Jacob

In the very beginning of American society in 1787, a staggering 92% of Americans lived rurally. However, this percentage was steadily declining and would continue to do so, as Jacob Riis accurately predicted in his book How the Other Half Lives: “At the beginning of the century the percentage of our population that lived in cities was as one in twenty-five. In 1880 it was one in four and one-half, and in 1890 the census will in all probability show it to be one in four.” In fact, by 1910, the…

In every great city throughout history, there has always been separation between those who are marginalized and down trodden and the upper echelons of society. This reached a climax in the first modern metropolis, New York City. At the turn of the twentieth century, the United States of America was in the process of emerging as an industrial and economic world power. The chance to come to the land of opportunity lead to a massive influx of immigrants, the majority of which were uneducated and…

in the life of a slave girl, Harriet Anne Jacobs accounts for all the treacherous moments she experience as being a chattel. She sympathized for all slaves especially those who were women. Women, as she implied, where comparably worthless to a men in the eyes of a plantation owner. They were given smaller portions of food to live off of and constantly separated from their children who they bore and raised. If a women was to have a beautiful face, Jacobs stated, that was to be both a curse and a…

A novel that that demonstrates this very routine of providing detailed information about a time period is “How the other half lives” by Jacob A Riis. This novel shows us, why reform was extremely necessary, and also what it really was like to live in the city areas in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as an immigrant. Photojournalist and news reporter, Riis, was one of the…

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is the autobiographical account about a young woman name Harriet Brent Jacobs. It talks about her life in slavery and her daring escape. Young Harriet, who assumes the name of Linda Brent, was born in Edenton, North Carolina to a “kind” mistress who taught her how to read, write and sew. When Linda’s mistress died, she was willed to the mistress’ young niece. Soon after her father also dies. Her grandmother and brother become the bright spots in her…

In Jane Jacobs’ book The Death and Life of Great American Cities , the author mainly focuses on the following three arguments: first, a city should have its complex structures. Planners should not create new structures by breaking the connections between the existing structures. Second, a city must contain diversity. Different districts should show various functions to become vital. Third, like human, city also grows and have its characteristics. Those patterns can not be manipulated by people.…

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is a slave narrative written by Harriet Ann Jacobs in the time period of the 19th century in America. Jacobs uses a pseudonym to portray her first-hand accounts of the life of a slave to show people of the world the unglorified reality of slavery as a character in her novel. The main protagonist, Linda Brent, is a girl who is born into slavery and is faced with countless struggles in her formidable life. However, in Linda’s younger years, she is living a…

Harriet Ann Jacobs escaped slavery and lived to Northern women the true evils of slavery. In her work The Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl she began her life unknowing of her ownership. Her family is treated well. For 6 years, she felt what every white child around her did. Then, her mother dies and Jacobs, or Linda Brent, learns to read and write from her master. At age 6 Jacobs also lost her beloved master and was shipped to distant relatives. Her master promised she would always be taken…

unprepared for the rate of population increase and was forced to heavily utilize the tenement housing model. The poor, mainly blacks and recent immigrants, were crowded into rundown neighbourhoods where they were exploited by landlords and employers. Jacob Riis, who had been an immigrant himself a number of years earlier, attempted to give an intimate portrait of the struggle faced by New York’s poor in his book How the Other Half Lives. The book showed how the poor were exploited in every facet…

‘Be careful what you wish for’ is a common phrase said by a lot of people. These 3 wishes in ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ and ‘The Third Wish’, both written by W.W Jacobs will definitely make you think twice about your wishes. Wish number 1 were obviously, their first wishes, and both of which were selfish, Mr. White, on page 94, asked for 200 pounds, or 1,000 U.S dollars, as Mr. Peters, on page 103, asked for a wife, but for something so good there had to be a catch, the 200 pounds was compensation, for…