The Men Who Built America Analysis

Both the Zinn article and the documentary "The Men Who Built America" are good sources of learning, but if a reader wants a good source of learning that isn't biased or exaggerated he/she is better off reading the Zinn article. At first glance, the Zinn article is very long with over forty pages. The length of the article may cause a student to shy away from the reading. It may seem like a good idea, but the narrator of the documentary " The Men Who Built America" is very biased towards the characters by describing them as greedy and selfish. on the other hand, the article "Robber Barons and Rebels doesn't give a description of the characters who took part during the birth of capitalism in America. Instead, the Zinn Article gives the reader facts
about this time period. For those who can read on the own and absorb the material the Zinn article is the best choice for you, those who struggle with reading comprehension are better suited watching the documentary which gives you a visual of what happens that can better be recalled upon.

At first glance, the documentary appears to be the best way to go about learning about the time period of the birth of capitalism because the Zinn article outrageously long.
No teenager in their right mind would choose to read a forty-five paged article over a documentary on the same topic. A teenager in this scenario would most likely pick the documentary which is a shorter version of the Zinn article but with a lot more action and pictures, But In retrospect after reading the article and watching the documentary it is obvious that a student would pick the Zinn article over the documentary because it gives facts and doesn't necessarily side with one group of people. For example, the movie mainly portrays the lifestyle of Andrew Carnegie, Henry ford, JP morgan, and Cornelius Vanderbilt. The documentary describes these men as the main reason behind the growth of the United States. The Zinn article gives credit to both of the laborers and those in the 1% listed above. The documentary insinuates that the 1% did everything to make America what it is today. on the other hand, the Zinn article says although the one percent held all the wealth but without the working class working for them we wouldn't be where we are
today.

The main purpose of every movie/show or document is to obtain and keep the viewers interest. In order to keep the views attention in the documentary "Men Who Built America," the narrator must overexaggerate the simplest moments. examples of exaggeration by the author are how he portrays the characters and their actions. for example, the document portrays Henry Clay Frick as a tough businessman by saying he fought off his attacker after he had been shot in the neck. This description only serves on purpose and that purpose is the show the viewer that Henry is tough and ruthless. This scene could have actually happened but the exaggeration that anyone could get shot in the neck and continue to fight is ridiculous.