History can seem like a boring barrier of facts. On the contrary, the book called Assassination Vacation, by Sarah Vowel, reveals the background about past president assassinations and tells her stories from past journeys. The author ignites her dry sense of humor, to engage readers and in order to achieve a purpose, which is to make history fascinating to everyday audiences.
Sarah Vowel highlights each assassin’s plans for killing a president in a comical yet a serious tone. She recites, “Calculating philosophical racist” (Vowel 23). Vowel compares the logicality of today’s generation to the morality of the past. Nevertheless, she puts a twist on the journey by her sarcasm. She says, “Promised constant sexual trysts” (Vowel 146). Vowel explains
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Vowel exclaims, “National Gallery of Art is where Garfield got shot” (Vowel 158). It implies that she contains the knowledge of locations. These locations could be the Lincoln Memorial, graveyards, or even the Lincoln Depot. Vowel articulates, “McKinley hesitated to go to war” (Vowel 202). McKinley hesitated at first because he never warmed up to the idea until he decided to give independence to our Filipino allies. This is because the Spanish and Filipino were fighting at that period of time. Vowel expresses, “John F. Kennedy was shot with a rifle” (Vowel 85). This indicates that she acknowledges how they were assassinated. She also provides vivid imaging about the assassinations as well. Lastly, the writer obtains a good reputation because she acknowledges that presidents were assassinated and try to give them credibility, when it was not given to …show more content…
Peter N. Stearns quotes, “History provides a terrain for moral contemplation” (Why Study History?). In other words, learning history gives individuals a chance to test her or his moral sense. Stearns also quotes, “A study of history is essential for good citizenship” (Why Study History?). This implies that it stimulates a young persona’s interest for national identity and patriotism. Furthermore, Marcus Geduld states, “learning from the past can sometimes help us improve our chances of survival and happiness in the present and future” (Why Should We Learn History?). To clarify, Geduld is indicating that persons can learn from the mistakes of individuals, when they learn about history. Last but not least, as citizens in the United States, we have the obligation to learn about history for the persistence of
Killing Lincoln is a historic, non-fiction book co-written by Bill O’Reilly, a popular conservative TV show host and Martin Dugard, a well established author. Published by Henry Holt and Company on September 27, 2011, this piece of literature contains 336 pages with complete sources, and references. In addition, this book [insert award] for its literary impact on young adults. With this historical thriller, Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard seek to describe the antagonist, victim, and impact of one of the most devastating and historical event in American history.
O'Reilly, Bill, and Martin Dugard. Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever. New York: Henry Holt and, 2011. Print.
April 14, 1865 was one of the most shocking days in American history. Only 5 days after the end of the American Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, our then President was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, an actor and Confederate sympathizer. Lincoln was watching a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. when Booth managed to get in Lincoln’s private box and fired a single-shot to the back of Lincoln’s head. When talking about Lincoln’s assassination you always hear Booth being mentioned, but what people don’t usually know is that there was a female participant. Mary Surratt, a Confederate sympathizer, was the only female participant in the conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. Her and Booth, along with other conspirators which included her son John Surratt, met in her boardinghouse to plan Lincoln’s assassination. Kate Clifford Larson’s book, The Assassin’s Accomplice, tells the riveting story of the scheme to assassinate Abraham Lincoln through the eyes of Mary Surratt and her life story. Larson holds two degrees from Simmons College, an MBA from Northeastern University, and a doctorate in history from the University of New Hampshire. She part time teaches history at
On November 22, 1963, at 12:30 in the afternoon, President John F. Kennedy was shot at and killed while participating in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas. The most important question that arises from this incident is ‘Who killed President John F. Kennedy?’ This is an issue which has been debated by scholars, The Government, and even common people alike. Many people seem to feel that it was a conspiracy, some large cover-up within a cover-up.
In Assassination Vacation, Vowell is successful for her attempt to shed lights on the assassins by examining the motive of the assassins. Most people would straight ahead consider assassinating a president as bad; however, what about tyrants? John Wilkes Booth, the assassination of President Lincoln, shouted “Sic simper tyrannis” ( Vowell 71) after he jumped from the Presidents box to the stage---obviously proving that Lincoln is a tyrant in his mind. When Lincoln gave the speech on reconstruction, Booth said to Powell, “That means nigger citizenship. Now, by god, I will put him through. That will be the last speech he will ever make” (Vowell 30). Lincoln was obviously performing the acts and setting laws that Booth doesn’t like, just like how tyrants may set rules that are unreasonable to most. Vowell also succeeds by examining the motives of Charles J. Guiteau, the man who was responsible for Garfield’s death. Vowell examined the motives of Guiteau and thought that he was insane when she said “Where did Guiteau get his insane notions” (Vowell 170) because the reason that he killed Garfield was because God told him to; however, Vowell also looked at Guiteau’s side and talked about Garfield being “the victim of his own party rhetoric of exaggerating a Democratic victory into a matter of life and death” (Vowell 170). Looking at both side of the assassination gives
The second section of Assassination Vacation, is dedicated to the assassination of President Garfield. Garfield’s death was quite different from Lincoln’s, after his July second shooting Garfield lived for two and a half months before blood poisoning killed him on September 19th. During this time, Garfield remained in a vegetative state, but to the public it was a popular subject. Citizens constantly checked newspapers for updates about the president’s condition, which Vowell compares to that of modern day societies reaction to the NBA Finals or the Academy Awards ceremony.
While researching the Kennedy assassination there were many articles, saying that the mob was involved in the shooting. The writers were convinced that there was more than one person involved when it came too killing John Kennedy, on that warm sunny day in downtown Dallas. However, while these authors were convinced that there was another party involved, so was the rest of America with eighty percent saying the report was false. The goal of this paper is to bring this topic into the spotlight once more, by connecting the shooting of the president with the mob, and Lee Harvey Oswald.
Fetzer, John H., ed. Murder in Dealey Plaza: What We Know Now That We Didn't Know Then about the Death of JFK. Open Court Publishing Company / October 2000
The Assassination Bureau, where men, philosophers have taken control of society basing off moral actions. And the consequence? An execution that was proven socially justifiable. The book, published on November 22, 1963, features the chief of the Assassination Bureau, Ivan Dragomiloff, a Russian man who runs away from his country’s War conflicts under another man’s identity with his infant daughter at the time. A Russian importing house of S. Constantine & Co. in New York, the identity he had stolen years ago. He came into this country thinking the Assassination Bureau was right “and stung by the charge that we Russians were thinkers, not doers, I organized it.” Ivan Dragomiloff being the philosopher and humanist made sure his Assassination
“History never says goodbye. History says see you later” (Eduardo Galeano). History teaches us valuable lessons from the past, which can be used for the present time, yet our leaders usually overlook these lessons and repeat previous mistakes. I have recently immigrated to the United States and since in my home country history classes are not a place to really discuss the history, I was amazed by the way that this history class challenged every event and fact. I have learned that history is told by bias, so we should be able to think critically and question what we are taught. History is usually written by the dominant group of the society, so if we are looking for the truth, we should study each event from different resources and different
Netzley, Patricia D. The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. New York: New Discovery, 1994. Print.
History is a story told over time. It is a way of recreating the past so it can be studied in the present and re-interpreted for future generations. Since humans are the sole beneficiaries of history, it is important for us to know what the purpose of history is and how historians include their own perspective concerning historical events. The purpose and perspective of history is vital in order for individuals to realise how it would be almost impossible for us to live out our lives effectively if we had no knowledge of the past. Also, in order to gain a sound knowledge of the past, we have to understand the political, social and cultural aspects of the times we are studying.
The knowledge of history can indirectly help common people to improve the quality of life. In my home country, Japan, the knowledge of history is required when getting a job. The job applicants have to take the job examination, and it often includes lots of questions about history although the job itself may not related to history. Therefore, the knowledge of history provides Japanese people better chance to obtain a high-paid job, leading to the better quality of life. Therefore, although the knowledge is not really applied to the world, it can still be quite
What is the relevance of studying History in our day in age? How does it pertain to us when it's something that happened a long ago? I remember that so many kids in high school would complain about history class, but they clearly did not understand all of the important reasons to study history. Virtually, history is inescapable, it studies our past and provides its relevancy of the knowledge in the present. It connects things through time and encourages students to interpret these connections. When you really think about it all people are living histories. For example, the languages use in our day and age, mostly, are inherited from the past. We continue to build our society with complex cultures, traditions, and religions
It is important to study history because it teaches us about not only our own culture but about cultures all around the world. Learning about other cultures and how they look a the world and what their opinion on certain things are , helps us learn better ways of avoiding conflicts. History is just a way of getting us to understand human life and helping us embrace new ways of making a healthier lifestyle. Studying history is very important to all of our society because it answers every question. History is everywhere so why not learn about