Summary:
The fair, was starting to be built.However there was barely enough time left, because of Hunt delaying his drawings. This was worrying Burnham allot because he just ad about a year, until they present the completed copy of the far to the world. People were not all agree on how things should look like. For example the only lady that was working on the fair, was getting mad because she had made plans for how she wanted the building to look like however, during the period that she was not there things did not really go her way. Another man that was helping her out, decided it would be good to get decorations donated from everyone in the world, so that it could be more diverse and by the time he got all the donations, they had like art gallery of pieces of art. however this is not what Hayden wanted she believed that her plans were much better. This was not the only problem that was occurring. people that Burnham wanted to work for him decided not to accept the jobs, making him have to look for other people. The weather was getting worse, to the point that sometimes they had to stop doing their job, and leave it for another day. The fair was a mess, ad everyone was rushing trying to get it done on time. They did not want to let everyone hopes down, because they wanted to be known for this fair. Holmes, was still in Chicago, and was becoming very rich with his business, and his soon to be hotel. One of Julia's old neighbor would constantly ask question about where Julia had gone to and if she had every came around. And every time Holmes would just come up with a lie ad go on with his day. But now he had a new girl that he was with, and her name was Minnie. Who was a girl from Mississippi, and now lived in Boston. Holmes would frequently go visit her. Unlike everyone else that he knew she would call him Harry, instead of Holmes. But there was a time he stopped visiting her, and she became sad, and then decided to go visit Chicago, and sent him a message than she was going to be in the area. When she got to Chicago, Holmes greeted her with open arms, and tears in his eyes. After staying in Chicago, she started to work with him and latter on they got married. Her sister Anna, got suspicious and thought that the wedding happened too quick. So that Anna wouldn't think something else, Holmes invited her to Chicago and said he was going to pay for everything. he said this because he knew that she would not give up a free break in Chicago, and get to see the fair. The process of the fair was a disaster, things didn't not go as planned sometimes, and some workers died in the process. But at the end they were able to finish the fair.
Quote:
"Holmes--Harry--wanted the wedding done quickly and quietly,just him, Minnie, and a preacher" (Larson 205).
Reaction:
While reading this quote, it made me think about Holmes plan and what he was trying to do. It got me to understand that he wanted the marriage quick so that he could kill her. The point of the marriage was that when she died he would get all her money. He wanted the ceremony to be quiet because he did not want people to suspect that something was going on. I think that is how people in the city did not really notice that he got married really fast. From this i don't believe that anyone knew that he was getting married to all these girls, because if they did know then they would have said something to the police. They might have just thought that they all were temporary girlfriends. But the thing that i do not understand is how can he get married and all of a sudden that person disappears, and no one really makes a big deal. It might of been because Holmes is considered a charmer and many people wont think that he would dare try to hurt someone. This reminded me the saying "It is always the quiet ones", because Holmes, seems like a very conservative person and from the story, i don't believe that he even has friends. What i really want to find out what happens to his life during the fair, cause from reviews it seems like that is really when all his mischief and sneakiness is shown.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
The Devil in the White City (Pgs 128-166)
Summary:
Now everey was in process. Burnham rarely saw his fammily and was into his work and trying to meet the dead line. His partner Root had died and he had to find a different way to get the job done by himself. This was something that was hard for him. Including that people that were working on the project like Hunt were taking their time with their jobs. His job was to design how the place would look like. The thing was that he was in Chicago during that time, so the message for him to hurry up with his drawingss would take time. Days went by and there was no response from Hunt so Burnham sent him another message that this was causing a delay in their work, and this was becming an embarassment to him, and Chicago. Burnham just wanted him to give him what he had so far. He thought that Hunt could just come to Chicago and finish his draws there instead of wasting so much time. Olmsted another important person during this project for the fair to become complete on time, was getting sick. But he still went one with out stopping his job. The person that had created the Effiel tower, sent a message o Burnham about helping them out with the fair. Burnham was surprised that he would even want to help make a building that was taller than the Effiel tower for them. The would got spread around and it cause the workers to become anrgy because they beileves that they had the right to help be part of this project, more than Effiel did, that he should not let him work on the project. this made Burnham happy because he could not bielve that they are showing how much they truley care about this project. But the thing was that he was not going to even to let Effiel work on the job because he did not respound to the letter he had sent him. During this project, Burnham wanted clea water for his workers, and he wanted to create a machine that would take the river water and clean it , but he was worry that a fire would be caused but he still did it, and he would benefit from it because he would sell the clean water to the people during the fair. He was really scared that the fair would burn down that he did not let people smoke around the work area just incase anything happened. Julia another girl that Holmes was see, told him that she was pregnant that he would have to marry her. The reason was because having a baby without being married was consisdered a disgrace. Holmes agreed to this marriage but she had to get an abortion, and he would do it for her. On Christmas morning he got ready to do the procjure, and then he drugged her and her daughter. After this day noone knew where Julia, and her daughter had gone. But some people thought that Holmes had killed her but they did not bring this information to the cops. Holmes just jkeept on telling stories that they had to leave on a family emergency and that she wouled not be coming back ever.
Quote: "He held the cloth over her nose and mouth. her eyes fluttered and rolled upward...His own excitement rose" (Larson 148).
Reaction:
When i read this quote i was very surprised and did not really understand what was going on. I had to read it a couple of times to understand that this was not part of the procejure, and that instead that he was killing her. I could not believe what I was readding because, it stated that he was pleasing to him and that he killed to see others getting killed. How could someone be so inhumane, and be able to watch another persons death, clamly. I think that Holmes has a serious problem and that he he enjoys killing people. The thing is that he barely knew her and that he had another wife, and child. The thing that was surprising also was that he did not kill his first wife and child. I was never able to understand why he killed theses people that you can call strangers. This was a part of the novel that really showed his true colors, and i was able too see more about him, cause throughout the novel, the reader just gets told what everyone else sees and thinks. But now I was able to see what really happens.
Now everey was in process. Burnham rarely saw his fammily and was into his work and trying to meet the dead line. His partner Root had died and he had to find a different way to get the job done by himself. This was something that was hard for him. Including that people that were working on the project like Hunt were taking their time with their jobs. His job was to design how the place would look like. The thing was that he was in Chicago during that time, so the message for him to hurry up with his drawingss would take time. Days went by and there was no response from Hunt so Burnham sent him another message that this was causing a delay in their work, and this was becming an embarassment to him, and Chicago. Burnham just wanted him to give him what he had so far. He thought that Hunt could just come to Chicago and finish his draws there instead of wasting so much time. Olmsted another important person during this project for the fair to become complete on time, was getting sick. But he still went one with out stopping his job. The person that had created the Effiel tower, sent a message o Burnham about helping them out with the fair. Burnham was surprised that he would even want to help make a building that was taller than the Effiel tower for them. The would got spread around and it cause the workers to become anrgy because they beileves that they had the right to help be part of this project, more than Effiel did, that he should not let him work on the project. this made Burnham happy because he could not bielve that they are showing how much they truley care about this project. But the thing was that he was not going to even to let Effiel work on the job because he did not respound to the letter he had sent him. During this project, Burnham wanted clea water for his workers, and he wanted to create a machine that would take the river water and clean it , but he was worry that a fire would be caused but he still did it, and he would benefit from it because he would sell the clean water to the people during the fair. He was really scared that the fair would burn down that he did not let people smoke around the work area just incase anything happened. Julia another girl that Holmes was see, told him that she was pregnant that he would have to marry her. The reason was because having a baby without being married was consisdered a disgrace. Holmes agreed to this marriage but she had to get an abortion, and he would do it for her. On Christmas morning he got ready to do the procjure, and then he drugged her and her daughter. After this day noone knew where Julia, and her daughter had gone. But some people thought that Holmes had killed her but they did not bring this information to the cops. Holmes just jkeept on telling stories that they had to leave on a family emergency and that she wouled not be coming back ever.
Quote: "He held the cloth over her nose and mouth. her eyes fluttered and rolled upward...His own excitement rose" (Larson 148).
Reaction:
When i read this quote i was very surprised and did not really understand what was going on. I had to read it a couple of times to understand that this was not part of the procejure, and that instead that he was killing her. I could not believe what I was readding because, it stated that he was pleasing to him and that he killed to see others getting killed. How could someone be so inhumane, and be able to watch another persons death, clamly. I think that Holmes has a serious problem and that he he enjoys killing people. The thing is that he barely knew her and that he had another wife, and child. The thing that was surprising also was that he did not kill his first wife and child. I was never able to understand why he killed theses people that you can call strangers. This was a part of the novel that really showed his true colors, and i was able too see more about him, cause throughout the novel, the reader just gets told what everyone else sees and thinks. But now I was able to see what really happens.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
The Devil in the White City (Pgs 75-127)
Summary:
Burnham and Root are getting ready to build the fair, and they thought that they would just design it themselves. However later on they decided that it would be better if they just hired people to design the fair, because then not only them would get credit for the new attraction to Chicago. While they were trying to negotiate with the architects on how they can build the fair in just three years, which to them it seemed impossible, Root was not able to attend the meets because he was very sick. As weeks and days passed he got sicker and they found out that he had pneumonia. and just after finding out he had pneumonia he, had died. This was a very tragic thing that occurred in Burnham's life because he had been working with Root for the past eighteen years. And he could not believe his best friend and business partner had died. This news of Roots death did not only surprise Burnham but also the city of Chicago. Root's death made Burnham want to quit the job but he was convinced that he should not quit. But working on this project with out Burnham felt different for him, and he just felt as if he was missing something. The project went on and more people had gotten involved. They need as much people to help them out, that with out knowing they even hired an opium addict, showing that they did not have a lot of time to do back ground checks on people. So they had to just find those that were best at their job. While this was occurring Holmes who was already a married man was trying to get married to a man's ex-wife. He was causing ciaos in other people lives.
Quote: "I was born with the devil in me...I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing"(Larson 109).
Reaction:
I thought that this was a great way for Larson to end part two of the story with this quote because it made the story a little bit more exciting and it would just make the reader want to read more because they want to know what else is going to happen. But I think that this quote has no life to it, no emotion, or even a heart for human kind. Because whoever is saying this quote, is say this like murdering is involuntary and that it just happens. However I think opposite because it is not like being a poet, whose poems makes people sing. It is the most inhumane thing to say, and i really do not like what this quote is trying to do, because it is trying to compare a poet with a murderer and saying that they are similar. But that is not true because a poet creates something that is beautiful, and a killer just creates sorrow and death in the world, which are two opposites.
Burnham and Root are getting ready to build the fair, and they thought that they would just design it themselves. However later on they decided that it would be better if they just hired people to design the fair, because then not only them would get credit for the new attraction to Chicago. While they were trying to negotiate with the architects on how they can build the fair in just three years, which to them it seemed impossible, Root was not able to attend the meets because he was very sick. As weeks and days passed he got sicker and they found out that he had pneumonia. and just after finding out he had pneumonia he, had died. This was a very tragic thing that occurred in Burnham's life because he had been working with Root for the past eighteen years. And he could not believe his best friend and business partner had died. This news of Roots death did not only surprise Burnham but also the city of Chicago. Root's death made Burnham want to quit the job but he was convinced that he should not quit. But working on this project with out Burnham felt different for him, and he just felt as if he was missing something. The project went on and more people had gotten involved. They need as much people to help them out, that with out knowing they even hired an opium addict, showing that they did not have a lot of time to do back ground checks on people. So they had to just find those that were best at their job. While this was occurring Holmes who was already a married man was trying to get married to a man's ex-wife. He was causing ciaos in other people lives.
Quote: "I was born with the devil in me...I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing"(Larson 109).
Reaction:
I thought that this was a great way for Larson to end part two of the story with this quote because it made the story a little bit more exciting and it would just make the reader want to read more because they want to know what else is going to happen. But I think that this quote has no life to it, no emotion, or even a heart for human kind. Because whoever is saying this quote, is say this like murdering is involuntary and that it just happens. However I think opposite because it is not like being a poet, whose poems makes people sing. It is the most inhumane thing to say, and i really do not like what this quote is trying to do, because it is trying to compare a poet with a murderer and saying that they are similar. But that is not true because a poet creates something that is beautiful, and a killer just creates sorrow and death in the world, which are two opposites.
The Devil in the White City(Pgs 11-74)
Summary:
This book starts talking about how Chicago and how it is over populated there are a lot of people disappearing from the city people where not making a big deal about it because it was a huge city. It was a very busy town, many people would come a visit to see the huge buildings, and the tallest skyscrapers in the world. Which was built by Burnham and Root, who were able to defeat the law of gravity and build building that was one of the tallest buildings in the world and it attracted many people towards Chicago. This lead to Burnham and Root being able to get more jobs in constructing. But one day some of their buildings feel and some got burned and this led to their business going down. Burnham had gone through things before that he did not succeed like getting admitted to Yale and Harvard. But that did not stop him from becoming an architect. And these events would not stop him from doing what he loved the most. Burnham and Root kept on building and, while they still had the one of the tallest buildings, Paris came with the Eiffel Tower, which became the tallest skyscraper in the world. This lead to the business in Chicago to decrease, and people from coming to Chicago. But it did not let Holmes from staying away. Holmes was not his real name, but to everyone in the city. The only thing that people knew was that he was a gentleman and was a ladies man. He was able to persuade anyone to do anything, to the point people did not mind what he was doing or saying. One day the entire town was excited because they found out that Chicago was the place that they would build the next tallest building and Burnham and Root was going to be the ones that were going to build it and they had to do it in 3 years. While this was occurring,mes was working on a project of his own. he was creating a huge hotel, near where the building was going to be built. He had become successful after a couple of years owning his own business, and had a wife and daughter. But even though how nice he was people did not totally trust him because there was something about him that made people think twice. On top of not using his real name he also would buy everything on credit and would never pay it back even though he had the money, and everyday he would fire someone that was working to build his hotel. There were times that people had suspicions about Holmes that his hotel was more than just an hotel, because of what he said at times it got them scared for their life.
Quote: "One day he offered to pay her $6000 if he would acquire a $10000 life insurance policy...She was on the verge of accepting the offer when Holmes said to her softly, Don't be afraid of me"(Larson 73).
Reaction:
When i read this quote i had to read it twice because i was amazed that he would say such a thing to her. What i learned from this quote was that all he liked was money, and that was the only thing he was trying to get from life. That he might do anything to get his money, because everything in his is an investment to him. An image of a guy with a huge grin popped up in my mine when i read this quote because, it was the point of the story when you see that he is truly not a real nice person, but that he has a dark side and people just don't know, his real personality. This made me just want to learn more about Holmes, and see what he is going to do throughout this story. Another thing that i thought was that he was going to kill her because if he did he would gain a profit of $2000 dollars. And if he did not kill her it would take a long time for her to die because she was a healthy person.
This book starts talking about how Chicago and how it is over populated there are a lot of people disappearing from the city people where not making a big deal about it because it was a huge city. It was a very busy town, many people would come a visit to see the huge buildings, and the tallest skyscrapers in the world. Which was built by Burnham and Root, who were able to defeat the law of gravity and build building that was one of the tallest buildings in the world and it attracted many people towards Chicago. This lead to Burnham and Root being able to get more jobs in constructing. But one day some of their buildings feel and some got burned and this led to their business going down. Burnham had gone through things before that he did not succeed like getting admitted to Yale and Harvard. But that did not stop him from becoming an architect. And these events would not stop him from doing what he loved the most. Burnham and Root kept on building and, while they still had the one of the tallest buildings, Paris came with the Eiffel Tower, which became the tallest skyscraper in the world. This lead to the business in Chicago to decrease, and people from coming to Chicago. But it did not let Holmes from staying away. Holmes was not his real name, but to everyone in the city. The only thing that people knew was that he was a gentleman and was a ladies man. He was able to persuade anyone to do anything, to the point people did not mind what he was doing or saying. One day the entire town was excited because they found out that Chicago was the place that they would build the next tallest building and Burnham and Root was going to be the ones that were going to build it and they had to do it in 3 years. While this was occurring,mes was working on a project of his own. he was creating a huge hotel, near where the building was going to be built. He had become successful after a couple of years owning his own business, and had a wife and daughter. But even though how nice he was people did not totally trust him because there was something about him that made people think twice. On top of not using his real name he also would buy everything on credit and would never pay it back even though he had the money, and everyday he would fire someone that was working to build his hotel. There were times that people had suspicions about Holmes that his hotel was more than just an hotel, because of what he said at times it got them scared for their life.
Quote: "One day he offered to pay her $6000 if he would acquire a $10000 life insurance policy...She was on the verge of accepting the offer when Holmes said to her softly, Don't be afraid of me"(Larson 73).
Reaction:
When i read this quote i had to read it twice because i was amazed that he would say such a thing to her. What i learned from this quote was that all he liked was money, and that was the only thing he was trying to get from life. That he might do anything to get his money, because everything in his is an investment to him. An image of a guy with a huge grin popped up in my mine when i read this quote because, it was the point of the story when you see that he is truly not a real nice person, but that he has a dark side and people just don't know, his real personality. This made me just want to learn more about Holmes, and see what he is going to do throughout this story. Another thing that i thought was that he was going to kill her because if he did he would gain a profit of $2000 dollars. And if he did not kill her it would take a long time for her to die because she was a healthy person.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Beloved (reaction to movie review)
I agree with Janet Maslin, writer of "Movie Review - Beloved - FILM REVIEW; No Peace From A Brutal Legacy", that the everyone that helped put this movie together was able to portray the feeling that times were hard and that people had to make sacrifices, so they could protect their loved ones. That people should read the book before watching the movie because even though depending how old you are it might be confusing. It is worth the effort to read the book and spending time reading passages over more than three times, because you are able to learn more about the characters that way. If you still are confused about the book by the end, the movie is a like a little review of what you have just read. A novel like this, thats very descriptive and makes the reader imagen in the head what is happening. It is better to watch the movie after so you can see how much description in a novel can really affect how much emotion and personality the actors have to have. After watching the movie you really notice the them of the novel which is when the supernatural and natural worlds meet, its can make people happy for a certain period of time but it does not specifically lead to happiness in life. I agree with Maslin, that because the movie begins calm and slow, it helps build the plot of the story . It leads to the reveal of the supernatural world as more dramatic and brings a lot of creativity to the film.(Maslin).
Maslin, Janet. "Movie Review - Beloved - FILM REVIEW; No
Peace From A Brutal Legacy - NYTimes.com."
Movie Reviews, Showtimes and Trailers - Movies -
New York Times - The New York Times. 16
Oct. 1998. Web. 25 Feb. 2011. <http://movies.nytim
es.com/movie/reviewres=9405E4D813 3AF935A2
5753 C1A96E958260>.
Maslin, Janet. "Movie Review - Beloved - FILM REVIEW; No
Peace From A Brutal Legacy - NYTimes.com."
Movie Reviews, Showtimes and Trailers - Movies -
New York Times - The New York Times. 16
Oct. 1998. Web. 25 Feb. 2011. <http://movies.nytim
es.com/movie/reviewres=9405E4D813 3AF935A2
5753 C1A96E958260>.
Beloved ( reaction to the movie)
My first reaction to this movie is that it was very well planned out. What i mean is that they barely changed anything that occurred in the book, and unlike other book into movies, there where moments when i remembered that that was what the characters said exactly in the novel. It seemed less like you were being told a story because the director used a lot of point of view shots, making the person watching the movie feel as if they are one of the actors, and more connected to the movie. I noticed that the director played with the lighting a lot, for example when Paul D. first entered the house, the hall way emitted a flashing red like, which could symbolize evil or the devil during this scene. I really liked the movie better than the book because there were a lot of reaction shots and close-ups, so i was able to really see how each character felt during that scene. For me the novel seem as if it was trying to packed in a lot of information in just 300 pages, which made it a little confusing for me. However the movie, helped me understand those scenes because there were fades when Sethe would start to talk about the past, and about what had happened to her. I think that the actors really fit the characters personality especially the actress that played as Denver. I was able to understand Denver's emotion towards Beloved, and until i watched the movie i did not know that at the end Denver's emotion started to change about Beloved. But what surprised me the most was the actress for Beloved because i when i read the novel i did not think would be a crazy character as the one portrayed in the movie. However it gave a lot of emotion and life to the movie, and showed the awkwardness of Beloved. My favorite scene is when Denver is home with Beloved and she is leading her to the kitchen so that she could sit down and eat some bread. This is my favorite scene because the director uses a point of view shot, close up, reaction shot, and an over a shoulder shot, and also a tracking shot during this scene. These shots helps us see that Beloved looks like a grown teenager however she is like a baby who does not ever know how to even walk. We see that thats how Denver treats her, congratulating Beloved when she is able to walk to the chair. Overall i believe that this was one of the best book into movie films i have seen, and i felt like the director made ever thing fit together perfectly from the mood of the scene, to the selection of the song he uses, to the actors and the choice of shots he decides to use.
Beloved (Pgs 195-316)
Summary:Paul D. and Beloved stayed with Denver and Sethe at the house. Beloved would spend her days with Denver while Sethe was at work, playing games and being taken cared of by Denver. During dinner Beloved would ask questions about Sethe's past and about what happened to her family. One day when it was snowing out side and the river was just ice they decided to go skating on it each using on skate, or just sliding with their shoes. The entire time they could barely get anywhere without falling down, and when they tried to help each other up they would just fall down again and start bursting out laughing. They did this for a couple of hours until they decided to go back home and cover themselves with a blanket while drinking something hot, surrounding the fire. They sat on the kitchen floor just staring at the fire, quietly each deep in their own thoughts. Until Sethe noticed that there was someone that was humming. But what really caught her attention was that she was humming a song that she had made up, and only her and her children knew about the song. This is when Sethe eyes opened and noticed that the Beloved that was living at her house for weeks was not just a stranger that had the same name as her baby that she had killed long time about, but it was her baby that had came back to her in flesh as the age that she would be if she had never died. This changed the atmosphere in the house, Sethe became obsessed with Beloved, taking care of her feeding her treats and just loving her more than she could have. But all this love toward Beloved, meant that Denver was not being noticed that much anymore. Before all of this Denver was happy that her baby sister had came back to her however now she see that Beloved was not just loving her mother but slowly draining the life out of Sethe. Days passed and Sethe stopped going to work, and instead stayed home trying to please Beloved and keep her happy. While Beloved would just walk around the house and sleep anywhere she wanted to. Denver decides to get a job because they would starve to death if she did not. Other women from the community would also help by leaving a basket of eggs or food on the stump in front of the house. When the rest of the women in the community was informed by the ghost baby that was slowly killing Sethe they decided to try to get ride of her by going to the house with crosses and singing. When they did this Sethe and Beloved went outside and everyone say the naked beloved who had a stomach that was huge like she was pregnant. After Sethe fell into a hallucination and ran into the crowd of women with a ice pike in the air, with Denver running behind her trying to stop her mother from harming anyone. Beloved was left on the porch, and that was the first time she felt lonely and she started to scream to the point that she disappeared in thin air. After this happened Sethe could not leave her bed and Paul. D came back to visit her and told her that he still loved her. The novel ends with their life going back to how it use to be without Beloved and now with Denver having her own job and people communicating with their family again. However the incident with Beloved was never spoken of again as if it was just all just a bad dream.
Quote: "When the click came Sethe didn't know what it was. Afterward it was clear as daylight that the click came at the very beginning- a beat, almost, before it started; before she heard three notes; before the melody was even clear". (Morrison 202).
Reaction:
When i read this quote, i kind of yelled in my head thank you because i believed that it took Sethe a really long time to notice that Beloved was her dead baby that came back to life. And it was one of the things that really aggravated me during the story because how could you not noticed that she had the same name as her dead baby. I think that this was a great way that Toni Morrison made Sethe see the truth about who Beloved really was because when she started to talk about the clicking noise i thought about the click of a light switch. But after reading that passage over a couple more times, i thought the clicking noise could also resemble the crackling of the fire that they were sitting infront of. So the noise can be viewed more than one way. Even though i thought that it would have been better if Sethe seen who Beloved really was earlier in the story, it might have caused the book to be shorter and less interesting. Because by waiting till near the end for Sethe to find out about Beloved, it makes the reader want to read the book and find out what Sethe reaction is.
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