*A brief overview of the historical moment. *The significance of Jacob Riis’ work

Jacob Riiis  The Mirror with the Memory       Rough  Outline

INTRODUCTION:  WRITE THE CONTEXT OF THE ESSAY :

*A brief overview of the historical moment.

*The significance of Jacob Riis’ work

1. POSSIBLE THESIS:  Focus on the issue of immigrants entering in NYCin large numbers. housing (tenements) and the conditions under which they lived and worked (factory jobs, work at home in tenement apartments, homeless children, diseases, etc.)
2. OTHER KIND OF THESIS: Jacob Riis and Social Media Representation :Focus on immigrants and representation of their struggle through photography. Jacob Riis, the camera, “How the other Half Lives” – the book Riis wrote and muckraking.

DEVELOPMENT:  SECTION ONE

Refer to the chapter The Mirror with the Memory—

1. What does this mean and refer to?
2. Who is Jacob Riis ? What was his struggle and his mission?
3. How did he use “muckraking” to tell his message?
4. What is the significance of Jacob Riis’ work?

                           SECTION 2 

The Plight and situation of the immigrants:

1. Who came into America at the beginning of the 20^thCentury?
2. What issues did these immigrants face?
3. What is the condition of the tenements?
4. How did they work – both in the “home” and in the factories— Add the Triangle Shirt-Waist factory Fire  & The Jungle (meatpacking)  See Factory Conditionson the Blackboard Site
5. Add photos. Analyze the photographs and write about what you see and your reaction

       SECTION 3

The American Dream – Does it exist? Did it exist back 100+ years ago

Refer to the J. Truslow Adams Quote

Refer to the poem: The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus

Add any articles on The American Dream that apply (we will research this)

  SECTION 4 

What is the legacy of J. Riis?

Did his photographs make a difference?

What reforms came about as a result of Riis and other Muckrakers?

Was the fact that he wrote a book that uses insensitive and prejudicial language change how you feel about Riis and his Legacy?

Do you think Riis wrote in such a way to appeal to the upper classes or was he himself a bigot?

Concluding  Thoughts

James Truslow Adams > Quotes > Quotable Quote

“The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”

― James Truslow Adams, The Epic of America

The New Colossus

BY EMMA LAZARUS

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Prompts for Jacob Riis and “Mirror with a Memory”

1. Review your original reaction and the reactions of others on Blackboard. To refresh your memory you were guided to Step One:

Think about the title “Mirror with a Memory.” What does it suggest to you?  What “mirrors with memories” do we see today?

Next, Google

How the Other Half Lives–

Step One: Review the gallery of photographs of Riis circa late 1800s New York. Read through some of the chapters. You will notice how prejudice and racism abounds in Riis’s descriptions of immigrants  living in the Lower East Side then.

Step Two: Consider the two sides of New York, one rich, one poor. Though New Yorkers are better off now than about a century ago what is still wrong with the everyday lives of struggling New Yorkers, including the latest immigrant population?

Step Three: Write your reaction to these statements:  “Riis did not simply want us to see the poor or the slums; he wanted us to see them as he saw them..” The last paragraph of the chapter  captures this point:

“In a sense the photographs “mirror” is silvered on both sides, catching the reflection of its users as well as its subjects. The prints that emerge from the twilight of the darkroom must be read by historians as they do all evidence–appreciating messages that may be simple or obvious or complex and elusive. Once these evidentiary limits are appreciated, the historian can recognize the rueful justice in Oliver Wendell Holmes’ s definition of a photograph: an illusion with the appearance of reality that cheats the senses with its seeming truth.”

As with Step One, write a short reaction but in this case, engage with the ideas from the above quote. Break it down, associate it to other modes of representation, say whether you agree/disagree with the statements.

WRITING ASSIGNMENT: COMBINE YOUR REACTIONS THAT YOU WROTE FOR STEPS ONE AND TWO: What critical comments can you make regarding human conditions of the representation of people who are struggling in society–the poor, the indigent and those marginalized because of race, religion or just how they appear?

On the other hand, photography – including social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the use of smartphones capture events in our lives people long ago never dreamed possible.

How do photographic images—and all the new technological advances contribute to our understanding of the lives of others? How do images, and modes of representation today bring us “truth” as well as “distortion” of the truth.? What events can you also consider today that impacts how people are represented? You may refer to any significant recent incidents in the current news events

2. In this day and age, anyone can be a journalist, but in Jacb Riis’s time, he was one of the first.  As a pioneer, Riis taught the rich and privileged  “how the other half lives” with his photography and with his writings. Read some of his book, “How the Other Half Lives”. Notice how Riis characterizes the subjects he is trying to write about “honestly.” What problems are in his depictions of the very subjects he is trying to “help.” How does his prejudice, his lack of deep insight as well as his “good intentions” help us to understand the mindset of his time? What would you say to Riis if you were one of his subjects captured in photographs or in his book. Write out your ideas in an essay that addresses both the benefits and the wrongness of Riis’s work.

Getting Started:

First, you. must choose your Topic: the topics are the homework assignments we did as well as the prompts. Make sure you read through carefully because  there are many options.

1. You can begin writing your essay in several ways. a) You can just write.  Free-writing or writing without stopping can be a good way to figure out what you want to say about a topic. After free-writing for 2 pages (more or less0 see what ideas have come up  and then go onto looking for ways the course material– reading, Youtubes, interesting quotes, etc. enhance your ideas. After this process, read your own writing and determine if there is a main point to your ideas. Reading aloud to yourself is a good way to assess your own writing.  if you have a strong idea that stands out, this could be a working thesis. Go back over the prompts and see how your writing relates to the ideas presented in the prompts and course material. If you feel your writing  is “all over the place” consider how it shifts and why. Maybe you need to re-read some of the course material to refresh your ideas. But even if you think your writing is a “mess” essays often start out messy so don’t worry.  Try to find what is consistent in what you are trying to say. That will give you an idea about what your working thesis is. Stay on that point and continue to gather more ideas by going over all the sources.

2. Use an outline: I have posted several outline templates and guides. But to make it short for time’s sake, a “classic” outline  is one in which you state the main idea (or thesis) at the top of the page. Then list each idea that relates or adds information to the main  idea of your essay , that is, your thesis. If you are able to, write a Topic Sentencefor each paragraph, that is the beginning sentence of each paragraph  here’s an example:

Main Idea -Thesis  This is your biggest, strongest idea that ties your essay together and/or that you want to  “push” the reader to agree with or to persuade the reader . It is also an idea that has some depth, critical thinking and complexity.  Here’s an example:

1. Sacco and Vanzetti were victims of an unjust system. The main reason for their conviction was their affiliation with Anarchism, which was a threat to national stability and also regarded as being anti-American, especially by  those in power, such as politicians, judges, and the attorney general at the time. My essay will prove that  while Sacco and Vanzetti were actually on trial for murder and robbery, they were treated as threats to American society and as traitors to the United States.

Par 1. Topic Sentence: Anarchism was a concern for some Americans because of terrorist activities associated with the political group. (The rest of the paragraph will develop this idea)

Par 2. Topic Sentence: Judge Webster Thayer  was a Nativist who openly deplored radical groups, including communists, socialists, and anarchists. (The rest of paragraph will explain how he prejudiced the case and will add some of his quotes.

Par 3………

Graphic Outline: If you prefer, you can start with a visual outline, like a “bubble” with the topic inside and connectors to all the ideas that relate to the topic. On the side panel, there is a graphic outline on how to write an Argument. Your essay can argue a position, but it does not have to be an argument to be a good essay. You can also analyze a topic as well but If you do write an argument, it is good to show both sides but you can also write a perfectly good essay arguing strongly on only one side of the topic. 

Please remember that wile I have posted many articles, youtubes and extra information, it is your decision what to select and you should also do your own research. You can use .edu sites, .gov sites, the library databases,  google scholar, but please be careful with .orgs.   Check with me on sites you are not sure of.