Honors Essay 2

I think these books, though boring at times, have a lot in common with our history lessons in Social Studies. By reading Shane, Call of the Wild, and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, I was able to further my knowledge on the subjects of each book. I was also able to comprehend how a person living through these time periods might have experienced large historical events. While reading Shane I was able to connect it to the Homestead acts and other settlers laws, while reading Call of the Wild I connected the plot to the California Gold Rush, and lastly, while reading The autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman I was able to link Jane’s story to what I was learning about the slave trade in History class.
In Shane I learned about the experiences of a boy named Bob, whose father and mother have recently settled in the mid west. One day while working in the field, Bob sees a strange man riding down the road and goes to meet him, no knowing the plot that is about to unfold. This relates with my history lessons through laws such as the Homestead Act and other different pioneer acts that helped settlers such as Joe (Bob’s father) find and keep their land. Without laws such as these, Bob and his family wouldn’t have been able to keep their land from Ryker.
Them next book I read was Call of the Wild. In Call of the Wild a dog named Buck. After being sold by his owners’ gardener, Buck is sent on an amazing adventure in which he must release his inner beast to the call of the wild. While I was reading Call of the Wild, we were learning about the California Gold Rush in class, the main historical focus of the book. We learned about how the California Gold Rush affected California, Settlers, and the immigrants who came from other countries. We also learned about things that the California Gold Rush caused or invented, things like the railroad, mining towns, Levi Jeans, and Chinese Laundromats.
The last book I read is the Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. In the Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, you are told the story of a 110 year old woman, of her trials, tribulations, and life before and after slavery. I linked the Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman to what I was learning in US History about the slave trade and the Emancipation Proclamation. Because of what we had learned in history I was able remember different stories I had heard about the sufferings of freed slaves. Even after being freed, many slaves were not able to leave plantations because they first had to work off their “debts” to the plantation owners. Other slaves were forced to return to the plantations in which they were enslaved because no one would offer them jobs for food and money, much like Jane’s situation.
While reading Shane, Call of the Wild, and the Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, I learned a lot about the human side of the events and facts I was being taught in History. I was able to better understand why our past is so important to our country, and why we are taught so much about it. I enjoyed these books and hope to be in honors next year so I can enjoy more like them.

Call of the Wild V

Lastly, I agree with Anne, what is wrong with the endings of these books! I mean (even though nothing beats Johnny Tremain) this one was pretty bad. London must have really liked to make Buck suffer because it seemed like Buck couldn’t be happy for 5 pages in Call of The Wild. Every time he got a good owner or began to make it as lead dog , someone got killed or he was traded! Then in the end, when his best friend ever (John Thorton) dies, he decides to become a rabid killer, starting by killing the Yeehats who killed Thorton, Well if that’s not just a little bit depressing……

Call of the Wild IV

This book also reminded me of Old Yeller. They were both really sad and were from around the same time period. Plus they both had a super sad ending that had to do with doggies. -_- *tear*. Anyway I can’t stand how many descriptors are in this book. I admit it, I’m one of those people who will read the first paragraph of a book, and if I’m snoring by the end, drop it sell it or give it to the library. On top of that, I like books where people talk a lot because it helps you get the feel for the characters personality. To be honest, I would have been asleep by the end of the first sentence of this book. I mean when you take 2 pages to describe a the color and breed of a dog, its over the top.

Call of the Wild III

One thing I don’t get (and really don’t like) is the ending, like the Yeehats are really going to leave the forest and attack a random group of miners. I think that this was a very stereotypical part of London’s book. I think he based this part on the many stereotypes out on the Alaskan natives in this time. And even if Indians did attack the camp, they wouldn’t have killed the dogs too. Native Americans are very spiritual and pray to animal spirits such as the dog wolf and bear. That was really illogical and kind of ticked me off….

Call of the Wild II

Ok, continuing from the last blog. Dave is your common veteran. He knows what he’s doing, is annoyed by the eager ignorance of the younger sled dogs, and would really rather be left alone. Billee is kind of funny to me. Him and his brother are total opposites. Like Billees the angel and Joe is a doggy devil. Kinda reminds me of some twins and siblings ive met. Lastly Sol-leks is your average leader. Even if he isn’t in a place of power he commands a certain respect just by the way he talks, walks, and acts. A natural born leader.

Call of the Wild I

One of the cool things about what Jack London did with this book, is that he gave the dogs human like personalities. If you notice every one of the dogs in this book represents (to me) a person in your life or that you might have met before. There’s Buck who is very persistent and wants to do good in everything he tries, but he also has a little need to be the best in everything he does too. Then there’s Spitz who runs the team with an iron fist and is the main villain of the book. He’s the kind of person who pushes people around who he knows wont stand up to him for the fun of it, but tries to make friends if their stronger. He’s also a good example of a back stabber.

Shane V

Lastly, what is up with Shane? I mean did Jack Schaefer decide to describe the main character from every western movie ever made, or is that just in my head????? Seriously though, Shane is like the replica of the main character in a Clint Eastwood movie. (By the way I heard they made a movie of Shane a while ago, and it sucks!) Anyway, numero uno he is “tall dark and mysterious”, like that’s never been used before. Two, no one knows his last name. Oh my goodness gracious! How scary! Yeah right!!!! Third, the climax is a big battle, and not just any battle, oh no! it has to be a big western showdown. Man against man, faster draw wins. Like you couldn’t see that coming a mile away!

Shane IV

Another thing that really annoys me is how much time the book takes on the stump. I mean it’s a stump!!!! Just because Bob was too stupid to understand the symbolic meaning of it’s demolition, doesn’t mean the reader is. I understand that it plays an important part in the foundation between Joe and Shane’s friendship, but the author could have at least made the event more exiting to read. Really it’s a stump it’s not fun to read about. Especially when it is so predictable, though I do have to admit that it is a pretty creative idea to use the stump that way.

Shane III

My favorite character in Shane would have to be Marian. Though for parts of the book, Joe and Shane buy into stereotypes. Like on page 94 when Joe and Shane are fighting Morgan. Joe says to Marian “You wait out in the wagon, Marian. Morgan’s had this coming to him for a long time and it’s not for woman to see.” Then again I also like Marian’s strength in the book also. Like when she answers “No, Joe. He’s one of us. I’ll see this through. It was rare for woman to stand up for their rights in this time period, and I believe it shown Marian’s strength and Independence.

Shane II

I also don’t understand how Bob could just sit back and watch all this happen without doing anything. I mean I would never be able to sit back and watch those five guys beat up on someone and smash a bottle over their head, especially if he was like family to me. If I were Bob, I would have been in there trying to smash the freaking guys head open! But no he just stand there in awe. What’s so amazing about watching one of your best friends get beat to a pulp?!?!? Even though the story is from Bob’s point of view as a child, why did the author make him seem so helpless??????

Shane I

Ok, so this book is like a typical western book. Same plot (predictable plot), same type of bad guy, a big western gun showdown at the end, then the tall dark mysterious stranger hero rides off into the sunset at the very end. Anyway, I can’t believe how much Bob doesn’t notice. With the stump especially, all bob says is “guess I will know when I am older” or stuff like that. Its really annoying! I mean if you learn everything when you are older, what’s left to learn now?????? And the stuff he doesn’t understand isn’t really all that hard to grasp. I mean it mostly has to do with symbolisms and prophetic thinking. Anyway, that really annoyed me…….

Tom Sawyer V

Ok, its official, this book shouldnt be called The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, it should be called The Comedies of Tom Sawyer. when tom and becky get lost in that cave i mean, they start acting like thier entire life is over! really people, its just a cave. A CAVE! its not like you are going to starve to death in 12 HOURS! becky was sooo weak! and that whole thing where tome goes with another girl to make becky jealous, then she does the same thing, thats rich. the only people i truly feel bad for are the people whom they were going out with. it would have been soooo hilarious if they would have gone out and left tom and becky all alone. they would have deserved it. bottom line of this book for me, don't fear the unknown, think of the the concequences of your actions before you act, and naiveness/stupidity is the most dangerous tool of all.

Tom Sawyer IV

i kinda vented on that last blog, but theri stupidity is sooooo overwhelming! you know how how huckleberry fin thinks that the cat bones will make some kind of potion, well that soooo reminds me of my dad! because my dad is deaf (and grew up in that BIG town of chelan) he went thru most of his youger years listening to only my grandma (his mom) and his brothers. well to keep him from doing things he wasn't supposed to do my grandma would resort to old wives tales. Yeh, and guess who's paying for it now, me! yeh, he still remebers them, and trys to use them on me. here are a couple that i hear, don't touch frogs they'll give you warts, and my personal favorite, dont rub your nose you'll push it into your face. fun huh?!? anyway, that just reminded me of the excuses, tales, and fears in this story..................... and yes, i do still rub my nose.

Tom Sawyer III

You know what bothers me about this book, is that Tom and Huckleberry Fin don't think about the consequences of their actions BEFORE they act. I mean first there was Tom getting into a huge fight eith that kid outside/at night. then there was the boys running off to be pirates on an island without food, clean water, and leaving before hand DONT GO BACK AND TRY TO LEAVE ONE! I mean its soo obvious that they don't think about the consequences of theri actions it's painful. oh yeh and the icing on the cake, they go to a graveyard, in the middle of the night, alone, without telling anyone. oh yeh, great going einstien. way to win brain of the month. i mean do these kids have a death wish??????? well whether they do or not, hella funny to watch them freak out and almost be killed. yup, definetly the next einsteins.

Tom Sawyer II

You know, i just don't get it. i mean i understand the whole discrimination thing, but the main focus of this story is almost the same as the Witch of Blackbird Pond, the townspeople (along with Tom and Huckleberrry Fin) fear the unknown. In both books they are scared of people who are different because they don't exactly what they are capable of. So because of this fear of the unknown, they stereotype them. calling peple niggers injuns or even witches (from witch of blackbird pond) all as a result of their fear. what i don't understand is, if they are so afraid of them, why not confont your fear, and learn more about until youknow so much it doesn't scare you....... sounds childish i know........so dont comment on that : )

Semester Essay

When I first started reading Tom Sawyer, Witch of Blackbird Pond, and Johnny Tremain I thought that they were very different, but while reading them, I discovered that they have more in common then meets the eye; though they have different plots and different characters, they are all set in the first years of America’s colonization. I also found that each book includes a discrimination of a different kind. In Johnny Tremain, Johnny is pitied because of his hand where, if Johnny’s hand had never been disfigured, he would have never become part of the American Revolution. Later in Witch of Blackbird Pond Kit is accused of being a witch, just because she can do things that woman usually aren’t able to, such as swim. Lastly, in Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain uses many slang words to describe people of color, such as nigger and injun.
In Johnny Tremain, I read a fictional first hand account of the beginning of the American Revolution, and though the plot was fictional many of the famous characters included were not. Before I had started Johnny Tremain (and while I was reading it) we were learning of the American Revolution in Social Studies, because of Social Studies I was able to compare the stories characters and events to what really happened. One event I compared was the Boston Tea Party. In Johnny Tremain, Johnny is one of the Indians who dump the tea into Boston Harbor; in Social Studies I learned that the patriots dumped exactly 342 chests of tea into the harbor from the three ships.
While reading Witch of Blackbird Pond I learned a small part of what life would have been like as a Puritan in the early years of the revolution, though it wasn’t the main focus of The Witch of Black bird Pond, you are still able to witness their daily life. By reading Kit’s description of their daily chores and duties, I learned that Puritans and Quakers had to thatch roofs for shelter, hoe fields for fruits and vegetables, spin wool for the yarn to make clothes, and much more. While in Social Studies, we read a chapter concerning America’s first settlers, and the Native American’s interactions. From that section I learned that many of the settler’s styles of farming and living were adapted from the Native Americans.
Lastly, in Tom Sawyer, I was able to see how the early Americans treated blacks, Spaniards, and Native Americans. In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, I saw many cases in which a white person thought of a colored person as less being than themselves, such is the case when Ton and Huck see Injun Joe kill the Doctor. Tom later talks of how he would have expected the killer to be an Indian and how impure they are. In Social Studies, our class learned that when foreigners migrated and settled in other countries the result was very similar, such as when the Spaniards colonized South America. When the Spaniards colonized South America, they treated the natives as barbarians and heathens because of their primitive ways, though the natives helped them adapt. When comparing these situations I found that they were very similar if not identical.
As I was reading these books I noticed many things that I had already learned and many things I hadn’t learned before, and though each of the books had their boring parts, they each had their exciting parts too. I by reading these books I learned about discrimination, patriot acts, and daily life when America was first colonized. I guess you could say that reading Johnny Tremain, Witch of Blackbird Pond and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was an ingenious way to help us learn more about the revolution.

Tom Sawyer I

k. sorry it took me sooo long to get started! anyway, ther is sooo much discrimination in this book its crazy! not only does huck talk about "lowering himself" to eating with a "nigger" to eat food, but tom also disses wats his name wen he doesnt take ovr painting the fence. the thng i dont get with huck tho, is that he is talking about lowering himself and all when hes the one begging for food! how messed is that! ther is also how tom and huck talk about that they expected the murderer to be an injun. imean thats so discriminitive! not all indians r bad! how wud the pilgrims have learned how to survive without the indians????? talk about disrespectful!

Witch of Blackbird Pond V

It was totally obvious! i mean REALLY obvious! well to me at least that everyone would end up with who they did. i mean they are so alike its scary! Mercy and John are both moderatly conservative. they both also like to teach learn and read books. judith and will are both into public appeal, they believe in the old principles but they both like to be noticed and look just right. kit and nat, do i really have to say anymore? even their names sound perfect for each other! they both love adventure, and you could tell from the boat ride that she loves life on the sea. as anne said happy endings!

Witch of Blackbird Pond IV

But u know i guess i cant really blame the pilgrims, its not like things have changed in the last 2 or 3 centuries. sure we dont have witch trials any more but we still discriminate against others, which is exactlly what they are doing in the book and in real life back then. the witches that they accused had weird habits, personalities and quircks. in orther words if one of their guy witches was alive today he would be one of three things, a geeky outcast, a grungy metal liking guy who is outcast because he smells and doesnt bathe, or a guy who sings to himself and talks to his pens in math like theyre dogs or something. are any of these starting to sound familiar? if they arent ill help you, theyre the people who you dont exactly want to talk to in the hall, but you say hi to anyway, the peope, you might make fun of behind theyre backs or spread rumors about. im not saying that you personally do this, or that i do this constantly (though i have ocassionly slipped up) im saying that these are todays witches. these are the people that are weird or different to us,l so how do we react we burn them, with our words or actions.
ill stop while im ahead, cause im starting to sound like an activist! the end!

Witch of Blackbird Pond III

Okay back on what i was saying, i was just not suprised by how the pilgrim acted, i mean they were trying to "protect themselves" against something that they didnt need to "protect themselves" against in the first place. i also think that the pilgrims were looking for a scapegoat. when all of these mysterious things happened (like a girl swimming OH MY GOSH) they wanted to feel secure and safe, and one way that they felt secure was knowing why the mysterious thing happened. so, to explain why, they would jump to conclusions, such as saying that said person is a witch. All so they could feel safe and secure as said person burned, drowned, hung, or slowly bled to their painful, wronglful death. kind of makes you feel all tingly inside, doesnt it!
im not finished yet!

Witch of Blackbird Pond II

This book shows such realistic human behavior it's SCARY! ive really been analyzing the different points of view and accusations toward hannah tupper and the way that the pilgrims acted really doesnt suprise me. its a little extreme but it doesnt suprise me. i mean by hannah staying at the pond when it floods and surviving it everytime, the pilgrims are scared, and all humans react the same way when they are scared no matter what century, fight or flee. i dont agree with it, in fact i think it barbaric, but the pilgrims kill the "witches" cause they are scared, scared of the unknown.i have soooo many more opinions, ill finish later!