In Hamilton, Mark Steinberg successfully divulges details of the life of Alexander Hamilton from his birth until his death. In as much, Steinberg conveys a wide-ranging journey of cluttered, blog style information on every aspect of Hamilton’s legacy as a revolutionary, statesman, family man, and a lover as an admirer of Hamilton. Therefore, this paper will critique Steinberg’s presentation of personal information about Hamilton as well as his admiration for Hamilton, and will also evaluate Steinberg’s cluttered writing style as he tells the story.
This section contains a summary of Hamilton, with Steinberg beginning his book by stating his purpose in writing this book. Steinberg provides a plethora of personal facts and information about Hamilton
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For example, Steinberg states, “To be fair to him, he never had time to relax and was always working.” (143). Also, Steinberg’s purpose is to invoke compassion and forgiveness of Hamilton from his audience and he also wishes for them to admire Hamilton, by stating, “For you the reader, this book could be all you ever want to know about one of our founding fathers. For others, it could be a tantalizing introduction and spur you on to read other books about Hamilton or visit the sites in New York City where he lived and worked.” (4). As a result, Steinberg’s judgments may not be objective and his evaluations seem out of proportion to who Hamilton actually was. Therefore, this character assessment of Hamilton by Steinberg is unavoidable because of what I perceive Steinberg’s moral compass may be. In addition, when writing a biography an attempt has to be made to avoid any personal bias, but could be difficult with a book of this kind. Case in point, Steinberg is aware of his bias for Hamilton because it doesn't make much sense to write a biography of someone you don’t admire or deem relevant for some kind of …show more content…
The second weakness in Steinberg’s writing is in the assumptions he often makes to prove his point. He makes allowances for Hamilton’s behaviors several times by making statements that although may have been true for that time period, but presents the United States Founding Fathers as less than honorable Christians. For example, in one instance, he says, “Adams disliked Hamilton and called him a 'bastard brat of a Scotch peddler'. And he also resented Hamilton's deep relationship with Washington.” (119). It is very bold for Steinberg to make overarching assumptions like this, and is a weakness in the overall quality of his book. Finally, the third weakness in Steinberg’s writing style is being overly repetitive, which is very frustrating for the a reader to remain focused. For example, Steinberg continuously stated, “In the next chapter, we will look...” (73). As a result, this sentence, which is overly repetitive makes it distracting to what he is saying presently. Therefore, a reader can easily lose focus on the present purpose and importance by Steinberg’s lack of organization of interesting, meaningful facts, causing the book to read more like a blog than a story that flows continuously into the next
His success as a talented history writer starts from Yale University. The experience he captured as editorial assistance in New York, editor and writer at United State information in Washington, and a full time editor and writer of American Heritage helped him for his success as historian. His famous work the “Great Bridge’’ of 1972 nominated for Academy Award. He won The National Book Award of History, The Cornelius Ryan Award, The Samuel Eliot Morison Award, and Francis Parkman Prize from American Society of Historian in different times. The king of Great Britain king George III was entitled great power and wealth around 1775.
In Samuel Adams: A Life, author Ira Stoll begins Adams’s biography with a prelude explaining the purpose of his book: to describe Samuel Adams, tell why history has largely forgotten him, and serve as a reminder for why we should remember him. On the whole, Stoll is true to his promise; he writes of Adams’s life, pulling accounts from Adams’s contemporaries as well as using excerpts of Adams’s personal correspondence and his numerous newspaper publications. Stoll’s research is evident in that he includes the opinions and research of other historians and Samuel Adams biographers. Stoll’s biography follows Samuel Adams from childhood to death, and thus essentially tells of the origins and formation of the United States. The biography is compelling,
Most gentlemen would heap mountains of praise upon the late John Adams. Such gentlemen would look at Adams’s life and feel awestruck at how a single man was not only able to contribute greatly towards this country’s founding but also able to serve as both vice president and president of the Unites States. Ignorant men would say that an accomplished man of Adams’s stature would be more than deserving of such recognition. For, according to them, our country flourished under Adams’s influence. However, I, James Madison, do not stand amongst the foolish; I believe that the leadership of this nation under John Adams could only be described as atrocious.
Luis Sevilla For: Dr. Stephens History 1301 42T 12 October 2015 Review #2 Does Thomas Jefferson come across as a great man, or a petty one? That is all based on opinion. From the little that is taught about Thomas Jefferson he comes across as a great man. Jefferson is not only known as a founding father he is also a big symbol in American History
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This relates to a quote from The Pearl by John Steinbeck that says,
William Henry Harrison was born on February 9, 1773, on a Virginia plantation to Elizabeth Bassett and Benjamin Harrison V. His family was very well-connected and had deep roots within the “planter aristocracy.” Harrison was the youngest of six other children including two brothers and four sisters named in order: Carter Bassett Harrison, Benjamin Harrison VI, Anne Harrison, Elizabeth Harrison Rickman Edmondson, Lucy Harrison Randolph Singleton, Sarah Harrison Minge. His father, Benjamin, had signed the Declaration of Independence when Harrison was only three years old, and his eldest brother, Carter, served in the U.S. House of Representatives. This early exposure to government greatly influenced Harrison’s future because he became more open
Characterization is the process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character. There are two types of characterization, direct and indirect. Direct characterization is when the author tells the reader exactly what a character is like. Indirect characterization is when the author gives the reader clues and hints as to what the character is like which enables readers to infer or decide for themselves. In the story, “Harrison Bergeron,” the main character, Harrison, is tyrannical which is visible through the five ways to indirectly characterize, using Harrison’s speech, personal thoughts, appearance, actions, and how other characters feel towards him.
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John Steinbeck has a style of writing unparalleled in history and in the modern world. In the same way, his philosophies are also unparalleled, with his focus in socialism not extending to communism or abnegation of spiritualism. His ideal world is utopian, holding the dust bowl migrant at the same level as the yeoman farmer was held in Jeffersonian times. In The Grapes of Wrath Steinbeck Steinbeck, who posses impregnable technique, conveys his message of a group working tirelessly for the betterment of the community.
One of Pinneberg’s former workers at his bookkeeping job is part of the Nazi party. The Nazi party is the party that helps create even more anti-Semitism towards the Jewish population. Many people know the story of what the party did to the Jewish party. Yet, in the novel people often supported other political views. Lammchen and Pinneberg illustrate their political views in the novel and their views are among the minority who believes that the system of government is corrupt.
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