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History
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Jacob Riis How the Other Half Lives Essay Sample

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Topic: Jacob Riis,How the Other Half Lives (New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011) Length: Two to four double-spaced pages; Times New Roman, 12-point font, standard (one-inch) margins. Prompt: Describe late-nineteenth century New York as portrayed by Jacob Riis in How the Other Half Lives . Identify the problems he sought to reveal, as well as the forces on which he blamed those problems. What solutions to these problems does Riis offer? Do you believe his solutions are feasible? What do you believe would be the best way to handle these problems? Your arguments about Riis’s ideas and your own solutions must be rooted in a clear understanding of the historical realities of the Gilded Age and urban America at that time. Your paper should have a clear argument, which should be articulated in the introduction, supported throughout the body of the essay by evidence from the book, and then re-stated in the conclusion. Most of your evidence should come from the actual Riis writings, rather than the editor’s introduction; however, you should use the introduction to provide yourself with context. Citations may be parenthetical (Riis, 25). Or they may be short-form footnotes. 1 A few reminders: Past tense is usually preferred in historical writing. You should avoid first-person (I, we, my, etc.) or second-person (you, your, yourself) pronouns; third person (he, she, it, etc.) is preferred. Make sure your paragraphs contain complete thoughts and appropriately link to one another. You should avoid the passive voice, split infinitives, and similar issues.

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Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives
How the other half lives was a piece that was written by one of the world’s most influential writer in the 19th century, Jacob A. Riis. The book that was published in the year 1890 brought out the raw story of the plight of the people living in the slums in New York in writing and pictures. Other than the fact that the piece is one of the most moving ones that he ever wrote, it was also riding on the personal experience he had in the same slums. He had also had problems looking for work in the tenement and was working as a police reporter back in the year 1877.
In the book Jacob provocatively recollects the kind of life that those that are tenement have to cope with. Among some of the most intricate problems in the slums are pandemics, poverty and crime. These are problems that have been heavily contributed by the fact that most of the people in the slums do not have any means of acquiring income and therefore most of them have no place to sleep, food to eat and no form of medical care to lean on when disease strikes. The system is set out in a manner that most of the people are paupers, other in jail, courts while the other thousands are languishing in the charities, which is close to the best place they can get (William).
Jacob also takes a closer look into the racial prejudice, in the chapter called the cheap lodging houses. In this chapter, Jacob relates to how most of the people that find their way into the city. Most of the people that came to the slums legally or otherwise were all looking for a better life. What the immigrant did not know about the place they were so eager to get to, is the fact that poverty was also eagerly waiting for them. The lodging at the time charged the immigrants about twenty cents to ten cents to spend the night. Later on as more people came to the slums, the space become more expensive and most of them would be charged five cents to fi...
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