Sweeping Pittsburgh Clean from: Making Headlines a Biography of Nellie Bly by Kathy Lynn Emerson http://www.opencourtresources.com Powerpoint presentation by Carol Harms, JSD 171, Orofino, ID

Elizabeth Cochrane, whose pen name is Nellie Bly, was a reporter for the Pittsburgh Dispatch in the late nineteenth century (1800’s).

She turned the city of Pittsburgh on its head with her newspaper articles about unfair divorce laws, unfair and unsafe business practices, poor prison and slum conditions, and negligent landlords. With her pen, Nellie Bly became one of the most important social reformers of her day.

The story of Elizabeth Cochrane (Nellie Bly) is another example of how one person can take a stand and make a difference far beyond anyone’s expectations.

Genre: Biography The elements of a biography are listed below. A biography may contain one or more of these elements. A biography is written about a real person’s life by someone else. A biography contains important information about the person’s life. The stories include details about how the person talks, feels, and thinks about things. A biography may span the person’s entire life,or it may tellabout only an important part of the person’s life. An account that spans the person’s life is almost always told in chronological order- the order in which the events occurred in time.

chignon roll of hair worn at the back of the head This word from the French is pronounced (sheen-yon)

chaperone person who accompanies a young or unmarried woman in public Another French word pronounce it (shap-uh-rohn) chaperone person who accompanies a young or unmarried woman in public

circulation when used as a publishing term, it describes the number of copies of a newspaper that are sold.

dulcet (duhl-sit) pleasing to the ear The woman enjoyed hearing the dulcet tones of the full orchestra.

spheres social positions “He said that he would publish an article about women and their spheres in life.” These children are searching for food and coal. They live in a sphere of poor people and have little contact with the rich. These girls operate in a sphere of rich people. They socialize with other rich people.

Cause and Effect Cause- “why” Effect- “what”

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