Devil in the White City post 2

The World Fair of 1893 was extravagant. Much like most other big construction projects, it had its share of problems. In fact this fair embraced several serious issues that should have stopped all construction. The first one was all architects were months late in turning in fair designs. This does not show a very enthusiastic sense of building the fair. But once cooperation grew upon the designers the construction was set back but finally able to start. While construction the fair there were of coarse many other issues needed to be worked out; the death of Root, union strikes and employee protests, weather conditions, landscape problems, etc. Any one of these issues could have stopped the ultimate construction of the fair altogether, but it didn't. In my opinion, the fair was meant to be. The fair was built for a great reason. It was to be the anniversary of the year that Christopher Columbus Found the new world. At that time in America, Americans had a lot of pride and nationalism because of transition of being a new country. The world fair was to symbolize the growth of America due to Columbus's discovery. Considering all the delays and road blocks to fairs success, it still managed to be a wonderful accomplishment. So was the fairs construction a move of arrogance, I would say not. Even though it took a lot more money and work than expected it was so powerful that it still remains a part of history. The fair stood for Americas powerful advancement and industrialization. The fair did exactly what it was intended to do and for that i do not think of it as arrogance.

Not all great acts of kindness and unity among a group illustrate destructive parallel. The fair , as well as many other projects, have been known to be an exchange of unfortunate events in return for a successful outcome. Although the fair did seem to have had some sinister like events while under construction, it managed to finish the job. again, in my opinion, its that the White City was meant to be.

-Kimberly Parker

Devil in the White City post1

In the book, The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson makes the point to establish a sense of good and evil at that time period. He uses symbolism through characters and places in his book to portray his view on the difference between good and evil.

The first example of good and evil being presented in the book would be through the two main characters; Daniel Burnham and Henry H. Holmes. Another example would be the surrounding places of these people. Burnham is the soul architect to the Columbian World Exposition of 1893. It was the biggest world fair ever to be put on to this day. The city was so grand, beautiful, and painted white, that viewers began to refer to it as the White City. White is the color that also happens to symbolize purity and blessed. Burnham worked very hard on conducting the world fair. As the leader of the fairs architectural design it was his job to lead the fair in the right direction. Burnham proved to be a very dedicated and reliable leader. Burnham overlooked all sorts of disasters and solved those that were unexpected. Problems including weather disasters, budget deficits, employment drama, etc. Burnham throughout the book shined as a man set out to do good, good was his mission. The combination of the White City with Burnham as the man in charge makes out the symbolism cleanliness and all things good. Holmes on the other hand is the opposite. Holmes lives in the city of Chicago and Chicago is the city of passion for Holmes. Numerous times in the book, Holmes' love for the city s expressed. However the city is a sinister place according to Larson's descriptions. The city of Chicago has many tall skyscrapers that block the sun from shining on the city and that chicago is suffering from problems of smog in the air. The city has also just recently undergone a tragic fire that stained the city. Another symbolism of evil is the fact that Chicago grounds are ugly and impossible to work with. The nasty lands of Chicago are described during the construction of the White City over filthy lands that caused several delays in construction. Jackson Park was even compared to Centeral Park. The comparison suggests that Jackson Park is a filthy swamp and Cenertal Park was described as beautiful and easy to work with.The city of Chicago is a symbol of a sinister city. Holmes , like I was saying, was a crazy man. He was the worlds first serial killer and the master of fraud and embezzlement. He was capable of many horrific crimes, including brutal murder. Holmes is described with an evil tone that creastes a sense of fear in the reader.

Erik Larson makes this comparison of good and evil very successfully. While reading it stood out to me pretty clear. Holmes and chicago stand as evil while the White City and Burnham stand for good.

-Kim Parker

Blog #2 Response to "A Modest Proposal"

I suppose I should start off by saying that I really enjoyed the story "A Modest Proposal", by Dr. Jonathan Swift. In the story, Swift took a very serious issue and using satire, he offered an extremely, out of ordinary solution. The problem was what to do about the amount of poor people in Ireland, and the solution was simple, eat the poor peoples baby's. According to Swift, that would fix a lot of problems; The amount of beggars on the street, release a burden of raising a child in poverty away from the mothers, it would feed a lot of people, as well as clothe people. Swift also lists a variety of other benefits that come about from eating children, one of which is improvement in the art of making good bacon, and many other disturbing things. The point of this story was to suggest a totally outrageous idea as a solution to the poverty problem. One thing you may notice about his data is that eventhough it is all disturbing, it is all true. Everything he suggests would very m uch fix the problem. His solution is inhumane and ridiculous but it is a valid solution. Swift is able to pull it off using sarcasm and irony.

Another thing I noticed was Swifts comparison between poor and rich. If you read you would notice that in the story it is the poor people being cooked and eaten while it is the rich people who feast. Also when Swift is very specific about the costs and expenditures when selling a baby, he suggests that it is a way for the beggars to create some income. The problem in Ireland is the high amount of poverty and usuing sarcasm and a comparison, Swift is able to make his point about the problem and is sarcastic on how to fix it.

#1-Romero and Heroism

Today, a hero is viewed as the good guy with strength, bravery, honor, passion, and nobility. Strength, because a hero would not only have physical strength but have good self-control and strong will power. Bravery, the ability to show no fear to the enemy. Honor, being highly regarded and respected by the people for his/her action. Passion, showing true care and devotion as well as commitment leading to radiant talent and skill. And nobility, showing excellence in ones character. These are the qualities that make up a hero, not the ability to fly or the power of invincibility, but inner heroism.

In the book The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, the character Romero is the hero in the story. Romero is a young, and attractive bull-fighter who wins the admiration of his audience through his performance. Romero fights the with pride and style showing no fear to the enemy. Romero was glorified for his character throughout the fiesta, but his amazing skill when handling the fight continued to prove himself. Later in the fiesta, Lady Brett Ashley falls in love with Romero and Romero falls in love with Brett. This relationship seemed to anger Robert Cohn and he lost his control out of jealousy, for this, he intended to confront Romero. In the stand off between Romero and Cohn occurred, Romero was hit to the floor several times because he was no match to Cohn's boxing skills. Even though Romero was continuously knocked to the ground, he picked himself back up every time to stand his ground. Romero showed no fear to Cohn, his enemy, at any time during the battle. Following the fight was yet another battle for Romero, a final match between Romero and the bulls for the fiesta, and he was expected to perform. unfortunately, he was badly bruised and beaten up from the fight with Cohn, so his strength was not quite up to par. Still Romero fought anyway, despite how injured he was. Romero shows loyalty to the fans at the fiesta as well as to himself and his commitments to bull-fighting. During the long and well fought battle between Romero and the bulls Romero came out standing because he continued to get up and fight during his performance. The young and amazingly talented bull-fighter came out the hero. Throughout the many surprising series of events that Romero had experienced towards the end of the fiesta were rough for him but he walked out a hero because he shined brightly of the qualities of bravery, strength, honor, passion, and nobility. Those simular qualities are the ones that make up a hero in today's society. Someone who is willing to stand up for themself and their cause, that's what makes the hero.

If the ability to stand up for one's self makes a hero than one could argue that Lady Brett Ashley proved herself to be a hero as well. In the story, Brett's character is very aggressive and inconsiderate. She is aggressive because she will go after what she wants knowing all the consequences that may come along with them, but she will give it her best effort. She is also inconsiderate in the sense that she cares only about her feelings and not the people she is hurting. That itself is not a heroic trait but the fact that she cares so strongly about her urges enough to chase them is what makes her a hero. Brett caries the mentality that she can have what she wants by going after it and doing what she wants to do. She stands up for herself when Romero wants to have a form of control over her by pushing her to marry him and to grow out her hair. She also stands up for herself When Cohn begins to fall in love and attempt to "woo", and she tells him that she does not love him back, that they are in fact not going to be together. Because of Brett's attitude to stand up for what she believes in doing and she doesn't really care what others think, i would call her a hero in the story.

-Kim Parker

blog #17

"Albom argues that the O.J. Simpson trial was the most important event in the past two decades."

I would agree with Albom that it was a significant event for many reasons. A lot of things changed in society because of the trial. However i disagree with Albom's word choice. I would have used the word popularity, not important. People of America were interested in the case because of who O.J. was prier to the case. It was people's out most curiosity that made the case a bigger deal than it actually was. The more the trial would be televised and discussed on talk shows, the more interested the public grew. The case really wasn't important to anyone but O.J. and the family of Nicole. It was it's popularity that won over the general public to create such a significant impact on society.

blog #16

In "About Men" by Gretel Enrlich, Enrlich uses multiple tones to convey her view of a cowboy. She shifts back and forth between tones. She mentions many aspects to a cowboys life. From the tough image they live up to with their courage and bravery as if cowboys were hero's. She also mentions that they are loving and compassionate, by the way they love animals and have respect for other people. Such as the courteous act of shaking hands firmly and tipping your hat to a woman. The tone conveyed by Enrlich is what gives of the point she tries to make about cowboys. That their is more to them than just riding horses and being "macho".

blog #15

The three reasons given for the breakdown of secrecy are; the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Internet and the urge to confess one's hidden transgressions before an audience of strangers. I disagree with Sante about the dissolution of society. That happens to be more of a politically related and media stuff. That is a whole different category of secrets. Those are things that should be adressed to the people. Its not the same as secrets that are meant to never be exposed. However, I agree with Sante's other two arguments. The Internet is a nemesis in the sense that once something is exposed to the Internet, it is out there forever, and can therefore, can be a disadvantage at any given night. I also agree with the urge to confess one's secrets. The urge of exposing a big, juicy secret often is often something that people do not have will power to overcome. This is an opinion I have developed over a period of observation. Overall, I would say that I do agree with Sante about secrecy.