Alex Kotlowitz

Ten year old, Lafayette Rivers exclaims enthusiastically in Alex Kotlowitz’ 1992 biography There Are No Children Here, “If I grow up, I’d like to be a bus driver”. Sophomore year, in Honors English, we were reading out loud in class when this aspiration of a lower-income, innocent child, was lethargically muttered by a classmate, and to my dismay, I began to cry. I was saddened by the fact Naperville was less than 60 miles away from Chicago, yet my peers knew so little of what too many city children, like Lafayette who lived in Cabrini Green, had to endure. What broke my spirit, was that my peers were only sympathizing for that class period and would go on with their daily lives, giving no second thought to children who are less fortunate, who have to give so much just to help their families survive, and who are not even sure they will have the opportunity to grow up. I was furious at the fact I had…

equality through riots, marches and often sacrificing their own lives. New generations have forgotten the true meaning of what it is to be colorblind. Alex Kotlowitz an award winning author on urban affairs appeared on New York Times for his article “Colorblind,” in which he addresses an issue that society is said to be colorblind, even though people still chose to believe their own myths which leads to division of race. Through the use of statistics, emotional appeal, and credible experiences…

There Are No Children Here There are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz is an anecdote around two young men who are utilized to experience childhood in Chicago's Henry Horner Homes. The principle characters, Lafeyette and Pharoah, live in the repulsions of the Chicago's internal city in a low-wage lodging venture. Alex Kotlowitz takes after their lives for a long time so as to uncover way of life in supposed other America. In his book there are no kids here the writer portrays the majority of…

Speech #1 Edward R. Murrow, a CBS reporter and war correspondent delivered a report from Buchenwald, Germany on April 16, 1945. He delivered this dialect upon seeing the atrocities committed by the Germans towards the Jews. He addresses the American people, describing the scene he had witnessed at this labor camp, which he found the scene to be so unbelievable that he is rendered speechless many times through out his speech. Murrow’s outrage is so apparent through-out his account, that it is…

the criminological theory of Development was the part when the main character and his gang come upon the homeless man in the alley. Alex makes the statement that he hates homeless old men who sing at the top of their lungs when they’re drunk, after which he begins beating him, and his gang gleefully join in. This was a good example of the developmental theory, in that they were a group of young adults who were engaging in violent criminal behavior, who might otherwise not engage in this same…

of life. One of the largest themes presented within the novel, is the necessity of having some kind of commitment in life. According to the narrator, psychopathic delinquent Alex, the majority of the adults within Britain during the events of the novel are almost completely assumed by apathy. They constantly are spoon-fed all of the information and necessities they required to live, never asking or wondering more than what they were told by the oppressive government. These same adults are…

Hayden Jackson Ms. Carter ENG3U-01 4 May 2015 Sociopathic Tendencies in Alex DeLarge from A Clockwork Orange It is known that A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess is a very disturbing book and does not have the best reputation out there in terms of books. But this is a very good book that teaches you to go outside the norm to create a truly gripping and stunning story. In this book Burgess introduces the character Alex DeLarge; a 15 year old boy who enjoys all the worst things a young boy can…

Few films have replicated the controversy of Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange (1971). Created during the ‘Golden age of American Film violence’ between the 1960s and early 1970s and based on the Anthony Burgess novella of the same name. The Orwellian, science-fiction film, catalogues the life and crimes of antagonist Alex Delarge; a young, violent and hedonistic deliquent with an enthusiastic appreciation for music, specifically German composer, Ludwig van Beethoven. Alex’s ‘droogs’, Dim,…

Defective of characteristics traditional to the protagonist, the antihero possesses an unscrupulous lack of morality and ardour to achieve the greater good; thus still a protagonist of the narrative, yet serves as a subversion of the traditional hero archetype. Although often the antithesis of the archetypal protagonist, the antihero gains begrudged sympathy and an extent of understanding from the reader that separates itself from the concept of the antagonist. Despite…

around Alex, the main character and also the narrator. The movie starts with Alex and his group beating up an old man because they disliked how he sound while singing. As the movie progresses on you see a couple more scenes of violence. A particulary important scene is when Alex and his drooges invaded the Author's house and raped his wife. It's clear that Alex enjoys causing distress in other people but he also has a problem. While Alex is the leader of the group, has trouble listening to his…