The chapter "The Down Town Back-Alleys" in Jacob Riis' novel "How the Other Half Lives" focuses on the plight of the poor on the lower east side of Manhattan. The novel focuses on what Riis calls the "other half," indicating the division between the poor people he writes about and his audience. ... It is interesting how as an immigrant, Riis made disparaging comments towards others like himself. ... This makes a separation between the immigrants and the natives, arguing that the immigrants are occupying territory that belongs to the natives, and they do not n...

• Word Count: 1082
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Sinclair wanted to show Americans how hard it was for unemployed immigrants to make it in the harsh new world. ... Sinclair has his main character, Jurgis Rudkus, put through a series of mis-fortunate events throughout the novel, most of which are a result of a moral-lacking economic system. ... Because The Novel is based in the industrial, early 1900's and Sinclair's main point is to show the trials of working men, the industrial environment of Packingtown, Chicago is a perfect setting for a narration that will support the themes of the novel. ... Perhaps Sinclair went too deep into...

• Word Count: 438
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Upton Sinclair's The Jungle is a highly depressing political novel about Capitalism and Socialism in America during the early 1900's. The novel follows the trials and tribulations of a Lithuanian immigrant, Jurgis Rudkus, as he tries to achieve the American Dream, is ground up and spit out by the Capitalist system, and finally learns the benefits of the Socialist dream. ... The novel opens with the wedding of Jurgis and Ona, so that the reader may learn that there are no happy days for the couple. ... The selfishness of the immigrants shows how "there must be some subtle poison in...

• Word Count: 1214
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

In some parts of this novel, readers can know how much Baba cared about Hassan. ... But, in the novel, reality was that Hazara people were likely to be discriminated by Pashtuns, and they were forced to be in a lower class and had fewer education and job opportunities than Pashtuns. ... Also, in the United States, Pashtuns were considered as just immigrants from the Middle Asian region, and the social status and family background they had in Afghanistan no longer guaranteed their lives in America. ... General Taheri, Amir's father-in-law, said "I have to deal with the community'...

• Word Count: 1558
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The novel begins with the strong description of a wedding in which Ona Lukoszaite and Jurgis Rudkus are united in Holy Matrimony. ... America uses the image of the "American Dream" to lure immigrants to this land of opportunity. ... The majority of the immigrant society possess very little money. ...

• Word Count: 810
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Also, many immigrants were coming to America. ... In the novel, Looking Backward, by Edward Bellamy, Bellamy addresses issues of the late19th century by creating and transforming an utopian society based on radical egalitarianism. ... However, in  Bellamy's novel he continues to state that everyone is equal.   ...

• Word Count: 1786
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

The story of the Titanic, which has been the focus of numerous documentaries and novels, became a Hollywood blockbuster in 1997. ... The third class passengers, as were most immigrants of the time, were in search of a better life for themselves and their families in America. ... Many rich people from all over the world were on board the Titanic, in addition to poor immigrants and working class citizens. ...

• Word Count: 2089
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School