Journal #9

There are many contemporary connections seen between today and the years 1865-1914. I could write on politics, entertainment, sports, and education if I had the time to. However, I have chosen to focus on the contemporary connections of entertainment and technology between the post-civil war era and modern day. In the years 1865-1914 fiction was the primary source of entertainment. Fiction was popular in American literature because of the Industrial Revolution. Fiction is a form of narrative or piece of work that deals with information and/or events that are NOT factual. An example of modern day literary fiction would be the Twilight book series and TV shows such as The Vampire Diaries and True Blood. These are very popular in today’s culture. In the post-civil war era, fiction was a major change from pre-civil war American literature. People now had more accessibility to books because they were cheaper to manufacture. Print was now not only cheaper it was also faster. This is very similar to the modern day Internet. The Internet has allowed America to advance in the world. The Internet has not only had a global affect, but it has had a personal one as well. It has allowed the access of nearly anything someone would want to know. The Internet has not only brought about the ability to communicate with people faster; but it has also allowed for a more widespread access to books, magazines, and newspapers. Similar to 1865-1914, the price of producing books is becoming cheaper. Now that people can buy and read books on their computer, iPhone, iPad, Kindle, etc., there is less demand for paper books. Even schools are beginning to use online books and sources. The ability to access books on the Internet not only makes the manufacturing of them cheaper, but is also faster!