Daniel Burnham Research Paper

His ambition was to create a game which involved the suffering of others. Killing people created him a sort of pleasure, “Holmes was enjoying himself. He had arranged the insurance fraud for money, but the rest of it was for fun. Holmes was testing his power to bend lives of people” (Larson 355). Holmes always looked for people that he saw as weak and he used them to create his game which to him was to see how far he could go in changing a person’s life. While Geyer was investigating the disappearances of the Pitezel children he said that all criminals had a motive but no one really saw clearly what Holmes’ motive was. Later Geyer was drawn to the conclusion of Holmes wanting to have power over people’s lives. Holmes wanted to control people and produce others a suffering as he did when Carrie Pitezel was put in a hotel by Holmes in front of the hotel her children were in, without any of them knowing, that was his game. In the novel both Burnham and Holmes had ambitions but both had very different ambitions, which led their lives in different paths. Burnham by having the ambition to want Chicago to prosper became America’s best architect. Holmes’ ambition took him to jail and eventually to his death. The novel The Devil in the White City, illustrates that everything is not what it seems using the character Holmes and the creation of the World’s Fair. Holmes was known as a charming doctor that starstruck every woman that he laid an eye upon. It was said by

    During the 1893 Columbian Exposition, H.H. Holmes was one of the first serial killers of America. Holmes would lure his victims into his building which he transformed into his “murder castle.” First he would manipulate his victims by coming off as a

The irony that such a positive global statement could be at the same place at the same time as such terror as Dr. Holmes’s murders was daunting and it lured him to pursue this particular case. He says he would not have been interested in just doing a book about the Fair or just about Holmes. But together they made a unity of good and evil. Though Holmes is the obvious criminal in this novel, Larson doesn’t particularly characterize him that way.

In the 19th century the World's Columbian Exposition came about. It brought a time of American pride and perceived tranquility. The fair was a multi layered event that had new inventions come about as well as having beautiful features, although there were some things happening deeper in the fair such as murders that create eeriness throughout the book. Two prominent characters in the book are Daniel Burnham and H.H Holmes. Burnham an architect and Holmes a serial killer, these two main characters were the main difference between the light and the dark of the fair throughout the book. Erik Larson uses tone, imagery, and figurative language in The Devil in the White City in order to express the difference between the two characters motives and goals for the Chicago fair, demonstrating the good and evil in a peaceful time.

The Columbian World’s Exposition of 1893 marked an important time in American history. The overall fame of the World’s Columbian Exposition, or also known as the Chicago World’s Fair, is in large part due to the spread of ideas and inventions that originated at the fair itself. The novel, The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, depicts a clear portrait of the fair’s impact in the time leading up to, during, and after the exposition. The fair established itself as a metaphorical historical monument, in the way that it honored the past and served as a memorial to Columbus, and the way that it impacted future societies and events. The fair began as a show of superiority on part of American society, over all other countries, like France or England. Regarding competition, the fair sought to “Out-Eiffel” Gustave Eiffel, architect of the Eiffel Tower, for architecture, and to outclass the rest of the world in all other fields. The fair also served to foreshadow the growing powers of America both intellectually and militarily; the spirit and ideas shown at the fair showed the emergence of intellectual superiority that would only serve as a sample of the achievements of society that were yet to come. The intellectual productions of the fair can be attributed to the architectural firm coordinating the event, Burnham and Root. The firm was headed by Daniel Burnham and John Root, both accredited as the brightest in their field. Under their management, the Chicago World’s Fair

Part 1: The Devil in the White City is a true crime novel that takes place during the building, during, and aftermath of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. There are 2 main narratives,the first is Daniel Burnham, one of the main architects and designers of the World 's Fair. This plot line shows the extreme stress that all of the Architects experienced, as the construction was slow to start, slow to build, and was filled with shortages, deaths, and awful communication. The second narrative is centered around H.H. Holmes, one of America’s first notorious serial killers. His narrative takes place in his “Murder Castle” and shows his complicated history and his numerous credit scams, identity scams, and most importantly,

“The sight is so inspiring that all conversation stopped, and all were lost in admiration of this grand sight. The equal of it I have never seen, and i doubt very much if i shall again’” (Larson 271). Erik Larson’s nonfiction novel The Devil in the White City centers around the Chicago World’s Fair, also known as The World’s Columbian Exposition, and two of the men whose lives were intertwined: Daniel Burnham and H. H. Holmes. Daniel Burnham was the chief architect who built the World’s fair with a grandeur image in his mind; in contrast, H. H. Holmes used the fair to masquerade his horrific and numerous murders, exploiting the fair. In The Devil in the White City, author Erik Larson uses vivid imagery, captivating tone, and figurative language to portray the dreamlike qualities of the White City.

The book “Devil in the White City”, informs us about a man that goes by the name H.H. Holmes, a manipulative man who will do anything to obtain whatever he desires, loves the challenge of getting woman, but he had a passion...no a craving for killing woman, giving him “sexual release” which he seemed to enjoy dearly.. There was another story of a man who goes by Burnham who was given the opportunity to build the World’s Fair that would show that nobody can top America and they will not feel humiliated. But during Burnham’s journey in building the World’s Fair he had faces many complications. Furthering into the story, Larson correlates Burnhams and Holmes stories together to show how different their characteristics display the two sides of

Although it faced many obstacles in construction, time, and many other aspects, the Chicago World’s fair was immensely successful and served as a great boast of American pride. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson is a nonfiction novel, taking place during the building of the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, also known as The World’s Columbian Exposition. Each chapter of the novel alternates to show the lives of the two real men during this time: the main architect of the fair, Daniel Burnham, and the charming behind the scenes serial killer, H. H. Holmes. In The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson effectively utilizes juxtaposition between “the Black City” and “the White City,” metaphorical figurative language, and detailed imagery in order to portray the dreamlike qualities of the White City.

Have you ever known a psychopath who finds pleasure of going around and murdering thousands of people? In Erik Larson’s nonfiction novel, A Devil in the White City, published in 2003, he sets the scene around the World’s Fair in Chicago. During this time, the city preoccupies themselves with the new construction and excitement of the fair that it draws away attention from the rather secretive, sly, serial killer, H.H. Holmes. Larson uses figurative language, imagery, and juxtaposition throughout the entire novel to develop just how sinister natured Holmes truly is.

The "White City" as the exposition became known as "revealed to its early visitors a vision of what a city could and ought to be" (247). The Fair not only secured America's place as a prevailing nation but it gave something to hold on to in a time of economic uncertainty. Many people saw the “White City” as an escape from their everyday lives that unknowingly seemed to be filled with darkness and terror. Using irony, Larson creates a feeling of absolute terror among his readers. When describing Holmes' murders, Larson utilizes a dark humorous tone that helps characterize Holmes other personality as a psychotic maniac. The very idea that Holmes actually enjoys the feeling of killing people is

Have you ever heard of the American Revolutionary War? The Revolutionary War started in the colonies after the Sugar Act (1764), the Stamp Act (1765), the Townshend Acts (1767) and the Tea Act (1773). The revolutionary war started because the colonies were tired of being taxed by the British Government. The colonists were not being represented in Parliament so they told the British Government that they were being taxed without being represented, (“no taxation without representation”), which the colonists did not like.

Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City, a nonfiction novel that spans the years surrounding the building of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, also known as The World's Columbian Exposition, recreates the lives of two real men, Daniel Burnham, the architect who builds the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and H.H. Holmes, the serial killer who exploits the fair to find his victims. In the book, Holmes is not simply another mindless criminal breaking the law for the reason of money; Holmes is a twisted, yet highly intelligent individual that gains pleasure from the death of his victims. Larson is able to utilize tone, imagery, and syntax to dig into the mind of H.H. Holmes and reveal how he thinks and what inquires him to do horrific deeds.

During a period known as the Gilded Age, one city sets out to create an exposition that would secure them dominance in an ever-expanding society. Chicago was set to be the home of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, an attraction meant to showcase the success and prosperity of the nation. This historical event showcased the prosperity and light of the city as well as the poor and dark parts that came with the building of this fair through two essential characters: Daniel Burnham and H.H. Holmes. Burnham’s determination to build the fair despite many challenges reveals the light of the windy city while Holmes’ and his deceptive evil brings awareness to the dark parts of the city during an economic depression.

In the book “The Devil in the White City” the author Erik Larson argues that the Industrial Revolution causes the people of the U.S to want to flaunt the upcoming world fair that led to the urbanization of tourists and the multiple murders caused by H.H. Holmes.