Abstract
This is a case study that focuses on the design of the Brooklyn Bridge, which was constructed from 1869-1883. It looks at the evolution of the modern suspension bridge from its beginnings in ancient China to the work of John Finley in early 19th century America and eventually John Roebling, the designer of the Brooklyn Bridge itself. The paper looks at the materials generally used in suspension bridges.

Tags:bridge, engineer, brooklyn

Abstract
This paper examines the criminal statistics of the Borough of Brooklyn in New York City with respect to the national rates and those of the city at large. The paper reviews the historical trends between 1990 and 2007 with respect to the overall statistics and in particular, the murder rates are examined in detail. The murder rates of Brooklyn are compared to the city at large in light of the possibility of the lowering of the rate in one part of the city.

Tags:brooklyn, statistics, crime

Abstract
The paper relates that "Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn" is a very personal account of Voodoo in America. This book review goes through how the author bucked traditional interpretations of Voodoo by converting herself to the religion and making the book more a personal case study of both her and Mama Lola, creating a book that is both interesting and personally invested.

From the Paper
"Karen Mcarthy Brown's "Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn" is successful in that it emphasizes the everyday life of a Voodoo believer and focuses on the living dynamic of the religion. Often, we think of Voodoo in a purely sensationalist manner, from a Judeo-Christian standpoint. There seems to be a huge collection of sensationalist books, mostly by Americans who don't know much about the craft and history of Voodoo, which mix a bit of fact about Haitian Voodoo with a great deal of nonsense, exaggeration and misinformation. "Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn" takes the expectations about Americans writing books about Voodoo..."

Tags:voodoo, brooklyn, religion

Abstract
The paper relates that Hubert Selby Jr. wrote some of the stories in "The Last Exit to Brooklyn" as early as 1957 and the book was written in and about the post- war years, in times of great development and economic progress in the USA, which was marked by conservatism and the cold war. The paper describes how the book is a series of short stories that are all interconnected and related by the cross- over characters and the location where the stories take place. The paper discusses how the book focused on many taboos of the society at the time and caused great controversy and disapproval from the mainstream society, but also on the harshness of life of a working class community with few prospect.

From the Paper
"Hubert Selby Jr. wrote some of the stories in The Last Exit to Brooklyn as early as 1957. The book was written in and about the post- war years, in times of great development and economic progress in the USA, which was marked by conservatism and the cold war. The book is a series of short stories that are all interconnected and related by the cross- over characters and the location where the stories take place. The book focused on may taboos of the society at the time and caused great controversy and disapproval from the mainstream society, but also on the harshness of life of a working class community with few prospect. It deals with issues that..."

Tags:last exit to brooklyn, novel, homosexuality

Abstract
The paper investigates racism with specific reference to the Brooklyn suburb of New York and taking into account the population groups and the manner in which civic leaders react to the African-American race groups. The paper looks at how the media portrays this racial group and finally the writer sets forth suggestions as to how the situation can be improved.

From the Paper
"Naturally, any commentary on how African-Americans in Brooklyn are perceived leads inevitably to the question of how they portrayed by the local media. I was unable to find local statistics that revealed the number of African-Americans working in management or high-profile positions on local television, but I would have to concur with Kanye West's criticisms in the past that African-Americans are shown in a generally negative light by the media (Gold & Collins, 2005); specifically, there is a predisposition among many in the media to downplay white offenses (like stealing) while failing to do the same for African-Americans. For my part, I have often looked at the local news and puzzled over the fact that so many of the criminals shown on television are African-American - even though I know full-well that Caucasians and Asians are hardly uninvolved in criminal activity. It is this image of African-Americans - especially African-American men - as criminals that cause us to be ignored by local cabbies and passed over for job openings. "

Tags:African, American, Race, community, Brooklyn

Abstract
This paper examines the use of metaphor in Walt Whitman's poem "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry." According to the paper, the use of metaphor in poetry is used to cast light throughout the poem on the similarities between two seemingly unrelated concepts. In "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" Wat Whitman uses the metaphor of a ferry as a metaphor for life and the importance of connecting to both the physical and the spiritual worlds.

From the Paper
"Walt Whitman uses a metaphor in his celebrated poem "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" as a poetic device to reveal to readers how life is a ferry ride. Through the use of his extended metaphor readers are shown a connection between two previously unrelated concepts and are able to understand more clearly the subtleties of life. Whitman uses a ferry ride to convey the ideas about what a balanced life should consists of. For Whitman, life is a ferry ride that can easily be both docked on the physical world and be submerged in the spiritual world. The flow of the water that the ferry travels through in order to reach the..."

Tags:poetry, metaphor, whitman

Abstract
This paper provides an analytical review of Walt Whitman's poem, "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," focusing on the themes of equality and difference. The paper explains that Whitman, by incorporating his experience with the Civil War as well as the industrial revolution of the United States, threads together the past and the future, promoting equality not only within time and distance, but in its attitude and thought. By examining the use of parallel structure and repetition, the paper notes that Whitman plays with the relationship between difference and equality. The paper adds that by focusing on the figurative language of rhetorical questioning imagery, in addition to the rhythm of action and movements, Whitman shows how equality can be established against the passing of time and the advancing nation. In conclusion, the paper asserts that Walt Whitman's "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" is a poem that not only exposes the differences within the people and the geography of the nation, but also shows the theme of equality that unites these differences.

From the Paper
"By examining the symbols, imageries, metaphors, and rhetorical questionings, Whitman places throughout "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," one can see Whitman's loyalty to the democratic ideal of equality that seems to go against that specific era. Because the poem is written in the period of the Second Industrial Revolution, one can see the technological and economic progress of the United States through the developments and advancements of steam-powered ships and railways. One of the most transparent images used is the ferry, which symbolizes not only the continual action of "crossing from shore to shore," but also the invisible motion of passing time. The vivid imagery of the river "with the swift current" and the "bright flow," then parallels the motion of the ferry, unifying nature's response to the Industrial Revolution (lines 23-24). More importantly, Whitman shows that equality can be established against the passing of time and the advancing nation by purposely not differentiating between the natural elements and the artificially created advancements."

Tags:metaphor, poetry

Abstract
This paper outlines Rosemarie Garland Thomson concept of 'dirt' and applies it to r Jonathan Lethem's novel "Motherless Brooklyn". The author points out that Douglas' concept is that society dreads things that fall outside its normative schema and disabled people are one of these 'things'. The paper relates that, applying Douglas' concept to the novel, it is evident that some of aspects of her work are more applicable than others.

From the Paper
"The conjunction of Mary Douglas' theory of `dirt' visa-vis society's treatment of the abnormal and aberrant with Jonathan Lethem's fine novel, Motherless Brooklyn, offers an uncommon opportunity for insight and understanding into the uneasy place occupied by disabled men, women and children in a society preoccupied with physical comeliness and `beauty'. This paper, quite simply, explores the existence of Douglas' theory of `dirt' - specifically the five strategies she believes societies employ in dealing with those who are anomalous - in Lethem's novel and suggest which characters, if any, incorporate the disabled into the larger mainstream world; this paper also explores what the existence of various strategies in the text suggests about the representation of disability in a society uneasy with such difference."

Tags:disability, strategies, society

Abstract
This is a book review of Johnathan Lethem's "Motherless Brooklyn", focusing on one of the lead characters, who has Tourette's syndrome.

Tags:tourette's, syndrome, compulsion

Abstract
The paper explains that the "Old Brooklyn Bridge" is positively aglow with color and light; the painting is alive and active, its linear composition is stellar, and the palate reminiscent of the industrial age in which it was born. The author points out that she sees the painting with increasing awareness and a deeper understanding of the artist's intent, now understanding, in Berger's words, that art becomes "a record of how X had seen Y." The paper reveals that the clearest structure the author could discern in the background was a strategically placed depiction of the bridge's recognizable towers.

From the Paper
"Reflecting further on Berger's "Ways of Seeing," I recalled his section on perspective. One of the most remarkable aspects of Stella's painting is its linear perspective. The lines representing the suspension cables of the bridge converge in space. The most notable conversion occurs at the very top of the canvas, where at least two of these beams intersect. Had I not known they were suspension cables I might have thought they were beams of light or just abstract lines. Yet although Stella approaches an abstract rendition of the Brooklyn Bridge, this painting is not what I would call abstract."

Tags:industrial, perspective, intent, tower, color