ENGL 2000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Muckraker, Gentrification, The Blind Beggar
Document Summary
Roosevelt- thorough sweep of police but doesn"t actually do it (relies on others) Steffens- wants to charge in and fix everything. Lets some of the bad cops stay. Spreading christian ethical values- leader with moral and humane (what steffans and riis want) Back fires with roosevelt (sucker for conversion stories- if the officer says that he did wrong and promises to improve, he lets them stay) Archetypal christian narrative- seen wrongs, repent and make up for sins roosevelt - church and friends helped him reform & therefore sucker for conversion stories (optimistic) Steffans is critical of it- cops went back to their old, corrupt ways. Cops were just as terrifying as criminals (associated with gangs- collaborate with criminals/ commit crimes of own) Sante- bring forgotten ghosts of nyc and how they affect life today. Journalism like secret society, could have an inside scoop of operations. Sees bad things (lies, backroom deals) and concludes that reform politics was still.