Essay 2: Serious Issues Plaguing Chicago

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Recommended: How can the media affect public perception of crime

Every morning on my way to school I often pick up the Red Eye newspaper and read the latest news happening in Chicago. As I skim the pages I often see a section that shows the homicide tracker in the city of Chicago. This section of the newspaper shows numerous of deaths occurred in a month in a specific area. Consequently, similar to this homicide tracker on the newspaper the following articles have about the same homicide stories that have occurred in the city of Chicago years ago. In the book The Devil in the White City by Eric Larson illustrates the dreadful events about crime, violence, and illness all leading to death; The Coldest Case: The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre by Jonathan Eig describes a tragic murder of six men by the mob making Chicago seen as a gangland murder capital; The Untouchables by Eliot Ness tells the conflict Eliot Ness experienced trying to put the gangster Al Capone out of business, and For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz Age Chicago by Simon Baatz retells the case of judge Clarence Darrow which was to defend two boys of receiving the death penalty. The combination of these three stories shows serious issues such as crime, corruption and violence that are plaguing Chicago.

In these stories one of the most serious issues plaguing Chicago is crime. Crime in the article The Coldest Case: The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre is seen as the most amazing crime in Chicago’s amazing criminal history (Eig). Larson illustrates a scene of crime as he says, “He spotted mutilated bodies on the floor and inhaled the stench of blood. That is not the only historical issue plaguing Chicago for crime, but the book For the Thrill of it by Simon Baatz also explains its crime background. Baat...

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...ite City should be put in consideration primarily. Very often people might see on the news that crime happens every day and violence and corruption are part of it. To promote a better society to future generations these serious issues should be taken into action adequately to minimize numerous deaths in the city of Chicago.

Works Cited

Baatz, Simon. For the Thrill of It. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2008. Print. “Chicago’s Promise.” Perrysburg Journal. 29 Oct 1892. Web. 20 Sept 2011

Darrow, Clarence. “The Loeb-Leopold Tragedy.” Chicago Stories. Ed. John Miller and geneviene Danderson, San Francisco: Chronicle Books 1993, 201-207. Print.

Eig, Jonathan. “The Coldest Case” Chicago Magazine. Chicago Tribune, May 2010 Wela 28 Sept 2011g Journal. 29 Oct 1892. Web. 20 Sept 2011

Larson, Eric. The Devil in the White City. New York. Vintage Books, 2003. Print.

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