Sarah Vowell's Assassination Vacation

Reagan Hunt Connections March 10, 2017 Assassin Anna Myers Summary Anna Myers’s historical fiction novel Assassin gives a detailed and thought-provoking account of President Lincoln's assassination. Alternating narration depicts events through the eyes of both John Wilkes Booth and young girl Arabella Getchel. Bella is a seamstress in the White House during Lincoln's presidency who pursues her dream of performing in the theater by working late hours at Ford’s Theater in exchange for show tickets. Here Bella meets “Wilkes,” a famous and handsome actor. Entirely loyal to the South and Confederacy, Wilkes’s charming smile and smooth voice are famously captivating.

The book Murdering McKinley: The Making of Theodore Roosevelt’s America by Eric Rauchway provides a well constructed and heavily detailed analysis of the details and motives behind the assassination of William McKinley, as well as the lasting affects that it imposed on America. The book first presents the reader with an exact description of how McKinley’s assassination occurred, however, this only scratches the surface of what truly transpired. The main factors that are presented in the book include how the assassination affected America and its society, Roosevelt’s response to the assassination and his succession to the presidency, the reasons for committing the murder, and the evidence that supports the cases of the assassin and the

The story seizes the reader’s attention straightaway as Ava conveys that this is her and her sister’s first summer alone. Immediately, readers are asking questions-why are these girls alone? Should they be alone?-and they read more to be recompense with answers. The diction subtly aids to pique interest such as, “. . . the Chief slurred.”, implying speech impediment or inebriation. This small detail provokes readers to question, just in the first paragraph, the Chief’s parental fitness and what sort of situation the girls must be in if they must feed alligators. As some of these questions are answered, such as how the sisters live in a gator theme park, more questions are raised-what will the ghosts do to Ossie? What will the Bird Man do to Ava? What is Ossie planning? The reader is drawn to what is going on with Ava and what will happen to her, prompting further reading. (Part of this intrigue is provoked by Russel’s rendering of Ava as the storyteller, as we get an idea of who she is from the first paragraph). Also, all questions are answered in due time and the information that readers need to know is given. This story could have easily become convoluted, as it pairs a supernatural element and must also provide enough setting (such

The author’s main idea and purposes are revealed by a series of anecdotes and allusions. The author gets very personal about the subject, as if she was going through the realization herself. You can see her opinion by the way she refers to certain things. For example, the author brings up an old memory from her childhood in paragraph nine. When she is describing the boxcar children, the words she uses are almost as if they were too

To resume to the summary, the book “Chasing Lincoln's Killer” by James L. Swanson. The book is about the killer John Wilkes Booth, and not shows the full view of Abraham Lincoln because the book is talking about John Wilkes Booth Saga. The Story follows John Wilkes Booth along with his plan, and the plan was to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. The book shows the sketch also, shows how he, J. Wilkes Booth, killed Abraham Lincoln a point blank shot kill. After he killed the president, John Wilkes Booth flead from the theatre and went out of Washington to keep himself safe from danger. Throughout his adventure, he has been going through ups and downs across his road, on the contrary he had companions to help him out when he his going through horrible times. John Wilkes Booth helpers gave him a home to live even having the risk of being arrested for helping out a murderer. This means, it shows that John Wilkes Booth reputation is high and can have an ample amount of helpers throughout his

Killing Kennedy is a historical nonfiction book written by Bill O’Reilly, the anchor of the O’Reilly Factor on Fox News Channel and an author by the name of Martin Dugard. Bill O’Reilly has a reputation for presenting world events in a “fair and balanced” manner. This work is no exception. Killing Kennedy illustrates the United States 35th President, John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s life, presidency, and death in a way that makes the reader not want to stop turning the pages. O’Reilly made a presidential assassination into a human-interest story. Killing Kennedy brought little pieces of history that I’ve learned throughout the course of my education and put them all into perspective.

Most Americans know John Wilkes Booth as the assassin of Abraham Lincoln- shot at a play at Ford’s Theater on April 14th, 1865. However, the names of the conspirators that surrounded Wilkes Booth are relatively unknown, especially that of Mary Surratt. Mary Surratt, a mother and boardinghouse proprietor, was arrested and tried for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln along with her son, John Surratt. Pleas from her family, lawyer, and fellow conspirators did not allow her to escape her fate, and she was hanged for her crimes on July 7th, 1865. Even from the scaffold, Lewis Powell, another conspirator condemned to die, cried, “Mrs. Surratt is innocent. She doesn't deserve to die with the rest of us.” So who was this woman, and most

Bill O’Reilly’s and Martin Dugard’s book Killing Lincoln delves into the events leading up to the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and the repercussions upon the people involved, as well as a detailed analysis of the ongoing war efforts and the affects one has upon the other. While unraveling the conspiracy and its members, the reader is given compelling evidence and speculative reasoning that leads the reader to believe that the plot to assassinate Lincoln involves additional people, and could in fact be a conspiracy that reaches into the regions of power far above what is historically proven.

Everyone knows that John Wilkes Booth was the man who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, but not everyone knows John Wilkes Booth’s take on it. Like Why did he do it? Who were his accomplices? What happened after he did it? Well that is was this paper is about.

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.

The death of Abraham Lincoln is described very vividly: “...the sphere of Britannia metal poked a neat round hole in Lincoln’s skull and then pushed fragments of that bone deep into Lincoln’s brain as it traveled precisely seven and a half inches before plowing to a stop in the dense gray matter.” (page 208). After the arrests of the other co-conspirators like Azterodt and Powell, detective Lafayette Baker attempts to hunt down John Wilkes Booth and David Herold who are hiding out in a swamp in Maryland. Eventually, the two conspirators are found in a barn in Virginia and John Wilkes Booth is shot and killed as the barn burned to the ground. Finally, the assassin of the killer of Abraham Lincoln is killed in the same manner as the president.

Additionally, the subject of this novel is stated through various viewpoints of information and is understood by all audiences. In addition, the mood of the story is mysterious, unsettling, and chilling. In particular, when the author describes the murder of Emmett that is enough visualization to send chills down the reader's spine. Also, the tone of the author throughout the novel is solemn and gloomy. Lastly, not only is the novel informant: it’s also educational at the same time.

In my opinion, the author, Ruta Sepetys, moves the novel in an interesting fashion. I liked how there are many characters and how there is a lot of things happening. The author kept the reader interested at all times throughout the novel. The author, Ruta Sepetys, who writes historical non fiction books just as this novel, was born the daughter of a Lithuanian Refugee which may have influenced her to write this very novel. It is geared in a positive way due to Joana, a main character in the novel, helping to portray this with her nursing skills. Seeing the book in the Character of Joana’s eyes affects the overall novel in many different ways. Some may be on Joana’s good side and others may be on her bad side.

The mother begins to rebel against tradition by taking an active role in educating and freeing herself. Through her radio, telephone and trips out with her sons she develops her own opinions about the world, the war, and the domination and seclusion of woman. She loses her innocence as a result to her new knowledge and experience.

American Experience presents The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, from Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Barak Goodman. This film interviews some of the nation’s best scholars, including several writers and historians, who recount the known facts of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 1865. The film was very interesting and conveys the story from the beginning starting with murderer John Wilkes Booth, a young energetic, happy kid who grew upon his family farm in Maryland and followed his family’s footsteps into acting. But he had big shoes to fill trying to follow the greatness of his family who were famous theatrical actors. His acting was not very good as he began but he eventually became