In the fifth chapter of the novel, Woodard introduces the nation of New Netherland (located in modern day New York), detailing how it was founded by the Dutch and describing how its Dutch origins influenced the nation’s cultural ideology and form of government. Established as a fur-trading post by the Dutch West India Company in 1624, New Netherland was a smaller settlement that was both incredibly diverse and tolerant, much like modern day New York City. As a trading post, New Netherland housed goods from all throughout the North American colonies, and as a result, attracted many different ethnic groups to settle there, most prominent among these groups were the Jews, whose largest population in all of North America was concentrated in New…
the men are from and gives you the opportunity to know who they are. Most…
The Devil in the White City, written by Eric Larson, is a gripping novel of two polar opposite men during the building of the World’s Fair in Chicago. It surrounds two characters, both extremely talented at their ‘craft’ and perfectly depicts the rush for industrialization in this time. It follows the lives of Daniel H. Burnham, the fair's brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country's most important structures, and Henry H. Holmes, a serial killer who built a hotel turned torture chamber complete with a dissection table, gas chamber, and crematorium. This story is so interesting because it details true life events and uses real life characters such as Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Edison, and Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Meshing these two characters together enhances the intensity of the story and truly shows the effect of the building of the World’s Fair on Chicago in late 1880 and early 1890.…
A few miles from Boston, in Massachusetts, there is a deep inlet winding several miles into the interior of the country from Charles Bay, and terminating in a thickly wooded swamp, or morass. On one side of this inlet is a beautiful dark grove; on the opposite side the land rises abruptly from the water's edge, into a high ridge on which grow a few scattered oaks of great age and immense size. Under one of these gigantic trees, according to old stories, there was a great amount of treasure buried by Kidd the pirate. The inlet allowed a facility to bring the money in a boat secretly and at night to the very foot of the hill. The elevation of the place permitted a good look out to be kept that no one was at hand, while the remarkable trees formed good landmarks by which the place might easily be found again.…
For several years, World War II had been raging in Europe. In 1945, German soldiers surrounded Russia and tried to choke off the train of supplies entering the country. Leningrad, Russia remained under constant bombing by German aircraft. Leningrad was a key location for Russia’s war efforts due to its manufacturing facilities and needed to stay functional. Lev Beniov was on the roof of his apartment building watching the anti-aircraft balloons above the city. It was on this night that a dead German paratrooper landed in front of Lev’s building. As the news reached all the boys and girls on the roof, they rushed down to examine and loot the dead soldier. Within minutes, Russian soldiers appeared. Lev’s friends deserted him and he was arrested and thrown into the Crosses. After spending the night, Colonel Grechko gave Lev a chance to redeem himself for his wrongs and save his life. Through…
While this story comes across as a fictional novel, it is solidly backed by facts and references. He frequently quotes individuals and often mentions where those quotes came from. He does take some liberties with how the characters were feeling, or what he thought their motivations were, but he explains how he came to those conclusions. This book can easily be thought of as two works of non-fiction crammed into one. While Larson was very good at making clear transitions, I feel that something was lost. These two stories are so full of interesting details that it would be difficult to do them justice in such a short book. The story of Burnham and the creation of the fair is well recorded and easily researched. Larson’s accomplishment on this front was keeping the story interesting without losing out on the important details. That being said, the story was not always easy to follow. The sheer number of people and dates behind this fair is sometimes difficult to keep track of for the reader. The story of Holmes also presented a few challenges. Very little is known about this elusive killer, and almost none of the knowledge is substantiated. The author freely admits that he had to take a few liberties with the scenes and the emotions behind them. For the reader, this makes it seem more like a novel and less like a record of history. Although interesting, it takes something away from the scholarly passion behind the piece. The liberties taken by Larson however are backed by the understanding of modern psychiatry. Larson states in the notes section that he consulted with a psychiatrist named Dr. James O. Raney during the creation of this story. This scientific basis makes the story believable, which is why it is so easy to be drawn…
Carolina Maria de Jesus' journal "Child of the Dark" is a complete account of five years spent living in a favela in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Carolina and her children spent their days and nights trying to survive in the most horrific of slums while the rest of the nation looked down upon them, scolding them for being poor and complaining about how the residents of the favela were nothing but a burden on the rest of the world. Rarely did anyone take pity on the single mother and her young, defenseless children. Random acts of kindness were few and far between, but these rare gifts of a few cruzeiros brought great happiness and eased the burdens of living in destitute poverty for a day or two.…
The Devil in the White City is a book that depicts every event that happened during the Chicago's World Fair. From the men who lived up to America's expectations by building the fair, to the mass murderer who was gruesomely killing young men and mostly women and going completely unnoticed. Burnham, the main architect of the fair, was troubled with so many problems such as finishing the Ferris Wheel, bad economy, and paying off the debt of building all the attractions but he did it and that is what makes it such a great achievement. The main attraction, the Ferris Wheel, is what saved Burnham though. It helped him pay off the debt and make some profit. The “Devil” in this book is Henry H. Holmes. He captured his victims by luring them into his hotel which people called the “Castle”. He would lock them in rooms and have them gassed or skin them to sell their bodies to be made into skeletons for medical schools or sometimes just incinerate them.…
In The Devil in the White City you can find murder, magic and madness at the fair that changed America. In this book you discover 1893 Chicago at the time of the world’s fair, also known as the World’s Columbian Exposition. The story follows two separate but connected plots. One plot consist of a serial killer in the city while another consist of the building of the fair. Each plot follows two separate characters; H.H Holmes the serial killer and Daniel Burnham the architect. I believe that Erik Larson wrote this book based on two different stories because they both explain the expansion of technological/ entertainment advancements and the expansion of transportation/population growth during the late 19th century. Daniel Burnham and H.H. Holmes…
The passage I have chosen is from Chapter 5, book 1, which takes place at a wine shop. Dickens is using this passage to explain the recent event that has taken place; crowds of people gather in front of the wine shop, and actually scoop up the wine for themselves from the broken cask. That shows the readers that these peasants are in physical hunger and are that desperate for food, showing that France isn’t in good shape. Once all the wine is gone all that is left over is the stains of the red wine on the street, the peoples hands, faces and feet. Dickens is foreshadowing the blood that will be left there in later years during the revolution. Like I stated before Dickens is showing the peasants hunger, but I think he is showing the physical hunger and the hunger the peasants have for justice and that they want freedom from the misery they’re in, therefore I feel he is also foreshadowing that the peasants are going to revolt and that they’re will be some kind of revolution. When Dickens says “the wine was red wine”, it is symbolic in a way of showing the sense of revolution, because the peasants dressed themselves in the color red while revolting, but also the fact that red is symbolic by symbolizing the blood of all the peasants and people of France that will die in the fight for what they believe in. I also believe when Dickens closes this passage with the words wine-lees blood he is trying to say that although at that moment its just wine, eventually lives are taken and it turns into real blood, and that the blood will stain the streets of France, leaving a reminder of this terrible…
What did John Winthrop mean when he spoke of his “city upon a hill”? To what extent were the Puritans successful at building this city?…
Although very gruesome at the time I think it was important to describe the conditions around the Ruckus family and exactly what they went through. It gave me a better understand on exactly what happened during the industrial revolution. I do believe that the theme, a full Capitalist society can have a big impact on the economy, is relevant for teenagers, because they need to learn the origins of America at the time and be grateful for how it is today. I think Sinclair did a good job addressing the issue so that a high school audience can understand the point of view of immigrants during this time. I know that before I read this book I never really understand how bad the Industrial Revolution was. So many people died and the environment was unbelievably disturbing. This book brought light to capitalism and how corrupt it can be in the wrong hands and I think thats something the author really wanted to get…
I chose to do my audience analysis on Philippa Gregory’s books The White Princess. The book is a historical fiction book based on the lives of King Henry the 7th and Elizabeth of York. The primary audience for this book is for people who are interesting about the history and the people of the British monarchy. The reason that I believe that this is the primary audience for this book is because most people do not want to learn about Elizabeth of York unless they are interested in her and her life. Another reason that I think that this is the primary audience is because this book follows the history and issues that were going on during that time. People that would want to read this book are people that are interested about the royals back then and what happened in their lives and the issue and threats that they were facing at the time. For example, the book talks about how King Henry the 7th had issues with people pretending to be one Elizabeth’s brothers who were killed in the tower. A few young men came forward during that time and pretended that they were one of the brothers…
Devil in the White City, a monograph written by Erik Larson, detailing the lives of two men during the years of construction and preparation for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair (alternately, The World’s Columbian Exposition)— Daniel Burnham, the lead architect of the fair; and Herman Mudgett (alias: H.H. Holmes, among others), a serial killer taking advantage of young women flocking to the city in search of the chance to lead their own lives.…
Duality exists in all aspects of the world- in the light of the stars against the dark of the night sky or the vibrant spring colors and the desolation come winter. The dual nature of this world has added deep lines between right and wrong, but of course both will present themselves and both will always, in some way, shape, or form, affect one another. In the Devil in the White City the author, Erik Larson, not only informs the audience about a colossal architectural turning point for our nation, but he entices the reader into a state of jittery tension that is enforced by continuous amounts of alarming duality.…