Introduction: The book assigned to me for this assignment was Killer Show by John Barylick. It 's an informative non-fictional book. It tells the real life tragedy of the fatal “Station” nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island. The story is told using flashbacks and analysis in each chapter of the book. Before I started reading this book I was intrigued because the main events in this story are in the 21st century. This is unlike the other books that could have been assigned to me. The date of this horrific tale was February 20, 2003. The book goes in detail about the history of the Station, what was the cause of the fire, how people escaped the fire and the aftermath of the fire. Barylick is a respected Providence, Rhode Island lawyer. After the fire, he was one of the lawyers that represented the many victims of the fire. Therefore, he knows how much this fire affected the West Warwick community. He has researched the public record of the fire 's investigation which allows him to point out those at fault. There were ownership issues, fire marshal issues and sustainability issues that caused such a disaster. The focus of this story that changed the built environment. Although this is a troubling story there is much to be learned from it. What Happened in the Book: “The Station” building was far from brand new when the 2003 fire occurred. It was used as a navy bar during World War II (Barylick 7). The building has a long history. The building became a club in 1995
Contradiction in the mind, we struggle between decisions. Whether it is correct or not, it leaves an indelible memory. In Tim O'Brien's confessional writing, Ambush, he creates a flashback and recalls his memory in Vietnam. With detail descriptions, Tim O'Brien expresses his guilt towards killing an innocent young man. Furthermore, reinforcing his opposition against war with the writing.
In the Pulitzer Prize winning civil war novel Killer Angels, Michael Shaara covers five days of the historic battle between the Northern and Southern United States at Gettysburg. Both the North and the South fought for freedom, although they did not have equivalent definitions of freedom. The North and the South were unwavering in their beliefs and their hope for a better United States, but what the two butted heads the most on was slavery. The South was a primarily agrarian region which relied heavily on the agriculture of crops like cotton and sugarcane, both of which required intense manual labor, unlike the North who was more so industrialized; however, as William Preston said, it was not cotton that was “the south’s king” but it was slavery that made them so prosperous. The South relied on slavery because having many workers to tend to these cash crops without having to pay them saved farmers and plantation owner’s money that they could use to buy more slaves that put out more work leading to more land for more crops, or to have more money to pay their taxes. Many Southerners like William Preston thought that owning other people was their divine right as white men. The Civil War was started over the North and South’s conflicting views on whether they had the “civil” right to own or not own slaves. The Northern and Southern states developed themselves much differently than one another because of their agrarian versus industrialized economy. As the states developed they
Guy Montag, a local ‘firemen’ lives in a despairing dreary world where instead of firemen extinguishing fires they create them, they burn and banish books. They believe that books are a sin and trouble to society. Although Montag is one of the main sources of the books being burned he meets a bright young girl that changes his ways of thinking and
In this essay I intend to explore the narrative conventions and values, which Oliver Smithfield presents in the short story Victim. The short story positions the reader to have negative and sympathetic opinion on the issues presented. Such as power, identity and bullying. For example Mickey the young boy is having issues facing his identity. It could be argued that finding your identity may have the individual stuck trying to fit in with upon two groups.
The book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a science fiction novel placed in the future. The plot of the story is about a firefighter named Montag in a futuristic city where firefighters start fires instead of extinguishing them. He starts to read books although it is illegal and realizes many truths in the society. Montag kills his fire chief and meets intellectuals by the railroads. They watch as the city is destroyed and go back to rebuild society. Beatty is Montag’s fire chief and boss. He is invested in getting rid of books, although he himself reads. Faber is a former english professor who maintains a low profile and also reads books. He helps Montag understand them. In Fahrenheit 451
Some disasters are so impactful, that they forever change the course of history. On March 25, 1911, one such event took place. The infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Fire occurred that day, and left one hundred and forty-six people dead in its wake. While many at the time thought the story would soon pass, and with it all the potential bad publicity, the story of the fire spread quickly, and outraged many people. As a result, the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire ended up changing many
On the afternoon of March 25, 1911, a fire broke out in the 10-floor Asch Building, a block east of Manhattan's Washington Square. This is where 500 mostly young immigrant girls were producing shirts for the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. Within minutes, it spread to consume the building's upper three stories. Firemen at the scene were unable to rescue those trapped inside: their ladders weren't tall enough. Exits were locked, and the narrow fire escapes were inadequate. Panicked, many jumped from the windows to their deaths. People on the street watched in horror. The flames were under control in less than a half hour, but 146 people perished, 123 of them women. It was the worst disaster in the city's history.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire not only affected the city of New York, but also the rest of the country. It forever changed the way our country would look at safety regulations in factories and buildings. The fire proved to America what can and will happen if we over-look safety regulations and over-crowd buildings. Unfortunately, 146 lives are taken before we fully understand this concept.
The building of the Station Nightclub was constructed in approximately 1946. Many restorations and repairs were made to the building since the time of construction by different owners to fulfill their business needs. The building was a wood-frame construction with wooden shingles on the exterior walls that also included a flat roof, but the interior walls surrounding the stage were staffed with sound proof polyurethane insulating foam. Windows were located on the north side of the building and on the east side of the front entrance. All of the windows had security bars on them (this could be an issue!). The building had only four doors; a front main door, a bar side exit door, a
Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 features a fictional and futuristic firefighter named Guy Montag. As a firefighter, Montag does not put out fires. Instead, he starts them in order to burn books and, basically, knowledge to the human race. He does not have any second thoughts about his responsibility until he meets seventeen-year-old Clarisse McClellan. She reveals many wonders of the world to Montag and causes him to rethink what he is doing in burning books. After his talks with her, the society’s obedience to the law that bans knowledge, thinking, and creativity also increasingly distresses him. In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury shows conformity in the futuristic America through schooling, leisure, and fright.
At 2215 hrs, on November 28, 1942, Fire Alarm Headquarters from Box 1514, situated at Stuart and Carver streets, received an alarm. When the responding apparatus arrived they found a small car fire at the corner of Stuart Street and Broadway. After the fire was extinguished the firefighters were about to return to quarters when their attention was called to smoke emanating from the Cocoanut Grove Nightclub a few doors away. Upon their arrival at the entrance of the Broadway lounge on Broadway they encountered numerous people leaving the premises admidst the cries of “fire”. The chief in charge immediately ordered that a third alarm be sounded from Alarm Box 1521 which the alarm was received by fire alarm headquarters at 2223 hrs. A
Guy Montag is the protagonist and central character of the book, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury that transforms from a conformist in a totalitarian society to rebuilding a society that reads books. Montag fits the cliché description of a good-looking male with “black hair, black brows…fiery face, and…blue-steel shaved but unshaved look.” (Bradbury, 33) For the past eight years he has burned books. He is a 3rd generation firefighter, who in the beginning of the story, loves his job, which consists of burning the homes of people who perform criminal acts of reading and keeping books in their homes. By understanding Montag’s relationships, discontentment, and future, one can begin to understand the complexities of Guy Montag.
The book “Among the Thugs” from 1992 written by William Buford, describes Buford’s own experiences with hooliganism. The text is about the British football culture and the hooligan-ism that follows. Throughout the text, we follow the American Journalist Bill Buford, who is located at a train station in Cardiff, where he for the first time became acquainted with hooli-ganism. Hundreds of Liverpool supporters robbed the station, terrorized the area and fought with everything and everyone. His reaction to their loud behavior and performances over-whelms him a lot. Later in the text, Bill meets a united ultra from Manchester United's firm, Mick. After hanging out with him, Bill is persuaded to join the firm on matchday. This was the beginning of a whole new day for Bill Buford as a thug and a member of the firm. This analytical essay will be based on comments from Bill Buford experiences, the structure, language, receiver and the purpose of the text.
The building was constructed in 1946, designed to be a nightclub. The same building had changed ownership and names numerous times, and had been incarnated as not just a nightclub but also a restaurant and pub. Exact numbers of occupants at the time of the fire is unknown, estimated to be between 440 to 458 persons. When the fire started at the Station Nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, the venue was 100 people over capacity, but "even the legal number was based on a bogus standing-room formula," (Seligson, 2013). An estimated 450 people were inside when the fire occurred (FEMA, 2011).
The greatest lesson learned from this tragedy was the need for planned fire drills and accessible fire escapes. If the employers would have made it mandatory that all employees become familiar with the buildings layout, practice fire drills and know their closest fire escape, it would have aided the employees in the hour of despair. The biggest cause for death in this fire was a result of poor pre-fire planning. The building may be fire proof, but the people and contents inside are not.