My journey through English 131 has been a good one. I feel like this class has helped me significantly to be able to analyze not only works of writing, but real life situations. One of my most significant works was my assessment of The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. I believed that it was one of my best writings that I have written in this class. Which is probably attributed to the fact that The Devil in the White City was one of my favorite books that we’ve read in English 131. The dynamic that interested me the most about the book was how Erik Larson managed to successfully relay the true stories of two men, who in reality didn’t one another. Though they were connected through the World’s Fair in the way that the men both used it to fulfill their needs. The thing that kept me interested in the book was the story of Holmes. The addition to Holmes in the writing allowed for more action to be seen, which I enjoyed. I also enjoyed the foreshadowing that Larson used when he wrote in the excerpt on page 12, “It was so easy to disappear. So easy to deny knowledge, so very easy in the smoke and din to mask that something dark was taken root. This was Chicago, on the eve of the greatest fair in history.”This excerpt gave me the information I needed to know that something bad was going to happen, and carefully analyze exactly what was going to happen throughout the book. The process of writing my final assessment allowed me to carefully analyze and convey what I really wanted to say. I appreciate the process of having to plan, draft, and revise because it ensures that there are no mistakes or errors that could possibly be avoided. It also allowed for me to be more conscience of the importance of actually writing papers, apart from using a computer. Another aspect of the class that I thoroughly enjoyed was the “snail mail”. I have written letters before, but it has been a while and it really took me back to when writing letters to send to people was very common. For the November letter I sent it to my grandma and she received it recently. She called me thanking me for the wonderful letter that I sent her. For this, I want to say thank you for making this an assignment; I will definitely continue writing letters. With that being said, I also really enjoyed the blogs that we had to post. In my past experience with writing papers, many teachers and professors don’t use a blog as an outlet to present works of writing. I think it makes writing papers more exciting, as you can design the blog however you see fit; the sky’s the limit. There are many benefits of blogs, as brought to my attention is the article “Blogs vs. Term Papers”, that blogs allow, “immediacy of an audience, a feeling of relevancy, instant feedback from classmates or readers, and a practical connection to contemporary communications”. I agree with this quote, because blogs are more interesting to present than just writing a paper. I am not going to lie, I did struggle somewhat with my writing assessments; but I do feel that I have improved slightly. Thank you for making the class interesting and keeping us on our toes, especially on the first day of class.
Works Cited
Larson, Erik. The Devil in the White City. Vintage, 2004.
Richtel, Matt. “Blogs vs. Term Papers.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 20
Jan. 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/education/edlife/muscling-in-on-the-term-paperr-tradition.html.
Annotated Bibliography
Larson, Erik. The Devil in the White City. Vintage, 2004.
Erik Larson’s, The Devil in the White City, is a work that relays the interconnected stories of two men in the city of Chicago. The men are somewhat opposites; as one is the head architect in the building of the 1893’s World Fair, while the other is a serial killer. Daniel Burnham is overseer of the World’s Columbian Exposition with his partner, and best friend John Root. Together they work to have a successful fair. Until Root dies unexpectedly, leaving Burnham to try and supervise the project on his own. As the deadline for the grand opening of the fair draws near, the pressure weighs heavy on Burnham, as well as his other associates. At the same time in Chicago, a young, wealthy, charismatic man who goes by the name H.H. Holmes opens a hotel in the city. Holmes uses his charisma and his hotel to lure women, and in one case a child, to fulfill his desire to kill. Holmes marries and murders many women, in order to collect their savings. In the end, both Burnham and Holmes are successful in their own ways. Burnham accomplished the building of the World Fair. While Holmes successfully murdered his victims, though he was later caught. Larson conveys the stories of these two men through switching between the two stories.
Makant, Jordan. “Thought Twice; It’s Not Alright.” Impossible Angles. Main Street Rag, 2017. 18.
“Thought Twice; It’s Not Alright” is a poem written by Jordan Makant, in response to Bob Dylan’s song “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”. The poem talks about how Bob Dylan was lying to his love by telling her that all of the things that she did is alright. Makant is suggesting that by Bob Dylan reassuring her is a indication of true love. He says that it was in both of their best interests that he let her go, only to see her later on and realize that he was the one that kept her bound.
Maslin, Janet. “Add a Serial Murderer to 1893 Chicago’s Opulent Overkill.” Review of The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson, The New York Times, 10 Feb. 2003, nytimes.com, Accessed 11 Oct. 2017.
Janet Maslin reviews Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City tells analyzes how Larson successfully conveyed the history of the 1893 World’s Fair. She praises him on his ability to take nonfiction and make it interesting. Maslin applauds Larson on his close attention to crucial details that make for a accurate, yet interesting story.
Richtel, Matt. “Blogs vs. Term Papers.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 20
Jan. 2012, www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/education/edlife/muscling-in-on-the-term-paperr-tradition.html.
The article “Blogs vs. Term Paper” by Matt Richtel, is about the effect of technology in the area of writing. It explains how many students are not made to write term papers, as commonly done in the past. Ritchtel explains that the lack in writing results in a disservice to the students in the areas on critical thinking and writing.
Schreck, Heidi. Creature. Samuel French, 2011.
Creature is a work about a woman named Margery Kempe who was previously sick after childbirth and visited by the devil. Magery is then cured of her illness once she claims that she was visited by Jesus. After this revelation she believes that her mission is to become a saint. She seeks help from Father Thomas, who reads to her because she is unable to read. Throughout her journey to become a saint, she battles temptations from the devil. She must also resist temptations from Jacob, a man she met while weeping in church. Jacob admires Margery and their relationship is a little more intimate than it should be. Margery also disciplines herself through abstaining from food and sex. All of Margery’s actions causes much discourse in her life. Due to her unconventional ways she ends up ruining relationships with the church, her family, her friends, as well as the entire town.
Whitehead, Colson. The Underground Railroad. Doubleday, 2016.
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead is a work of fiction about a slave named Cora. Cora’s mother escaped when she was young, which Cora always resented her mother for. One day on the plantation, a man named Caesar asks Cora if she would like to run away with him. Cora says no out of fear of being caught and tortured. Eventually when Caesar asks her again she agrees to go with him. Their journey to reach the Underground Railroad is interrupted when one of Cora’s friends unexpectedly joins them and wounds up being caught by some hunters. Cora and Caesar manage to make it to the first stop on the Underground Railroad, which is a literal train. The two travel north, to South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Indiana; though Caesar is caught and killed in South Carolina by Ridgeway. Cora meets a man named Royal and flee to Indiana and they live on a farm there, until Ridgeway captures her. She manages to escape and goes West with a man in a caravan.
Wilder, Thornton. Our Town. 1938. Harper Perennial, 2003.
The play Our Town written by Thornton Wilder portrays the ideals of a small town named Grover’s Corners. It shows the repetitiveness and simpleness that comes with
small towns. This play follows the Webb family, as well as the Gibbs family in their daily lives. The story evolves as it follows Emily Webb and George Gibbs in their friendship as children, to the point where they become interested in one another. They eventually get married, and have children. During Emily’s second childbirth she dies. During death reflects on her past life, comprehending the fact that she hasn’t lived the way she should have. Her death leaves her husband George alone, mourning for Emily.
Erik Larson’s, 
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