American History X By Tony Kaye

In Larry Lankton’s text, “Beyond the Boundaries” we gradually enter an unknown world that is frightening yet filled with immense beauty for miles. Due to the copper mining industry, a gradual increase of working class men and their families start to migrate to the unknown world with unsteady emotion, yet hope for a prosperous new life. In “Beyond the Boundaries”, Lankton takes us on a journey on how the “world below” transformed the upper peninsula into a functional and accepted new part of the world.

The book “The Other America”, written by Michael Harrington, describes poverty in America in the 1950s and 1960s, when America became one of the most affluent and advanced nations in the world. The book was written in 1962, and Harrington states that there were about 50,000,000 (about 25% of the total population) poor in America at that time. The author did extensive research with respect to the family income levels to derive the poverty numbers, and used his own observations and experiences to write this book. This book addresses the reasons for poverty, the nature of poverty, the culture of poverty, the blindness of Middle Class America with respect to poverty, and the responsibility of all Americans in addressing the issue of poverty in America.

"Battleground America," written by Jill Lepore, provides a strong history of guns and the way they have changed in the eyes of the American through the years. She proves her point with strong evidence throughout her article, sprinkling it with opinion and argument that is strongly supported. She presents her argument to convince her audience that the open availability of guns allows citizens to undeservingly purchase them by displaying the credibility in her sources, using negative connotations in her speech, and the strength and objectivity only a strong logos appeal can provide.

In the poem “America,” by Tony Hoagland, the idea of Americans being consumed with their money is shown using symbolism and metaphors. The speaker in this poem is a teacher whose name is never mentioned. One thing revealed in the poem is that the speaker has a father who is presumably very wealthy and successful. One of the teacher’s students compares America to a maximum security prison. A recurring theme throughout “America” is Hoagland showing examples of America’s greedy society using a teacher, student, and a father’s experiences. Using metaphors of money and symbols of rivers filled with merchandise, Tony Hoagland captures how the teacher begins to think after he hears his student compare America to a maximum security prison.

Forks Over Knives, directed and written by Lee Fulkerson, examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods. This film follows multiple doctors and their experimental process of attempting to understand the connection between the human diet and the many human ailments that occur in the world. Forks Over Knives creates a very persuasive case for eliminating meat and dairy from the dinner table.

In 2011, Bill O’Reilly wrote Killing Lincoln. In this book he explains how the assassination of Abraham Lincoln took place and groundbreaking affects it had on the war and the country. O’Reilly had many reasons for the purpose in writing this book. He says he thought he knew what happened with the assassination and the effects it had on the country. I believe O’Reilly was truly intrigued once he started researching how the plot was planned and so forth. O’Reilly states that the plan itself had elements that have been unknown for quite some time. He states this book will have many effects on the readers. It will disturb-quotation marks the reader because of all of the conspiracies in the book. He also states that the book will advance readers knowledge on the assassination and its implication on the future of America. He states by reading this there are many lessons to be learned. He says realizing the heroes who have mad the country great-quotation marks and also the villains-quotation marks are vital to those who want to keep the country great. Lastly, while his main purpose is the thrill the reader, he makes sure not to spin any facts or compromise the integrity of the facts throughout the book. (need page number(s). Since there are no numbers on these pages you paraphrase/quoted from you can use roman numerals, which are i-ii)

Killing Lincoln by Bill O 'Reilly and Martin Dugard is a book that captures the days

In the book, Killing Lincoln, author Bill O’Reilly portrayed John Wilkes Booth as an obsessed assassin who recruited various conspirators. He described the events leading to President Lincoln’s murder and the hunt to capture Booth and his cohorts. Killing Lincoln is comprehensible to anyone as young as a middle schooler, although it would be best suited for an older reader with an interest in history and politics. Killing Lincoln could also be appealing to those intrigued by conspiracy plots and criminal motives. O’Reilly constructed an action packed thriller of patriotism and war to keep the reader engaged.

“[A] recent author and public figure…[Colin Powell, wrote a] book, My American Journey, [that] helped me harmonize my understanding of America’s history and my aspiration to serve her in uniform…Powell gave me another way to think about the American dilemma and, more than that, another way to think about my own life” (Moore 131-2). Author Wes Moore wrote the book The Other Wes Moore, both an autobiography and a biography about a man who shares his name and has a similar backstory, to demonstrate how people’s destinies are primarily influenced by the environment into which they are born. Examining stories including and similar to those of both Wes Moores, as well as reflecting on one’s own personal experience, can provide insight into

The mystery of how John Wilkes Booth pulled off the most influential and notorious assassinations in history is revealed in Killing Lincoln. The author of this book, Bill O’Reilly, built up the plot of the story through vivid historical details and pieced them together like a thriller. He tries to explain all of what happened on one of the most interesting and sad days in American history. Many conspiracies and Civil War ideals are on full display in the book. I agree with most of O’Reilly’s ideas but there are some that I am not really sure about because of his point of view like many of the conspiracy theories. Killing Lincoln by Bill O’Reilly was a very compelling read which described the Civil War, lives of

“The Indian presence precipitated the formation of an American identity” (Axtell 992). Ostracized by numerous citizens of the United States today, this quote epitomizes Axtell’s beliefs of the Indians contributing to our society. Unfortunately, Native Americans’ roles in history are often categorized as insignificant or trivial, when in actuality the Indians contributed greatly to Colonial America, in ways the ordinary person would have never deliberated. James Axtell discusses these ways, as well as what Colonial America may have looked like without the Indians’ presence. Throughout his article, his thesis stands clear by his persistence of alteration the Native Americans had on our nation. James Axtell’s bias delightfully enhances his thesis, he provides a copious amount of evidence establishing how Native Americans contributed critically to the Colonial culture, and he considers America as exceptional – largely due to the Native Americans.

To the United States, World War II is believed to be a good war, and why wouldn’t it be considered as such? During World War II, in addition to stopping mass genocide and stopping the spread of Nazism and Fascism, the United States beat Japan after their attack on Pearl Harbor. As a result, the U.S. was no longer in the Depression and the United States became a world power. However, in “The Best War Ever,” Michael C.C. Adams argues that as a result of Hollywood’s glamorization of the war, government propaganda/censorship, and the widespread of economic prosperity, Americans were kept in the dark about the truth regarding World War II resulting in the popular belief and myth that World War II was a good war.

"American History X" is divided into two color schemes, black and white, and color, these schemes symbolize the before and after of Derek Vinyard's life. The film is about the life of an "idol" skinhead and D.O.C. member Derek Vinyard, and how his life of hate and racism has affected his family and himself. Throughout the movie the importance of color and lighting is obvious, because it divides the movie into two fused worlds of Derek. Some of the movie is shot in black and white to show that, at that point in time, Derek was a racist Nazi, and only saw people in terms of their skin color, black and white. The remainder of the film, shot in color, symbolizes that Derek sees the whole world, and sees people as people, not

The literary element setting includes the time when the story happens and location where the story takes place. Some stories use variety of settings to initiate an interesting beginning. However, the 12 Angry Man has only one fixed setting – the jury room, which is not commonly used in a novel. The author, Reginald Rose, overcomes the limitation in setting by describing changes in weather, initiating different types of character and imitating the events of the murder.

In addition, the racism in American History X is justified. In the movie, the eldest son of the family, Derek, is a skinhead who racist against the blacks because his father,