Victor M. Rios was born in Mexico. When he was two years old he immigrated with his mother to Oakland, California. He went through a tough childhood and he and his mother moved several times throughout poor neighborhoods such as West Oakland, The Fruitvale District, and Elmhurst. As a result of growing up in this kind of environments he was forced to be part of Latino East Oakland gangs. Stealing cars, selling drugs, getting into street fights and having problems with police was all he would do until he was 15 years old.
Bridge 1 Gangsters Without Borders by T.W. Ward is an ethnography about the El Salvadorian gang Mara Salvatrucha. Ward chose to focus the majority of his research on the male members in order to earn their trust. With that in mind, I am presuming that the views of women portrayed in this ethnography are fundamentally the thoughts of its male members. Nonetheless, early on in my reading on this ethnography, I identified the role gender plays not only for the ethnographer but also for the gang members. The gender roles for these gang members mimic those of most societies, although some of the roles appear contradictory.
Al Capone Mobsters was a term that describes a group of gangsters in the 1920’s. Gambling, Prostitution, and Murder went hand in hand with the term of mobster. Every mafia group has a leader. Al Capone was a dangerous mobster who was a Mafia crime lord and had took part in illegal alcohol, illegal drugs, prostitution, and illegal gambling during the 1920s (History).
Literary Analysis of The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson Erik Larson is the author of numerous best-selling books, such as The Devil in the White City, which was based off Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. Larson splits this book into two plot lines, one focusing on serial killer H.H Holmes and his ideas and plans; and the other focusing on John Root and Daniel Burnham, who were talented architects that were appointed responsible for building the fair. The dominant theme of this book is the representation of good and evil. Larson can apply this theme to both plot lines and does an incredible job of combining the plot lines into a well written and understandable novel that is filled to the brim with suspense. Larson’s use of vivid descriptions allowed the author to portray Chicago’s successes from an abominable reputation that the city of Chicago once had.
The Vietnam War in the late 1970s lead many of refugees including children attempting to attain better living condition relative to those in war-torn Vietnam. Escaping from a war torn nation and arriving to America meant getting accustomed to the much different western culture, while simultaneously facing the challenge of retaining your traditions. Le Thi Diem Thuy presents the story, “The Gangster We Are All Looking For,” to demonstrate her struggle as a migrant. Thuy discusses through her first- hand experiences the arduous struggle that was assimilating into American culture.
The Underworld In the underworld, life is absolute misery. It is definitely not the ideal place to travel to after death. Luckily, the only people designated to go to the underworld are the ones who truly deserve it. For example, Jeffrey Dahmer and Al Capone would spend all of eternity there, but they would not be placed in the same section of the underworld.
Imagine dancing to Benny Goodman, a famous jazz musician from the 1920’s, while drinking an illegal Jen Ricky. In the 1920’s, also known as the jazz age, the country was thriving economically and politically. Accordingly, Woodrow Wilson was the president in the beginning of the 1920’s. Furthermore, Woodrow wilson oversaw the ratification of prohibition; the act of making alcohol consumption illegal. As a result of the prohibition act, speakeasies were opened and gang activity was at an all time high.
). Al Capone was a gangster during the 1900’s. I would consider him to be an entrepreneurial type of person because, he owned restaurants in New York and ran his own gang. Al Capone even gave out free food to individuals in his community. In 1930 his restaurant gave 3,500 individuals food because they were in need of a meal.
During the 1920’s gang related crime was a serious issue. The leader of all this violence and corruption was a man named Al “Scarface” Capone (“Al Capone”). This organized crime, dehumanization, and corruption, became the ultimate image of Chicago for people throughout the world. He was largely immersed in things like gambling, prostitution, and the illegal sale of liquor. He was not convicted for any of his crimes, even the St. Valentine's Day massacre of 1929, until he was imprisoned for tax evasion (Horan).
“Never rat on your friends, and always keep your mouth shut” (Quotes from Goodfellas, n.d.). This quote from the 1990 critically acclaimed film Goodfellas encompasses some of the main foundations the American Mafia is built upon. And although this film was a major motion picture created in Hollywood, it was based on a true story and kept most of the key aspects of the Mafia’s culture. The role that family played in each individual sect across the country was unified in the sense that it was, by far, the most important to every member of the American Mafia. In the Mafia’s prime (approximately 1920-1985), it shared enough values with the dominant American culture, while maintaining a good amount of differences, to be considered a U.S. co-culture.
What do you think when you hear the name Al Capone? I, along with many others, think of the middle-aged gangster who caused numerous deaths and deserved an exceeding amount of jail time for the crimes he committed. One may never think of his life as a child or the fact that he hated his well-known nickname, Scarface. The focal point of this paper is to inform you, the reader, not only of the common knowledge of this infamous gangster but of the information unknown to most including vivid details and excitement about his life.
Have you ever wonder what your life will be like when you have a chance to live in a different country other than you motherland? There are many challenges and obstacles people usually face when they start their new life in a new country. Moreover, people can totally change their life in different way due to their change in cultural environmental. The same situation has been demonstrated in the novel “The Gangster We Are All Looking For” by Le Thi Thuy Diem, an immigrant from Vietnam who left their motherland for freedom and new life. The novel “The Gangster We Are All Looking For” is a narrative fiction novel in which it describes the important of cultural differences, consequences of war and the maturity of the author.
Most people have others to support them, and being sad is wasted time people could use to make a change in the world and do amazing
Certain stories portray the main character as the epitome of complaisant behavior causing the audience to learn what types of consequences come along with it. The selfish acts of the protagonist in, Godfather Death, makes the protagonist in, A&P, seem like a love sick little boy. The protagonists in each story love their families and care for others not knowing that it will damage them in the long run, but their different acts of selfishness, lack of self-control and the inability to say no, ultimately represents the doctor as the worst out of the two. The doctor in, Godfather Death, is selfish and felt as though he could cheat death.
Racism. Violence. Prohibition. Three words that sum up the 1920’s. Ernest Hemingway wrote “The Killers” in 1927, in his home town of Oak Park, Illinois.
