THe Devil in the White City(3)

5 comments

1. it was very interesting when holmes talked about kiln
2. i liked how the architects described how ugly Jackson Park looked
3. i was shocked when Root, burnham architect and friend, died in his house.
4. holmes is probably responsible for the vanshing people
5. holmes should just get a divorce from Myrta

4 questions

• 'why did Roots die anyway?
• isn't a vacant park good for a fair?
• what really happened to the vanishing people?
• does holmes even pay his workers, the workers who work in his plaza?

3 vocabulary words

1. transcendent-going beyond ordinary limits; surpassing; exceeding.
2. apparatus- any complex instrument or mechanism for a particular purpose.
3. kiln-a furnace or oven for burning, baking, or drying something, esp. one for firing pottery, calcining limestone, or baking bricks.

2 vocabulary terms

• descriptive writing- the way the architects described how jackson park looked
• "..Olmsted, his teeth inflamed," =hyperbole

1 overview
the architects finally see what they are going to be working with for the next two years while Holmes is busy trying to make his building into a hotel and in he basement there is a furnace... a really big furnace.

THe Devil in the White City(2)

5 Comments

1. Holmes is introduced in the story.
2. he has killed a child in the past.
3. he went to college and now wants to become a doctor.
4. Holmes moved to Chicago because he thought it was a better place.
5. Jack the Ripper is mentioned.

4 Questions

1. did they ever suspect Holmes of the murder/
2. did he kill his parents?
3. did he kill his best friend as a child?
4. Has he killed more than that is mentioned so far?

3 Vocabulary Words

1. macabre-gruesome and horrifying; ghastly; horrible.
2. astigmatic-A visual defect in which the unequal curvature of one or more refractive surfaces of the eye, usually the cornea, prevents light rays from focusing clearly at one point on the retina, resulting in blurred vision.
3. emissaries-an agent sent on a mission of a secret nature, as a spy.

2 Literary Terms

• "They are blue. Great murderers, like great men in other walks of activity, have blue eyes" pg.35
• personifiction- "starvation was string me in the face" *(larson 42)

1 OverView sentence
We finally meet Holmes and get to see who he really is under all that pleasant innocence that he allows to be seen.

THe Devil in the White City(1)

5 Comments

1. The fair will be held in Chicago.
2. Burnham and Root are the architects in charge.
3. America and other countries voted.
4. Everyone wants it to be better than the fair in Paris.
5. Burnham and Holmes don't know eachother.

4 Questions

1. What was the voting system like in the 19th century.
2. Who was the president at this time? Was he aware of the fair?
3. Do Burnham and Holmes know each other?
4. How long did it take for the Eiffel tower to be completed?

3 Vocabulary Words

1. Lackluster-a lack of brilliance or vitality.
2. advent-a coming into place, view, or being; arrival:
3. courtship-the period during which such wooing takes place.

2 Literary Terms

1. metaphor- "Burnham was handsome, tall, and strong, with vivid blue eyes, all of which drew clients and friends to him the way a lens gathers light" (Larson 26)
2. simile- "For now, the tension was subtle, a vibration, like the inaudible cry of overstressed steel"

1 Overview Sentence

1. The fair will be held in Chicago and it is a big deal to the architects and other denizens.
   

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

I will begin posting
about my history book
about a fair thatvis set to take place
in the grand city of Chicago in the 1890s.
the book has two main characters, Daniel Burnham (the architect) and H.H. Holmes (a serial killer)

MAkes Me Wanna Holler (10) ~pgs.390-416~

5 Comments

• Nathan starts having problems with one of his co-workers and he threatens to beat him up if he tries to undermine him again.
• Monroe, who is now 16, comes to live with his father because Liz feels he is getting out of hand.
• Nathan goes to jail for 4 days because Debbie set him up and took out a warrant against him for failing to pay child support. Nathan begins to conjure up ways on how to murder his ex-wife. He forgets about it after he gets out of jail.
• He finds a woman who he almost killed in the past named Carolyn and her daughter may be his daughter.
• Nathan starts thinking about all his homeboys and how he got a second chance and as the book ends, Nathan begins to realize that they had a choice but he decided to make the right choice.

4 Questions

• Why din't Nathan get warned about telling that guy off?
• Why is Monroe acting out with his mother but at the same time he does not like any one checking her out?
  
• How come the book doesn't talk about Monroe's stepfather?
• Why doesn't Nathan try and get custody of his other two children?

3 Vocabulary Words

• elitist-consciousness of or pride in belonging to a select or favored group.
• esoterica-things understood by or meant for a select few; recondite matters or items.
• nuances-a subtle difference or distinction in expression, meaning, response, etc.

2 Literary Terms

1. Simile- "The Atlanta Journal- Constitution to the Washigton Post was like going from college football to the pros.
2. Flashback- When Nathan remembers the time when he and Gregg almost killed Carolyn because she jumped out of the car when she realized that Nathan and his boys were going to gang-rape her to confuse who the father of her unborn child would be. She suffered a seizure but they were afraid to go to the hospital because they thought they would go to jail. (Nathan was 18 at the time, at the time of the flashback he was 36)

1 Overview Sentence

Nathan settles down with his son and suffers alittle bit but then he realizes that he made the right choice to turn his life around.

Makes Me Wanna Holler (9) ~pgs.365-390~

(NATHAN IS NOW 33 YEARS OLD!)
5 Comments

• Nathan visits Portsmouth several times since he moved away and he learns overtime that most of his "brothers" have committed suicide, they've been shot, they are in jail for murder, and they are druggies that are broke.
• The divorce process is very ugly. Debbie is evil and she lies. She ends up staying in the house Nathan bought and they have "joint custody"
• Nathan at some point slips into a phase where he wants to beat up Debbie because she driving him towards bankruptcy. He can't really pay his child-support.
• Nathan's mother is stressed out about Dwight, Nathan's older brother who never has money and never pays her back.
• Nathan gets into the Washington Post and moves to Washington D.C.

4 Questions

• Why is Debbie so evil?
• Will Nathan ask Bimbo for some money because he's a millionaire?
• Does the Post pay more money than Journal-Atlanta Constitiution?
• How is Monroe doing?

3 Vocabulary Words

1. ashen-extremely pale; drained of color
2. pallid-pale; faint or deficient in color; wan:
3. entrenched-To fix firmly or securely

2 Literary Terms

• Simile-"Eyes vacant, and hearts cold as ice in winter." (McCall 372)
• Metaphor- "They moved with the speed and grace of gazelles."(McCall 373)

1 Overview sentence

1. Nathan gets a costly divorce and realizes that he could've been like the rest of the gang but he gets a job with the Washington Post and moves further north.
   

Makes Me Wanna Holler (8) ~pgs. 329-364~

5 Comments

• Nathan's relationship with his wife begin to diminsh while his reltionship with his children begin to flourish.
• Nathan begins realizing that not all white people are bad. He makes his first real white friend Danny.
• Nathan's past begins to haunt him.
• He begins traveling to Europe and other places.
• Debbie gets divorce papers after Nathan, during a argument, implies on getting one. Maya, his daughter gets sick with something that could turn out to be meningitis.

4 Questions

• Did Danny ever return from Africa to visit Nathan?
• Why do Nathan and Debbie argue when everyone is healthy and OK?
• Will Nathan sign the divorce papers?
• Will he continue in the marriage just for his children?

3 Vocabulary words

1. camaraderie-good-fellowship.
2. spliff-a marijuana cigarette, esp. a large or very potent one.
3. bureau-a division of a government department or an independent administrative unit.

2 Literary Terms

• metaphor-"She Froze" (McCall 356)
• oxymoron-"I'd be a walking, breathing, living dead man." (McCall 354)

1 Overview Sentence

As Nathan begins loosening up around whites, his marriage begins to fade enabling more problems to arise.