Gonzo Book Report

Upton Sinclair was a famous novelist and social crusader from California, who pioneered the kind of journalism known as "muckraking." His best-known novel was "The Jungle" which was an expose of the appalling and unsanitary conditions in the meat-packing industry. "The Jungle" was influential in obtaining passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act.

Thesis Statement: Upton Sinclair was a muckraker who wrote, “The Jungle”, which exposed the problems of the meatpacking industry.

Upton Sinclair was a famous writer who gained the title of being a “muckraker,” a term that Theodore Roosevelt created to refer to a journalist who was dedicated to divulging the evils of industrialization. Sinclair’s book, The Jungle, got a lot of people thinking about the meat processing industry and how sanitary

Rather than the old-fashioned way in which journalism was performed, solely as a representation of facts, New Journalism also involved a subjective interpretation of what the author felt about what was going on within the matter that they were working on. It worked against saying that “one of the unconscious assumptions of modern criticism that the raw material is simply ‘there.’ It is the ‘given,’” (Wolfe 11), instead saying that audience is not looking for the facts behind the story, but instead the truth behind the actions that were taken. They were looking for the ‘why’ instead of the ‘what.’ Many journalists followed this time, with a couple of them not only finding success in what they did, but also originating a genre that is popular even to this day. Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood is not only the first true-crime novel to be written, but also considered by many to be the first nonfiction novel in existence. Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was controversial for its use of gonzo journalism behind Thompson’s explicit drug use throughout. Lastly, rock critic Robert Christgau, who is still working today, revolutionized music criticism by

During the book, Yoshino talks about how different religions have to cover. He elaborated on the fact that Muslims, after 9/11 were faced with this challenge. What took me by surprise, was the encounter of the mother going to change her son’s surname from Mohammed to Smith. I have never thought of this issue. I never knew there were Muslims who actually changed their name! I could never imagine changing my name in order to fit in with society and/or not be look upon in such a harsh way and religiously profiled.

Upton Beall Sinclair, Jr. was and still is a highly recognized novelist and muckraker; throughout his lengthy and notorious career, he wrote approximately one hundred novels and short stories that jawed about how the world needed remolding. Mr. Sinclair acquired numerous prizes and honors during his time in the spotlight; one in particular was the Pulitzer Prize in 1943 for his 1942 best seller, Dragons Teeth. After nearly seventy-eight years of being an author, Sinclair finished off his vocation in 1976 when his final book, The Coal War, surfaced in almost every bookstore in the United States.

Though class has only had two sessions, I already enjoy the atmosphere during my humanities lectures more than any other subject this semester. The writing requirements and documentation are definitely downsides to the class, however the openness and controversy is very apparent and the only topic we have covered is role call and Donald Trump. Trump is a follower, just like anyone of us, he followed his father (obviously to his benefit since he is worth billions of dollars) and he now follows his political opponents in puppeteering and manipulating his audience by finding societal scapegoats and driving a polarized America even farther apart. Perhaps this book will provide some insight no only as to how Trump is able to turn millions of people

The American Dream is the phrase and trademark of American society today that many hope to achieve in some point in their lives. In Hunter S. Thompson’s novel, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, readers follow Thompson depicted as Raoul Duke and his attorney Dr. Gonzo in hoping to find the American Dream. It uses Gonzo Journalism, a style that is an adaption of Picaresque narrative to document his drug-induced experiences traveling through 1970’s Las Vegas. The Picaresque novels are composed of first-person narrative that relates to the adventures of a picaro character or rogue hero with an episodic structure and romantic techniques to present the story as a realist. The novel presents various examples of picaresque genre and American journey narratives. Thompson uses picaresque narrative of a rogue hero’s desert journey for the American Dream in bars, casinos, hotels only to find that it is essentially unattainable. At the same time, Thompsons examines the generation’s failure to achieve the American Dream by commenting on their cultural behavior in the 1960s and 1970s.

Description: The Gonzo’s Quest casino slots game is something that takes a different approach and adds one-of-a-kind elements to the classic wagering activity.

Gonzo journalism, also referred to as “New Journalism”, is a writing style popularized by journalists such as Hunter S. Thompson, in which “Because it adds value for the audience, the creator’s role in the story is highlighted rather than marginalized” (Hoover, 2009) What this means is that the author is not presented as a third party observing the events of the article, but is instead an active part of it, with the article being written first person. In order to recreate the circumstances of a Hunter S. Thompson type of Gonzo Journalism, in which the writer needs to be on copious amounts of drugs such as “two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers,

Hubbard, born 1911, only came into the public eye as a young adult during 1930’s America, when his numerous stories could be found in pulp magazines. In between attending George Washington University and Princeton he worked as a freelance author, his speed of writing and publishing stories

In the late sixties a young journalist and free-lance novelist named Hunter S. Thompson (HST) emerged with a new, crazed and exaggerated brand of reporting. It was sooner or later referred to as “Gonzo”. HST’s own definition of gonzo has varied over the years, but he still maintains that a good gonzo journalist “needs the talent of a master journalist, the eye of an artist/photographer and the heavy balls of an actor” and that gonzo is a “style of reporting based on William Faulkner’s idea that the best fiction is far more true than any kind of journalism”(Carroll, page 192). Gonzo journalism has also been referred to as outlaw journalism, new journalism, alternative journalism, literary

The excess use of guns, booze, and too many drugs to count easily summarizes the life and writing of Hunter S. Thompson. The American culture of the 1960s began to alter with the hippie generation, and the same old drab writing was not fulfilling the desires of the American reader. During the 1970s, American literature and journalism transformed in a way that no one would have ever been able to predict. Thompson found a way to turn the tables, and effected generations to come in a new dynamic writing style that many authors and journalist nowadays adopt. The life and writing of Hunter S. Thompson had great influence on the creation of gonzo journalism, politics, and American culture.

Evil, bitter, jaundice, inhumane, brutal, unjust and cynical may appear as a harsh description, but does not begin to trace the topic that Sinclair Sinclair addresses phenomenally in his life altering novel, The Jungle. Exposed to dichotomies from birth in 1878, Sinclair was raised an only child on the verge of poverty by his father- an alcoholic liquor salesman- and strong willed mother, though they visited wealthy family in the upper class. Growing to actively enjoy difficult literature from early ages, his interest in writing increased immensely. Although this is true, many also believe that Sinclair’s firm dedication in political convictions and socialism brought him to his work. Despite his past, it could be said that he was a sharp knife in the draw, as he graduated from Columbia University and the College of the City of New York at age 20. Though it would turn to be unhappy, Sinclair was married to his first of three wives- Meta Fuller- before conceiving David in 1901. Influenced by his childhood, political involvement, and ambition, he took on an undercover work ( his book The Jungle) to expose abominable working conditions. This famous, and arguably best work, outaged the public, and ultimately was the only in its time to reach a social change on a similar level as “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. Even with its great success, Sinclair felt that the public as a whole had missed the point of his book, as they overlooked the mistreatment of workers to react to the revealing of

Upton Sinclair started his young life being born in Baltimore, Maryland September 20th, 1878 ( https://www.biography.com ). Upton was an only child to an alcoholic salesman and a very strong-willed stay -at home mother. They lived in a small house in Baltimore living in poverty. At the age of 10, Upton’s father decided to move the family to New York. Upton already started reading famous works from Shakespeare and more and started to get a step into push into his future career ( https://www.biography.com ). Upton first started writing and selling stories at the age of 14 at his college in New York. After the age of 20, Upton decided to become a full-fledged writer and no one was going to stop him. Upton Sinclair was motivated to write the story “The Jungle” by his political motivations ( https://www.biography.com ). The story “The Jungle” is well known and considered to be his most successful story. Upton, as a child made judgements and opinions of the wealthy and that grew into his socialism thoughts. In 1903 his work sent Upton to Chicago to investigate reported mistreatment of employees at the meatpacking facilities ( https://www.ssa.gov ).