...Nature vs. Nurture The stories of serial killers have intrigued all of us at times. One of these stories is Devil in the White City written by Erik Larson. It tells the story of the World’s Fair and of America’s first serial killer, H.H. Holmes. Scientists and psychologists have wondered why people like H.H. Holmes do what they do. It brings up the question which has a bigger effect on your personality, the genetics you were born with or the environment you were brought up in. In other words, nature versus nurture. This concept was debated by well respected scientist, Matt Ridley. He looked at both ideas in a chapter he wrote called “Free Will”. Another story where nature versus nurture could be debated was in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak....
Words: 968 - Pages: 4
...WAC REPORT ON THE CASE LARSON IN NIGERIA Su bmitted To Submitted On Submitted By : : : Prof. Sanjay Kumar Gupta 06 th September, 2012 Samarth Mewada-20121048 To : David From : Steven Date : 06.09.2012 SUB: - Detail analysis report to choose the course of action for future prospects in Nigeria Dear David, The Business situation in Nigeria has been analysed with reverence to present situation and future escalation. The report contains the options and the options are evaluated on different criteria. The analysis leads to a decision to continue operations at Nigeria with new CEO. Thanks Regards Steven 1 WAC REPORT ON LARSON IN NIGERIA Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 SITUATION ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 PROBLEM STATEMENT ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 STATEMENT OF OPTIONS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 CRITERIA FOR EVALUATIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 EVALUATION OF OPTIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8 RECOMMENDATION---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 PLAN OF ACTION...
Words: 1544 - Pages: 7
...History 7 October 31 2013 The devil in the white city The novel The Devil in the White City is a 2003 literary nonfiction book by Erick Larson. The novel is based on real characters and events; it illustrates the time period surrounding the building of the World’s Columbian Exposition, or also known as the Chicago World’s fair in 1893. The Fair was considered to honor and memorize the arrival of Christopher Columbus to America. The book is divided into four parts; the first three parts of the book take place between the years of 1890 till 1893 in Chicago, while the last part of the book takes place in Philadelphia in the year of 1895. The novel recreates the lives of two separate, yet very connected men during the Chicago World’s fair. The first character we are introduced to is Daniel Burnham, who is the architect that built the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. The story explains how he overcame many obstacles and struggles that he faced during the construction of the fair. The second character is H.H. Holmes AKA Herman Webster Mudgett, the serial killer who bring fear and terror to the fair, and haunts the fair in search of his victims. With the novel explaining how a great event the World’s Columbian Exposition is, and the mention of the story of H.H. Holmes, there is no doubt that the era from 1890 till 1893 was a great time as well as an evil time for the united states. With many events that has influenced and effected the novel The Devil in the White City, the...
Words: 322 - Pages: 2
...The Devil in the White City, a nonfiction novel written by Erik Larson, focused around the construction the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, also referred to as The World's Columbian Exposition, Daniel Burnham, the architect responsible for building World's Fair and the serial killer who exploits the fair to find his victims, H.H. Holmes, the two men's lives are recreated. Larson uses juxtaposition, imagery, and figurative language to portray the opposing forces of good and evil in action during the World’s fair. Introducing juxtaposition in into the novel Larson contrasts the good and evil presented by the fair. Larson compares the good of Burnham to light and the nefariousness of Holmes to the dark. Known as the “White City”, Chicago is a pivotal...
Words: 423 - Pages: 2
...also known as the Gilded Age? In the book, Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson the author describes how greed and corruption by the United States government ultimately leads to poor decisions after a horrific disaster in 1900 [Larson]. In addition, well-researched essays by Henry Demarest Lloyd and Emma Goldman back up Larson’s theory that the Gilded Age was actually a very dark time for the United States. Isaac’s Storm describes the historical aspects of the national weather service, weather forecasting, and hurricane predictions. Larson gives insight into the personal tragedy of a destructive storm in September of 1900 and how it affected Galveston, Texas and its position as a major city in the United States. Teemed with devastation and arrogance, the book follows Isaac Cline who was one of the first meteorologists at a time when there really was not a true science connected to weather predictions. He showed a real aptitude in this new field and eventually found himself assigned to the weather bureau in Galveston, Texas [Larson]. At the beginning of the 20th Century, a great confidence pervaded the United States. Isaac Cline was one of the era’s new men, a scientist who believed he knew all there was to know about the motion of clouds and the behavior of storms. This type of confidence was matched with the wealth and power of industry leaders acting as robber barons and not captains of industry [Foner]. According to Larson and essayists Lloyd and Goldman, there was an imbalance between...
Words: 2332 - Pages: 10
...Anh Nguyen Professor Wegley ENG 102 18 January 2014 The Happiness Store: A Place to be Happy in Less Mundane Ways Gary Larson has brought laughter to many people by his popular long-running comic called The Far Side. In one of these cartoon series, the character names Crawley was told by his friends: “You cannot buy happiness”. However, “Mr. Crawley surmised that they just didn’t know where the store was” (Figure 1). Humorously, Mr. Crawley’s conclusion about the reason why his friends could never buy happiness may be comical and eccentric, but it conveys Larson’s message about a common and reflective argument in our life as he identifies people’s different aspects of happiness and ways to accomplish it. Is simply painted in black and white with captions at the bottom, the single rectangular panel makes it easier for the readers to recognize Larson’s typical painting style and his message throughout the comic. Looking at the panel, what impresses viewers at the first glance is the “Happiness” store with a remarkable, large signboard on the corner of a crowded street. On the pane of glass, there are several flyers for advertisement such as “Complete your life”. Besides, that store selling happiness is the place which Mr. Crawley’s friends – the characters in the comic did not know. Thus, they were unable to purchase happiness. The hilarious point is that “happiness” is an abstract, ungraspable definition; how come there is a store selling it? Nevertheless...
Words: 944 - Pages: 4
...Madness in the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson. In the books there are two storylines: one about the life of H.H. Holmes, the serial killer, the other about how the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago came to be. By contrasting "white" city of the World Fair, and the dark essence of the serial killer. Erik Larson is able to combine fact and fiction and make a statement that beauty can be an illusion that is able to cover what is hidden under the surface. The World's Fair was built to bring all the best things to Chicago and also for the United States to show off its glory. The contraction of the Worlds fair was done poorly because the intention for the buildings was to only be in...
Words: 506 - Pages: 3
...Landon Nelson HERMAN WEBSTER MUDGETT Herman Webster Mudgett, more commonly known as Henry Holmes was born on May 16th, 1861. He was raised in the town of Gilmonton, New Hampshire. As a child, Henry grew up with his mother and father as a single child, his family was wealthy. His father often was referred to as a raging alcoholic. His mother on the other hand was a strict Methodist who would often read Henry excerpts from the Holy Bible and try to teach him good morals. However these morals would be soon washed away with the help of his classmates in school. Kids in his school would often force Henry to touch human skeletons. Due to this, Henry became very fascinated with the human anatomy and death. Although this was a major catalyst to his curiosity with medical science, Henry was already known to be a very smart kid and loved medicine. After his experience with human skeletons, Henry decided to take his fascination to the next level. He proceeded by discecting animals for fun and he would read books about medicine. Eventually he would move on to college to become a doctor. In his later years, Mudgett attended the University of Michigan where he was later expelled for stealing corpses and performing experiments on them. He would also use the...
Words: 697 - Pages: 3
...The Devil in the White City is nonfiction story told by Erik larson during the years of the building The Chicago World's Fair that was in honor of the landing of Columbus in America. Most of the novel takes place in Chicago between the years 1890-1893. the story is about two real men that lived in chicago during this time. the two stories seem separate but are connected. The first main character is Daniel Burnham the architect who builds the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. the other character is H.H. Holmes a notorious serial killer who used the fair as a way to lure victims. Daniel Burnham plot line focuses on him building the fair and the struggles he faced. Daniel Burnham and his partner, John Root, are the the architects who build...
Words: 617 - Pages: 3
...ocusing on the issue, Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City vividly describes the conditions of 1890s Chicago, Illinois. In the book, the city is depicted as dirty, polluted, and crime ridden. It was so bad that the main character, Daniel Burnham, moved his family out of the city because, as he wrote, “I could no longer bear to have my children in the streets of Chicago.” In this assignment, we will analyze how The Devil in the White City describes the nearly destitute conditions of Chicago, and how the city has changed in over a century. Throughout Devil, Larson describes the conditions of Chicago many times. One of the reader’s first introductions to the city is “It was so easy to disappear, so easy to deny knowledge, so very easy in...
Words: 574 - Pages: 3
...TO: FROM: DATE: December 2, 2010 SUBJECT: Larson Incorporated’s Economic Future This memorandum summarizes our recommendations for Larson Incorporated based upon foundational Milestones 1 through 3 and the predicated economic futures for Larson Incorporated. The recommendations include underlying attention to: pricing strategies, non-pricing barriers, business cycles, macroeconomic conditions, credit markets and affected global conditions over the next five years from previous Milestone research. Description of Three Alternatives Economic Futures Business cycles are alternating rises and declines in the level of economic activity, sometimes over several years (McConnell, Brue & Flynn, 2009). An understanding of cycles and their impact on Larson will allow Larson to react to changing economic conditions. The three alternative economic futures are recession, depression and expansion. (See Figure 1) Figure 1 The rising and descending of the economy is reflected below for the months between Jan 2006 and June 2010 (The National Bureau of Economic Research, 2010). Understanding this data and preparing for future expansions and contractions enables Larson to sustain through recessions and build smartly during times of expansion. Figure 2 Recession and Depression * Economic Future Recession is marked by a period of decline in total output, income and employment (McConnell, Brue & Flynn, 2009). There is widespread contraction of business activity...
Words: 1160 - Pages: 5
...'White City' of a Lie H.H. Holmes proved his madness in his design of his hotel near the World's Fair in Chicago. He had a litany of evil deeds that would take a lot of lives of innocent people. Holmes’s personality is perfect for someone who could be able to commit murder, someone with, “dark hair, and striking blue eyes” (35). On the surface H.H. Holmes seemed to be a productive member of society. Born and raised in the small state of New Hampshire, he turned his fascination with the human body into a career when he graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1884. Wealthy, well-educated and refined, the young doctor moved to Chicago where he became the owner of a drugstore, and eventually opened a hotel. His design of the building reflected Holmes’s desires to hide bodies, and clothing within the basement of the building to cover his crime. Later, the building was destroyed as a death chamber. Holmes wanted his hotel, “just comfortable enough and cheap enough to lure a certain kind of clientele and convincing enough to justify a large fire insurance policy” (85). He was a total lady-killer. Holmes knew how to make women feel special and knew how to use the greater liberalism of the time by carefully, gently flouting convention, which women away from their homes and families desired: "He stood too close, stared too hard, touched too much and long. And women adore him for it." (5). Even after he was discovered women defended him: "Holmes, she swore, had...
Words: 1319 - Pages: 6
...Larson In Nigeria | WAC Report | | | | | 9/6/2012 | | Table of Contents Letter of Transmittal 3 Executive Summary................................................................................................................................4 Situation Analysis...................................................................................................................................4 Problem Statement 6 Statement of options 6 Criteria of Evaluation 7 Evaluation of Options 7 Recommendation 8 Action Plan 8 References 8 To, Mr. David Larson September 6th, 2012. Subject: Regarding report on the Larson Inc subsidiary in Nigeria. Dear Mr. David, I have herewith attached the report pertaining to the Larson Inc subsidiary in Nigeria. This report analyzes the situation pertaining at Nigeria and factors contributing to the problems experienced by Larson’s joint venture in Nigeria. This report will help you make a rational, logical and informed decision regarding your endeavours. Regards, xyz Executive Assistant, Larsen Inc. Executive Summary Pessimistic report of George Ridley, CEO of the Nigerian affiliate has lead Mr. David Larson, The vice-president of international operations, to prepare a plan to continue to operate the company's Nigerian joint venture. Maintaining the operation was complicated by problems in staffing, complying with a promise to increase the share of local ownership, a joint venture partner...
Words: 1271 - Pages: 6
...The Larson Family Story FAS 331 Darrell Carson 11 October 2012 Academy Award winning actress, Gwyneth Paltrow stated in an interview that marriage is hard. She was referring to her union with the Coldplay front man, Chris Martin. Both Martin and Paltrow are in lines of work that help them to live relatively comfortable lives financially. Yet, by her own admission, without major financial burdens, marriage for them is still difficult (Heller, 2011). American poet and rapper, Notorious B.I.G. said in one of his most popular songs “Mo’ money, Mo’ problems” (Wallace, 1997). In this simple lyric, he was trying to convey the fact the money does not solve everything. In fact, it brings its own set of problems. While he may have been correct, the absence of money brings its own set of unique obstacles, especially within the family dynamic. Many marriage counselors will say that there are numerous pitfalls for all families. Children becoming teenagers, managing the day to day workings of a household, and parents getting older are just a few of the obstacles that families can face. However, financial stress can be one of the largest obstacles that a family has to tackle. In a poor economy, these problems are magnified. For the case of this paper, an imaginary family will be used to illustrate these problems. Jason and Janet Larson have been married for ten years. They have three school aged children. Jason works for a construction company as an electrician. Janet works...
Words: 3427 - Pages: 14
...The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson gives readers an insightful look into what it was truly like living in Chicago in the 19th century, showing the power struggle over good and evil in these confusing times. The book follows two, at first, seemingly unrelated storylines. The first is the building of the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893, the other about a serial killer known as H.H. Holmes. The book begins with a prologue of a Mr. Daniel H. Burnham aboard a ship, the Olympic, with his wife, Margaret in 1912. As Burnham looks back, remembering sad accounts of friends who helped him in the great accomplishment of building the fair, we as readers sense that something bad happened earlier on in his life, probably during the times of the fair. Burnham, of course, as the...
Words: 1671 - Pages: 7
