The Importance of Cursive’s “Happy Hollow” Almost 20 Years Later

Category: american dream

I don’t remember when I actually found Cursive. All I know is that I had a copy of their debut album Such Blinding Stars For Starving Eyes. I probably picked it up because that was around the time I found out about Mineral and other bands on Crank! Records. I played Cursive’s debut a lot, especially the first two songs “After the Movies” and “Downhill Racers.” It sounded … Read More The Importance of Cursive’s “Happy Hollow” Almost 20 Years Later

June 12, 2024 + american dream, graphic novels, history, james loewen, lies my teacher told me, nate powell

The Myth of Opportunity in History Textbooks

by Matthew Teutsch

The myth of opportunity in America runs deep, so deep in fact you’d be forgiven if you thought it appeared as the American Dream in the founding documents. It’s an old myth, one rooted in Puritanism and the Protestant Work Ethic, transformed by Benjamin Franklin in his autobiography, extrapolated by Horatio Alger in his Ragged Dick stories, epitomized by Jay Gatz in F. Scott … Read More The Myth of Opportunity in History Textbooks

October 21, 2021 + african american literature, american dream, ann petry, the street

The American Dream in Ann Petry’s “The Street”: Part III

by Matthew Teutsch

Over the last couple of posts, I have been looking at the illusion of the American Dream in Ann Petry’s The Street. Today, I want to continue that discussion by finishing my examination of Lutie’s first visit to the Junto in the novel. During her time at the Junto, the illusion of the space, a space that provides an escape from the oppression of … Read More The American Dream in Ann Petry’s “The Street”: Part III

October 19, 2021 + african american literature, american dream, ann petry, social protest novel, the street

The American Dream in Ann Petry’s “The Street”: Part II

by Matthew Teutsch

Last post, I started talking about the ways that Ann Petry confronts the mythological American Dream in her novel The Street. Today, I want to continue that discussion, specifically focusing on chapter six when Lutie goes to the Junto Bar & Grill. In this chapter, the Junto, as it does throughout the novel, serves as an escape from the crushing poverty and oppression that … Read More The American Dream in Ann Petry’s “The Street”: Part II

October 14, 2021 + african american literature, american dream, ann petry, lutie johnson, social protest novel, the street

The American Dream in Ann Petry’s “The Street”: Part I

by Matthew Teutsch

Like a lot of the texts that I teach in my classes, I hadn’t read Ann Petry’s The Street before I assigned it in this semester’s Multicultural American Literature course. The only work, up to this point, that I had read from Petry was her short story “Like a Winding Sheet.” A few years back, Keith Clark started talking to me about The Street, … Read More The American Dream in Ann Petry’s “The Street”: Part I

Interminable Rambling

The Importance of Cursive’s “Happy Hollow” Almost 20 Years Later

Category: american dream