Ragged Dick

Ragged Dick by Horatio Alger. This story follows a young boy, who through hard work, determination, self-reliance, honesty and good character went from a homeless black-boot to a respectable, high paying job.  This story is filled with examples of what life was like in New York City, telling the us what he would find and experience in it. In Ragged Dick, This was a time of progress, change and falsehood in American History. This is when people really started to chase the illusive American dream,

The Role of Minor Characters in Ragged Dick It is impossible for the minor characters in Ragged Dick to have a fair chance at being recognized as decent members of society because of the emphasis Horatio Alger Jr. places on Dick Hunter. The better qualities of Dick are constantly being reminded to the reader, giving them little room to disagree with Alger’s heroic portrayal of him. Horatio Alger Jr.’s preference to homosexuality also reflects his choice in excluding any useful female characters

Imagery in Ragged Dick Imagery plays a big part in the success of a novel. Different writers have different styles. The good thing about imagery is it makes room for the reader to put things together. The reader is allowed to interpret the story the way that they like. "Ragged Dick", Horatio Alger, Jr. did a great thing with imagery. While reading the novel readers had a change to envision many things that were mentioned in each chapter. Algar interconnected the appearances of the main

Ragged Dick: Or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks Ragged Dick: Or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks tells the story of a young teenage boy trying to survive as a boot black on the streets of New York during the period of industrialization. Ragged Dick: Or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks overall is very accurate in its portrayal of the era. Several examples throughout this work can be used to justify this such as Dick’s occupations, his enjoyment of theatre

of symbolism has always been a prevalent way for writers to communicate important issues to the public. It is not uncommon to read a simple children’s story and discover underlying political or moral messages, for example, Horatio Alger’s novel Ragged Dick. This story was written after the Civil War, when America experienced a period of huge industrial growth. The capitalistic work ethic had become a universal idea in the North, and in response the Government agreed to stay out of business affairs

according to Ragged Dick, entails dressing the part. The clothes Dick wore in the beginning would not have been deemed “respectable” considering the holes and ill-fitting size of them. If someone looks the part, with well-made and moderately expensive looking clothes, people will assume they are someone who deserves respect. While Dick is still in his worn out clothing, he is almost fooled by a clerk when trying to exchange a bill for change. “He fancied that he could browbeat a ragged boot-black

Alger secured his literary niche in 1868 with the publication of his fourth book, Ragged Dick, the story of a poor bootblack's rise to middle-class respectability. This novel was a huge success. His many books that followed were essentially variations on Ragged Dick and featured casts of stock characters: the valiant hard-working, honest youth, the noble mysterious stranger, the snobbish youth, and the evil, greedy squire. In the 1870s, Alger's fiction was growing stale. His publisher suggested he

fortunate individual to work their way up in society. Many Americans, however, believed that it was definitely not impossible to become successful in life a lot of times due to myths of success stories like Ragged Dick by Horatio Alger. It is a novel about the hero’s transformation from a ragged, homeless boy of the streets to a respectable clerk with a salary of ten dollars per week. The novel follows “myth of success” formula: a young man - decent, but with no real prospects for the future

Success Riddled with Lack of Acknowledgment of Reality Ragged Dick, a “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” children’s book about an honest and great kid named, shockingly, Ragged Dick is a story revolving around the rags to riches journey of the protagonist. While being a children’s book Alger still creates one-dimensional characters to in a skillful way to help guide his young readers into seeing all the qualities he believes are good in Dick. Specifically, Alger utilizes Johnny Nolan, Frank, and

advantages control those of inferior opportunities”. By examining the works of other authors Sumner’s law of evolution has proven to be false. Horatio Alger Jr. tells the story about a young boy named Ragged Dick. Dick was a shoe shiner in the bustling city of New York. Like all the other shoe shiner Dick was poor. He