Answer 6 Question.

American Cultural History

Jenny

[Institutional Affiliation(s)]

Author Note

Answer to Six Questions

American Cultural History

John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck was a short story writer and novelist who was born in Salinas, California in 1902 CITATION Chi18 \l 1033 (Chilton, 2018). He came from a middle-class family. Although he went to Stanford University, he never managed to graduate from there. He tried to earn his living as a freelance writer in New York but he was not successful and he again ended up back in California. He managed to write many famous literary works and ended up as a Nobel Laureate in 1962 and the winner of Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964 and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1940. He produced many famous books and novels like Of Mice and Men (1937), The Grapes of Wrath (1939) and East of Eden (1952). He died in New York City in 1968 due to congestive heart failure. He was buried in his family cemetery in Salinas, California after cremation.

Cole Porter

Cole Porter was a gifted composer and lyricist who was born in Indiana in 1891. He was the child of a wealthy and he had a comfortable childhood. He learned to play the piano and violin at an early age. He went to Yale University, but he was soon forced to move to Harvard Law School by his grandfather. However, he soon switched to studying Music. After the failure of his first musical at Broadway, he left for Paris and married Linda Lee Thomas in 1919. He created several famous songs like It’s De Lovely (1936) and Begin the Beguine (1935). Although he had a fatal riding accident in 1937, he continued to produce exquisite musical pieces and used music as a coping mechanism CITATION Mar04 \l 1033 (Markel, 2004). He died in Santa Monica, California at the age of 73 on October 15th, 1964.e

Jessye Norman

Jessye Norman was a famous American opera singer who enjoyed a great concert career. She was born on September 15th, 1945 in Augusta, Georgia CITATION Tho15 \l 1033 (Thorpe, 2015). She was born into a musical family. Both her grandmother and her mother were skilled piano players. She studied at Howard University on scholarship, where she majored in Voice. After her graduation in 1967, she trained further at the Peabody Conservatory, Maryland and studied further at the University of Michigan. She made her debut in Tannhäuser in Berlin, Germany, after which she never looked back. She died on September 30th, 2019 in New York City at the age of 74. She received the Grammy Award four times in 1984, 1988,1989 and 1998.

Reflection #1

The biggest thing about the American Culture that is reflected in this article is the racial treatment of the black people that is done by the general public CITATION Hal19 \l 1033 (Hall, 2019). As there was an urgent need for nurses in the Second World War, the Americans used black nurses as an expendable asset in the war. After the need had been served, they were gradually forgotten as the alumni of the nursing school in UVA Hospital. But there is no doubt that the ceremony by the UVA Alumni Association is a great step for remembering these forgotten heroines even though their alma mater has forgotten them for a very long time. Such a ceremony in their honor is indeed long overdue and welcomed. It is time the African Americans receive their due share in the society as its contributing members.

Reflection #2

There is no doubt that the world would have been very had it not been for the many contributions of Jonas Edward Salk in the field of Medicine CITATION Bio19 \l 1033 (Biography, 2019). His single work on the elimination of the poliovirus from the face of the planet is enough to make us all forever in his debt. Today, except for a few countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan, the poliovirus has almost been wiped out of the face of the earth. Today, his vaccine is widely available through several different public and private medical organizations that are working to eradicate the virus. This had not been possible had Salk decided to patent the vaccine that he discovered. His second and rather greater contribution to medical science would have been the elimination of the AIDS virus, but sadly he did not live long enough to see the fulfillment of this goal.

Reflection #3

The journey of Eugenia Zukerman with Alzheimer's disease is a tale not to be forgotten easily CITATION Bur19 \l 1033 (Burdick, 2019). How often we call become rather bland and impatient while dealing with a medical problem as common as flu and the common cold. However, Zukerman not only faces her disease bravely but also managed to reproduce much of her experiences that she endures in the course of finding a cure. But there is something advisable that Zukerman did not do herself. First, she would not have resisted interventions from her loved ones. They are always there to help us willingly as family is the only thing that keeps us together and loves us unconditionally. Second, instead of enduring something just as serious, we should always seek professional help. Not doing so runs the risk of transmission of a disease, if its possible, and puts the whole community at risk of infections and transmissions.

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY Biography. (2019). History of Salk. Retrieved from https://www.salk.edu/about/history-of-salk/jonas-salk/

Burdick, J. (2019). Acclaimed flutist Eugenia Zukerman writes about her journey with Alzheimer’s disease. Hv1. Retrieved from https://hudsonvalleyone.com/2019/11/07/acclaimed-flutist-eugenia-zukerman-writes-about-her-journey-with-alzheimers-disease/

Chilton, M. (2018, December 20). John Steinbeck: A flawed genius. Independent. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/john-steinbeck-author-anniversary-death-of-mice-and-men-grapes-wrath-east-eden-a8690851.html

Hall, S. L. (2019). UVA grants full alumni status to black nurses who earned it decades ago. The University of Virginia Magazine. Retrieved from https://uvamagazine.org/articles/uva_grants_full_alumni_status_to_black_nurses_who_earned_it_decades_ago

Markel, H. (2004). The Painful Life of Cole Porter. MedGenMed, 47-49. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1395752/

Thorpe, V. (2015, April 26). Jessye Norman: a powerful voice joins America’s race debate. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/apr/26/jessye-norman-opera-profile