A comparative analysis/appraisal of two or more works by a particular non-fiction author - Essay Example

A Comparative analysis/appraisal of two or more works by a particular non fiction In essay, an attempt is made to present the comparative analysis of the works of Theodore Roosevelt who was the President America. The works, which have been taken up for the present analysis, are biographical or autobiographical in nature. These works represent the views and opinions of Roosevelt regarding the various aspects of his public life. Due to the position of Roosevelt as the President of America, he was compelled to maintain contact with the various members in the society. These experiences of the President Roosevelt took the form of biographical and autobiographical literature. Roosevelt wrote different works and many of his speeches and articles were later edited and published in the form of books. Roosevelt wrote the books such as The Game of Life, Messages to Americans, An Autobiography, The Strenuous Life, Through the Brazilian Wilderness and many other books which reflected the political and social philosophy of Theodore Roosevelt who clearly put forth his views regarding divergent political and social issues which affected the large number of Americans during this period. The study of biographical and autobiographical works of Roosevelt are very relevant for us due to the fact that Roosevelt was an important public figure and he was in a position to witness various developments in his life as the President of America. In this essay we venture to present the comparative analysis of his works such An Autobiography and other works written of Roosevelt. His book An Autobiography (Roosevelt, 1913) consists of relevant information regarding the making of Roosevelt as he was influenced by the various developments in his life during this period before he emerged as the President of America. This book consists of various aspects such as boyhood and youth, practical politics, in cowboy land, Applied Idealism, The New York Police, Outdoor and Indoors, Natural Resources of the Nation, Presidency, Monroe doctrine and the Panama canal, the peace of righteousness and so on. These different chapters found in this work give information regarding the personal opinion regarding the important issues that affected the people of America during the presidential years of Roosevelt. An important feature of these works is that they represent the personal experience of Roosevelt. Secondly, they also represent the forthright views of Roosevelt. He remembers that during his boyhood days he had contact with the Dutch speaking elders in the family and this implies that there was influence of these Dutch speaking people and their culture on the making of the personality of Roosevelt. During the days of American Revolution his ancestors had served in the army and other important positions in the American administration and politics. Roosevelt was interested in attending the family gatherings. In this work he praised his father for his great qualities which influenced Roosevelt. In this chapter Roosevelt speaks about his various family members like father, mother, grand mother, cousins and so on. He mentions that he was also influenced by the German way of life. He obtained the education in Harvard. This education gave him the various democratic values, which he tried to uphold later when he became the President America. After his education he took up the profession of law. By this time he had also begun to take interest in politics. However, Roosevelt believes that any person should not choose politics as his career as he may not be able to serve the people when he is out of power. He speaks about his friendship with people like Joe Murray, Jack Hess and others, which encouraged him to take more active role in the political life. Nevertheless, Roosevelt observed that the politicians of his days did not respond to the social and industrial issues of those days. In 1881 Roosevelt was elected the Legislature and he gives information regarding his experience as the member of legislature. He made political friends across the parties as he believed in cultivating the various political values. In the chapter ‘War on America’ he criticized the American politicians for their lack of preparation for war. According to him the politicians believed that by not preparing war it is possible to avert wars. This implied that Roosevelt believed in the idea that the collection of large number of weapons and proper training given to the soldiers can avoid the wars, as no body will dare to attack America due to its military strength. However he always supported just war and did not support unnecessary aggression. Roosevelt believed that war demonstrates the real human nature and the qualities of different human beings that were involved in the war. He also recorded his experiences as the governor of New York and the President of America. He mentions in his autobiography that after he became the President, he decided to introduce few reforms in the Republican Party. These reforms were apparently introduced to implement few progressive ideas in the party. He believed that although he was the executive officer as the President his main duty to act to act as the servant of the people. He mentions that he only acted for the welfare of the people. (Roosevelt, 1913) In this work we find information regarding the making of President Roosevelt the process of formulation of different values which helped him later as the President of America. His another work is Through the Brazilian Wilderness (Roosevelt 1914). This work is the biographical account of the hunting experiences in the forests of Brazil. The main difference between his Autobiography and Through the Brazilian Wilderness is that in the earlier work is the story of Roosevelt’s whole life beginning from childhood till he became the President of America while his later work is the record of his impressions regarding his experience in the Brazilian forests. Thus, this later work is more specific dealing with one particular issue while his earlier work is more general which consists of his experience and views about various political, economic and social issues. This book consists of chapters such as Up the Paraguay, A Jaguar-hunt on the Taquary, the Headwaters of Paraguay, Up the rivers of Tapirs, wilderness of western Brazil, To the Amazon and the Homeland. This book proves that Roosevelt was interested not only in the political aspects but also regarding the secrets of nature. Thus in this book he described his experiences in the forests and rivers as he describes in great detail the experiences in the forests, the rivers and his interaction with the government of Brazil, wild creatures, forest tribal people and he linked these experiences to his status as the President of America. In his chapter on the forests of Brazil he refers to the vampire bats which were known for their ability to suck the blood. The study of this book proves that both his Autobiography and Through the Brazilian Wilderness belonged to totally different non fiction categories as the first is more general and speaks about the political views while the later work is more specific and does not discuss much of the political issues. Another biographical account written by Roosevelt was the Rough Riders. This book gives information regarding his experiences of the Spanish-American War, which was an important stage in the growth of the personality of Roosevelt. This book consists of chapters such as Raising the Regiment, To Cuba, General Young’s fight at Las Guasimas, the cavalry at Santiago, In the Trenches and the Return Home. Obviously it is a different work than the earlier discussed texts because it reveals the military events and such experiences of Roosevelt when he actively participated in the campaign to suppress the revolt of Spanish people against America. Roosevelt demonstrated his qualities like courage and military talents by participating in this war. In this work he discussed regarding the various military campaigns, military strategies and the course of the wars that his army fought. He praised the great values demonstrated by the military commanders and officers of his army. (Roosevelt, 1899) Another important book written by Roosevelt is the Hunting Trips of a Ranchman Sketches of Sport on Northern Cattle Plains. This book showed the passion of Roosevelt for the various sports played by the people in the frontier region. This showed another dimension of interest in Roosevelt. However, it is entirely different from the earlier two works because Autobiography gave greater details of his experiences as a politician while Rough Riders demonstrated his skills as a military commander while Through the Brazilian Wilderness is his account of experience in the forest of Brazil and Amazon region. In his Hunting Trips…Roosevelt gives information regarding the cowboys, the Indian population, process of hunting animals, fighting with dogs, weapons of hunting, dress of hunters, hunting horses, hunting of snow goose, hunting of fowls and their life style, different kinds of deer such as white tail deer and black tail deer, extinction of wild life like buffaloes and so on. Thus, we find the information regarding the life of the hunters in the forests and frontier regions. (Roosevelt, 1885) William Thayer wrote his work Theodore Roosevelt an Intimate Biography. This work is the reflection of Thayer regarding the life of Theodore Roosevelt. One can suggest that this book is similar to the autobiography of Roosevelt. However the work of Thayer is different from autobiography because this work consists of the personal views of Thayer regarding the experiences of Thodore Roosevelt as the politician and President of America. Since this work deals with the political life of Roosevelt, we can state that it more similar to his autobiography than other works, which have been discussed in this essay. Thayer discussed various issues such as Origins and Youth, Breaking into Politics, Applying Morals to Politics, The Rough Rider, Governor of New York-Vice President, President, Roosevelt’s Foreign Policy, Roosevelt and the Congress, Roosevelt at home and so on. This book gives more information than Autobiography regarding the important role played by Roosevelt in the national and international political life. (Thayer 1919) The different works written by Roosevelt are different from one another because of different issues that were taken up in these works. Basically his works can be divided as two categories: political and non-political. The latter may include his military, forest and sport experiences. The biography written by Thayer is entirely different from his autobiography as Thayer’s work provided a different dimension regarding the achievements of Roosevelt as the President of America. Annotated Bibliography Roosevelt, Theodore. (1885). Hunting Trips of a Ranchman Sketches of Sport on Northern Cattle Plains, New York & London: G.P. Putnam’s Sons. Roosevelt in this work gives information regarding his experiences in the Northern Cattle Plains. It is a study of the various sports pursued in this region. Here we obtain the information regarding the cowboys, Indian style of living, life in the frontiers. This book shows the passion of Roosevelt for the sports played by the frontier people. This work gives information regarding the Indian population, their process of hunting animals, fighting with dogs, weapons of hunting, different wild animals and so on. Roosevelt, Theodore. (1899). The Rough Riders, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. This book provides information regarding the experiences of Roosevelt in his military campaigns during the Spanish-American wars. It consists of his campaign in Cuba, the achievements of the various military commanders, courage and other values showed by these military commanders. Roosevelt, Theodore. (1913). An Autobiography, New York: Macmillan. This is the autobiography of Roosevelt. In this work Roosevelt gives information regarding the story of his life from childhood days to the days when he became the President of America. It gives information regarding the political and social views of Roosevelt regarding the various national and international political developments. Roosevelt, Theodore. (1914). Through the Brazilian Wilderness, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. This book is the biographical reflections regarding the experiences of Roosevelt in the forests of Brazil. It informs that Roosevelt visited the forests of Brazil and the rivers such as Paraguay, Taquary, Tapirs and his experiences in this region of Brazil and Amazon land are recorded in this work. Thayer, William Roscoe. (1919).Theodore Roosevelt An Intimate Biography, Boston: Houghton Miffin. This book is the biographical work, which shows the views of William Thayer regarding the opinions of Theodore Roosevelt concerning the various political issues such as wars, foreign policy, and internal policy. Thayer describes the role of Roosevelt as the governor of New York, Vice-President and President of America. Read More