Share a favorite quote from the book and explain why it stands out. Please write in paragraph form and include the quote in the paragraph. Some guidelines to consider: A direct quotation should not be the first sentence in an expository paragraph. Include the page number after your quote. Do not use the same quote that someone else has already posted. Use specifics from your selection in your explanation. This post is due Thursday, January 17 by midnight.
5 Comments
Molly
1/15/2019 07:27:22 am
The Devil in the White City displays the two contradicting sides of Chicago during the late 1800s. Chicago was flourishing after taking the responsibility of the World's fair. It helped Chicago grow into a magnificent city, where everything seemed possible. In fact, it is described as, "The fair is so perfect, its grace and beauty like an assurance that for as long as it lasted nothing truly bad could happen to anyone, anywhere" (Larson 289). The White City was so spectacular at the time, that it overshadowed the darkness and depths that encompassed Chicago, especially the handsome H.H. Holmes. At the same time as the fair, Holmes is taking innocent lives of several young women. This quote stands out because it exposes the interlacing storytelling that Erik Larson created: The White City as the center of Chicago's attention and the mass murderer no one knows about.
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Jessie C.
1/15/2019 07:28:20 am
Fair is coming to an end, only three years after it is born. From 1890 to 1893, going through thousands of hardships like worker strikes, fire that went off in cold storage building, schedule delay and many others. The fair is to be destroyed, and to becoming a history. The quote that stands out to me is “Better to have it vanish suddenly, in a blaze of glory, than fall into a festal hall, the morning after the banquet, when the quests have departed and the lights are extinguished” (322). This quote shows people's attitude and pride towards the fair. The idea of "If the fair has to go, then let it go in a 'blaze of glory'" again stated how glory and magical the fair is to the people, they wanted it to disappear in a magical way. I can feel the sad, reluctant and also proud feeling from the quote.
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Leah Driehorst
1/15/2019 12:31:05 pm
In 1890, Chicago won the bid to host the fair. It was a good thing because if Burnham and his crew could pull it off, the country would prosper, but if they weren't able to pull it off, then not just Chicago, but the whole country would be seen differently. "The burden of restoring the nation's pride and prominence in the wake of the Paris exposition had fallen upon Chicago" (Larson 33). This quote is saying that winning the bid to host the fair is a burden because if the people of Chicago cannot make the fair as amazing as the fair held in Paris, when the Eiffel Tower was built, then America would be looked at as a failure.
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Emily Halter
1/16/2019 06:15:57 pm
The Devil in the White City displays many levels of emotion, pressure, and grief. Throughout the novel, I have noticed that the fair, although an exciting and an amazing opportunity for Burnham, is also a great source of eagerness. Compassion and emotion start to become ignored and frowned upon as the novel proceeds, as demonstrated in the quote, "The dismissed men, Burnham knew, faced homelessness and poverty; their families confronted the real prospect of starvation. but the fair came first" (Larson 155). The insensitivity displayed shows how the fair altered the personalities of the beloved main characters, all because of the stress and pressure they needed to endure in order to excel in their careers. Sympathy is not given to the workers, as they are payed low wages are forced to work at an unreal pace.
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Lydia C
1/16/2019 07:10:08 pm
Around the time leading up to the World Fair, there were a lot of things going on that could hinder the success of the fair. All over American businesses were failing and workers were going on strikes. Over in Europe cholera was spreading meaning that ships coming to America could bring the disease. Along with all of these factors, the building of the fair was also on a time crunch so everything would have to go smoothly for it to be somewhat satisfactory for the opening. With so many aspects going wrong "As if anyone needed extra pressure, the New York Times warned: 'the failure of the fair or anything short of a positive and pronounced success would be a discredit to the whole country, and not to Chicago alone" (Larson 145). Now there was the entire country's reputation at risk looming over the architects instead of just Chicago's.
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