Gilfoyle would start off each of his chapters with a selection from a primary source that would be used to frame the chapter and ground it in reality. For instance, there are excerpts from Appo’s diary at the start of most chapters, which serve to present a backdrop of Gilfoyle’s story: the primary source serves as the ground floor of the narrative, and Gilfoyle expands the reader’s vision by constructing a sense of what the world that Appo inhabited would have looked like. Primary sources are littered throughout the chapters as well, a poem by Driscoll to the Sisters of Charity included in the chapter on Danny Driscoll. Driscoll’s conversion from thug and brute into a Roman Catholic martyr of sorts for the working class Irish community in New York is made more vital and alive by the inclusion of Driscoll’s poem to Sister Mary. The poem is a touching tribute and a sign of how deeply Driscoll was thinking about leaving this world and going into the next. It helps to reinforce the description of Driscoll’s execution, as Gilfoyle describes it, with Driscoll asking Jesus for mercy just before he is executed. This type of interweaving of primary sources with the main narrative makes the story come to life in a way that would not be possible were Gilfoyle simply relying on narrative to tell the story. But because he backs up the descriptions and depictions with real-life snippets that are cut from the cloth of real life history, the narrative becomes larger than life in a way: it becomes filled...
It is a highly effective way of dramatizing the history and grounding it in fact at the same time.
Children could work in dangerous jobs, people could be forced to work long days, and many did not have the option to deny dangerous work. In response to these conditions, various labor unions organized, especially in the city of Chicago, where they were encouraged by government officials. The goal of organized labor was to achieve fair working conditions for immigrants and working class people. The Workingmen's Party of the United
While some of the wealthy were philanthropic and socially conscious, most of the business magnates believed their financial success proved them to be the most capable and entitled to the spoils of the success. This created a system of social and economic inequity which created a reaction to the Gilded Age well before the Age itself closed. Impact of and Reaction to the Gilded Age of Big Business The Progressive era
As is indicative in the U.S. and, especially Japan, this has led to an increase in stress, psychological problems, substance abuse and even suicides when students fail to pass their entrance exam for a respected school. The Chinese are quickly learning that everything is a tradeoff. They may be getting better jobs, bigger houses and their first cars. However, such "gifts" normally come hand-in-hand with such downsides as depression, stress
Railroads Any person looking for a better life needs to get on the next boat to the United States of America. There are great opportunities to build a nation from the ground up. The Civil War is long over now, and Reconstruction is in full swing. This means railroads, factories and cities. The factories and cities are tremendous sources of urban employment, and workers are finding no end of great opportunities
Essay Topic Examples 1. The Gilded Age: A Facade of Prosperity: Exploring how the seemingly prosperous era of the late 19th century, characterized by rapid industrialization and economic growth, masked severe social problems like income inequality, labor unrest, and political corruption. 2. The Robber Barons: Captains of Industry or Agents of Greed?: Analyzing the influential industrialists and financiers of the Gilded Age, such as John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, to determine
Gilded Age A Brief Look at the Progressive Movement and the Gilded Age The Gilded Age was a period of seemingly unbounded economic expansion in the United States that lasted roughly from the election of Ulysses S. Grant to the elevation of reformer Theodore Roosevelt to the presidency at the turn of the twentieth century. This period coincided with the expansion and emergence of the nation as the conquest of the west
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