Jack London (1876-1916) was born in San Francisco of an unmarried mother Flora Wellman. London grew up in extreme poverty: from earliest youth he supported himself with mental and dangerous jobs, experiencing profoundly the struggle for survival that most other writers and intellectuals knew only from observation or books. By the time he was eighteen he had worked in a cannery and as an oyster pirate, seaman, jute mill worker, and coal shoveler. Realizing that he could never become great by doing odd jobs, he determined to educate himself and prepare himself for better than grueling labor. He attended Oakland High School at age nineteen. A thirst for knowledge snatched young London and he read every book he could get. London consciously chose to become a writer to escape from the …show more content…
He read many philosophical books and his philosophical thoughts were greatly influenced by the four great teachers of him: Darwin, Spencer, Marx and Nietzsche. London believed in Darwin's evolutionary theory of “survival of the fittest.” He studied other writers and began to submit stories, jokes, and poems to various publications, mostly without success. “Fate brought him the answer and gold was found in Klondike” (Pizer, 1984). On July 12, 1897, London and his brother-in-law, James Shepard, sailed to join the Klondike Gold Rush where he would later set his first successful stories. London's time in the Klondike, however, was quite detrimental to his health. Fortunately London survived the hardships of the Klondike. Spending the winter of 1897 in the Yukon provided the metaphorical gold for his first stories. There he got familiar with the northern life and especially with kinds of dogs. The materials he collected there prepared him for the writing of his two famous novels The Call of the Wild (1903) and White Fang (1906) and his other early works that are a series of short stories called “northern stories”. Most of them are adventurous stories set in a primitive
Nick Wilde, born into a poor, single-parent household in 1982, was known by many as a "sly fox". He had much to overcome in his short life. The traditional view of Zootopians in the 1980's painted predators as aggressive and even savage group. As a young fox pup, he was bullied by a group of local prey after trying to join their Junior Rangers Troop. By the time he was a young adult, he began to see himself as the vicious predator they described. He turned to a life of crime; however, he made a complete turnaround in his last years. Briefly before his death, he became an officer at the ZPD. His service was unfortunately cut short when he became the victim of a shooting on January 20, 2017. He and partner Judy Hopps were
Lawrence Willoughby, an African American male, was born in 1881 in Pitt County, North Carolina. He was the son of Lannie Anderson and X Willoughby. Lawrence married at 22,a woman by the name of Jennie Best on December 20, 1903. Records says that the two married in Pitt County, North Carolina. They had eight children in 13 years. He died on August 4, 1951, in Greenville, North Carolina, at the age of 70.
Jack London had already established himself as a popular writer when his story "To Build a Fire" appeared in the Century Magazine in 1908. This tale of an unnamed man's disastrous trek across the Yukon Territory near Alaska was well received at the time by readers and literary critics alike. While other works by London have since been faulted as overly sensational or hastily written, "To Build a Fire" is still regarded by many as an American classic. London based the story on his own travels across the harsh, frozen terrain of Alaska and Canada in 1897-98 during the Klondike gold rush; he is also said to have relied on information from a book by Jeremiah Lynch entitled Three Years in the Klondike. Critics have praised London's story for its vivid evocation of the Klondike territory. In particular, they focus on the way in which London uses repetition and precise description to emphasize the brutal coldness and unforgiving landscape of the Northland, against which the inexperienced protagonist, accompanied only by a dog, struggles unsuccessfully to save himself from freezing to death after a series of mishaps. Involving such themes as fear, death, and the individual versus nature, "To Build a Fire" has been categorized as a naturalistic work of fiction in which London depicts human beings as subject to the laws of nature and controlled by their environment and their physical makeup. With its short, matter-of-fact sentences, "To Build a Fire" is representative of London's best work, which influenced such later writers as Ernest Hemingway.
London’s writing career was not just given to him, he faced many hardships, but he worked hard to become a successful writer. His life was full of illness and addiction that he struggled with. London was a very successful and hard working writer and overcame obstacles that could have held him back, but he was determined to get out of poverty and support his family which he more than succeeded in doing.
The story of Jack London's life really is one of rags to riches. He was born in San Francisco on January 12, 1876 as John Griffith Chaney. I'd like to take you through the story of his life and examine a few of his significant literary works along the way.
John Steinbeck focused most of his work in the rural, California setting, which was the home of his childhood. John Steinbeck was “born on February 27, 1902 in Salinas, California, the third child of Olive Hamilton, former school teacher, and John Ernst Steinbeck, Monterey County treasurer” (National Steinbeck 1). It is rumored that Steinbeck decided at a young age to become a writer and only attended college at the request of his parents. Unsatisfied, he received some post-secondary education at Stanford University, dropped out, and became a vagabond who gleaned life experiences from various jobs and travels. These experiences along with his summer jobs on farms and ranches during his childhood equated to a rich life experience for his first and subsequent novels. His travels took him to New York but eventually returned to California to the state he dearly loved.
A long time ago in the early 1800’s in a small town in the westerns in California. In this town there was a man named Jack Black. His family owned a blacksmith shop in the town . This town was urban and everyone was close to each other because how small it was. Jack Black was born in 1848 during the gold rush to Jill and John Black. Jack Black had a good life growing up. But he was different from the other kids he was seven feet and two inches when he was fifteen years old. The statue of liberty was modeled after him. He was super strong he could pick up a ton of rocks. Jack wanted to get stronger he stood outside with five pound potato sacks in each hand and he extended his arms out straight and held it as long as he could. After he tried to hold ten pound potato sacks in each hand and after that he could lift hundred pound potato sacks in each hand for a couple of minutes now. Next, to get his muscles bigger he started putting the potatoes in the sacks. Jack was built like an ox. But when he was growing up a lot of kids made fun
Jack London is a very creative and intelligent writer. His writing has a positive effect on many people. Jack London was born on January 12, 1876, in California. He was born to Flora Wellman and William Channey, but his father wanted nothing to do with him. So, his stepfather John London was his father figure. London had a lonely childhood because of his parents that paid little to no attention to him. Also, because he moved so much so he could never keep a friend. The only one who was actually there for him as a child was his pet that he loved and adored. That’s why dogs are in most, if not all, of his stories.
The Call of the Wild by Jack London tells the story of a fearless dog learning to survive the huge challenges in the harsh Alaskan terrain. Buck, the dog, has to go through bumps and hardships along the way to find himself free in the wild. The Call of the Wild is a fictional novel told in third person limited which gives us the thoughts and feelings of Buck. The story begins in Santa Clara Valley, California, continues on to Dyea, Alaska for the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897, and finally to Dawson, Yukon/Canada.
The iconoclast of the Beat Generation, Jack Kerouac, was born in Lowell, Massachusetts on March 12, 1922 to a French Canadian Family. Kerouac was a serious child, devoted to his controlling mother. From a young age, he created stories inspired first by the media surrounding him, such as radio shows and later by the novels of Thomas Wolfe, the writer he would model himself after. As a result of the decline of the economy in his hometown , Kerouac's father turned to drinking and gambling to cope, leaving the family impoverished. Kerouac attempted to save the family himself by winning a football scholarship to college and entering the insurance business. Eventually,
“The Call of the Wild” was written by Jack London in 1903. “The Call of the Wild” is an outstanding book because the author describes the struggles in the life of a dog named Buck that most people can relate to their own lives. Buck’s struggles teach him the perseverance and self-defense skills he will need to later survive the wild. Much like a child growing up, Buck did not want to endure the challenges that came his way, although it was those challenges that equipped him for his later life. The “Call of the Wild” is a story that in many ways parallels the challenges in life that humans experience as we grow up and transition into adulthood.
Jack London wrote the novel The Call of the Wild; it was also his first success (Feast). The Call of the Wild is an exciting beast fable which dramatizes the unforgiving harshness of existence but shows that suffering can lead to heroic self-awareness (Buckner). London was big on the philosophical idea of Naturalism. As well as having links with literary naturalism, "The Call of the Wild is also a mythical book informed throughout with such traditional myths as the Myth of the Hero." Although Buck is always a dog throughout the story, his predicament is highly relevant to the human condition in a novel beginning with concise patterns of description and moving toward an increasingly lyrical style (Williams). The protagonist of The Call of the Wild is a dog named Buck. He's part German Sheppard and half Saint Bernard, he's labeled the "hero" of the story. The story takes place primarily in the Klondike region of Alaska except for in the first chapter it takes place in the Santa Clara Valley of California. The story is centrally focused around Buck; if it wasn't for him not having any speaking parts the reader would think he was a human because of the personality traits he possesses. In this paper we will discuss traits such as Buck's ability to adapt, Buck's bravery, his mental and physical strength, his loyalty and love and his instinct of the wild.
Jack London was one of the first writers to start making money. This brought controversy all over the world. He became the first author to become a millionaire from his writing. (Jack London). Upton Sinclair saw him as a king. Upton once said that Jack London “was the true king of our storytellers” (Brozo et al. 595). Jack London was born as John Griffith Chaney on January 12, 1876. (“10 Facts about Jack London”). At the age of 18, London was arrested for vagrancy. He wrote 1,000 words everyday to help him to improve his writing. He began writing in 1893. He entered saw in a newspaper there was an writing contest, andyoung Jack won the first place prize of 25 dollars. (Jack London Biography) ThereThey are conspiracy theories that Jack London tried killing himself several different times. On November
London’s actual name was John Griffith Chaney and he was born on January 12, 1876 in San Francisco, California. His mother, Flora Wellman, was unwed while his father, William Chaney, was a man of many trades, and he worked as an attorney, journalist, and also worked in the field of American astrology. London’s father was never permanent in his life and as a result, his mother married a man named John London, and the three moved to the Bay Area before they established themselves in Oakland. Jack was raised in a blue-collar, working-class family, but struggled throughout his teenage years because of the lasting impact of his father’s absence. As a result of his troubled childhood, London had a variety of jobs, comparable to his father, and he could never keep one for very long. From pirating oysters, working on a sealing ship in the Pacific to finding employment in a cannery, London’s undertakings did inspire him. Whenever London found any spare time, he would practice writing. His career in the writing world sparked in 1893, when his mother encouraged him to submit a story that was based off his adventures of surviving a typhoon on a sealing voyage, despite having only an eighth grade level education. A twe...
The slot is a metaphor of the “class cleavage of society”. There was a contrast between the North and South of the Slot in terms of building types: in the North were the higher-class centers of diversion, lodging, and business; and in the South were the lower-class centers of lodging, unskilled work/business. The buildings are figures of two contrasting classes that were segregated (?). In order to study the southern people (the working class) a sociology professor of the University of CA, Freddie Drummond (FD), decides to work temporarily as an unskilled laborer. Initially he experiences social problems of adaptation and acceptance by his fellow workers. For example, he doesn’t understand their insistent admonitions to reduce his work pace. As a result of his fierce competition against them, by the 6th day FD doubles his earnings. He misunderstands their lack of loyalty to the business, and looks down on them. Being unable to convince Drummond, and as a last resort, his co-workers jumped on him and attacked him so badly that he becomes ill. Once recovered, Drummond changes job. He finds himself working as a fruit-distributor among the women and decides not to change their work conditions. In six months, Drummond works at many jobs, and succeeds in imitating a genuine worker. As FD makes tentative generalizations about the working class, he is applauded by the business people, who divulge and spread his studies to the working cl...