Analysis of "Streets: a Memoir of the Lower East Side" by Bella Spewack
Analysis of “Streets: A Memoir of the Lower East Side” by Bella Spewack
There is a lot that we can learn from people who have experienced history. Bella Spewack, specifically, is a great example of the struggle immigrants endured while trying to survive in America after immigration. Today, it is beneficial to learn about the personal views of people who lived in the past so we can gain a better understanding of how communities today were developed. Reading “Streets”, you can understand what the post immigration life was like in New York in the early years of Bella’s life. Bella included a lot of details in her memoir that allows the reader to understand how difficult life was for an immigrant. Even though “Streets” was written from the perspective of Bella, we can still rely on her opinions to give us an understanding of the difficulty immigrants faced while starting a new life. Before getting into details about the book, there are items we can notate about the source and whether or not it is trustworthy and reliable to a historian. The book is written by Bella who today is a celebrated author as she is known for her writing of Kiss Me, Kate. This book is a memoir and because it was written by the Bella herself, it would be a primary source of information for research. This book was written in the point of view of Bella as a child. She describes the events, sounds, and happenings that occur in her childhood. As you look into the actual writing in this memoir, you can gain an understanding of how events effected the people based on how Bella writes about them. There are certain things that she gives details on and others that are left with an open end as if she doesn’t want to note or write about the difficult things she remembers. As you read through the book, you can start to make connections to the basic knowledge we have about Bella. Early on, as a child is when she first started to take interest in theatrical shows. This led to performing
There is a lot that we can learn from people who have experienced history. Bella Spewack, specifically, is a great example of the struggle immigrants endured while trying to survive in America after immigration. Today, it is beneficial to learn about the personal views of people who lived in the past so we can gain a better understanding of how communities today were developed. Reading “Streets”, you can understand what the post immigration life was like in New York in the early years of Bella’s life. Bella included a lot of details in her memoir that allows the reader to understand how difficult life was for an immigrant. Even though “Streets” was written from the perspective of Bella, we can still rely on her opinions to give us an understanding of the difficulty immigrants faced while starting a new life. Before getting into details about the book, there are items we can notate about the source and whether or not it is trustworthy and reliable to a historian. The book is written by Bella who today is a celebrated author as she is known for her writing of Kiss Me, Kate. This book is a memoir and because it was written by the Bella herself, it would be a primary source of information for research. This book was written in the point of view of Bella as a child. She describes the events, sounds, and happenings that occur in her childhood. As you look into the actual writing in this memoir, you can gain an understanding of how events effected the people based on how Bella writes about them. There are certain things that she gives details on and others that are left with an open end as if she doesn’t want to note or write about the difficult things she remembers. As you read through the book, you can start to make connections to the basic knowledge we have about Bella. Early on, as a child is when she first started to take interest in theatrical shows. This led to performing
Cited: Spewack, Bella. "Streets: A Memoir of the Lower East Side". New York, NY: Feminist Press, 1996.