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Comparison Essay - John Masters

The 1920s and the 1980s were both very progressive eras. New organizations were forming left and right and different men, and women as well, were becoming important figures and changing society right before everybody's eyes. The Great Man Criteria is used to judge how long a particular person's, or organization's influence lasted in society and also how much they influenced society. Throughout the essay, I will compare three different topics from both the 1920s and the 1980s eras (3 topics each). The three topics I chose to compare from the 1920s era are: The Blues (music) and Robert Johnson by me (John Masters), The Ponzi Scheme and Carlo Ponzi by Elena M., and the American Olympics Association and Gertrude Ederle by Jacob B. I chose these three topics because I thought they covered everything in more detail than the other topics. The three topics I chose from the 1980s are: Hip Hop and Run DMC, Grandmaster Flash, and the Furious Five by Corbin D., the Cult of Celebrity Princess Diana and John Lennon by Alex K., and the Cincinnati Reds Betting scandal with Pete Rose by Arabella Meyer. I chose these three topics because they were very descriptive and had a lot of quality information. In my 1920s project on The Blues and Robert Johnson, the significance of the accomplishment was that, “the black and the poor whites created a culture derived from music, which was incredible,” (John M.). It is remarkable that an entire culture could be created from a genre of music. Elena M. wrote about the Ponzi scheme and Carlo Ponzi and she wrote that, “Carlo Ponzi had come to America in 1903 with on $2.50 in his pocket… and within a few months [after he started his scheme] he was a millionaire,” (Elena M.). To gain that much money in a matter of months is remarkable. For Jacob B’s 1920s project he wrote about the American Olympics Association and Gertrude Ederle. He exclaimed that Gertrude was the first woman to swim the English Channel and that she did over 2 hours faster than all the other people (men) who did it before her (Jacob B.).

I wrote, in my 1920s topic, that, “Robert Johnson paved a new path and left a legacy of an entire genre of music,” (John M.). The legacy that he left behind was an entire genre of music. Elena wrote that Carlo Ponzi is remembered but his legacy has not been put to use much other than Bernie Madoff (Elena M). His scheme is not flawless enough to be used effectively. Jacob wrote the Gertrude’s legacy has endured a long time with 26 Olympic swimming records (Jacob B.).

The Blues was a genre that inspired to African Americans primarily, and some whites, to play music and he was considered the first rock style guitarist to do this (John M.). His music initially extended to a select minority but now is worldwide. Elena M. wrote that some people attempted the Ponzi scheme but few of them were nearly as significant as Carlo himself (Elena M.). He was influential but the people that were influenced were highly unsuccessful. Jacob B. said that Gertrude inspired women everywhere to start swimming competitively just as men did (Jacob B.). Her influence eventually lead to women’s swimming being a part of the Olympics.

In my 1920s topic about Robert Johnson, I claimed that he has a very large impact on daily life and he, “[influenced] nearly all American popular music.” (John M.). People listen to music every day and without the influence of Robert Johnson, most of the material would not be the same. In Elena’s topic about Charles Ponzi she wrote that, “now in 2012, there is more security than there used to be and the idea of doing what Charles Ponzi did in the 21st century is laughable,” (Elena M.). Jacob wrote about Gertrude Ederle and he claimed that there would likely be no woman’s swimming in the Olympics if Gertrude would not have been so inspiring.

Corbin had the topic about Hip Hop and several artist of that genre and he wrote that the significance of this type of music was that it influenced a whole different genre of music to express fashion and lifestyle (Corbin D.). Hip Hop was significant because it was the beginning of many different genres that sprouted from it like rap. Alex K. wrote about John Lennon and exclaimed that, “his music inspired people around the world and he became a phenomenon,” (Alex K.). John Lennon was under one of the worldwide spotlights in the 1980s. Arabella M. wrote about Pete Rose’s betting scandal and her view on the subject was that, “as a result of the scandal, the Cincinnati Reds lost one of their best players and baseball lost an event making hero,” (Arabella M.). Pete Rose was a highly significant figure in baseball holding over 30 records.

Corbin writes that Hip Hop has endured because it is, “used by companies such as Nike and McDonald’s to sell their products,” (Corbin D.). Hip Hop has also been one of the most listened to genres since it was created. Alex writes that, “John Lennon [has influenced] many people on America and still does to this day,” (Alex K.). John Lennon has endured through many decades and is still, after death, listened to constantly. Arabella writes that the betting scandal has endured somewhat because it is always in the back of players minds (Arabella M.).

In Corbin’s 1980s topic page, he claimed that Hip Hop, “… [painted] a realistic, dismal and graphic picture of life in the slums of America,” (Corbin D.). The music reached out to all walks of life to represent the travesties of the “thug life.” Alex K. wrote that John Lennon’s, “…fame only grew larger as millions of people mourned his death,” (Alex K.). His music had reached out to millions of people. Arabella claims that all baseball fans were affected and many argued whether Pete Rose should be accepted into the baseball Hall of Fame (Arabella M.). Anybody who was paying attention to baseball at the time had an opinion on the matter.

The effect on daily life of Corbin’s topic is that, “rap is the most popular music with teens today,” (Corbin D.). Rap is the most listened to type of music for my generation. On the other end of the music spectrum, John Lennon’s effect on daily life is that many people listen to him today because of his attitude and perspective on life (Alex K.). Pete Rose’s influence on daily life is that, “… we take offenses less seriously and because of this, many believe if Rose’s scandal had taken place today the consequences would not be taken seriously,” (Arabella M.). It is a very controversial case today because it would be handled completely differently in today’s age.

In order from most influential to least influential 1920s topics, I would place them like this: The Blues (music) and Robert Johnson by me (John Masters), the American Olympics Association and Gertrude Ederle by Jacob B., The Ponzi Scheme and Carlo Ponzi by Elena M. I believe that the Blues and Robert Johnson is more influential than the American Olympics Association and Gertrude Ederle because music is something 99.9% of people participate in today and not as many people are affected by the Olympics as music. I believe, however, that the American Olympics Association is more influential than the Ponzi scheme because the Olympics are much more impactful than the minor Ponzi schemes that occur. For the 1980s topics I chose, I would put them from most impactful to least impactful in this order: Hip Hop and Run DMC, Grandmaster Flash, and the Furious Five by Corbin D., the Cult of Celebrity Princess Diana and John Lennon by Alex K., and the Cincinnati Reds Betting scandal with Pete Rose. Although I like John Lennon more than any Hip Hop artist, I believe that Hip Hop has reached wider across the globe and has affected more people. I do think, though, that John Lennon is more influential than Pete Rose and the Cincinnati Reds batting scandal because John Lennon was more well know across the world, for the most part, and the Pete Rose batting scandal was mostly confined to America.

__Works Cited__ Masters, John. "Robert Johnson and The Blues." Wikispaces. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. .

Medich, Elena. "Carlo Ponzin and the Ponzi Scheme." WIkispaces. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. .

Blankemeyer, Jacob. "American Olympics Assosiation and Gurtrude Ederle." Wikispaces. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. .

Dennis, Corbin. "Hip-Hop and Run DMC, Grandmaster Flash, and The Furious Five." Wikispaces. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. .

Kern, Alex. "The Cult of Celebrity Princess Diana and John Lennon." Wikispaces. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. .

Meyer, Arabella. "Cincinnati Reds Batting Scandal and Pete Rose." Wikispaces. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. <http://buchholtzsidoramericanstudies.wikispaces.com/>.

RUBRIC

A quality comparison essay will

•Use the __four__ criteria of Great Man Continuum to analyze the significance of three 1920’s topics and three 1980s topics. general discussion, little analysis of individual criteria

•Analyze of each of the 6 topics with evidence taken from the 1920s and 1980s wikis, Supporting evidence offered for each topic

•Develop a thoughtful and thorough conclusions on all 6 topics, sweeping conclusions made with little analysis

•Rank the three topics for each decade and explain why one topic is more influential than the other two, yes but little supporting evidence

•Answer the essay question with a clear, well reasoned argument, question addressed, arguments not well developed

•Explain why the __second__ choice fell short compared to the __first__ choice but is more just than the __third__ choice,

•Organize ideas in extended power paragraphs, inconsistently done--explain sentence often omitted

•Identify the source and establish its credibility with an appositive phrase, not done

•Cite evidence with internal citations and in a Works Cited. Click links for exemplars. Minor IC errors, alphabetize WC