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Book Report On The Devil In The White City

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The Devil In The White City is a great book. Erik Larson has produced one of the best-written books ever. The way he weaves two highly intricate plots together in one book is astounding. This is the story of two men who never met, but each played large parts in the history of the United States. Daniel Burnham and his partner, John Root, are chosen as the lead designers of the 1893 Columbian Exposition, or the Chicago World 's Fair. Root dies early on, leaving Burnham to design the fair, The location of the fair takes six months to decide upon, building drafts come in late, the economy is significantly declining, a union strikes, many workers are injured or killed during construction, and it takes a while to find an attraction to outdo …show more content…

This book is aptly named, as a similarity that emerged from Holmes ' part in the story was his likeness to the devil himself. Holmes would approach his victims with kindliness, and reel them in with his charismatic personality. Then he would kill them. Several women he met, dated, and eventually married, only to kill. Such is the devil, seeking whom he may devour, drawing men in only to kill them. Holmes is a symbol of pure evil, not unlike Jack the Ripper. The other story in the book is an intricate story of how the White City came to be. Many men toiled long and hard to achieve the effects the World 's Fair had on its visitors. Daniel Burnham led these gigantic efforts, organizing designers, pulling together many businesses, and recruiting many others to help in the design and construction of the Fair. The main thought I took away from this part of the book was the magnificent persistence and determination these men had in putting the Fair together. They fought through tons of obstacles on their way to completing the Fair and making it a success. The Fair represented, for many, a place of wonder and mystique, and yet also of great magnificence and opulence. Several characteristics, in particular, impressed visitors more than

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The Devil in the White City gives a unique glimpse into how there is both bad and good existing in the city. In my opinion the point of the book was to show how both good and bad coexist in one place. Sometimes with the knowledge of the other existing. The book was written by Erik Larson and published by first vintage books. Published almost 14 years ago the book is still relevant today and still has much to teach us.

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The devil in the white city is based about the Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair also known as The Worlds Columbian Exposition. In the book, the author Erik Larson talks about both Daniel Burnham and the infamous killer H.H Holmes. Daniel Burnham is the architect who would build the designs of the World’s Fair in 1893. H.H Holmes is the serial killer who would use the fair as his way to find his victims and kill them in a three story building that he had built with an elevator known as the house of horrors.

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The Devil in the White City Rhetorical Analysis Essay The Chicago World’s Fair, one of America’s most compelling historical events, spurred an era of innovative discoveries and life-changing inventions. The fair brought forward a bright and hopeful future for America; however, there is just as much darkness as there is light and wonder. In the non-fiction novel, The Devil in the White City, architect Daniel Burnham and serial killer H. H. Holmes are the perfect representation of the light and dark displayed in Chicago. Erik Larson uses positive and negative tone, juxtaposition, and imagery to express that despite the brightness and newfound wonder brought on by the fair, darkness lurks around the city in the form of murder, which at first, went unnoticed.

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The book has many characters with very different personalities. The book has unexpected twists and turns throughout it. The novel involves kidnappers, a dragon and (of course) the 5 children from Miami that know nothing about what they’re getting into. This book started out as, a fairly normal story.

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The Devil in the White City Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America In the book the author tone switches from both casual and intense, as show through the two main characters, Burnham and Holmes Daniel Burnham was the architect who got a contract to build the Chicago World’s Fair with John Root in 1893, however John Root dies before the contraction even starts. The author describes the Devil in the White city as how wherever there is good, there is also evil. The purpose of the Chicago world Fair being built was to show the world the greatness of America. During the 1980s the United States was not in a good position, economical wise.

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1584 Words | 7 Pages

Larson also chose to include some backstory of Holmes and his life after being caught for some of his crimes and not just how he chose to kill his victims. Larson really tells the full, and true story of the Chicago world’s fair surrounding Burnham and Holmes. The most impressive part was the incredible detail that Larson included, while keeping the story nonfiction, and historically accurate. I was able to learn about the huge amount of planning for the Chicago World’s fair and what it was like for the average visitor. I also got to learn about the serial killer H. H. Holmes, and how different crime was treated back then.

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870 Words | 4 Pages

Erik Larson writes “Beneath the gore and smoke and loom, this book is about the evanescence of life, and why some men choose to fill their brief allotment of time engaging in the impossible, others in the manufacture of sorrow”(Larson xi). In the book The Devil and the White City, Erik Larson tells a story of 2 very determined men, Daniel Burnham and H. Holmes, using their talents and determination to create good results, but also bad results; one being a very successful and good spirited architect, the other being a witty evil serial killer. It reveals how in every good act or intention, there is some kind of evil, and also the other way around. Erik Larson explores the underlying difference between good and evil, while telling 2 tales of Daniel Burnham, and Henry H. Holmes Daniel Burnham and Henry H. Holmes are alike in many ways, as explored throughout the novel. Both of these men used their determination and skills to accomplish many things, good or bad.

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Where sickness, crime, and murder seem to have found a commonplace. What better place to set up shop and start murdering people! Our antagonist H.H. Holmes seemed to have developed a similar idea for the city of Chicago. Holmes displays his serial killer archetype by using the ruse of the lover archetype to manipulate unsuspecting women in order to propel himself into the limelight and portray himself as a success story (Schmidt Chapter 2). Of course this comes with a few bumps in the road and a few casualties

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In Erik Larson’s novel The Devil in the White City takes place during the Gilded Age. During this period of time everything appears good and golden on the outside when in reality everything was full of corruption. In the novel, the author takes the reader to the city of Chicago, where the city is “swelled “in population causing the city to expand in all “available directions” (Larson 44). As Chicago became the “second most populous [city] in the nation after New York” there was an urge that city show off to the world and the nation of how great it was through the Chicago World’s Fair (Larson 44).

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“I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing.” (Mr. H H. Holmes). Mr. Holmes had intentions that shocked Chicago, just a few years after Jack the Ripper terrorized London. Mr. Holmes is a serial killer from 1893 who lured his victims from the World Columbian Exposition who is being compared/contrasted to Jack the Ripper.

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I believe that in this graphic novel the important character is Rorschach, also known as Walter J. Kovacs. He is very different from the other characters by the way he perceives the world, the choices he makes, and how he affects the story. First, who is Rorschach or Walter J. Kovacs? Rorschach is a repulsive, despised, and unattractive man born in New York City in 1970 to a drug-using prostitute. In the other hand, his dad, in his mental image, is a true gentleman and patriot who he never met.

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The White City Overview The White City article, talked about the recreational area located in Chicago that was organized to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus landfall, which had a defining moment in history due to the landscaping and architecture that were built during this creational process, which is also called “the World’s Columbian Exposition”. The World’s Columbian Exposition was an after math impact of the many political and economic leaders in America that wanted to reinvent and create the destruction of the civil war. America wanted to reinvent and reconstruct the country that was also characterized by the massive industrial growth, and the mass immigration the country had. America turned to the medium of the world fair to repair their fragmented societies.

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When did people start getting accused of being witches and wizards from their neighbors, family members, or friends? Why would someone accuse others of being witches? All the questions are asked and examined by Emerson Baker. The author of The Devil in Great Island is Emerson W. Baker. Although, he goes by his nickname “Tad”.

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Can you bear the hard life which you have to work at an inn for a long time and then escape not to be killed? This is the book called “The Devil and his Boy” written by the author of the bestseller Anthony Horowits and published in 1998. It is an adventurous and mysterious book set in the period of Queen Elisabeth, England in 1590.

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The devil in the story is the subconscious and innate desires of humanity because he reveals that, “Evil is the nature of mankind. Evil must be your only happiness. Welcome again, my children, to the communion of your race” (Hawthorne 8). Once a person comes to the realization of his or her own personal

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