The second part of your discussion board assignment is to respond to at least two of your peers’ response paragraphs. Your responses should run at least three sentences long. Avoid simply saying you a

The second part of your discussion board assignment is to respond to at least two of your peers’ response paragraphs. Your responses should run at least three sentences long. Avoid simply saying you a
Student 1 In “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac, the concept of America is expressed as a vast, open landscape filled with opportunities for adventure and self-discovery. This is exemplified in the following quote: “Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.” (JackKerouac1324) This quote represents the idea of the road as a symbol of freedom, and America as a country that encourages and rewards individualism and self-expression. In “Good Country People” by Flannery O’Connor, the concept of America is expressed as a place where people are often judged by superficial qualities, such as their appearance or social status, rather than their inner qualities. This is exemplified by “She had a vision of the world, speaking generally, as being divided into two classes: the kind of people who had outhouses and the kind who had bathrooms.” (FlanneryOConner1372) This quote represents the idea that people in America are often categorized and judged based on external factors, such as the type of toilet facilities they have, rather than their true worth as human beings. Overall, both works depict America as a complex and diverse place, with both positive and negative aspects. Student 2   How do these stories attempt to demonstrate reality? The stories written from the late fifties into the sixties demonstrate the reality of the life of young Americans and how they spent their time. In the poem “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks, he attempts to capture the reality of the rebellious nature of the young people in America. These teenagers were also known as the Beatniks or a group of kids who rejected the norm of conventional society and stressed artistic self-expression. In Brooks’ poem, he writes from the boys’ perspective saying “We real cool. We | Left school. We | Lurk late” (Brooks, 1303). Gwendolyn Brooks captures the reality of rebellious youth by reflecting on the teen’s judgment of their own lives in his writing. The boys think they are “real cool” because they were rebellious and “left school”. Brooks goes on to say that they “thin gin” and “die soon”. These kids model the reality of teens who made reckless decisions and ended up paying for these decisions. This rebellious and reckless group of teenagers represents the reality of a great majority of young people during the fifties and sixties.