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Drew Sarno Period 7 History

Essay Question: Who was more influential in the 1920s and 1980s: Great Persons or Civil Society?

The great man continuum is a unique scale that evaluates the individuals accomplishments, legacy, influence, and impact on daily society. This helps us to study and organize information on a certain topic. I will be using this great man criteria in order to determine the most influential topic of each decade. Throughout the paper I will be examining the different topics in the 1920’s and 1980’s. The three topics I chose for the 1920’s were Franklin D. Roosevelt, League of woman voters, and the great flood of 1927. The three 1980’s topics were MTV, Personal computers (Steve Jobs), and Fashion Fads. Using these topics I can use the Great man criteria in order to show who was more influential in the 1920’s and 1980’s: Great persons or Civil Society.
 * PART 1 (INTRO)**

The first thing on the great man criteria is the significance of accomplishment. “Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) served as president of the United States from March 4th, 1933 to April 12th, 1945 and he was one of the greatest presidents of the U.S.” (Corbin wiki). FDR had many accomplishments throughout his term and had helped many different issues. Along with FDR the League of Woman’s Voters had set out to change the world. After many years they accomplished equal rights for woman to be equal to man. “They were a big movement in history and changed many things” (Drew wiki). Lastly, the Great Flood of 1927 had a big impact on society. The flood had made people realize the devastating events and many people came together to help this issue. In the end there were now groups to help national disasters and we had accomplished many help organizations.
 * PART 2 (1920s)**

The second thing on the criteria is the endurance of legacy. FDR had a lot of endurance to change many things that he had at hand. He, himself had polio. “The march of dimes founded by president Roosevelt made a major impact on polio” (Corbin wiki). He would not stop until the issue was fixed. The League of Woman Voters also had a lot of endurance. So many woman were rising up in order to get equal rights that there was not a chance the government could turn them down. The Great Flood had some endurance but not as much as the other topics. It was in one place so it didn't effect the whole population but only people in the south. People else where did not have the endurance to help especially because they did not have the technology to be able to see how bad the disaster was. “The Southern states affected by the flood did not have any help from the rest of the country” (Ashley wiki).

Next in the extent of influence it had during the 1920’s society. FDR gets a gold for this because he was the reason there was such a big influence on so many different things. He had completely changed the way people thought and had a overall influence on society to make it better. Another influence was the League of Woman’s Voters. “Not only did this organization influence the change of woman’s rights in the United States but it eventually changed the rights everywhere” (Drew wiki). The organization influenced not only woman voting but had strived to create a society with equal rights for both men and woman. The Great Flood was something that influenced people to start helping with national disasters. People saw what was happening because of this and decided that it was time to help with these organizations so people got together and it influenced them to raise money and do what ever they could to help this issue.

The last of the criteria is the impact on daily life. FDR completely changed society in the 1920’s. All of his side help along with his presidency had changed life forever. He would be at the very top for people who have most impacted society. The League of Woman’s Voters also had a impact on daily life. “Life for woman was now different with their new rights being put into place” (Drew wiki). The League had a huge impact on life allowing woman to have equal rights and to feel apart of society. The Great Flood would be rated low for this criteria because it had a impact by changing peoples views on national disasters but once it was over life went on like it had before.

For the next following paragraphs I will use the great man criteria like before in order to access the influences in the 1980’s. The first is the significance of accomplishment. The first being MTV with a huge influence and wide success. MTV although did not accomplish a specific event it was widely known and accomplished many viewers. Second, is Steve Jobs with the personal computer. “In all the personal computer was one of the biggest accomplishments during the 20th century” (Drew wiki). People everywhere wanted it which allowed for its wide success that still remains today. Last, in Fashion Fads. Along with MTV they didn't change a specific event but had all in all changed society. People could now express themselves through look. “The 1980’s were a time of bold fads, and a time for children and young adults to begin expressing themselves through what they wore” (Ashley wiki).
 * PART 3 (1980s)**

Next is the endurance of legacy with the 1980’s topics. “MTV’s main obsession was to influence kids and teens through music and television” (Zach wiki). This made MTV want to try harder by creating new music and bands to help lengthen the already successful program. Steve Job’s and the personal computer gets the highest rating for this one. “Apple strived more and more in order to become the top company” (Drew wiki). Steve Job’s and Apple had so much endurance to create a reliable cheap computer that everyone would be able to use. This took time but in the end was a huge successes. They did everything in their power to accomplish this. Fashion did not need anymore endurance. With T.V. advertising new fads, clothes and fashion became a huge hit. Huge brands started popping up and people would get so excited about clothes that they would even wait in line for them. Company’s did need endurance to compete for the newest fad.

Next is the extent of influence on society in the 1980’s. MTV influenced people everywhere of all ages. Even though it was a teen based network it influenced almost everyone. “The parents however did not like the video’s claiming some were a little inappropriate for teens” (Zach wiki). The influence gave teens the thought to create music and to express themselves through performing. Apple was more part of a whole influence rather than itself. Apple and Microsoft were the two big company’s and had influenced many others to create their own. They changed technology in a whole. Fashion Fads were along with the many things that expresses the 1980’s. “People everywhere were influenced by this new way of expressing yourself through clothes” (Ashley wiki).

The last of the criteria in the 1980’s is the impact on daily life. Both MTV and fashion fads go along with this. MTV was the main source of celebrity’s, fads, and the latest music. Once teens would watch M.T.V they would start to dress and act like the people on the program who they thought were basically idols. This changed the way people acted and dressed in the 1980’s and overall changed the whole society. People would try to image the things happening on MTV. Apple and Steve Jobs also had a wide impact on daily life in the 1980’s. “Personal computers had changed resources and technology forever” (Drew wiki). We now had a new way to help science and education to create a overall change in society.

There are many things that can change or affect a society there just has to be a movement. The 1920’s and 1980’s were both ages where there was a movement. In the 1920’s the most influential topic would be Franklin D. Roosevelt. We know this because if you look at the great man criteria it shows what topics a person or civil society has to have in order to be influential. FDR won over the League of woman’s Voters because FDR changed society for everyone where the League was very important but only helped woman. The great flood was the least influential because it did not “change” society yet it still had a effect on people. This concludes that a person was the most influential in the 1920’s. This stands different for the 1980’s. MTV had a huge change on society and still does today. All the topics in the 1980’s were influential but MTV would have the highest rating in the great man criteria. Next would be Steve Jobs and Apple because overall they had changed technology and created a more advanced society. In last comes fashion fads even though they represented the 1980’s they could be represented by MTV so it was not needed as a topic. This shows that MTV was the most influential of the 1980’s which means a civil society. This shows us that anything can change or influence society it just has to represent the great man criteria.
 * PART 4 (CONCLUSION)**

WORKS CITED

Corbin D. “Franklin D. Roosevelt” //Buchholtz Sidor American Studies.// Web. 29. March. 2011.

Drew S. “League of Woman Voters, Carrie Chapman Catt” //Buchholtz Sidor American Studies.// Web. 29. March. 2011.

Ashley M. "Great Flood of 1927." //Buchholtz Sidor American Studies.// Web. 29. March. 2011.

Zach O. “MTV, Madonna, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen.” //Buchholtz Sidor American Studies.// Web. 29. March. 2011.

Drew S. "Personal Computers; Apple 2 & Microsoft." //Buchholtz Sidor American Studies.// Web. 29. March. 2011.

Ashley M. "Fashion Fads & Faux Pas Madonna and Ralph Lauren." //Buchholtz Sidor American Studies.// Web. 29. March. 2011.

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 analysis of individual criteria

•Analyze of each of the 6 topics with evidence taken from the 1920s and 1980s wikis, supporting evidence for each topic--topics described rather than analyzed

•Develop thoughtful and thorough conclusions on all 6 topics, claims supported with some evidence

•Rank the three topics for each decade and explain why one topic is more influential than the other two, clear reasoning without supporting evidence

•Answer the essay question with a clear, well reasoned argument, clear explanation

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

•Organize ideas in extended power paragraphs, inconsistently done

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

•Cite evidence with internal citations and in a Works Cited. Click links for exemplars.  Correct WC, IC entries mostly correct 