Final Exam

Question 1

After his reelection in 1936, how and why did Pres. Roosevelt change the New Deal policies? What impact did these changes have on the national economy?

Answer 1

• by decreasing the federal budget, cutting programs such as the WPA.
• resulted in jobs being gone and the economy crashing.
• did it because of the conservative concerns; gov too big & centralized, undermining capitalism, expansion of power to minorities and working class, & national deficit increased b/c of new deal policies.
• unemployment returned to 20%

Question 2

How did Americans react to the possibilities of U.S. involvement in another world war?

Answer 2

• Did not want to be involved at first, but became very supportive after the attack on pearl harbor.
• U.S anti international policy before the attack on pearl harbor (Hitler had predicted that).

Question 3

What strategies were employed by the U.S. gov. to rally citizen support for WWII? How were these strategies similar to and diff. from strategies employed during WWI?

Answer 3

In WWII, they used fear of the enemy, patriotism
-through movies; booths in movie theater lobbies.

In WWII, the war had a lot more coverage, and the public could be more aware of what war was really like.

Question 4

Why was the U.S. accused of hypocrisy during WWII?

Answer 4

• The double V campaign called the gov. a hypocrite because they were fighting racism overseas, while racism still affected the nation within.
• Horace Pippin painted “Mr. Prejudice” - represented serving your country and then being oppressed by it.

Question 5

How did systematic racism manifest on the home front during WWII? What social movements organizations and institutions contributed to/ challenged systematic racism during WWII?

Answer 5

Black soldiers still did not share the same spaces as white soldiers. They also still did not have any good opportunities to go up in rank in the military.

• Executive order 8802 (no discrimination in hiring)
• Horace Pippin- criticizing the gov.
• Army war college- Said that black ppl. had smaller craniums/immoral character.
• Double V campaign.

Question 6

Why are primary texts like Mine Okubo’s Citizen 13660 and the Captain America comics important for cultural studies scholars to examine? What can these texts reveal about the cultural and social issues faced by Americans during WWII?

Answer 6

• Mine Okubo showed conditions inside internment camps that would have otherwise never be recorded due to the government’s strict control over the inside documentation of these places.
• Captain America showed the way that the government wanted society to think about the war and our enemies; fear of Russian immigrants.

Question 7

Who was Horace Pippin, and what techniques and themes did he employ in his works? How did his work engage the social issues facing America during WWII?

Answer 7

Horace Pippin painted “Mr. Prejudice”, it is folk art and it showed the hypocrisy of fighting racism overseas while there is still racism at home. Also showed that soldiers that served got suppressed in the U.S.

• wanted to teach ppl of the AA community
• he himself sustained injuries from serving (WWI)

Question 8

How did the U.S. avoid an economic recession after the end of WWII? What were the cultural results of this strategy?

Answer 8

-By employing a continued war economy. This resulted in paranoia, anxiety, new forms of art, an explosion of consumerism. Had a large part in the second red scare (Germans).

Question 9

What was the Second Red Scare, who was involved, how did it impact Americans, and how did it end?

Answer 9

McCarthyism- tried to convince everyone that there were spies among us and that they had infiltrated the government.

• Was made fun of at the end because he never confirmed a single case of a communist in the U.S.
• Unified Americans for a while
• People made groups in neighborhoods to survey.
• Gov. employees resigned because they were being listed as communists.
• people were searched in case the were communists before being hired (actors)
• book burning
• McCarran act- outlawed communism;

Question 10

What was the purpose of prosecuting and executing Julius and Ethel Rosenberg?

Answer 10

used as scapegoats and an example to the rest of America as to what happens if someone dares be a spy for the Russians.

• Looked like any typical American man and woman.
• It could be your neighbor..
• First U.S. Citizens to be electrocuted for espionage.

Question 11

How did the ethic of consumption reemerge as a cultural value during the Post-War era?

Answer 11

The cultural changes after WWII included corporate liberism, which encouraged being a consumer. It combined efficient production with mass consumption. Consumerism was also repressed during WWII, and so post-war, it was made “patriotic” for Americans to spend, and “selfish” to save money.

Question 12

Please identify the relationships between the military-industrial complex, the cold war, and the second red scare, and discuss in detail the effects of these relationships on American culture in the post-WWII era.

Answer 12

The military-industrial complex supported continued mobilization to support America’s economy after the war. This resulted in the cold war, where the soviet union was used as an “enemy” to continue a wartime economy.
The anxieties that the cold war imposed on the American public resulted in the second red scare, otherwise known as McCarthyism.
These relationships led to the space race, and to a tricky power relation within the Unites States that alarmed even pres. Eisenhower.

Question 13

How and why was space exploration marketed to the American people as important?

Answer 13

The fear that the Russians would reach space first and have power over the U.S. was propagated.

Question 14

What is the purpose of “Duck and Cover”? How does it portray the nuclear threat? What does this portrayal suggest about Americans’ understandings of the nuclear age?

Answer 14

“Duck and Cover” were televised segments that “portrayed” how a nuclear blast would look and how to increase your chances of survival using caricatures of a turtle who “ducked” and “covered”.
These messages gave the public a sense that they could do something in the case that a bomb was dropped somewhere near them when in reality, there is really nothing they could do.

Question 15

What were some of the ways that fears of atomic energy and the space race manifested in popular culture?

Answer 15

• Movie ‘war of the worlds’- added to paranoia
• Manipulation of the public to support gov. programs (A rocket design for ‘tomorrowland’)
• Satellite ‘Sputnik’ launched into orbit (1st) by
• Generated ‘duck and cover’ school drills
• Americans feared not just the attack of a bomb, but the aftereffects (radiation) as well

Question 16

Why did Pres. Eisenhower warn the American people about technocracy and the Military-Industrial Complex in his Farewell Address?

Answer 16

He believed that the people should be aware of the larger political process that were happening.

Question 17

What role did credit play in the lives of Americans in the Post-WWII era?

Answer 17

Most people in the middle class received a raise in pay. However, that raise was for the most part unable to keep up with the newly reemerged culture of mass consumerism. To keep up, Americans commonly supplemented their income with credit.

Question 18

How did the definition and lived experiences of work change in the post-WWII era?

Answer 18

There was a change from the protestant work ethic to the social work ethic.

Question 19

What is a postindustrial society and how did it impact jobs in America?

Answer 19

Post-industrial society: White collars outnumber blue collar workers for the first time; intangible products; paid in salary; automation was the reason for the outnumbering (added to the feeling of apathy)

Question 20

Who was the Organization Man and how does “The man in the grey flannel suit” demonstrate the dilemmas he faced at work and at home?

Answer 20

The organization man was the middle man between the corporate elite and the workers. “The man in the grey flannel suit” demonstrates that his work is very controversial. His work includes a lot of vague double talk, long hours payed in salary, and the pressures to stay in that job from his wife who wants to be able to afford a better life.

Question 21

Describe the differences between the ideal American family as portrayed by television programming and the actual post-war American family. How was the ideal American family image used to influence Americans?

Answer 21

o Advertising re-shapes the narrative of how families (should) look like. Employed by corporate liberism.
o Counteracting insurrection and mobilizing families and increasing the population.
o Life insurance is a big deal during this period
o Mom, dad, couple of kids, living alone in the suburbs.

The real family included PTSD, victorian backlash, and financial concerns

Question 22

Why were the suburbs controversial? How did they contribute to American anxiety?

Answer 22

They were controversial because they were so new. They contained no history, so they were the perfect place to breed anxiety and paranoia during the cold war and the second red scare. They also caused alienation, separating nuclear families from extended family.

Question 23

How does “The monsters are due on maple street” exhibit the anxieties faced by post-war Americans? How does it function as a social critique?

Answer 23

It shows the anxieties imposed on the middle class living in the suburbs by the cold war and the second red. It showcases how easily neighbors can turn on each other and their distrust towards each other. It is a social critique towards living in the suburbs and the homogenization that came with that.

Question 24

What other forms of social critique existed during the post-war era?

Answer 24

.

Question 25

How did mass consumer culture contribute to the development of a Culture of Apathy?

Answer 25

.

Question 26

Why was alienation important? In what ways were Americans feeling/being alienated?

Answer 26

If you are alienated you are cut off from the larger workings of the country. Americans were being alienated through their work, the suburbs, and the military-industrial complex.

Question 27

How does culture of apathy relate to Pres. Eisenhower’s farewell speech?

Answer 27

Americans, because of being in a state of apathy, were for the most part unaware of the growing power that the military-industrial complex held over them and the actions that they took everyday.

Question 28

What is homogenization and why did cultural critics fear the homogenization of American society?

Answer 28

Cultural critics were concerned about conformity and homogenization of American society.
o	Afraid from being labeled as ….
o	The suburbs bred uniformity
o	The suspicion of neighbors
o	Concerned about the TV

Question 29

Who participated in the beat generation, what were the principles of beat philosophy, and how did the beats impact American culture? What did the beats critique?

Answer 29

The Beat generation was made up of mostly white, middle class men. The Beats were disgusted with American racism, consumerism, and conformity. They were “against virtually every aspect of current American society”.
Their philosophy included spontaneity, improvisation, freedom of expression, and self-realization.
 Dealt critically w/ social and cultural problems that were otherwise avoided. (muckrakers)
 Represented and were appreciated by the youth
 The Beats created their voice/art with an American voice

Question 30

who was Jackson Pollock? With what artist group was he affiliated? How does “Autumn Rhythm: Number 30” exemplify the works of this artistic group?

Answer 30

Jackson Pollock was a part of the Abstract expressionism movement. “Autumn Rhythm: Number 30” was a way for him to liberate himself and American culture from the constraints of traditional art-making and postwar consensus.

Question 31

Why was the pop art movement popular? what artists and works are associated with this movement? What techniques were employed?

Answer 31

Pop embraced mainstream understandings of mass consumption. “I consume, therefor I am” < Pop mantra. Pop paintings and sculptures became highly collected commodities.

Roy Lichtenstein- “Eddie Diptych” - left abstract expressionism for comic strips

Tom Wesselmann- “Great American Nude #51”- imitated and reinscribed a larger cultural dehumanization.

Andy Warhol- “Twenty-five colored Marilyns”- used repetition.

James Rosenquist- “F-111”- a critique towards U.S consumerism and militarism.

Question 32

What was “junk art”? Who created it and why?

Answer 32

Junk art was created by Neri and Arneson. It was preoccupied with taboo subjects. It was largely inseparable from Beat culture. It challenged the commercial orientation of galleries and museums with self-defined ‘worthless’ art.

Question 33

What is the significance of “F-111”?

Answer 33

F-111 acted as social critique towards links between U.S consumerism and militarism.

Question 34

Discuss the intentions, themes, and techniques of Robert Frank, and how this artist’s works represented the commitments and philosophy of the larger movement. Be able to identify his works.

Answer 34

• Beat Photography
o Robert Frank (photographer)- challenged unity and optimism
 Wanted to mold public opinion
 To evoke feelings of unity
 Embraced flaws in images as more authentic because of a lack of manipulation.
 Image: (new jersey, 1954)

Question 35

What was “The family of man”? Who curated it and why? How does beat photography function as a critique of “The family of man”?

Answer 35

The Family of Man”- An exhibit that encouraged viewers to see the commonalities in the human condition.
- made by Edward Stiken
 Led to a reinforcement of conformity (unintentionally)