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Home Comparison Essay Assignment Comparison Essay-Student Posts Works Cited Exemplar Internal Citation Exemplar Civil Society Defined Great Man Continuum

With every decade there are social, economic, and technological changes, the 1920s and 1980s faced many great changes that are still influencing society today. Broadway, CBS, and talking movies in the 1920s, hip hop, Brat Pack Films, and MTV in the 1980s, are all still present in society today, and therefore, have been influential for they have been kept around all this time. Each of the six topics named were, and still are, a civil society because the association was more influential than the individual behind it.

“The Roaring Twenties”, “The Jazz Age”, “The Golden Twenties”, or “The Lost Generation”, whichever way you prefer the 1920s was started as a time of success with the economic boom following world war one, and led into the great depression with the stock market crash. Broadway and talking movies were two of the many distractions used to escape the tragedies World War 1 brought ontoAmericain the 1920s. Columbus Broadcasting System (CBS), however, was used to inform the public of the war and what was going on around the world. These three attractions were influential during the 1920s and remain to influence the world today. The corporations involved with the attractions above were far more influential to people than just one person. There were many people involved in the creation of Broadway, talking movies, and CBS that all deserve the credit and all influenced people just as much, if not more, than one single person who created the attraction. These associations make a great impact on life today as equally as it did in the 1920s, therefore each of them fall under the Great Man category on the Great Man Criteria.

Looking for distractions from the tragedies of WWI many fled to theaters to entertain and be entertained with Broadway musicals and plays. With 225 shows in a year Broadway helped to lower the unemployment rates the war brought on in America (Mitiska). While providing entertainment, the shows also expressed the latest news and ways of living to the audiences (Mitiska). Although the shows were limited mainly to the wealthyNew Yorkcitizens, Broadway’s 80 theaters and variety of shows greatly influenced the poor as well as the rich. Many Broadway shows are household known names today like, Cats, Wicked, Hairspray, and many others; people are still resorting to Broadway for a form of more formal entertainment. Broadway today is a big accomplishment; people who are interested in becoming a successful singer/actor/dancer combination turn to Broadway to get their name out.

Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) is a widely known television network today that gives the latest and most important news. In the 1920s CBS separated news from other programs making the station a reliable way to hear the latest, something CBS continues to do today. During wars CBS gave updates on the state of troops so that families could hear how their loved ones fighting were doing. After just three months of being on radio CBS took over with 49 stations in 42 cities (Jaskot) and is still one of the most popular news channels today. Films were one of the new and fascinating activities available to the many bored people looking for entertainment during the 1920s. Silent movies came before talking movies, silent movies played music and the actors used dramatized gestures and facial expressions to fill in the place of words. With the new advancements in technology the Warner Brothers came out with the first talking movie it left viewers in wonder waiting for more (Furey). Talking movies are still being played today, with more and more technological improvements we are now able to add more effects into our movies, giving them an even greater attraction as the heart of entertainment. With many more movies being made in a faster and more efficient manner today, there are more actors involved in the industry, influencing even more people to join the business. These actors are the role models of our generations; therefore, the talking movies are influencing millions of people in the long run.

The 1980s was a time of social and economic changes and challenges as society began to industrialize. The Brat Pack Films, MTV, and Hip Hop music all began during the Disco Eighties. The Brat Pack films, produced by John Hughes, were six movies that redefined teen movies, which are still well known and playing on television today, therefore, making them influential. While MTV is still a major television show today introducing new artists and playing popular music, and hip hop still being a key music genre. These three entertainment associations influenced the citizens of the 1980s more than a single individual behind it. I would place them under a great man in the Great Man Criteria.

__Pretty in Pink__, __Sixteen Candles__, __The Breakfast Club__, and __Ferris Bueller’s Day Off__ are just a few of the many well known Brat Pack films of the 1980s. The Brat Pack Films were films, both written and directed by John Hughes, which redefined the stereotype of teen movies (Stiebler). The films kept to the same general actors giving the movies their nicknames, The Brat Pack Films. The Brat Pack films were of great influence to teenagers of the 1980s, the films “[dealt] with the difficulties teens experience” (Stiebler). The Brat Pack Films are still widely known today and are played on television often. The films influenced the 1980s film industry and continue to influence teen movies today.

MTV, or Music TeleVision, played the music videos of popular songs and artists of the 1980s. MTV got the name of new bands and singers out to the public, with thousands of teenagers watching the videos on a regular basis. With the help of MTV artists were able to get their music heard and their faces seen, hoping to reach the top of the charts. MTV is a very popular television channel today for teenagers, although it consists of less music and more insane reality TV shows, MTV still has a great impact on today’s era.

Afrika Bambaataa created hip hop when he “‘stuck a speaker in his mother's first-floor living room window, ran a wire to the turntable in his bedroom, and set the housing project of 3,000 people alight with party music’”(Sencio). Hip hop music is known for addressing issues the artist is experiencing while writing a song or rap. Hip hop music portrayed messages, just as pop music did, but their messages were much darker and the artists usually were facing poverty-like situation, dealing with drugs and abuse. Hip hop is still a popular music genre today, allowing artists to express their feelings and problems through their music, and listeners to feel the artist’s pain.

Of the three attractions during the 1920s mentioned (talking movies, Broadway, and CBS) Broadway has been the most influential than talking movies and CBS, but talking movies have been more influential than CBS. Broadway was a major attraction in the 1920s and remains the same today. Talking movies are still being played today and the people who star in them are the role models of our generation. CBS is the least influential because, although it is a very well known broadcasting station not very many people look up to it as a goal, lifestyle, or role model. Out of the three 1980s topics, Brat Pack Films, MTV, and hip hop, the most influential was MTV, followed by hip hop, and then the Brat Pack Films. MTV is a super popular television channel today, and the shows that are played are the popular shows that teenagers look up to and go to for entertainment. Although MTV may not be showing shows that are of very much help for teenagers’ future (The Jersey Shore, and Teen Mom would be examples of this), they still look up to the show for entertainment and it has been around playing music since 1980s. Hip hop is more influential than the Brat Pack Films because the films are not addressing issues present in today’s society, while hip hop music is constantly being updated with news and problems faced by people in today’s era. Brat Pack Films, hip hop, MTV, talking movies, CBS, and Broadway, were the most influential topics of the 1920s and 1980s because they are all still around and popular today, some, more technologically advanced now than at their original time of creation, and some influencing people in different ways today, they were all the most influential topics of the 1980s and 1920s.

 Shea Stiebler. "John Hughes and The Brat Pack Films." 2012. // Buchholtz Sidor American Studies //. Web. 01 April. 2012.

Lucas Sencio. "Hip Hop's Start Run DMC, Grandmaster Flash, and Furious Five." 2012. //Buchholtz Sidor American Studies. //Web. 01. April. 2012.

Zach Owens. "MTV, Madonna, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen." 2012. //Buchholtz Sidor American Studies.// Web. 01. April. 2012.

Becca Jaskot. "Columbia Broadcasting System, William S. Paley." 2012. //Buchholtz Sidor American Studies.// Web. 01. April. 2012.

Michael Mitiska. "Broadway, George Gershwin, Eugene O'Neil." 2012. //Buchholtz Sidor American Studies.// Web. 01. April. 2012.

Blaine Furey. "Louis B. Mayar and the American Film Industry Al Johnson And Talking Movies." 2012. //Buchholtz Sidor American Studies.// Web. 01. Aprril. 2012.

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, Discussion 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 supporting evidence not always offered

•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--supporting evidence often omitted

•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. Minor IC errors, alphabetize WC