The First Great American Road Trip By Christopher Klein

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In Christopher Klein's the tect "The First Great American Road Trip," he discusses Dr. Jackson's journey from Vermont to New York City. Klein mentions how someone bet Jackson fifty dollars that he would not be able to make it to New York City by car in less than 90 days. He also explains how all the odds were against this being able to happen due to factors like unpaved roads, no road signs, no road numbers or gas stations, and the fact that the likelihood of automobiles breaking down was fairly high. With this being said, Klein's attitude towards Dr. Jackson throughout this text influences his portrayal of him by Klein describing the adversity he faced, including pieces of background information about Jackson's life, and providing his readers …show more content…

Klein grants his readers with many forms of advertising that Jackson experienced while attempting to make it from Vermont to New York City in less than a ninety- day period. For example, Klein mentions how "previous cross-country trips had all ended in failure," hinting that Dr. Jackson was up for a challenge. While Klein explains how unpaved roads are going to play a huge part in this roadtrip, he also explains that "fewer than 150 miles nationwide were even paved." Klein expounds on the many different kinds of challenges that Jackson faced upon his journey, like a tire blowing not even "15 miles outside of San Francisco," streams that had never come in contact with any kind of vehicle, and even the sad events of "[w]rong turns and breakdowns." All of these explanations of difficult opposition mean a lot when Jackson still managed to make the trip in less than ninety days. meaning that the author definitely sees him as a respectable individual. Klein does not fail to incorporate pieces of background information about Dr. Jackson's life prior to this …show more content…

Klein also touches on the fact that "at least he had his wife's inherited fortune to fuel his impulsive voyage." Knowing details like this about a person's life shows that Klein knows enough about Jackson to be able to have an attitude about him that portrays him as hero-like. He also provides his audience with a chronological outlook of Jackson's trip. It is obvious that Jackson faced many challenges on this unusual attempt to complete a roadtrip in a certain period of days, however, there is no way to know the exact dates of it all, unless one reads this text. Klein gives a description of this trip from start to finish, with dates. For instance, "In the early afternoon of May 23, 1903, Dr Horatio Nelson Jackson and Sewall Crocker slid into the front seat of a gleaming, cherry-red Winton touring car and chugged down San Francisco's Market Street amid a sea of horse-drawn carriages" (Klein). The author continues to provide readers with the dates of certain events that happened throughout this trip. Giving dates of everything that happened on this trip reveals that Klein sees this trip as very

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