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The texts in this elective reflect the ways in which composers experiment with ideas and form to question human beliefs and values. !
Texts studied in ‘After the Bomb’ reflect a skepticism of conventional ideologies prevalent in the Cold War (1945-1990) era. These shifting social, political and cultural values caused an ideological warfare that influenced many to reevaluate their beliefs and alter their perception on the nature of humanity. The texts in this elective undoubtedly reflects the way in which composers experiment with ideas and form as a means of questioning human beliefs and values. Through the manipulation of textual forms and features, Sylvia
Plath’s poems “The Applicant” and “The Arrival of the Bee Box” questions materialistic values and prejudiced thinking. Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 uses a variety of satirical techniques to create an absurdist atmosphere that both critiques and questions utilitarianism and capitalism. Alfred Hitchcock’s horror film The Birds (1963) uses suspenseful film techniques and Gregory Corso’s poem The Whole Mess...Almost (1973) experiments with conventions of the Beat Generation to reflect concerns of deteriorating humanity. !
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“The Applicant” experiments with ideas and form to question human beliefs and materialistic values. The poem conjures a series of images of household objects with the aperture of mass consumerism. This is aptly conveyed in the lines,
“How about this suit-!
Black and stiff, but not a bad fit.!
Will you marry it?”!
The use of rhyme replicates the musicality of advertisements, critiquing the American advertising industry. The use of rhetorical questioning addresses the power of the individual to accept or refuse, signifying the challenge for people to either conform or rebel against materialism. The exaggerated use of advertising language throughout the poem stresses that both men and women are objectified in society as corporate entities, merely defined by their possessions. According to