Who Is Jacob Riis?

The portrayal of Jacob Riis’ views through his book ‘How the Other Half Lives,’ is conveyed by storytelling and is largely made of logos, however the key component is actually ethos, like a politician running a campaign, Jacob Riis’s uses logos and pathos to create a persona of authority on the topic of the poor in New York City. I am going to look in depth on how Riis uses different approaches to convey his views to his audience: why does do some of Riis’ key texts contradict each other? Is he conscious of if? Is it brilliant?

The middle echelon in the late 1800s of New York had no idea about some issues of the poor and unfortunate faced. Riis attempt of exposing the unbearable events happening to innocent, beautiful, heaven-made waifs was successful. Jacobs Riis divulged the actions of mothers that saw nowhere to turn to with a baby they couldn’t or did not want to fend for. The document “reveals the bitter consequences of desperate poverty for mothers and children,” (p.67) consequences being the many young lives that were cut short, due to a decision that they had no say in and guilt, hatred, and depression the mother faced after “having to” abandon a being they brought into this world.

Jacob Lawrence was born in Atlantic City, NJ in 1917. Lawrence died in June of 2000 in Seattle, WA. Born to Rosa Lee Lawrence (Mother), Jacob Lawrence (Father), and William Hale (Brother) Jacob Lawrence mother and father moved from the rural south to find a better life for them. After the separation on his parents Lawrence and his siblings had to live in foster homes and settlement house in Philadelphia until she could get enough money to send for them in New York. Jacob’s mother saved money and was able to send for her kids in New York in 1930. At the age of thirteen Jacob quickly discovered art as a means of expressing himself. Jacob Lawrence was married to Gwendolyn Knight.

During the late 19th century more and more immigrants were leaving their native European countries due to the promise of a better life in America. This however was not always the case. The excerpt, Waifs of the City’s Slums, is from a book written and photographed by Jacob Riis in 1890. How the Other Half Live, Riis’s book, s was used to highlight the injustices many immigrants faced in the lower East Side of New York City. His writing showed that he was intolerant towards certain races, but despite his feeling he was able to show the real need for such a book. Riis separated the people in the slum into two different categories; those who deserved help and those who did not. Waifs of the City’s Slums is chapter sixteen of the book; this chapter

Jacob Riis deserves a place in history because of the many astonishing actions he did for

Two children named Wes Moore both dealt with “difficult childhoods” in Baltimore, states the back cover of The Other Wes Moore. From fatherless homes to trouble with the police, the Moores undoubtedly dealt with many struggles as they grew into adulthood. However, exactly what factor determined how one Wes Moore would go on to becoming a veteran and a business leader as well as venturing to places as the White House and Oxford, while the other Wes Moore spends the rest of his life in prison? What the two Wes Moores valued throughout their lives impacted their futures. This is because personal values are the most important factors in determining success or failure, as what a person treasures determine what decisions

Jacob Riis' book How the Other Half Lives is a detailed description on the poor and the destitute in the inner realms of New York City. Riis tries to portray the living conditions through the ‘eyes' of his camera. He sneaks up on the people flashes a picture and then tells the rest of the city how the ‘other half' is living. As shocking as the truth was without seeing such poverty and horrible conditions with their own eyes or taking in the experience with all their senses it still seemed like a million miles away or even just a fairy tale.

Jacob Riis was a journalist who made a big impact on society during the progressive era.

The first of the muckrakers to be discussed is Jacob Riis. Riis was born and raised in Denmark, but moved to New York when he was twenty- one years old. He grew up in an impoverished household with fourteen other siblings; therefore, he understood the struggle of the needy that lived in New York (“Jacob Riis Muckraker”).

Two kids with the same name, similar experiences, and circumstances grow up to become two different people. Why did one end up in jail for rest of his life; while the other became a man of many accomplishments? What factors were involved in the success and failure of these two boys that caused a perfect storm of bad circumstances? As the author puts it, “Our stories are obviously specific to our two lives, but I hope they will illuminate the crucial inflection points in every life, the sudden moments of decision where our paths diverge and our fates are sealed. It’s unsettling to know how little separates us from another life altogether” (Moore xi). I aim to dissect the problems and elements that played a role in changing these boy’s lives.

Upon earning employment as a reporter in 1873, Jacob Riis intended to expose the deplorable living conditions within the slums of New York city as well as the police department shelters that he himself had to stay in. The living conditions in the slums were terrible for the tenants, as the tenements were dark with poor air quality, overcrowded, unsanitary, and filled with crime and illnesses. At the time, most of the residents in the slums were immigrants and there were no sanitary laws to regulate housing conditions. By contrast, Lewis Hine became a photographer for the National Child Labor Committee in 1908 to advocate for reform and child labor laws. During the time, society had become industrialized and children were expected to work to support their families. These child laborers were overworked, not payed well, and did not receive education because it was not mandated. Hine took photographs of child laborers and factory workers in order to communicate the exploitation that these workers were enduring

Jacob Riis wrote the book How the Other Half Lives because he wanted to talk about how poor people live. Riis is trying to make others aware of how poor people live. How children have to pinch pennies and there’s people getting abused. Also how children are sick and are dying but they don’t do anything about it.

How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York (1890) was an early publication of photojournalism by Jacob Riis, documenting squalid living conditions in New York City slums in the 1880s. It served as a basis for future "muckraking" journalism by exposing the slums to New York City’s upper and middle classes. This work inspired many reforms of working-class housing, both immediately after publication as well as making a lasting impact in today's society. Vivid imagery and complex syntax establish a sympathetic tone which Riis uses to expose poverty to the general public and calls upon them to take action and make a difference.

Jacobs autobiography which is known by the name of ‘Incidents in a Life of a Slave Girl’ gave a true account of the treatment that black women faced during that time and also throwing some light on a perception which has been kept in shadows from the society. While writing the story of her life, Jacobs though focused on her defeat due to obstacles like race and gender, gave voice to something which was hidden from society regardless of the presence of patriarchal society of the nineteenth century.

As the story unfolds, the reader finds that the narrator, a profitable lawyer who worked under “the late John Jacob Astor,” believes in living life easily or without