Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1 minus, University of Dusseldorf "Heinrich Heine" (Anglistisches Institut), course: Poets, Artists, and Performers of Black Mountain College, language: English, abstract: This thesis mainly presents Cage on the basis of his literary work. The analysis focuses on his work "Diary: How to Improve the World (You Will Only Make Matters Worse)", with special regard to his use of chance operations. Moreover, emphasis is placed on Cage's ideas about art in general which are inseparably connected to his writings.