Monday February 3, Normalcy

Normalcy was the term coined by President Warren Harding.  Its meaning stood for peace and prosperity.  It was to mark the end of an era, the years of Woodrow Wilson and the noble progressivism of the day.  The progressive reform that took place during Wilson's administration had overtures of President Theodore Roosevelt's time.  When reform took place in the food and drug arenas and when conservation was seen as a needed thing and when the government started to take a greater interest in the people's health and well-being.
Tired of caring around the cross of good moral character the people of America after WWI sought relaxation not reformation.  At one end of the spectrum stood, "the urbane cosmopolitans who chafed against what they viewed as the puritanical streak," (Allen).  Warren Harding highlighted in his speeches that he would ensure that America would not be pressured into doing anymore good deeds.
Another topic discussed in class was that of historical narrative or the practice of writing history in a story-based form.  There are two different types of narrative, traditional and modern.  Traditional narrative is the story of a single event in history whereas a modern narrative is a story that switches between chronological history.  Overall a narrative is an account of history or the voice of the past.  What to include in a good narrative is simple it requires a plot which gives the story structure.  There are three different plots:  the quest, the agnostic conflict, and the climax all of which provide context and conflict to the story.  A good historical narrative should have one of these three plot lines.