, Latin Americans are commonly associated with Latino music, the hip-hop genre and the blues was commonly credited to the black culture, among others. One particular popular music of interest is the one that came from the Caribbean Islands, particularly the island ...

Ideology in Allen Ginsberg’s “America” and “Sunflower Sutra”

Ideology is a very important topic as it relates to literature. Literature is one of the primary methods in which people that perhaps are not within the mainstream of culture, politics and society employ to question hegemonic power structures. Dominant power structures are often posed primarily as the synthesis of modernity, objective reality, logocentrism, patriarchy, white supremacy and capitalism, which are often cited in shorthand as “imperialism.” The United States, after the Second World War the period in which Allen Ginsberg and the other beat generation writers were most active was arguably the point in world history in which ...

There are different periods in the history of countries that play more or less significance roles. No doubt that First and Second World Wars immensely influenced the life and political situations almost in every country. These were the most disastrous event and their aftermaths were often disastrous too. In spite of these tremendous periods in the world’s history there were no less and maybe, according to some views, more important period in the history of America in the twentieth century. The period of the 60s is treated now as the time of innovations in culture, science, music and ...

Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States from 1492 to the Present is universally known as one of the most influential, if not the best or most historically sound social history of the United States. Zinn is one of the most famous examples of a kind of historian that was born of a particular moment in American history. Although it was originally published in 1980 it symbolizes the fervor and excitement of the 1960s of the counterculture, the Civil Rights and antiwar movements. Zinn’s book is deeply steeped in these movements and their social ...

Civil Rights History in the United States

The Civil Rights movement came to the fore almost after almost 100 years after the abolishment of slavery, but the predominant white populace, especially in the Southern States, found ways to get around the legal laws and statutes. Jim Crow Laws limited the way the American African American and populaces were allowed – to, or not – to vote, further there were other written and unwritten societal rules which were intended to intimidate during the 1950s and 1960s peoples of African American origin where meant to alienate and deter the mingling between whites and blacks at any level of societal interactions. ...

If you look at the portrayal of superheroes in film over the past three or four decades, it is clear that the characters are becoming darker in their personal nature, their motivations and the way they act in the films. If you look at the way that Adam West acts in the Batman film from the 1960s and in the television program, it is fairly clear that the emphasis of the show is campy in nature, and while his Batman does state lessons in a paternal sort of tone, the humor of the show makes the whole thing seem ...

In a sense, any rock music is revolutionary. By its very beat and sound it has always instinctively rejects restrictions and celebrates freedom and sexuality. At first, this music was not taken seriously by anyone. It was thought that this is another fashion that will soon disappear, as it was the case with charleston, boogie-woogie and twist. But this music very fast “won” the world. In the development of the music of the late 1960s trends towards an increase of its role in society, characteristic for the 1960s, manifested especially evidently: from another means of entertainment rock music through ...

Rock music in the 1950s has been flourishing among the Blacks as a form of protest. Through time, it has been gaining popularity not only among the Blacks but across races and across nations. The hardcore fans of folk and country music despised this emerging genre of music. Some radio stations even disagreed to play rock music despite the reality that a lot of people are following this kind of music. Some personalities even declared rock music having messages that are immoral like sex and drugs. However, rock musicians struggled to be accepted with the help of other folk ...

In a sense, any rock music is revolutionary. By its very beat and sound it has always instinctively rejects restrictions and celebrates freedom and sexuality. At first, this music was not taken seriously by anyone. It was thought that this is another fashion that will soon disappear, as it was the case with charleston, boogie-woogie and twist. But this music very fast “won” the world. In the development of the music of the late 1960s trends towards an increase of its role in society, characteristic for the 1960s, manifested especially evidently: from another means of entertainment rock music through ...

All great stories have to start somewhere. They gain special shape through different layers of author’s experience. However, they could only become exquisite when they continue living outside of author’s mind. There is no need to prove that the stories depicted in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings received their special lives. In fact, they belong to the popular culture phenomenon that is addressed to many (Hall 1). Not only do they continue living after the death of J.R.R. Tolkien, but they also remain an inspiration for the myriads of other minds in various fields. ...