Cawelti, John G.  "The New Mythology of Crime." boundary 2: Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 325-357. Duke University Press.

 
    In this article written by John G. Cawelti, Cawelti analyzes the impact that The Godfather has had on American society, and the way crime has been portrayed in movies over the course of history.
    Initially, crime was often related to religious and moral problems.  The author states that from this, those who commit crimes are often sinners who are condemned to terrible punishments.  The nineteenth century belonged to more intellectual approach, or as Cawelti writes, “aesthetic” approach.  Morals are still incorporated to the overall plot, however they no longer play an integral role in the story.  Coupling this aesthetic approach with the increase in scientific method, detective stories became popular.  Finally, in the early twentieth century, the gangster film was introduced to cinema.  Although past
    Cawelti compares and contrasts the early gangster films and the Godfather by pointing out the primary concern of the early films was the rise and fall of the central protagonist.  However, The Godfather is centered on the relationships in the family, and the power that these characters possessed.
    He goes on to relate this change to society’s concern and the overall publicity that organized crimes received.  This overall interest in the “family,” or “mafia,” led to a change in which crime was portrayed.  The structure and relationships between the characters became the most important aspect of the story.
    Through analysis of Mario Puzo’s work, Cawelti states that The Godfather is a story which discusses the relationship between crime and American society.  He discusses the contrast between the structure and organization of the “family,” with the overall deterioration of values within American society.  Cawelti goes on to say that although previously, the gangster film exemplifies everything that America does not want to be, with the introduction of The Godfather, this now exemplifies what America is striving to be; a cohesive and unified group.
    This essay expresses the overall social impact that The Godfather had on society.  By introducing the history of crime cinema, one is able to see the different ways crime is portrayed based on the time period, thus this movie can be described as a social commentary.

Chapter 9 of this book analyzes Wartime Romances during World War II. The chapter's introduction, followed by a series of personal accounts, paints a picture of romantic life in the early to mid 1940s in the United States. It is one in which the war intensifies relationships of all kinds, leading to quick and hasty marriages which did not always end happily. It describes the immediate draw the uniform had on women, its glamour and romanticism, its honor, sense of duty and pride. The book also deals with the Homecoming of troops in chapter 12. Once again, through personal account of returning servicemen and their families, men came back home changed, permanently altered. They were eager to leave the service, but unable to detach from it and their many war experiences and memories.

This book certainly helps create a social and cultural understanding of America during and immediately after the war that puts elements of The Best Years of Our Lives into proper context. The relationship between Fred and Marie, married for only 20 days before he left for the war, serves as a perfect example of hasty marriage during wartime. Also, the idea of the glamour, prestige and romanticism of the uniform serves as the sole basis for Marie's attraction to Fred. Her dismayed and crestfallen reaction to Fred's assumption as a civilian role is the beginning of their marriage's end.

In addition, the detailed insight this book provides into the soldiers' unexpectedly complex and painful readjustment to life back at home and inability to abandon thoughts helps one understand the internal tension veterans experienced up their return home. It clarifies the grounds for many men's conversion into civilian life, which all too often included adultery, alcoholism, ostracism and alienation. The ability of The Best Years of Our Lives to capture these feelings through the stories of the three protagonists is one of many reasons it received so much critical and box-office success at its time of release.

 

Phyllis La Farge’s book The Strangelove Legacy examines how anxiety of nuclear threats from the Cold War impacted children and adolescents.  La Farge utilizes prior research dating back to the early years of the Cold War and presents studies of her own from the 1980s.  The findings from the studies are surprising, showing significant percentages of students across periods confident of inevitable nuclear war and disheartened by prospects of surviving such an event.  For example, a study from 1962 showed that 45 percent of junior-high students expected a war (p. 25).  Similarly, a study from 1984 reported that 29.5 percent of high-school seniors often worried about the chance of nuclear war, while another 39.9 percent responded that they sometimes worried (p. 27).  The numbers show the immediacy of nuclear concerns and demonstrate that “mutually assured destruction”, which left unalleviated society’s angst, wasn’t the best international policy.

La Farge’s work also indicates that since the beginning of the Cold War concerns of nuclear war have actually increased.  Surveys show that in 1955 only 27 percent of high school respondents thought the world would be destroyed in nuclear war.  In 1984 a similar survey found 89 percent said they thought the world would (p. 34).  This increased concern shows how nuclear accumulation failed to alleviate global disagreement and kept the public in a state of panic.    

            The Strangelove Legacy illustrates that inherent in the stalemate that stems from nuclear proliferation is a constant fear of conflict.  The plot of Dr. Strangelove stems from that alarm in society in an exaggerated manner that illuminates the irrationality behind perilous security.  The findings of The Strangelove Legacy bolster the message of Dr. Strangelove; defense guaranteed by retaliation is counterproductive.         

Robin Lakoff is one of the so-called "first generation" of linguists to look at women's speech as being quantitatively different from men's speech, and also one of the first generation of feminists to look towards linguistics as a scientific study to which to prove inherent sexism in language.  Although this text is dated (1975), it does serve as a key cited secondary reference for many of the articles published recently about gender and discourse.  Even other linguists who go on to refute Lakoff's dichotomies continue to cite her work regularly.  For my purposes, I may choose to quote from part 2 of her book "Why Women are Ladies" which deals with forms of politeness and how women specifically express politeness in speech, topics which I feel are still relevant today on the internet.

Breaks the connection between movies and reality into different works and makes points about each one of them. These worlds include: Staged, Storied, Scene, Social, Lived, Personal, and Film. Addresses issues such as authenticity and perception and expression.