American Studies

Order Description
As we have seen all semester, visual culture—including paintings, illustrations, photographs, and film—can serve as an important resource for understanding ideology at work. Drawing upon some of the techniques outlined in Elspeth Brown’s “Reading the Visual Record,” write a short essay (1-2 pgs) that analyzes the following image from John F. Kasson’s Amusing the Million.
The strongest analyses will draw upon specific textual evidence (details from the image) and incorporate ideas from the readings/lectures to explain:
• What the image suggests about the changing material, demographic, and social relations of late 19th and early 20th century American life
• What the image suggests about the appeals of Coney Island for the masses who attended the amusement parks