[1][2] They were briefly successful, but interest in Alger's novels was renewed in the first decades of the 20th century, and they sold in the thousands. To install click the Add extension button. The first, the Rise to Respectability, he observes, is evident in both his early and his late books, notably Ragged Dick, whose impoverished young hero declares, "I mean to turn over a new leaf, and try to grow up 'spectable." His many books that followed were essentially variations on Ragged Dick and featured stock characters: the valiant, hard-working, honest youth; the noble mysterious stranger; the snobbish youth; and the evil, greedy squire. Many of his stories were published a chapter at a time in magazines. After Alger's death, some of his stories were abridged to get rid of the good deeds of the hero to please the public. Click again to see term 1/38 The "Alger hero [became a] synonym for spectacular rise to fame and wealth." Scharnhorst writes, "Financially insecure throughout his life, the younger Alger may have been active in reform organizations such as those for temperance and children's aid as a means of resolving his status-anxiety and establish his genteel credentials for leadership. Phil the Fiddler brought attention to the "market" of children taken from poor families in Italy. He became interested in the welfare of the thousands of vagrant children who flooded New York City following the Civil War. There is reason to believe that Alger was homosexual, but his sexual orientation wasn't known to the general public so it probably didn't affect his fame at all. Allen. While this kind of change didn't happen to many in the times, the stories, while a little misleading, gave hope to those who read them. In The Train Boy, for example, a wealthy heiress chooses to marry a talented but struggling artist, and in The Erie Train Boy a poor woman wins her true love despite the machinations of a rich, depraved suitor. [21][22], His first book, Bertha's Christmas Vision: An Autumn Sheaf, a collection of short pieces, was published in 1856, and his second book, Nothing to Do: A Tilt at Our Best Society, a lengthy satirical poem, was published in 1857. Alger took a trip to California, but the trip had little effect on his writing: he remained mired in the staid theme of "poor boy makes good." The backdrops of these novels, however, became the American West rather than the urban environments of the northeastern United States. His name has come … Since he was writing so many stories at once, Alger would sometimes make mistakes in names of his characters. Some of the winners include later presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan. Alger wrote more than 100 stories during his lifetime which were published by more than 70 different publishers. [77] For example, the boy rescues a child from an overturned carriage or finds and returns the man's stolen watch. The name Midas is now used to mean very rich. He never experienced any of the hardships that he portrayed in his stories. [29] Between ministerial duties, he organized games and amusements for boys in the parish, railed against smoking and drinking, and organized and served as president of the local chapter of the Cadets for Temperance. Alger was forced to give this up due to alleged sexual scandals with young boys. He led a busy life with street boys, Harvard classmates, and the social elite. [28][32] In September 1865 his second boys' book, Paul Prescott's Charge, was published and received favorable reviews. When The Grange suspended operations in 1856, Alger found employment directing the 1856 summer session at Deerfield Academy. Mencken (6.2, 12.39) A.E.W. According to Scharnhorst, Alger's father was "an impoverished man" who defaulted on his debts in 1844. [5], Horatio's siblings Olive Augusta and James were born in 1833 and 1836, respectively. In The Young Bank Messenger, for example, a woman is throttled and threatened with death—an episode that would never have occurred in his earlier work. Scharnhorst describes six major themes in Alger's boys' books. He was such a popular author in this time period that he was often working on 3 or 4 stories at the same time. According to Scharnhorst, Alger made veiled references to homosexuality in his boys' books, and these references, Scharnhorst speculates, indicate Alger was "insecure with his sexual orientation". [73], Alger scholar Gary Scharnhorst describes Alger's style as "anachronistic", "often laughable", "distinctive", and "distinguished by the quality of its literary allusions". Biography. [14] His genteel poverty and less-than-aristocratic heritage, however, barred him from membership in the Hasty Pudding Club and the Porcellian Club. Ralph D. Gardener said right before the beginning of Silas Snobden's Office Boy, "You are going to enjoy this excursion into the tranquil, uncomplicated world of Horatio Alger." In the last decades of the 19th century, Alger's moral tone coarsened with the change in boys' tastes. [32][33][34], Early in 1866, a church committee of men was formed to investigate reports that Alger had sexually molested boys. Horatio Alger Jr. (/ˈældʒər/; January 13, 1832 – July 18, 1899) was an American writer of young adult novels about impoverished boys and their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of middle-class security and comfort through hard work, determination, courage, and honesty. This award was created in 1947 by American Schools and Colleges Association to honor people who pulled themselves out of where they had been in society, followed the the "American Tradition" and became "self-made men." Because of the determination of its people, the country rose like a phoenix from the ashes of revolution. By the time he died in 1899, Alger had published around a hundred volumes. Church officials reported to the hierarchy in Boston that Alger had been charged with "the abominable and revolting crime of gross familiarity with boys". [63], Before his death, Alger asked Edward Stratemeyer to complete his unfinished works. (Forward written by Ralph D. Gardener). [46][49] He wrote a few lackluster books in the following years, rehashing his established themes, but this time the tales were played before a Western background rather than an urban one. Although Alger was willing to speak to James, his sexuality was a closely guarded secret. Ranging from the Bible and William Shakespeare (half of Alger's books contain Shakespearean references) to John Milton and Cicero, the allusions he employed were a testament to his erudition. [6] Alger was a precocious boy afflicted with myopia and asthma,[7][8] but Alger Sr. decided early that his eldest son would one day enter the ministry, and, to that end, he tutored the boy in classical studies and allowed him to observe the responsibilities of ministering to parishioners. As the stories can lead you to believe, there weren't people looking to help others out everywhere, the work place could be very competitive because everyone hoped to succeed. [47] It was evident in these books that Alger had grown stale. The source code for the WIKI 2 extension is being checked by specialists of the Mozilla Foundation, Google, and Apple. He wrote serials for Young Israel[45] and lived in the Seligman home until 1876. [12], In July 1848, Alger passed the Harvard entrance examinations[12] and was admitted to the class of 1852. Horatio Alger creates a hero that every child, from the time his books were written to the present, would love. [54], In 1882, Alger's father died. Alger was born on January 13, 1832, in the New England coastal town of Chelsea, Massachusetts, the son of Horatio Alger Sr., a Unitarian minister, and Olive Augusta Fenno. [51] He was writing both urban and Western-themed tales. Great lens and blessed by a Squid Angel. In addition, Alger's books were offered as dramatic audiobooks by the same publisher. Mason (12.31) Circe, character in Greek mythology (13.52) Ivan Turgenieff, a.k.a. 2. In the actual stories, invariably the cause of success is an accident that works to the boy's advantage after he conducts himself according to traditional virtues such as honesty, charity, and altruism. He could have clear enemies from the beginning of the story. [66] The first Alger biography was a heavily fictionalized account published in 1928 by Herbert R. Mayes, who later admitted the work was a fraud. I first learned about Alger in my 11th grade American History class. [23] He attended Harvard Divinity School from 1857 to 1860, and upon graduation, toured Europe. Enough detail is left out that the characters could change into those of the reader. However, it is not always the hard work and clean living that rescue the boy from his situation, but rather a wealthy older gentleman, who admires the boy as a result of some extraordinary act of bravery or honesty that the boy has performed. Horatio Alger. Some of Alger's stories brought attention to important social needs of the late nineteenth century. Alger doesn't give any hair color, the biggest details are the cleanliness of the person and their approximate age and occupation. Such images, Trachtenberg believes, may imply "a positive view of homoeroticism as an alternative way of life, of living by sympathy rather than aggression". He was chosen Class Odist and graduated with Phi Beta Kappa Society honors in 1852, eighth in a class of 88. [35][a] Alger denied nothing, admitted he had been imprudent, considered his association with the church dissolved, and left town. Alger was born in Massachusetts, and attended Harvard College. Turgenev, Sportsman’s Sketches (14.1, 14.7) Historical References. Since 1947, the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans has awarded scholarships and prizes to deserving individuals. He wrote "Friar Anselmo" at this time, a poem that tells of a sinning cleric's atonement through good deeds. In Silas Snobden's Office Boy, a kidnapped boy disguised as a girl is threatened with being sent to the "insane asylum" if he should reveal his actual sex. [15] In 1849 he became a professional writer when he sold two essays and a poem to the Pictorial National Library, a Boston magazine. In Silas Snobden's Office Boy, Frank , the hero, met many men who were rich, but had been poor in their past. The end of Silas Snobden's Office Boy says, "As for Frank, all goes smoothly with him. Alger sold more than 200 million books after the Civil War by writing about characters such as "Ragged Dick" and "Poorhouse Jed," who overcame incredible odds to succeed in life. The romance between that man and I was no Romeo and Juliet, but we will sacrifice for each other in any situation. Most importantly, the specter of World War I is always lurking beneath the surface of this novel— … The story, about a poor bootblack's rise to middle-class respectability, was a huge success. Brinkley, Alan. adjective of or characteristic of the heroes in the novels of Horatio Alger, who begin life in poverty and achieve success and wealth through honesty, hard work, and virtuous behavior: the Horatio Alger story of his rise in the business world. Scharnhorst writes that Alger "exercised a certain discretion in discussing his probable homosexuality" and was known to have mentioned his sexuality only once after the Brewster incident. Julius; or the Street Boy Out West (1874) brought public interest in the Children's Aid Society's project to put homeless kids in foster families across the country. There were never full sentences of description, just clauses attached to the sentence identifying the character. Research each allusion. ## PDF Scare Quotes From Shakespeare Marx Keynes And The Language Of Reenchantment ## Uploaded By Horatio Alger, Jr., this book argues that moments of allusion to the supernatural in shakespeare are occasions where karl marx and john maynard keynes register the perseverance of haunted structures in modern culture this Interesting stories about famous people, biographies, humorous stories, photos and videos. Horatio Alger, Jr. He fared better with stories for boys published in Student and Schoolmate and a third boys' book, Charlie Codman's Cruise. The "rags to riches" stories that Horatio Alger Jr. wrote in the late nineteenth century helped the population of the United States believe the myth that anyone could work hard and become rich, a "self made man". His writings were characterized by the "rags-to-riches" narrative, which had a formative effect on … [17], Alger had no job prospects following graduation and returned home. Research the meaning of any allusions that are unfamiliar to you. [82], The charge is quoted as, "the abominable and revolting crime of unnatural familiarity with boys" in, Nation, 17 February 1932, 186 & New York Times 13 January 1947 23:2-3, Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Learn how and when to remove this template message, http://www.online-literature.com/horatio-alger/, "Musical of American Innocence, Shine!, Gets Cast Album", The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, The Horatio Alger Collection at Northern Illinois University, The Horatio Alger Fellowship for the Study of American Popular Culture at Northern Illinois University, "Horatio Alger and the 100-Year-Old Secret", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Horatio_Alger&oldid=1000439622, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2015, Articles needing additional references from January 2018, All articles needing additional references, Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Nackenoff, Carol. Horatio Alger, Jr. (1834–1899) was a prolific 19th-century American author, best known for his many formulaic juvenile novels about impoverished boys and their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of respectable middle-class security and comfort through hard work, determination, courage, and honesty. During the civil war, he attempted to enlist in the union army, but was rejected many times because of his asthma and other respiratory problems. The officials were satisfied and decided no further action would be taken. His writings were characterized by the "rags-to-riches" narrative, which … The story itself was amusing because the whole situation relied heavily on luck, but then again most stories of this type do. This brings the boy—and his plight—to the attention of a wealthy individual. [46][48] He enjoyed a reunion with his brother James in San Francisco and returned to New York late in 1877 on a schooner that sailed around Cape Horn. "Alger, Horatio" Encyclopedia Britannica Online [Accessed March 8, 2001], Alger, Horatio. There is a "Horatio Alger myth" that the boy becomes wealthy through hard work, but this is inaccurate. [56], He attended the theater and Harvard reunions, read literary magazines, and wrote a poem at Longfellow's death in 1882. He was the descendant of Pilgrim Fathers Robert Cushman, Thomas Cushman, and William Bassett. These children were brought to cities and trained as pickpockets on the streets and had to serve masters. He continued to write, submitting his work to religious and literary magazines, with varying success. The experience of reading one of these stories is relaxing, and gives the mind an ease from every day life. [46] In 1881, he wrote a biography of President James A. Garfield[46] but filled the work with contrived conversations and boyish excitements rather than facts. [3][4], He had many connections with the New England Puritan aristocracy of the early 19th century. That's it. [39], In 1866, Alger relocated to New York City where he studied the condition of the street boys, and found in them an abundance of interesting material for stories. Horatio Alger Jr. was an American writer of young adult novels about impoverished boys and their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of middle-class security and comfort through good works. To Alger, the "modern age did not guarantee success through hard work alone; there had to be some providential assistance as well.". [37][38] Alger sent Unitarian officials in Boston a letter of remorse, and his father assured them his son would never seek another post in the church. His virtuous life wins him not riches but, more realistically, a comfortable clerical position and salary. He wrote magazine stories and poems, a few novels for adults, and 100 plus boys' books. these seemingly disparate references in one paragraph? Horatio Alger Jr. (/ˈældʒər/; January 13, 1832 – July 18, 1899) was an American writer of young adult novels about impoverished boys and their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of middle-class security and comfort through good works. Geck observes that Alger's themes have been transformed in modern America from their original meanings into a male Cinderella myth and are an Americanization of the traditional Jack tales. In paragraph 3, the author makes four allusions: three to works of literature (Horatio Alger, Pamela, Franklin’s Autobiography) and one to a religious ideal (Protestant Ethic). By the Atomic Age, however "Alger's hero was no longer a poor boy who, through determination and providence rose to middle-class respectability. Buckley, always adept at lacing his political/legal analysis with literary allusions, begins with a panegyric to Horatio Alger ’s character Ragged Dick, the plucky urchin of late 19th century fiction who rises from the streets of New York City to a position of respectability by dint of honesty, thrift, and hard work. Virginia Allain from Central Florida on June 24, 2011: Well done page about this vintage author! What is a phoenix? American History. The young boy's father turns out to be wealthy and adopts the orphan rescuer. [18] He briefly attended Harvard Divinity School in 1853, possibly to be reunited with a romantic interest,[19] but left in November 1853 to take a job as an assistant editor at the Boston Daily Advertiser. a. He never experienced any of the hardships that he portrayed in his stories. [58], His popularity—and income—dwindled in the 1890s. If you look through his stories, you can find that some of the details aren't consistent. [76] Other major themes include the Old World versus the New. In an Alger story at least, the hero wins "because the happy ending is what Horatio Alger is all about!". One example of his fame comes from an award that bears his name, the Horatio Alger Award. In Massachusetts, he was regarded with the same reverence as Harriet Beecher Stowe. Research the meaning of any allusions that are unfamiliar to you. It was extremely hard to improve their situations in the workplace. [28], On December 8, 1864, Alger was enlisted as a pastor with the First Unitarian Church and Society of Brewster, Massachusetts. It was expanded and published as a novel in 1868. a. He published two poorly received adult novels, Helen Ford and Timothy Crump's Ward. His writings were characterized by the "rags-to-riches" narrative, which had a formative effect on the United States during the Gilded Age. People are rewarded for doing good things and helping people out. He died on July 18, 1899, at the home of his sister in Natick, Massachusetts. 1. Scharnhorst believes Alger's desire to atone for his "secret sin" may have "spurred him to identify his own charitable acts of writing didactic books for boys with the acts of the charitable patrons in his books who wish to atone for a secret sin in their past by aiding the hero". In his early adulthood her was a Unitarian minister in Massachusetts. The reader may speculate what Cinderella achieved as Queen and what an Alger hero attained once his middle-class status was stabilized, and "[i]t is this commonality that fixes Horatio Alger firmly in the ranks of modern adaptors of the Cinderella myth". [71][72], In 2015, many of Alger's books were published as illustrated paperbacks and ebooks under the title "Stories of Success" by Horatio Alger. From Ontario, Canada on April 06, 2011: Well done page about this vintage author siblings Olive and! 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