A Genealogy of Personal Development in Modern America Kelsey M
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Kutztown University Research Commons at Kutztown University English Department: Traveling American English Department Modernism Posters (ENG 366, Fall 2018) Fall 12-6-2018 A Genealogy of Personal Development in Modern America Kelsey M. Binder [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://research.library.kutztown.edu/englishENG366posters Part of the American Literature Commons, and the Literature in English, North America Commons Recommended Citation Binder, Kelsey M., "A Genealogy of Personal Development in Modern America" (2018). English Department: Traveling American Modernism Posters (ENG 366, Fall 2018). 12. https://research.library.kutztown.edu/englishENG366posters/12 This is brought to you for free and open access by the English Department at Research Commons at Kutztown University. It has been accepted for inclusion in English Department: Traveling American Modernism Posters (ENG 366, Fall 2018) by an authorized administrator of Research Commons at Kutztown University. For more information, please contact [email protected],. As we confess to identifying with these personal stories A Geneology of situated throughout history, we can acknowledge that our “Sleep on the culture is willing to abandon all things familiar—loved ones, Floor” The Lumineers. Personal careers, homes—in search of self-fulfillment. How are we Screenshot. Vevo, 2016. seduced into such a yearning and how should we know if we Development are successful once we leave? An answer lies in the patterns in Modern found through examining individual personal growth jour- neys. Our culture’s fluctuating attitudes towards the erratic America shape of the American Dream influence the motivations that It’s in the simple stories: two young people a fear of being generate self-developmental journeys and supply our stuck in a town rejecting change, the lust to abandon home Kelsey Binder culture’s current definition and find something better--told in quick, bursting, of successful _____________________________ hypnotizing flashes on the screens found in homes, personal growth. SELF DEVELOPMENT restaurants, shared via our virtual lives, popping up on the A term often interchangeably used with ‘personal growth,’ is small LCD screens we carry in our pockets, capturing public THE AMERICAN usually thought of as a private desire for change, requiring heart strings in a mesmerizing moment, causing a pause and DREAM’S SOCIAL individual action. Self-help books line the shelves of stores a curiosity; we ask ourselves, ‘what else is possible?’ LANDSCAPE: and influence Americans through social media platforms, The current American Dream to create a more accept- Thanks to the ubiquitously fabricating a common theme: what one requires ing social landscape is difficult. For not a single one of us theorethical can grow as limitlessly and prosperously as we may wish for personal growth is solely up to the individual. An essen- “Human Road Map.” Creative Commons via Pixabay. work of Henri 2017. tial element to understanding individual desire for growth, without the inclusion of the whole, without listening to the Lefebrve, we have an understanding of how our social is to remember that individual values are shaped by society; mobility of stories—how they leave echoes reverberating off spaces are fabricated from the power of social interaction. any private journey of the self is influenced by an external mountains and travel towards each coast. Heat Moon writes, FLASHES OF INFLUENCE: force. With a critical lens one can see the influential patterns “I sometimes heard human voices that showed not the power Since stories act as social influencers, a nation must un- that take hold of those who choose radical change in order to of visions but of revision, the power to see again and revise” derstand that the fate of the individual relies on the collective focus on achieving what is believed to be “the good life.” (399). It’s time to revise, individually and socially, through to hear this message that’s being thrown into society’s scope Works Cited: our journeys of personal growth. Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. Anchor Books, 1997. repeatedly. It’s found within the flashes of novels, movies Least, Heat Moon William. Blue Highways. 1982. Lefebvre, Henri. The Production of and song lyrics. For instance, The Lumineers’ music video Space. Translation: Nicholson-Smith, David. Blackwell Oxford UK & Cam- bridge, USA. 1984. for their well-admired song, “Sleep on the Floor,” has in- Lewis, Sinclair. Free Air. Grosset & Dunlap, 1919. Lumineers, The. “Sleep on the Floor” fluenced many audiences and flashed through various land- Youtube. Vevo. The Lumineers, musicians. Jeremiah Fraites, video scapes in the form of popular media. actor. Neyla Pekarek, video actress. 2018, https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=v4pi1LxuDHc “Blue Highways Cover.” Niel. High Kicker “Free Air Cover.” Roger Lathbury. Travel Blog. 2013. https://highkicktrav- Into the Wild Cover. People Weekly. Into the Wild. Film. Screenshot. Emile Hirsh, actor. Sean Penn, director. 2012. Creative Commons: Flickr. el.com/2013/05/22/reading-materi- Cover Design Janet Perr and Daniel 2007. al-blue-highways/ Rembert. 1992. .