Chicago Book Reviews Samples For Students

Storch, Randi. Red Chicago: American communism at its grassroots, 1928-35. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2007.

Randi Storch's 2007 book Red Chicago: American Communism at its Grassroots details the subversive movement in Chicago at the time, when there was a vast upswing of Communist thought stemming from the worker's revolts of the time. The American Communist Party had a substantial presence there, and the book describes their struggle for relevancy and to have an effect on the outcomes of political action at the time. The book attempts to reconcile the thought processes of these people with two very different, contradictory ideas: "one of an organization that celebrated Soviet leaders, co-opted Soviet symbols, and embraced revolutionary Marxist-Leninist ideology, ...

Introduction

Chicago Housing Authority abbreviated as CHA, was established in 1937 by the state of Illinois and had the jurisdiction for the administrative oversight of the public housing within the Chicago city. The mission of the agency is guided by a Board of commissioners who are appointed by the mayor of the city. This agency has a budget which is independent to that of the City of Chicago. This agency has built a number of public housing projects over the last few years. The agency was hit by a setback in 1966 when a suit was brought against the agency. This forced the US department ...

BOOK BY GABRIELA F. ARREDONDO. MEXICAN CHICAGO: RACE, IDENTITY, AND NATION, 1916-39

The phenomenon of the Mexican society in Chicago has been an object of interest for many years. This issue has been examined in details and in general in order to draw the conclusion if the importance and influence of the Mexicans on the social and cultural life. However, the scholars have not published their findings for the audience’s access. Therefore, the book ‘Mexican Chicago’ written by Gabriela F. Arredondo is the first attempt to demonstrate the Mexicans experience within the American society and their cooperation. The ...

Book Review - Making a New Deal

Lizbeth Cohen's book Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1919-1939 tells the story of those people in Chicago during the 1920s and 1930s who labored in factories and manual labor positions. The book starts off with the 1919 wave of strikes that occurred among labor forces and continues through the next two decades, showing the ways in which the Depression and the New Deal affected industrial workers in Chicago. A durable union movement was created from the ashes of these economic hard times, with workers throughout the city coming together to support each other. According to Cohen, "this ...

Reflection of My Day

The America of LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman does not seem the same as the America we know today. Their America seems to be that of despair and poverty. The America that is described in Jones’s and Newman’s Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago is an America that not many of us are familiar with. We would have probably never known about the significance of the struggles of these two young boys if they had not been courageous enough to write about their in the Wells Housing Project in ghetto of Chicago. ...

Alex Kotlowitz follows the lives of two young boys, Lafeyette Rivers and Pharaoh Rivers, in their Chicago neighborhood, living in the Henry Horner Project, a housing scheme for underclass black people. The boys grow up in a rough neighborhood, where the only option is to join a gang once they enter adolescence. Their mother is 35 years old, and she had eight children, among whom, one is serving a jail term and the second born, an eighteen-year-old, has been arrested for a record forty-six times, making him a strong candidate to serving jail terms like his elder brother. When ...

Introduction

The devil in the white city is one of the literatures by Erik Larson, which highlights some developments in the eighteenth century. This was a defining moment in United States where various architectural designs wee being adopted. Technical education had just hit its peak as many more people acquired skills. With the knowledge, they looked for creative ways of beautifying the city (Johnson, 73). They realized the need of planning everything and ensuring that both buildings, roads, rails and parks were placed at their right positions. One of the weaknesses that such architectural designs and designers had was the fact ...

Book report; The jungle and business

Setting of the novel “The Jungle” published by Upton Sinclair in 1900s is in Chicago and revolves around the industry of meat production in the town. The industry seemed to represent the social difficulties of all the Americans living in poverty. Upton was only twenty-six years old when he moved to Chicago in his bid to participate in exposing the evils in the meat industry (Sparknotes.com).
Upton's book The Jungle was initially published in early 1900s and turned into a real sensation for American book readers. From one viewpoint, it depicted the incredible practices of meatpacking industry overwhelming at ...

“The Jungle” is a novel by Upton Sinclair, an American Socialist with the intention to address the plight of meat packers in the hands of the beef trust. The setting of the novel is in Chicago; a town where Upton traveled while he was just twenty-six years old with the grand vision to help in sensitizing and pushing for better working conditions of the meat workers. The meat industry seemed to weave together all the misfortunes experienced by all other workers in the American society in the early 1900s.
Upton's novel The Jungle was first published in 1906 and became a ...

MacLean, Nancy. Freedom Is Not Enough. Boston: Harvard University Press, 2008.

In Nancy MacLean's Freedom Is Not Enough, the difficult transition between a white-dominant culture into one of greater acceptance is described, particularly as it extends to the workforce of the United States. According to MacLean, after World War II, American society could be classified as a "culture of exclusion"1; whites still had the political and social power to prevent African-Americans and Mexican-Americans from participating in the American workforce on an equal level. However, many different forces came into play that managed to increase and promote diversity in the workplace, ...

Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle is a piercing look at the experience of new immigrants in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century. Of particular interest is the detail with which Sinclair analyzes the ins and outs of the meatpacking industry in Chicago – not just the hygiene (or lack thereof) but the overall corruption in the system. The book’s events also highlight the horrors of working at a wage that becomes a form of slavery, as workers can barely afford to survive on them, but since all of the other employers in the same industry pay the same ...

Introduction

This is a book which was written by Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa in 2011 and published by the University of Chicago. It raised a great debate across the country drawing criticism as well as appreciations in equal measures. The book take a critical look at the higher learning in colleges and university in the united states of America in great depth and it concludes that the degree the current students are getting in colleges and the university is not worth much compared to the time and money invested in teaching the students. The book argues that the current graduates lack critical ...

“Name”

“Instructor’s name”
Abstract
In one of his address to the American Medical Association, President Barack Obama stated, “Make no mistake: the cost of our healthcare is a threat to our economy. It is an escalating burden on our families and businesses. And it is unsustainable for the United States of America.” Following these lines, ‘Mama Might Be Better off Dead ‘, by Laurie Kay Abraham, presents a disconcerting and an insightful look into the American health care system. This book offers a very unsettling, at the same time enlightening, view of the status of urban Medicare facilities, through the example ...

[Writer’s Name]

Introduction
The purpose of the essay is to pull together my understanding of Humanities. This essay discusses the socio-political changes in Europe and United States and these changes were reflected in the Arts of that time. Furthermore, the essay discusses how the changing concept of man is portrayed in the various Art forms in the chapters 34 and 36 (p.1114-1180).

Discussion

Cubism
Fauvism
It is an art movement launched in 1905, its works were featured by dazzling and transcendental colors, and plain forms; influenced the expressionists. It is explained how in the era of ...

Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle is a fictional story illustrating the lives of immigrants in the United States. It depicts the struggle between the rich and the poor which was ever growing in the industrial town of Chicago. It showed the plight of immigrant workers that were desperately trying to achieve the American dream which they had heard before leaving their native countries. “The Jungle” acts as a social political documentary of the American industrial growth by offering a peak Chicago meatpacking industry that was linked to corruption and dishonest practices in the early 20th century.
The key character of this ...

About the author

Scott Martelle is a veteran journalist and a former staff writer for the L. A. Times. He is a journalist of the third generation and was born in Scarborough, Maine. He spent part of his childhood there, and the rest in Wellsville, New York, which is two hours south of the town of Buffalo. He got his first newspaper job at age sixteen, where he wrote a sports column for a weekly high school newspaper called the Wellsville Patriot. He then started covering local news on a part-time basis for the Wellsville Daily Reporter.
Martelle attended Fredonia State University. Here, he was the editor ...

An investigation that later was written as a book, Hugh Trevor-Roper’s, “The Last Days of Hitler”, is an account of the last days of the Third Reich, the ever increasing dissolution of the Nazi’s during the last stages of WWII, the chaos in the administration, the animosities, rivalries and suspicions among the Nazi officials and of course about Hitler's last days and suicide. In effect, Trevor-Roper paints a vivid, riveting and honest portrait of Hitler in his final days and gives a genuine analysis of the Nazi regime. Many of Trevor-Roper’s findings in the book has ...

Many Americans tend today to believe that a realist drama A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry is a brilliant example that clearly opens up and brings to public such important themes as economic hardship and racial prejudice. The author did perfectly her job, as she portrayed not only how important the family is, but also send the message to society that every individual should value and reach the set goals in life, despite racial discrimination, troubles, and obstacles on his way.
First and foremost, a united family is the most precious thing that every individual may ...

Abstract

“Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry is about the Youngers an African American family living on Chicago’s Southside. The various members of the family try to accomplish their dreams while dealing with issues of self, racism and poverty. Prior to the events of the play the father has died as a result of the backbreaking labor he had done all his life. As the family waits for the 10,000 insurance payout, each member of the family has their dream of how the money would benefit them.

Thesis

Each member of the Younger family has a specific dream. ...

The Lake Ladies was written by Paul Gullen and it is a fiction novel which deals with mystery and crime. It is a detective story involving two main characters, Bates and O’Rourke who belong to different generations of detectives. Captain O’Rourke and Bates team up and to solve crimes, but their personal stories are equally as interesting as their professional life.
O’Rourke and Bates meet during a case which could not be solved which happened in Chicago and involved the murder of a female violinist. Bates solves the case because he is a genius as well ...

Summary of the Thesis or Main Ideas in this Book

Thesis statement
Travesti: Sex, Gender, and Culture among Brazilian Transgendered Prostitutes use dramatic and compelling narratives to highlight the plight of homosexuals as well as give an insight of transgenderism and biological sex as part of the gendered notion itself.
Travestis are a group of males who adopt feminine lifestyles, names, and clothing as well as linguistic pronouns and depend mainly on prostitution for survival. The author gives a deep analysis of transgendered approaches used by society to understand homosexuals and LGBT prostitutes. Kulick examines the causative effects of Travesti prostitution and gives a positive and affirmative explanation to ...

The major part of Shaw’s book, The Jack-Roller, discusses the life-story and history of a felonious boy and his re-alignment to ordinary social life. In the beginning, however, the author tackles the worth of the boy’s life-story, gives the reader a thorough history of the difficulties in Stanley’s behavior and gives a vivid picture of his cultural as well as social background. This genetic-historical memoirs show the character’s own view of society and reveals his behavioral evolution over time.
The Jack Roller creates an illustration of the conceptual advantages that have been brought about by ...

In Richard Wright’s novel, Black Boy, he deals with many fundamental difficulties of being a young black man being raised in the American south. Unlike many of his other works of fiction, this work covers autobiographically the life of Richard Wright. What one sees is the importance of he relationship between slavery, race and citizenship and how it has always been closely intertwined in the post-Civil War American society. On one hand, slavery was a cruel institution that was used to deny people of fundamental rights of citizenship such as freedom of movement, economic freedom and even freedom of having a ...

Introduction

The jungle was written in the year 1906 by an American journalist and novelist by the name Upton Sinclair. The author wrote this novel to be able to portray the lives that immigrants lived in the United States especially Chicago and other similar industrialized cities .Most of his readers were mainly concerned with his exposure to especially health violations and unsanitary practices that had for a long time been in the American meat packing industry. This was during the 20th century when he did this investigation for a socialist newspaper. The book also tries to depict about the working ...

According to Michael, “Flash Boys” is all about how another group of venture firms has schemed with the financial firms and the stock traders to utilize sophisticated programming calculations to skim pennies. The group skim money from the genuine financial specialists who give value cash flow to the economy. Michael narrates a story through diverse cast of characters who come to comprehend this cutting edge scalping operation, and attempt to do something to defeat it.

The ethical champion in Flash Boys is Brad Katsuyama, an exceptionally well-paid stock merchant at the Royal Bank of Canada, who evaluated that the ...

The Irish Way

Analysis of Chapters
The book, “The Irish Way” by James R. Barrett describes the life of Irish immigrants who went to start new lives in America after conditions at home became un-accommodative. The author of the book has structured it in a very interesting manner. To show the various interactions of the Irish immigrants, the book has been subdivided into sections namely, The Parish, The Street, The Stage, The Workplace, The Nation and The Machine. This essay however focus on two of three sections that is, The Workplace, The Stage and The Nation as well as the introductory part ...

“The Immigrant Advantage: What We Can Learn from Newcomers to America about Health, Happiness, and Hope,” written by the famous journalist Claudia Kolker after inspired from her immigrant friends in the United States is one of the unique literary works. The book gives a description of various traditions and customs followed by the immigrants and their families dwelling in the United States. Most of the customs followed by the immigrants are unknown to several Americans; however, Kolker feels that the traditions of the immigrants make the Americans understand the reason for happiness and health of the immigrants and their families, ...

There Are no Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz

There Are no Children Here – Reaction Paper
Introduction
The following reaction paper is about the book entitled “There are no Children Here” written by Alex Kotlowitz. In this reaction paper, I am going to highlight the important parts of the book as well as how changed my views in life. There are various parts of the book that are worth reading as it relates to some of my experiences. The purpose of this reaction paper is to emphasize such events that made the book worth reading by highlighting events in each theme will affect my point of ...

Question 1

Discourse on a subject means that the subject is relevant and modern enough to warrant the concern of the people discussing it. This discourse usually leads to popular opinions and generalizations on the particular subject matter after continued engagement on the subject. Discourse on the subject of sexuality as tackled by Foucault reveals how discourse in the matter of sexuality led to sections of the society gaining power, over the others due to their sexual orientations. Power as understood by Foucault is an ability by a person or a circumstance to influence the decision-making and the actions of an individual. Following these ...

In Syria, President Hafiz al-Asad’s image is everywhere. He is praised on television, in newspapers, and during spectacles as the gallant knight, father and premier pharmacist. According to Lisa, she fails to understand the reasons behind calling the president such names and even calling the president immortal. In her opinion, she rubbishes these acts as nonsense. However, she provides an answer by saying that the cult of personality reinforced the president’s power by demonstrating that his regime can compel people to say the ridiculous and to avow the absurd (Wedeen, 1999). According to Lisa, the president’s ...

In Milton Friedman's Capitalism and Freedom, Friedman argues that political freedom cannot come about without economic freedom, and argues for the perpetuation of the free market as a philosophical and practical solution to many of society's problems. Friedman's perspective is decidedly liberal, though this is framed through the European definition of the word (i.e. limited role of government), instead of the American one (expansion and increase in size of the social safety net).. In this way, he seems to be the quintessential libertarian, believing that the private sector can and should provide for the needs of a free society. This ...

Dante’s inferno is a story in the 14th century that was developed to show the experiences that are found in hell as well as in heaven. This story has been narrated by Dante himself, who had experienced problems in hell. This story has been very influential to many audiences in the world. It has also been narrated as a poem. In addition to this, there are games that reflect the happenings in this story. It forms the initial part of the poem of Divine Comedy. This poem was also written by Dante to express his experience both in the real ...

Introduction

The Postal Age, a book written by David Henkin and published in 2006, gives a historical account of the revolutionary changes in communication borne by the establishment of postal services in the United States. Although the practice of passing written information from one individual or place to another through a go-between can be traced to the early days when writing came to the fore, the establishment of postal services took place much later. In this interesting read, The Postal Age, Henkin examines the chain of events that led to the burgeoning of postal services, and how this was the turning point in ...

Question 1:

Progressive reformers campaigned for the operation of local government in a businesslike manner. The interests of the upper class in the society motivated this. The approach would see the local governments run using economic strategies heavily reliant on scientific methods. This would help increase efficiency in service delivery.
The strong mayor and council-manager forms of city government are structured in a manner similar to corporate entities. The head organ of the strong mayor government is the executive branch where the mayor is chief executive officer of the government. The strong mayor is apolitical appointee. On the other hand, the council manager is a professional ...

The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management

Bestselling author Roger Lowenstein masterfully tells the story of Long-Term Capital Management – one of the most illustrious hedge funds of its day. A financial market power that made Merrill Lynch’s “thundering herd” seem like a bunch of noisy kids at its heyday, today LTCM is a case study of greed, hubris, and the marriage of academia and Wall Street. If you have ever wondered how top scholars and Nobel prize winners, who are on the cutting edge of human understanding of the workings of financial markets, would perform as hedge fund managers, the story of LTCM gives you the answer.

The Rise of Long-Term Capital Management

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