Well, the title of this post speaks to where I am - sorry for the delay in adding comments to your posts/reader responses. I will make some comments over the weekend, I promise. This is a reminder that next week is Reading Week. I will be here, in the office, most days with the likely exception of Thursday. Do come and see me if you want some assistance with your papers.
For those of you who weren't at this week's class, we decided to return to weekly meetings (not during Reading Week of course). We will also continue blogging, and no one who cannot come to the classes during the weeks scheduled as Web Weeks will be penalized. But you will miss some lively discussion!
Friday, February 15, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Friday, February 8, 2008
Aldea Three Day Road
Some themes that I have pondered on, that had also been mentioned by Jim and Rachelle are: Binary oppositions - Native/Caucasion, Male/Female, Good/Bad, Right/Wrong & Alive/Dead
Racism - Fritz, Germans, Canadians, Huns, Natives & French
Traditions - Hunting, Death/Burial, Celebration, Appreciation, Mourning & Stories
Roles - Female, Male, Church, Town, War > Heirarchy vs. Linear
Life and Death.
What a novel! I read this novel wondering the whole time who is the hero? Is this a novel about heroism? and if so, who is the hero? Niska, Elijah, Xavier or Fat. I am overwhelmed by the characters because they are potentially real for someone and they had a role in the first world war that was to change how wars have been fought previously.
Elijah, did he go crazy or was he the normal one, was it Xavier who went crazy because he couldn't understand the dynamics of this war the way that Elijah had. Who went Wendigo???
Niska, was she a real person, or a spirit that many people incommon encountered during different periods of their lives? Was she just the spirit of their past, of the old ways that would bring those back home who were willing to right their wrongs, and was she the angel of death to send someone to their maker if they were unwilling to admit to their wrongs?
Who was right, and who was wrong to do what they had to do? The novel Three Day Road is a story about the war from the perspective of Niska and Xavier, Cre from Moose Factory, but yet there was so much more.
Blanca - you sure know how to make a student think for days on end, and still find no definate conclusion, but yet in being inconclusive, been given a conclusion in that.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Jim's Response to Three Day Road
(photo is Francis Pegahmagabow: Ojibwa World War l hero and inspiration for "Three Day Road" - for his story, go to: http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=history/other/native/peaceful )
Everyone must someday take the journey on the "three day road" - this was a prevailing thought when I had finished reading Three Day Road. It was an excellent novel, though I could not always call it enjoyable. To me this story explored in depth the issues of life and death, and contrasted these two issues within the native and caucasian cultures of that time, and how they all related to World War l.
Everyone must someday take the journey on the "three day road" - this was a prevailing thought when I had finished reading Three Day Road. It was an excellent novel, though I could not always call it enjoyable. To me this story explored in depth the issues of life and death, and contrasted these two issues within the native and caucasian cultures of that time, and how they all related to World War l.
I found the two sex scenes in book interesting in that both of them involved a coming together of the two races and both of them ended in dissapointment for Niska and Xavier, but not necessarily for the trapper or Lisette. I believe Boyden was making a statement here referring to how First Nations people have always been treated poorly by non-native Canadians traditionally. It could also be surmised that a warning is being issued with the relating of how the trapper died because of Niska. This warning could be applied to either men who choose to treat first nation women in a demeaning manner, or the poor treatment of/or towards first nation people in general. The incident caused me to ponder the idea of curses and how many curses have been put on non native people over the years. Do you beleive in curses?
Similair to Broken Ground, I recieved even more insight into the horrors and senseless loss of human life that is war and I gained an even larger understanding of why veterans that I have talked to did not wish to share their experiences. With incidents such as the killing of innocent civilians, as depicted in the scene where Elijah kills them thinking he is protecting Xavier, these incidents, whether or not they are intentional, are not something one would want to talk of later on. Other attrocities include the scalping, the methods of warfare (nerve gas), the treatment of prisoners, and of course racism.
I feel I have gained much insight from reading Three Day Road I am glad that the issues talked about in it are finally being addressed today.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Jim's Response to Broken Ground
Here are the pictures I wanted to share with everyone. They are both taken near Sechelt, which is across the Strait of Georgia and south a bit from Merville; the area that the story is based upon, so the geography should be similar. In the first photo there is a stump pile and this along with the debris that is everywhere really gives a sense ( at least to me )of the amount of work needed to clear this type of land. The second picture shows the size and amount of stumps present and I have just now noticed that they are both in the same location (note church in background) and the first photo shows work done after the second photo was taken.
In Broken Ground, I found that there were a lot themes being addressed and I was not really getting a feel for what the main theme of the book was as a whole, if there was one. This led to me pondering the title of the book: 'broken ground'. As I thought about this title, I came to the conclusion that perhaps a theme (or one of the main themes) of this book is upheaval, destruction and change. Looking at the photo on the front cover and having not yet read the book, one might just see a man plowing a field; as I did. After reading the book, however, I think that this picture says " Wow, look at what I have accomplished!" The man in the photo could be reflecting on what the land looked like when he first viewed it (pics above) and how impossible it had seemed that he would be able to persevere and survive the task of clearing the land. Because the book also looks at the parallel theme of the men surviving and dealing with the war, this photo could also represent how the characters (especially Matt) survive and learn to live with the upheaval and destruction, or broken ground in their lives that is caused from the war. The man in the picture on the cover, who represents the surviving characters in the book, is proudly showing the world that he conquered the hell that is: 1) clearing the land, and 2) dealing with the war.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Rachelle's Three Day Road Response
The novel "Three Day Road," by author Joseph Boyden, was an enthralling and seductive read. It was one of those rare novels where I found myself not only wanting to know what would come next, but needing to know. The three main protagonists: Xavier, Niska, and Elijah were all emotionally charged characters, each with many levels and layers of emotion. This novel was incredibly magnetizing from start to finish, due to the structure, consisting of a series of flashbacks intertwined with the present. These flashbacks from Niska and Xavier revealed how the both Xavier and Elijah came to live with Niska, how the boys became such great hunters , and how Niska came to accept her destiny as a Windigo killer.
One of the most interesting links in this novel is the link made between Elijah and Xavier's hunting abilities. The boys learned how to hunt animals with one another at home in Canada and then later use those skills to hunt humans in the war. This link made by Boyden, was absolutely brillant and revealed the true gruesomeness to the acts that were committed in the war.
I enjoyed the Canadian perspective on the war in this novel and furthermore, the Native perspectives presented. I felt that it was an important element to the novel that Boyden made it clear to his readers, the important role that Canada's Native played in the war.
In addition to all of these factors, was the different reactions to the war that Elijah and Xavier experienced. For Xavier, he was reasonable about his actions, killed because he was in a posistion where he had to or he would lose his own life and felt remorse for his actions. Elijah however, was unreasonable, killed for personal glory, and felt no remorse for his actions.
Lastly, Niska's stories told to her Nephew Xavier on their journey home about her past familiarized the reader to her. It was interesting to learn how the events of the novel came to be through Niska's memories. Not to mentiont those risking sections where she recalls her sexual past and decision to become a Windigo character.
One of the most interesting links in this novel is the link made between Elijah and Xavier's hunting abilities. The boys learned how to hunt animals with one another at home in Canada and then later use those skills to hunt humans in the war. This link made by Boyden, was absolutely brillant and revealed the true gruesomeness to the acts that were committed in the war.
I enjoyed the Canadian perspective on the war in this novel and furthermore, the Native perspectives presented. I felt that it was an important element to the novel that Boyden made it clear to his readers, the important role that Canada's Native played in the war.
In addition to all of these factors, was the different reactions to the war that Elijah and Xavier experienced. For Xavier, he was reasonable about his actions, killed because he was in a posistion where he had to or he would lose his own life and felt remorse for his actions. Elijah however, was unreasonable, killed for personal glory, and felt no remorse for his actions.
Lastly, Niska's stories told to her Nephew Xavier on their journey home about her past familiarized the reader to her. It was interesting to learn how the events of the novel came to be through Niska's memories. Not to mentiont those risking sections where she recalls her sexual past and decision to become a Windigo character.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Essay Topics
Well, your first essays are due on February 26th. These should be short essays of around 4-5 pages, clear, concise, and coherent...
Use the discussion questions from the post on Joseph Boyden to generate your essays. These can be developed to include discussion of Broken Ground. You may write a comparative essay if you like, or focus on one of the two novels. Your reader responses can lead you to some solid essay topics. The questions are quite general - you will need to narrow them down to create a strong sense of your topic. You will also want to think about meaning as you write... Go beyond what the book is about; think about what it means, in larger abstract terms. What are the issues that these novels address? I think about the challenge of representation here, for instance.
Let's get some discussion on topics going here! Note that I will be away for the weekend, and back on Tuesday, so you may not hear much from me until then.
Remember, the idea of using this Blog instead of classtime is for you to develop your own skills in terms of research direction and reading!
Use the discussion questions from the post on Joseph Boyden to generate your essays. These can be developed to include discussion of Broken Ground. You may write a comparative essay if you like, or focus on one of the two novels. Your reader responses can lead you to some solid essay topics. The questions are quite general - you will need to narrow them down to create a strong sense of your topic. You will also want to think about meaning as you write... Go beyond what the book is about; think about what it means, in larger abstract terms. What are the issues that these novels address? I think about the challenge of representation here, for instance.
Let's get some discussion on topics going here! Note that I will be away for the weekend, and back on Tuesday, so you may not hear much from me until then.
Remember, the idea of using this Blog instead of classtime is for you to develop your own skills in terms of research direction and reading!
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