From Ragged to Richard Dick Hunter was a poor kid living in the streets of New York City. During his years on the streets‚ he had picked up some unhealthy habits such as smoking and gambling. Making a living shining boots‚ Dick only made enough money to feed himself comfortably every day but just under the amount to be able to purchase clothing or any other luxuries. Because there was nothing else to do on the streets‚ Dick would have to gamble or smoke to pass time but if he did‚ he would have
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the emphasis Horatio Alger Jr. places on Dick Hunter. The better qualities of Dick are constantly being reminded to the reader‚ giving them little room to disagree with Alger’s heroic portrayal of him. Horatio Alger Jr.’s preference to homosexuality also reflects his choice in excluding any useful female characters in his novel. Minor characters lack understanding from readers because information surrounding them is absent‚ causing them to be judged on face value alone. Alger writes Ragged
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Christian Silvia English 209 8/26/2012 Ragged Dick by Horatio Alger Jr. This book entails the struggles of young poor boys growing up in New York City through the eyes of Horatio Alger Jr. Although the author grew up comfortably under the roof of his family‚ he finds a particular calling in helping young boys‚ without the same privileges as he had‚ find a way to advance themselves in life. Horatio Alger Jr. was born in New England in 1832‚ later moved to the states with his family in
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reform efforts in the nineteenth century. A few major roadblocks were violent methods that monopolies used to combat the unions such as The National Guard‚ and Pinkerton Guards. Despite seeming like a positive aspect ‚ rags to riches stories by Horatio Alger significantly reduced change due to the fact that the poor still believed they too could be rich. The last major issue that blocked reform was the fact that unions were viewed as radicals and anarchists. The government support of the monopolies
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possessions. In today’s society‚ we all hope and strive for this dream‚ but how many actually achieve the American Dream? Is it a reasonable goal that Americans should strive for‚ or is it a myth that only leads to self-destruction? According to Horatio Alger and Toni Cade Bambara‚ they both believe the concept that the American Dream is a myth and prove these fundamentals through their writing. A single person or a small group does not create the notion of success‚ but it is created by our whole society
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The Death of Horatio Alger: Summary In the essay‚ “The Death of Horatio Alger‚” by Paul Krugman‚ published in The McGraw-Hill Reader‚ Krugman examines the value of the American Dream. He conveys the idea that if the American Dream were to die‚ people throughout the nation would not be able to move up through the economic classes of the U.S as they once used too. Krugman starts off with a short anecdote about how one day he found himself reading an article that according to Krugman‚ made outrageous
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parts – teeth‚ eye‚ thumb‚ scalp‚ leg – with painful regularity as he seeks to make his fortune and lay claim to that mythical‚ tarnished dream of American wealth and happiness. In doing this‚ West explains‚ his intention was to ‘rewrit[e] the Horatio Alger myth – from barge boy to president of from shirt-sleeves to shirt-sleeves in one generation.’ It is hard to tell whether one likes or dislikes this novel. It is a peculiar‚ hallucinatory experience. The cartoonish humour is‚ at once‚ wickedly
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Essay 1: Social Darwinism and the Gospel of Wealth Social Darwinism was the use of Charles Darwin’s scientific theory of evolution and natural selection to a society’s development. The theory stated that in nature‚ only those who were the fittest survived. This explanation was adopted by many American businessmen who believed the theory to be scientific proof of their power. There were two men who stood out from the group of businessmen; Herbert Spencer and William Graham. Both of these
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Ragged Dick Ragged Dick is a novel written in the 1800’s by Horatio Alger. It is a story about a young boy named Richard Hunter‚ also known as Ragged Dick‚ as he progresses though his childhood. Ragged Dick is a typical Rags to Riches story where Dick struggles through the hardships of city life‚ trying to achieve the “American Dream”. As a child‚ Dick is nothing more than a poor city boy who is trying to earn money on the streets of New York City. He spends his
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Alyssa Krajewski 10/02/2012 Society and Global Diversity Race and Ethnicity The people of American are still fighting each day to get rid of the word prejudice. Prejudice is an unsupported generalization about a category of people. Being prejudice leads to stereotyping‚ this leads to racism. Why do people judge other people by the color of their skin? Why do they think their race is more superior? Black people are judged because they were once slaves; the fact that they were owned by white
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