Devil In The White City By Erik Larson

Daniel Holtzclaw is a former Oklahoma City Police Department police officer. When he was a police officer, Holtzclaw sexually abused thirteen black women. He targeted women from poor, African American communities. Holtzclaw ran background checks on women with warrants or other criminal records and targeted those victims. The majority of Holtzclaw 's victims had criminal histories such as drug arrests. Holtzclaw 's crimes were unlikely to be discovered because rape is a highly underreported crime. Only one of the women filed a report. At least 68 percent of rapes are unreported. For every 100 rapes, only 7 will lead to an arrest and only 2 will spend a single day in jail. Men know that and they know it is very unlikely they will be arrested, a police officer like Holtzlaw knows this all too well. Holtzclaw used his power to rape women and he knew that the public would support him because he is a white heterozexual man, he is an exemplar man for the rape culture. Not only did he have the advantage of being a man, but also the advantage of being white and a police officer.

In The White Scourge, Neil Foley gives detailed facts about the construction and reconstruction of whiteness and the connection of this whiteness to power, mainly on cotton culture in central Texas. Foley 's book analyzes “whiteness” through detailed analysis of race, class, and gender. What was most intriguing about this book is its comparison of whiteness on various racial groups and classes, for and how each struggled in comparison to the other in order to thrive and exist with one another. In this book, Foley shows a racial system that continues to produce both poverty material wise and poverty of where you stand racially. It is also very interesting that the system exploits not only Mexicans and Blacks, but also the poor whites who competed with them for work.

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.

“In a Dark time” by Theodore Roethke gives a retrospect into the inner turmoil’s of finding oneself through a haze of doubts in till reaching a moment of clarity. Each section of the poem describes a different emotion, or inner thought that spirals from fear of death, to emotions of desire. The use of imagery between nature and uncertainties of the narrator give a glimpse into Roethke’s own mind during the time he wrote this poem. Without hundreds of pages Roethke created a poem that connects readers to their own self-doubts and struggles of finding ones way again.

The article “The Negro Digs Up His Past’’ by Arthur schomburg on 1925, elaborates more on the struggles of slavery as well as how history tend to be in great need of restoration through mindfully exploring on the past. The article, however started with an interesting sentence which caught my attention, especially when the writer says ‘’The American Negro must remark his past in order to make his future’’ (670). This statement according the writer, explains how slavery took away the great deal freedom from people of African descendant, through emancipation and also increase in diversity. The writer (Arthur Schomburg) however, asserts that “the negro has been throughout the centuries of controversy an active collaborator, and often a pioneer, in the struggle for his own freedom and advancement” (670).

Darkness at Noon, written by British novelist Arthur Koestler in 1940, is a criticism of Stalinism and the methods used by the Communist Party in the USSR. The novel was set in 1938 during the Stalinist Great Purge and Moscow show trials. Even though the story depicts actual occurrences, it does not specifically name either Russia or the USSR, but the characters do have Russian names while other generic terms are used to depict individuals and associations. For instance, the Soviet government is alluded to as "the Party" and Nazi Germany is alluded to as "the Dictatorship." Joseph Stalin, a terrorizing dictator, is represented by "Number One." The novel is a strong and moving picture of a Communist revolutionary caught up in the terror

When it comes to the topic of obesity, most of us will readily agree that fast food is one of the main causes. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of readily available cheap food on the go. Whereas some are convinced that only unhealthy foods can be fast food, others maintain that fast food can be healthy too. Someone who believes that is Anthony Bourdain. Anthony Bourdain is not only a widely known chef and TV personality, but he is also an author. He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1978. He has traveled often for his various television shows, which has made him well informed about other parts of the world. Since he has traveled all around the world, been added to the New York Times bestseller

Howard Thurman removes the window dressing in the African American experience of segregation in America. Thurman in his book, “The Luminous Darkness” paints an obscure portrait that delved deep into the consciousness of Black men, women and children freshly freed from chattel slavery. Two hundred years of slavery and one hundred years of darkness seeping into each soul perpetuated by an evil explained only through the Word of God. Although this book was published in the 60’s, the stigma segregation continues resonate in the souls of those who remember and perhaps even in the souls of those who do not.

America’s answer for dealing with crime prevention is locking up adult offenders in correctional facilities with little rehabilitation for reentry into society. American response for crime prevention for juvenile’s offenders is the same strategy used against adult offenders taken juvenile offenders miles away from their environment and placed in adult like prisons.

"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.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan is fiction, specifically fantasy, adventure, and humor. In the beginning of the story, Percy Jackson, a twelve-year-old boy, is taken to Camp Half-Blood, a safe haven for children of the Greek gods and goddesses like himself, and then, it is soon revealed that Percy is the forbidden son of the sea god, Poseidon. Later, the camp’s counselor and centaur, Chiron, explains to Percy that Zeus suspects that Poseidon had Percy steal his master bolt during the meeting of the Winter Solstice, which Poseidon argues that Hades has it to backstab them both, and in order to prevent any war between the Greek gods and goddesses, Percy is assigned a quest alongside Grover and Annabeth to retrieve Zeus’s bolt from Hades in Los Angeles and return it to Zeus as a peace offering by the Summer Solstice or by ten days. The morning after, the three travel from New York City to Denver surviving attacks by the Furies, Medusa, Echidna, and Chimera, and fortunately, with the help of Ares, the war god, they hitch a ride to Las Vegas in an animal transport service along with receiving a backpack filled with clothes and money. When there is only one day until the quest ends after Percy, Annabeth, and Grover overstayed their break in a time-delaying casino, they race into DOA Studios, the entrance to the Underworld, to confront Hades about the master bolt, which results in Hades’s outrage of being excused, claiming that Percy not only stolen Zeus’s master bolt, but

Do benevolent spirits sometimes appear to guide and protect earthly loved ones? Do angry entities, wrongly deprived of life, and trapped between astral planes, sometimes return to torment the living? Dare to know the unknowable in this chilling story of a troubled airline, an air-crash investigation and an aviation family torn apart by tragedy. For pilots, flight attendants, and the flying public world-wide, the very notion of a commercial jet being damaged on purpose seems inconceivable. However, after a highly-suspicious crash-landing of an aging 737-400 occurs, ghostly messages from beyond-the-grave begin to reveal a ruthless and sinister conspiracy where men only concerned about profits and the corporate bottom line will do anything to protect their assets, even at the expense of innocent passengers and flight-crews.

Gritty, dark and cunning, this is director David Fincher adaptation of the novel Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. The film depicts the life of a young depressed man played, by Edward Norton, who is a pawn in the corporate world. Isolated and alienated the narrator (Edward Norton) resorts to attending support groups to help his insomnia. During one of his meetings he ends up finding another “tourist” named Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter) who disrupts his life. On a business trip the narrator meets a charming yet, cocky guy named Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt).

When the pair of Michael and Susan Henchard are reunited after years of separation, Henchard exhibits a commitment to his redemption after he shamelessly sold her in the early years of their marriage. He financially provides for Susan by buying her a cottage and informally courts her, as he presumes this will rectify his past. His constituents in Casterbridge are rather nonplussed at his sudden romantic inclination; however, the true nature of his actions is revealed only in narration and not in action. Thomas Hardy ushers in Michael Henchard as a unique subset of the Victorian Gentleman in his 1886 novel, The Mayor of Casterbridge. The limitations and rather restrictive standards of Victorian social class have dominated Michael Henchard’s limited individuality. Henchard’s stability and livelihood is tied exclusively to his position in Casterbridge. His raw passion for community is unfettered by any notion of family or womanly pursuits; he is solely concerned with his status in the hierarchy of the Victorian town. These pursuits hinder a desired gentlemanly character and produces a figure of political hunger and masculinity that is clouded by depression and denial.