Style of There Are No Children Here
There Are No Children Here In Kotlowitz's description of the harsh realities of the Chicago projects, three stylistic elements stand out: his precise narration, his bluntness, and his questionable objectivity. These three elements blend to form a unique style that is particularly well-suited for There Are No Children Here.
If there is one thing on which critics agree when discussing this book, it is that Kotlowitz is a brilliant narrator. He has a keen eye for the daily particulars of this dangerous neighborhood. Adding to this strength is the fact that he spent years in one particular Chicago project, earning the trust of his informants. What ensues is a story that is told masterfully.
Kotlowitz conveys not only the hardships that Lafeyette and Pharaoh face, but the effect of those hardships on the boys, as well. For example, after the two children dive under cover during a drive-by shooting, both are visibly affected. The younger brother, Pharaoh, laments, "I worry about dying, dying at a young age." The older of the two, Lafeyett...
... milestone game in 1980, hockey in the United States has grown significantly at the professional and amateur levels. (USA Hockey, N.d.)
Though it was non-fictional, Larson was able to make their histories into a thought-provoking and captivating narrative, with an intensity and closeness not seen in most history books. Using this closeness, and carefully analytical observation of historic documents, Larson used Burnham and Holmes as examples of the state of Chicago during the 1800s. The novel captures the mayhem of a disorganized yet quickly-advancing time.
The book isn't just about the cold working of a criminal empire. Boxer tells his story with unexpected sensitivity and a Chicano brand of optimism. The man is highly charismatic. Yet, there is a dark side shown that is absolutely sobering. It's the part of him that is a frighteningly intelligent and ruthless. He shows us a man who can find dark humor in a jailhouse murder.
In All the Pretty Horses, Cormac McCarthy reveals the limitations of a romantic ideology in the real world. Through his protagonist, John Grady Cole, the author offers three main examples of a man’s attempt to live a romantic life in the face of hostile reality: a failed relationship with an unattainable woman; a romantic and outdated relationship with nature; and an idealistic decision to live as an old-fashioned cowboy in an increasingly modern world. In his compassionate description of John Grady, McCarthy seems to endorse these romantic ideals. At the same time, the author makes clear the harsh reality and disappointments of John Grady’s chosen way of life.
At a birds eye glance into the film Au Revoir Les Enfants, it is seen to be within the world war 2 ridden time period of 1944. Further more, the film follows Louis Malle's recounts of his childhood memories, while staying at a Roman Catholic boarding school. The memories explicated though the directors lens, are rather somber and lethargic. For instance, the scene shown between the main characters, Julien Quentin and Jean Bonnet in the eery and desolate woods of Fontainebleau show the harsh cold and foggy elements that cloud sunlight and liberation, and place a perpetual dreary and dark winter. Thus effecting the actions and moods of the children and teachers of the school. Specifically, the war and winter vastly
...p against any other fighter out there. The P-51 Mustang truly is the greatest fighter aircraft in history.
The West side of Chicago, Harlem, Watts, Roxbury, and Detroit. What do all of these areas have in common? These areas, along with many others have become mine fields for the explosive issues of race, values, and community responsibility, led by the plight of the urban underclass. Issues such as violent crime, social separation, welfare dependence, drug wars, and unemployment all play a major role in the plight of American inner-city life. Alex Kotlowitz's book: There Are No Children Here, confronts America's devastated urban life; a most painful issue in America. Kotlowitz traces the lives of two black boys; 10 year old LaFayette, and 7 year old Pharoah, as they struggle to beat the odds growing up in one of Chicago's worst housing projects. Their family includes a welfare dependent mother, an alcholic-drug using father, an older sister, an older brother, and younger triplets. Kotlowoitz describes the horrors of an ill-maintained housing project completely taken over by gangs, where murders and shootings are an everyday thing. Kotlowitz does a fine job at portraying ghetto life; those who are outside the American dream. He succeeds at putting a face on th people trapped inside the housing projects with virtually no hope of escape. One can truly feel a sense of great loss for the family, and a great deal of hope for the two young boys. You can truly feel yourself hoping that things will work out for them, and you can really feel like you know these young men on a personal basis. Kotlowotz spent a great deal of time with the boys so he could portray the world from the eyes of a child growing up in the ghetto, and he does an amazing job.
In a society where one can get on a plane and be halfway around the world in a day, it is likely that everyone has encountered someone who looks different from them, whether it is skin color or other physical features. Some people of course look more alike than others and that is where skin color has been used as a tool to differentiate people from different parts of the world. However, this has led to many horrific situations of racism in the past that resulted in slavery and genocides throughout the world. Race as relating to humans can be defined as “a family, tribe, people, or nation belonging to the same stock” or “a class or kind of people unified by shared interests, habits, or characteristics” or even “a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits” (Merriam Webster Online). With all of these varying definitions of race it is easy to see how problems arise because of it. So what is race based medicine? Race based medicine is “the practice of using race or ethnic origin as a distinguishing feature of populations or individuals seeking health” (Cohn 552). This practice can be seen in the clinic, especially with certain diseases like sickle cell anemia which is more prevalent in black populations, cystic fibrosis which is increasingly common in people of north European descent, and finally Tay-Sachs disease which is highly associated with Ashkenazi Jewish populations (Collier 752). As with many topics there are people that have taken a stand on either side of the race based medicine debate. There are those scientists who are on the side that “understanding the unique patterns of genes across patient populations defined by race will help identify population...
Frequently, the public debate over the those problems which occur in poverty-ridden urban environments is presented as if the inhabitants were copies of Dostoevsky's underground man who differed mainly in that they frequently had less education and more pigment in their skin. That is to say, although there are valid comparisons that can be drawn between the Underground Man and the inhabitants of west Baltimore who are so vividly depicted in The Corner, there are also important differences that make any claim of strict equality between a Russian intellectual from the nineteenth century and a 20th-century tout or slinger an absurd caricature. Moreover, the intent of portraying inner-city residents as Underground Men and Women is, frequently, to blame these people for all of their own problems, something t...
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Ruark, Eric A., and Matthew Graham. "Immigration Is Increasing Poverty in the United States." Poverty. Ed. Roman Espejo. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Immigration, Poverty and Low-Wage Earners: The Harmful Effect of Unskilled Immigrants on American Workers." FairUS.org. 2011. 3-17. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
Larson begins his novel “The Devil in the White City” by setting the stage, mentioning the events and people who made the fair so great. But simultaneously Larson hints at the evil lurking in the shadows. Although the reader is not fully aware of the dual nature of the human condition till Holmes’s big unveil. Larson describes Holmes as “a murderer that had moved among the beautiful things Burnham had created” (Larson 6). Chicagoans were startled by how such gruesome acts could go unnoticed for so long. The juxtaposition of...
Gomez, Alan. “Illegal immigration levels off in ’10.” USA Today n.d. (02 February 2011): 02a. Academic Research Complete. Web. 25 March 2011.
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