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Titel
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The American Dream & the Great Depression EKSAMEN
Dette forløb tager udgangspunkt i USA's historiske baggrund med de første indvandringer, Mayflowers ankomst til Østkysten, kampene mod den britiske kolonimagt og skabelsen af et USA i 1776 med Uafhængighedserklæringen.
Efter denne introduktion til USA's historie og hvad der forstås ved Den amerikanske drøm, har vi snakket om, hvordan James Truslow Adams begreb "The American Dream" skal forstås, bl.a. ud fra Uafhængighedserklæringens rettigheds- og lighedsprincipper.
Vi har herefter kort snakket om indvandringen fra Europa til USA, "The Promised Land", og hvorfor så mange europæere, herunder også danskere og især én dansker, Jacob A. Riis, udvandrede til USA i sidste halvdel af 1800-tallet og starten af 1900-tallet. I den forbindelse har vi læst kortfattet om Ellis Island og om pull-/push-faktorer for indvandring og udvandring, både dengang og i dag.
Som hovedværk til "The American Dream" og 1930'ernes "Great Depression" har vi læst kortromanen "Of Mice and Men", som eleverne sluttede af med at skrive et analytical essay om. Vi har forinden her læst om baggrunden for "The Great Depression", om Franklin D. Roosevelts "New Deal" og om migrantarbejde som oplæg til forståelse af situationen i John Steinbecks "Of Mice and Men". Efterfølgende har vi læst en af Steinbecks artikler "Squatters' Camp" om livet i en af migrantlejrene i Californien, hvor mange fattige migrantarbejdere og deres familier levede under kummerlige vilkår i områder ramt af "The Dust Bowl" perioden med alvorlige, kraftige støv- og sand-storme i 1930'erne.
Materialer:
- History of America in 25 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3HUPHMYEJw (25:45) - Introduktion
- “The American Dream”, Kelli Nørgaard, Gyldendal 2014, s. 5-11
- "The Declaration of Independence" (4th July 1776) (kort uddrag fra starten af erklæringen.
- Immigration timeline: https://www.history.com/topics/immigration/immigration-united-states-timeline
- "The Great Depression" and a background explanation of it: "5 causes to the Great Depression":
https://www.history.com/news/great-depression-causes
- "Of Mice and Men" (1937) by J. Steinbeck, all chapters.
- Screen adaptation of Steinbeck's novella "Of Mice and Men" (1992) (directed by Gary Sinise who also plays George Milton)
- "The Dust Bowl", Teacher's Guide, Primary Source, Library of Congress (loc.gov/teachers)
- "Squatters' Camp" (1936) by J. Steinbeck from his collection of 7 newspaper articles called "The Harvest Gypsies".
Supplerende materiale:
- Oversigtsmateriale over American History timeline 1604-1950 (Word-document)
- "The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales" (documentary) by directors Kathleen Hughes and Abigail E. Disney (2022): https://americandreamdoc.com/ eller den gratis YouTube version her: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxqaaDOmujQ&t=4878s.
The documentary sets a spotlight on income inequality and is a critique of the Walt Disney Company and the exploitation of its low-key workers. Through reports, historical flashbacks, statistics, commentaries and interviews The American Dream seems to become nothing but a dream - just another fairy tale.
Review (excerpts) of the documentary by The New York Times (Sep., 2022):
“The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales,” a questionably well-intentioned documentary about income inequality by Abigail E. Disney and Kathleen Hughes, lays bare the rotten core of the American dream and its promise of upward mobility. In other words, it’s dedicated entirely to stating the obvious. Unless, perhaps, you live under a rock — or in a $100 million penthouse."
"The documentary begins with a takedown of the Walt Disney Company and its labor practices, underscoring the irony of a business like Disneyland claiming to be the “Happiest Place on Earth” while exploiting its low-wage workers. In one scene, Abigail Disney rounds up several of these disgruntled employees, many of whom reveal they’ve relied on food stamps or experienced homelessness. This revelation triggers a broader — and very basic — analysis of the modern history of American capitalism, weaving archival footage of Disneyland’s humbler beginnings with onscreen interviews that Abigail Disney conducted with economists and historians."
And, "Disney, the granddaughter of the Walt Disney Company co-founder Roy O. Disney, positions herself as something of a rogue member of the family. A philanthropist and longtime film producer, she has no role in the company, and in “The American Dream,” she argues that her grandfather would not have condoned such gross mistreatment of his employees. This, and the cutthroat means by which the company has expanded, she blames on the evolution of the country’s business standards and the ascendance of free market ideology."
"Fair enough, but billion-dollar businesses that unfairly compensate their low-skilled workers are, unfortunately, rules not exceptions. What, then, is the point of “The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales”? The centering of Abigail Disney’s voice — we also see her tweets calling out the outrageous salaries of Disney executives — makes the documentary a kind of personal reckoning and an attempt to get through to other wealthy individuals, though one wonders how a film that doubles as a “Capitalism for Dummies” video would make an impact. Instead, the documentary wants, above all, to make sure we know how one particular Disney feels."
(The New York Times, Sep. 22, 2022: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/22/movies/the-american-dream-and-other-fairy-tales-review.html).
Anslået ns-antal: 90
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