The Other Side Of The River By Alex Kotlowitz

How can two people be so different, yet so similar? The World’s Columbian Exposition was a major event in the 19th century. The fair was something that’s never been done before in history triumphing the famous Eiffel Tower. As spectacular as the fair was there were murders being committed without any signs of slowing down. The Devil in the White City tells a story between the architect Daniel Burnham and the infamous serial killer H.H. Holmes. Erik Larson uses imagery, diction, and comparisons to characterize and show how similar their traits and goals were during this time.

Erik Larson uses a skilled combination of rhetorical strategies and syntactical devices throughout Devil in the White City to not only paint a comparative narrative but also to create powerfully alluring atmosphere that highlights the juxtaposition of the eriness of serial murders with the detailed description of the Chicago World’s Fair. Through the employment of foreshadowing, juxtaposition, and deliberate humanization, Larson creates a vividly compelling account of two stories for the purpose of assembling a story that is rich with complexity and, when it come to certain characters, controversy as to the nature of certain characters.

In this novel, Larson helps readers make sense of what was new about big cities at the end of the nineteenth century—transportation, communication, electricity, anonymity—by showing how these aspects of

Hardly a day goes by where a murder doesn’t occur. Usually, it is in a big city, such as Chicago, but sometimes it happens in a small town, maybe even not far from you. As we see a small town called New Baltimore located just outside of Detroit, not much seemed to happen in this small town...until someone murdered Justin Mello. This event leads to a shattered town with a reminder to us all, life is just a vapor, we can never be promised another day.

H. H. Holmes travels into the white city, leaving the bleak city frozen in place, Larson uses figurative language to reveal how Holmes starts to convert the white city into a kingdom of his own by seeing beauty and grace in some of the most disturbing scenarios. The comparison of Julia’s (Holmes’ mistress) murder to a “ballet” explains that Holmes sees death as a type of

The story begins with Daniel Quinn writing about a day in his life, until he comes upon an absurd advertisement in the personals section of the newspaper: TEACHER seeks pupil. Must have an earnest desire to save the world. Apply in person. Suspicious, Quinn investigates this advertisement with intentions of exposing fraud. Instead, he discovers Ishmael in Room 105 of a undistinguished office building. Sitting calmly, Ishmael gently nibbled on a slender branch. Appalled, Quinn stumbled towards the chair. Ishmael and Quinn gazed into each other’s eyes, and much to his disgruntlement, the glowing eyes spoke to him. Nodding his head to the unspoken question, Ishmael quietly said, “I am the teacher.” Ishmael explains that Quinn is part of a culture, that results in him being taught certain stories between the relationships of man, the world, and the Gods. These explanations will be made clearer to the pupil by being assisted in recognizing why the stories are misleading. Ishmael’s goal will show the narrator that human history comes from two groups, the Takers and the Leavers. These groups legislate two completely different stories about man, the world, and the Gods. Takers are the humans who developed agriculture and civilization, who still dominate on Earth today. The Leavers, in contradiction, are those who don’t adopt agricultural practices and disregard the benefits of civilization.

The first chapter introduces Chicago, in the 1800s as a place where flocks of single women are coming to Chicago looking for jobs. This city was described as very unsafe. Two people a day, on average, died at railroad crossings, disease was very common, and people died from

In the short story, “Woman Hollering Creek,” written by Sandra Cisneros was about a woman named Cleofilas who married a man, Juan Pedro Martinez Sanchez, who abused her both mentally and physically. In the Mexican culture there always seems to be a difference between men and women. Men are superior to women. Women, just like Cleofilas in this story,believe it is their absolute duty to go through hell in order to attempt to make a marriage work. Also, not only did Cleofilas base her opinions about all the things she must endure in her marriage off of her culture, but of the telenovelas she was a fan of. Both her culture and love for telenovelas made her come up with the conclusion that for love one must be willing to suffer. And so her story began on how she gave up her life, her freedom for a man whom she taught was the love of her life.

Erik Larson is the author of Devil in the White City, a book paralleling the story of H.H.Holmes and the building of the Chicago World Fair. At the beginning we are introduced to the beginning of the next world fair. It is going to be held in Chicago, a city known for being dirty and having disease and sewer problems. In contrast, the architects of the world fair want it to be known as the white city, a place of wonder and history full enough to spend a week exploring. At the same time, we are also introduced to Holmes, whose given name was Herman Webster Mudgett, and the beginning of his obsession with women, that he later murders. Larson constructs his book differently than other authors, using organization, contrast, and emotions in unique

The novel, Color of Water, by James McBride details and reflects on racial prejudice from the perspective of two lives; the life of a Jewish mother, Ruth McBride Jordan, and then in the life of her black son, James.

In The Devil in the White City excerpt, Eric Larson depicts the trial of H.H. Holmes and dangers associated with him. Larson illustrates this through diction,imagery , and details to paint as Holmes as nearly inhuman. Due to a malicious tone, Larson is writing with the intent of bringing a sense of closure to his audience of fairgoers and others wondering about the irregularities of the Chicago fair. During the first few paragraphs of the excerpt Larson depicts a heartbroken Mrs. Pitezel to a sympathetic audience.

The article Into the Dark Water by Lauren Tarshis is about a boy named Jack Thayer who was on the Titanic the night it sank. Lauren Tarshis used some of Jack’s quotes for the article. The quotes make you feel like you were at that time and moment. One quote in the article by Lauren Tarshis there was a quote by Jack that said “It was the kind of night that made one glad to be alive.” The reason why Lauren Tarshis put that quote in their is that it helps you picture it in your head.

The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to his White Mother written by James McBride is a miraculous memoir about James’ and his mother’s life. He describes in detail what it was like growing up in a household with a white mother, a black father, and eleven black siblings. Biracial marriages and families were not the norm and nor was it accepted by society during that time. James encountered many misfortunes growing up and was constantly trying to figure out who he was because his family was different than other families. He felt that the only way to find out who he was by probing into his mother 's past which she refused to discuss for long period of time. She finally

I think the author exposes the steady decline of a place that was once named an All-American city. East St. Louis was once considered an up and coming industrial town at the turn of the century, but now it is perceived as a dumping ground for a group of American

By the later part of the 1800’s New York and Chicago were some of the largest cities in the world and both had populations that exceeded a million. With the growing population, the economy’s stability began to fluctuate. The instability within the states gave rise to two distinct populations within America, the upper and the working classes. Theodore Dreiser, knowing the volatile state America was built upon, highlighted the economic differences between the wealthy and the poor in his novel Sister Carrie.