The Boat

PRE-QUESTIONS

1.Try to identify the writer’s main idea of this short story. -Sydne

2.How does the setting effect the story line. - Amanda

3.Based on the title "The Boat" what can you predict the story is about. -Amanda

4.What motivated the main character through out the story. - Sam G 

5.What do you think the "Boat" symbolizes? - Amanda

6.How does the setting support the theme? - Cassidy 

7.How is the authors background represented in this short story? - Sam H

8.What subject does the story examine? -Sam G

9.What is the author's attitude toward his or her main character? What adjectives, metaphors, or similes are used to describe that character? - Sam G

10.What does the main character seem to represent or value or believe in? - Sydne

11.How is the setting symbolic? - Cassidy 

12.How does the title play a role in the story? - Cassidy 

13.Create a character arc. - Sam H 

14.Identify and explain the roles or the protagonist and the antagonise. - Sam H 

15.Are there any other works of art? (books, paintings etc) - Sydne 

ANSWERS
1. Try to identify the writer's main idea of this short story? - Sydne

2. How does the setting affect the story line? - Amanda
- The setting affects the story line because it takes place in Canada's East Coast, around the area of Nova Scotia. If the setting took place in a different location, for example Saskatchewan, the story would be talking more about farming, because of the location. This is how the setting affects the story line, as it take place in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, where Nova Scotia is on the ocean, and you would see a lot of fishing, and boating. etc. 

3. Based on the title "The Boat" what can you predict the story is about? - Amanda 
- Based on the title "The Boat" I would think the story is about a family who enjoys fishing or boating.  The story is about a short story told from the perspective of a boy living in Cape Breton (Canada's East coast) in around 1940s (ish). I believe it is about the reality of the harsh life sytle that fisherman in Nova Scotia lead.The story is told when the boy had grown up, but he is talking about his childhood. The main character is the boys father, a fisherman who has never really liked the fishing lifestyle and who would have preferred to get an education. Many times in the story it is pointed out that he values education, for example his room is described as being full of books, however he never had the chance. He would like for his son to get and education and not have to live the dangerous and harsh lifestyle that he does - the lifestyle that ends up killing him. The conflicts in the story are between the narrators mother and father, and his mother does not share the same feeling about education and escaping from the fishing world that the father does.The mother did not approve of her daughters leaving Cape Breton. The second, and more important, conflict is the narrator's internal conflict; he wants to study, but realizes that he is the only son and the only one who can support his parents and follow in the fishing business.

4. What is the narrator's attitude towards the main supporting character?- Sam.G

1. The main source of motivation for the narrator was the support of his father.  Because the main character idolized his father, this was a huge influence on his life choices.  His father’s room was full of books and it said that he wished he had gotten an education.  He wanted the best for his son, which included an education.  This motivated the main character to get an education, and (ironically) becomes a teacher at a “great Midwestern university.”

 5. What do you think the "Boat" symbolizes? - Amanda 
- I think the "Boat" symbolizes tradition. The story really comes down to a confilct between utilitarianism and aestheticism; how "utilitarian" and practical the mother is, how she rejects the father's more "aesthetic" view of life, that is, in his books and his desire for education. The boat is utilitarian, is has a real, set purpose of bringing in money, and it holds an entire community. When reading the story, you should notice how the father is described much more than the mother, his physical features are given, his bedroom is described a great deal, where as the author doesn't really use any sensory imagery to describe the mother, this really enforces the idea of utilitarianism and aestheticism. I also think the "Boat" symbolizes duty, imprisonment, and necessity. I think this because in his youth, the father's desire to attend university was pointless, perhaps by his parents' expectation that he, as an only son, would carry on the fishing tradition. In his adult years, the farther is tied to a life on the boat because of his responsibility to his wife and children. I also think the "Boat" symbolizes education and an escape from the world of imprisonment. I think this because the father lived the life that truly mattered to him within the pages of the books he read. They provided him with the means of excitement, intellect, and imagination. The daughters and the narrator followed suit, but their books motivated them to actually leave the village and travel beyond its confines.

6. How does the setting support the theme? - Cassidy

7. How is the authors background represented in this short story? - Sam. H

8.What subject does the story examine?(What does the story seem to be worried about?)-Sam. 

1. This story examines many subjects, including, but not limited to, family values, money, and the close connection between father and son.  The subject I find most important is the connection between father and son.  Although written in the perspective of the son, this story is very much about the father.  The story talks about the way the son admires his father, and how his father has influenced who he is today.

9.What is the author's attitude toward his or her main character? What adjectives, metaphors, or similes are used to describe that character? - Sam. G

1. When the narrator first starts talking about his childhood, he mentions his dad.  It says he remembers the “view from the floor of the gigantic rubber boots.”  I believe this sentence is a very strong example of the relationship between father and son.  The son is on the floor, small and insignificant, and looks up to a great man.  Size often is a symbol for power.  The gigantic rubber boots are quite literally rubber boots, but also become a metaphor for the way the narrator sees his father.  His father is large, standing over him, perhaps a protector.  This shows how the child idolizes and quite literally looks up to his dad.  This, later on in the story, influences his own life choices.  “He seemed to never sleep, only to doze,” the narrator says about his dad.  Vampires are mythical creatures who also never sleep.  I see this as a connection to these immortal creatures.  If he sees his father as immortal, this means that his father is greater than any other typical man.  It also means he believes he will never die.  This is a common view from children.  They don’t think about death, especially the death of those that they admire.

10.What does the main character seem to represent or value or believe in?- Sydne

11.How is the setting symbolic? - Cassidy

12.How does the title play a role in the story? -Cassidy 

13.Create a character arc. - Sam H 

14.Identify and explain the roles or the protagonist and the antagonise. - Sam H 

15.Are there any other works of art? (books, paintings etc) - Sydne 

Poetry Analysis

Reach Out and Touch
by Maxine Tynes
The Poet 
- wrote about racial injustices
- not on Wikipedia! 
- born in 1949 
- African-American

Thoughts

-the narrator wants to show the child that it's okay 

- innocence 

- we (humans) create racism; it's thoughts 

- we put ideas into the next generation's heads through the innocence of the child 

- when the mother hushed the child and wouldn't let the child touch or talk about the narrator

- then the child associated her as bad 

- "lost/ in the silence and the fear that motherlove surrounds you in" 

- the child was curious but not given answers so he/she became frightened 

- the author feels partly responsible for racism (?) 

- she believes that if she showed the child that she really wasn't that much different that he/she would know it's okay 

- "your fingers dipped in the/ brown skin magic of my neck" - as if she's a different recipe - magical and thick - positive view 

- dipping your fingers into magic, some magic could come off onto you - difference between curiosity and racism 

- the child is curious which makes her mother embarrassed 

- when I was a lot younger, I saw a black woman at a restaurant and yelled out, "Look Mommy!" Which my mother still tells me about today - it was not because of racism, it was curiosity, coming from a small town of white people 

- the narrator understands that the child is curious and doesn't mind

A Hundred Billion Dollars.

"Shopping here, shopping there" is what you would hear from a normal teenager. But who wouldn't, right? It's 100 billion dollars, everyone needs a new pair of clothes. But there are other ways to spend 100 billion dollars. The purpose is to persuade you as to why I should win 100 billion dollars. What could someone do with 100 billion dollars?

If I were to win a hundred billion dollars, shopping isn't the only thing you would see me doing with the money. I would travel to places I have never been, everywhere, from climbing the mountains, to swimming off the coast of Australia. I would buy sports equipment, attend sports camps, and attend rap concerts. What would it hurt to give some money away to charity as well? - It wouldn't. I would pick a charity and definitely support it.  I would support my family, and friends, give them money, enough to be able to live life without worrying. But you would need to know who your real friends and family include first. 

For me to live the life, I would want the perfect dream house. Living in a cool location, with alpacas and puppies. My house would be located in Australia. I don't just want a plain simple old town house, I want a house that has a pool, a great view and a HUGE yard. This is the type of house I would live in - http://minimalisthousedesign.com/contemporary-house-in-australia/ . I would still be able to play and practice the sports that I love on the court in the backyard, cool off in the summer time, and still care for my animals. During the summer, I would go to as many sports camps as possible. It has always been my dream to succeed at the sports I love. 

This Is Me.

My name is Amanda, I enjoy History, computer design, and Physical Education. English hasn't always been my best subject, but I try. I have spent my years in school, trying my best to achieve the marks I want. I am a typical grade 11 student, come to school everyday, learn the things I need, go to work, do my homework, go to bed, and repeat. I am a shy person, but try to overcome that over the years. I love my sports, my family, and friends. I dislike people who put labels on people, such as 'dirts, smokers, popular people' it's not right. Everyone is the same person, with different interests. I have a wide variety of friends, the 'smokers' out back, the 'popular people' who sit on the benches at lunch. Personally, I would rather have just a few close friends, than having a large amount of friends. I would rather spend time with my close friends than go out and party.

 
I enjoy writing essays, short stories as long as it's a topic I'm interested in. BUT, personally, I would rather spend hours in a gym, playing sports, working out, etc.
 
Back to English, give me a book and chances are I probably wont read it. Reading is not my specialty, I do not enjoy reading, at all. UNLESS it's a topic I am interested in, such as mystery, horror. Poetry also interests me, I love to write poetry rather than read poetry.


When it comes to my interests, music is something I would not be able to go day by day without. My music is the one way to complete the person I am. My music varies depending on the day. People judge the music we listen to today. Here's me not caring. I listen to country, and rap/hip-hop. Country and rap are completely different genres of music, but like I said, depending on the day, is what I listen to. Eminem and Macklemore are two of my favorite artists.

SPORTS is a big interest I have. I enjoy the sports I play. Ringette, Field Hockey, Soccer, Volleyball. I wouldn't be able to pick one as a favorite, I participate in every one as it's my favorite. I play on the Field Hockey, Soccer, and Volleyball team at school. In the future I'm hoping to go to university/college and be able to play sports as an extra curricular activity. You take my sports away, and I am not a happy girl. I try my best to attend all practices and games. I give 100% effort at every game and practice for my team. I would rather play a team sport, than an individual sport, it's just what I prefer. Gym class is probably my favorite subject. Many people say 'gym class isn't a subject' but I consider it one, just like every other class, you learn, you work, you achieve what you need. 



So... who am I? I haven't completely figured that out yet, but I know, I'm just a young girl, striving to achieve my goals and dreams.