In the late 1800s the Chicago World’s Fair was well on its way to becoming a modern marvel of the time, little did the fairgoers know that both good and a great evil lurked among them. The Devil in the White City is a historical nonfiction book written by Erik Larson, within it there lies two stories of two very different men. The tale of good follows the life of a young architect whose goal is to make an impact on the world. How will he accomplish this? By making the, “legendary 1893 World’s Fair”.
The Devil in The White City, by Erik Larson is a curious piece of history work, the book is not historical fiction nor is it a basic book of history. Mister Larson has created a book that is an essential work in understanding America and her people in the early 1890’s and the rise of Chicago as being one of the most important cities in the United States. Before the magic that transformed Chicago into the famous White City, Chicago was known by a different title: The Black City. Chicago in the late 1800’s was not an easy or clean place to live in, as one Chicagoan, Ben Hecht, states “It was pleasant, in a way, to know that outside their windows the devil was still capering in a flare of brimstone.” What change Chicago from staying as the dangerous
Larson’s use of juxtaposition between the “Black City” and the “White City” displays the different effect of the fair. Contrasting “garbage” and “clean,” he displays a new and improved Chicago after the fair commenced. This conveys to the readers as a significant change from a polluted devastation to a refreshing and “pure” society. Furthermore, the new “White City” introduced many benefits from the fair such as ambulance services and electric streetlights, this serves as a positive and innovative effect for the readers. Moreover, Chicago’s major transformation from the “smoke and garbage” of the “Black City” shows how much of an impact the fair exhibited on the readers and the
Society is a structure that besieges every individual. Its daunting presence is inescapable. In Eric Larson’s novel, The Devil In The White City, the stories of two strangers living in close proximity to each other are presented. Both men had goals they dedicated themselves to and challenges they had to conquer, yet the two couldn’t be more disparate. The first man, Burnham was the head architect of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and the second, H.H. Holmes, was an atrocious serial killer.
Connor MacFarland 3/22/16 period 5 American History The topic I chose for the American poster is “A Victorious battle and why it was important”. The battle I have focused on is The Battle of Bunker Hill. While the American forces did retreat in this battle, and Bunker HIl was eventually secured by the Red Coats, due to running out of ammunition, this was considered to be a moral victory for the colonist forces.
In summary, the first two chapters of Acts of God focus on disaster-prone parts of the U.S. and provides a critical foundation for understanding human-environmental interactions related to natural calamity – economic, social, cultural, and
The juxtaposition of two opposing stories is enough to get anyone’s head spinning. Comparing the glamorous production of the Chicago World Fair to the ominous destruction and killing caused by H.H. Holmes in the background is all the more interesting. Erik Larson’s 2003 nonfiction novel does just that. One would never think to relate murder to art until after reading this book. In The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson uses figurative language, imagery, and juxtaposition to create a vivid illustration of the contrast between good and evil in Chicago in 1893.
If the the non fiction novel “The Devil in the White City” were to have been written 10 years ago or even 100, it would have definitely been written differently. Although history is history, and some events cannot be changed, the way in which author Erik Larson wrote the novel would fluctuate. The further and further we look back into the past, the more difficult it is to put yourself in that time period and feel what characters could’ve felt in those very moments. With advancements being made on the daily, Erik wrote his book at the perfect time to grasp readers from the eldest and latest generations.
1. Historical context in which the battle occurred. a. Of what larger conflict was this battle a part? The Battle of Gettysburg was a battle that was contained in the American Civil War.
The speech of Urban II at Clermont in 1095 was the special moment, when he promised and guaranteed that any person who will join to the campaign would get Holy land and place in heaven. At that time believe in God and Holy land was very popular, so Urban II mostly affected on moral of the people. The effect was stunning; people from all parts of Western Europe started to think that moving to Jerusalem is their duty. Actually the main purpose of Urban II was to unite all Christians in Europe and to achieve his aim completely he reminded people that their lands are poor, while Muslims live in Holy lands under good conditions. Citizens were now strongly motivated and ready to invade irreligious opponents.
The Battle of Fallen Timbers was significant because it forced the Native Americans to surrender their land and it warned other Native American tribes against opposing the US. To begin, the Battle of Fallen Timbers was a gruesome battle in which many Native American people were slaughtered by the US Army, lead by “Mad” Anthony Wayne, to stop them from attacking American settlers in order to get them to leave the Ohio River Valley. The gruesome defeat lead to the Native Americans surrendering most of the Ohio River Valley through the Treaty of Greenville. This bloody defeat also served as a warning to other Native American tribes that they did not want to oppose the US government because they did not want to fight the US army. In conclusion,
The 1948 war resulted in a divided Jerusalem in which Israeli forces held the western half of Jerusalem while the eastern half was held by Arab forces and would come to be ruled by King Abdullah of Jordan. The overarching Arab aim in this stage of the conflict was to halt the formation of a Jewish state in Palestine by preventing the Israelis from occupying the land allocated to them in the UN partition plan, especially the holy city of Jerusalem. Abdullah, King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan sought to invade the whole of Jerusalem and annex it to the Jordanian state in this conflict but had been unable to overtake the western half of the city. King Abdullah’s motivation for this attempt at conquering Jerusalem was to assert his authority as “guardian of the Islamic Holy Places.” The Jewish motivation for occupying land in Israel, especially the city of Jerusalem, was also based on its religious and historical significance to the Jewish people.
Augustine was a saint and philosopher of Christian Doctrine in the fourth century. He wrote many works that helped the followers of Christianity to better understand God and his power. In one of his most famous works, The City of God, he discusses the idea of peace and its part for the basis of politics. While Augustine discusses the commonality of peace in all humans, each human’s version of peace differs from another. Not only are their editions of peace different, their peace-seeking actions can be either good or limited.
The City of God written by Saint Augustine, the bishop of Hippo, depicts the imperfectness of man and the need for God and religion in order to reach salvation. Saint Augustine often times describes the city of man as one that lusts for domination and power, lives according for their own selfishness, and sins without forgiveness. Whereas, the city of God is perfect and selfless with the thoughts to serve God and others by charity. Often more than not, Christians are called to question themselves and what or whom they follow. Many times Christians learn to live to serve God and reject the government that was set into place because the only power one has is the power received by God.
The people who live there will have more dreadful and terrible afterlife than those inside the city. The people of
