Project 1

Logan Huntze

Ms. H

English 205

27 February 2019

Project #1

To complete my first project of English 205 and meet the standards given, I have chosen the topic: Pick a subject – love, work, freedom, etc. Then choose two selections and discuss how that subject is discussed in those selections. Use literary devices to help frame your discussion.

           

            We have been reading lots of texts from back in the day about California’s history and the influence it had on so many people. Each story has had a meaning behind it and that is a reason why I chose the topic to talk about that I did. In the beginning of the semester, we read a text called “About the House Girl” (40-50) and this was an interesting story to me. I was able to relate to the story in some way and I was also able to paint a good picture in my mind about what the setting was during that time. For this text, I am going to talk about love and how it is discussed in that story, as well as the literary devices used. During the time in this class, we also read a text called “Sarah Eleanor Royce” (136-140) and this story was also interesting and meaningful to me. The main characters of the story, a husband and wife, set out on a journey to travel towards California. Their main goal was to reach California to have freedom and be successful with their lives, but in order to get there they had to work. I am going to discuss how work is described in this story and how it played into them reaching their goal, which was ultimately success.

            In the text “About the House Girl,” the main character Patipir is described as a hard working young man who enjoys fishing and hunting, and on his quite time he enjoys playing the flute near the river. He lived on a village, and had other villages around him that were separated by a river. Ifapi, the other main character who is discovered later in the story, is also a young woman who stays with her older Aunt on the village of Rekwoi. Rekwoi is located directly across the river from Patipir. Patipir learned about this young girl on the other side of the river from his family, but they knew nothing about her. From the beginning, it was obvious Patipir wanted to meet this girl, but he had little knowledge of girls and didn’t know exactly how he would do this.

            One day Patipir was peacefully playing his flute near the river when he saw two girls across the way down in front of Ifapi’s house. After some chuckling and whispering, Patipir made his way across the river to the two girls. This was his first time ever crossing the river in his canoe, and once he reached the girls he was not with them long. The smell of fresh seaweed attracted Patipir’s attention up the hill to the Aunt’s house, where Ifapi lived. Patipir ditched the two girls he was with, and headed uphill. He arrived, talking to the old Aunt he had known his whole life, and then made his way into her house. At this time, he saw Ifapi for the first time and he was attracted. He didn’t stay long, and soon left back down to his canoe and headed back to his village. From the moment he saw Ifapi, he knew he had to meet her, and from this point on in the story he attempted everything he could to get to her.

            The next night Patipir did his same routine, heading across the river as the sun went down. This time, the two girls ran from him, and he was left confused on the other side of the river. But soon after that, he heard the voices of people, and went down to the river to investigate. He was confronted by people who told him to get on the canoe to come to the dancing across the ocean, so that’s what he did. As he arrived to the beach, he was amazed to see all the dancing going on. Suddenly while he was there, he spotted a young women near the fire, and after examining her realized that it was Ifapi, outside of her house for once. That whole night into the following morning he watched her, and the next day he once again headed to the Aunt’s house where she lived. This time, wasting no time, he went inside and grabbed Ifapi, attempting to take her with him. The Aunt stopped him, but after listening to his reasoning she allowed him to take her, and Patipr explained that he was going to marry Ifapi that night. They proceeded to go down to the river, hop in the canoe, and head for Ifapi’s fathers house to tell him the news .She arrived and said to her father, “that you may know my husband” (47). This shows that she too was excited about the situation.  After explaining the situation to the father, he was excited for his girl and new son-in-law and they both headed down river with their friends and family. They had their marriage ceremony on the same beach as the dancing from the night before, and soon after that Patipir and Ifapi headed down river in their canoe to start their lives on new land far away from their villages.

            This story was definitely based around love, and from the start Patipir worked hard to get Ifapi. There were many scenes in this story that hinted Patipir trying to get to Ifapi, and one day he finally did. It was like love at first sight for both of them, and things worked out perfectly in the end. Patipr wasted no time with Ifapi, as the first day he took her out he married her. This is very different than what goes on today in our world, as people often date for years before getting married. This is one thing that is very different now than it was back then. Patipir’s hard work and determination led to his success with finding and marrying Ifapi, and they both went off to continue their lives in a new place.

            This text also uses literary devices to describe different situations in the text such as characters or the overall setting. One literary device that is used in this text is characterization, and that applies to both Patipir and Ifapi. Patipir is described as a young, hardworking man, who is also very shy around girls. Although his actions changed when he found out about Ifapi, and after seeing her he was no longer shy towards her. Ifapi was also a young shy girl, but he intended to stay inside most of the time, and people that knew of her thought she never left the house. However, she was spotted at night at the dance party by Patipir, and that was the first time for him to see her outside. She also changed when she saw him, as she was no longer shy towards him. Imagery is also a literary device that was used quite often in this text. Patipir used imagery the most, and it started out by him describing the kind of things he does: cutting fire wood, fishing, hunting, and playing the flute. Each one of these things can be visually imagined in your head, which makes it easier to understand what was actually happening in the story. Another literary device that was used often in this text is theme. The theme was constantly changing. The theme went from one village to the next, on a canoe in the river, to a beach in the ocean. The theme constantly changed and I think each different theme had its own meaning. The last literary device that was used a lot in this text is symbolism. Ifapi symbolized love and future life for Patipir, and that was important to how this story evolved and ended up.

            The next story I am going to discuss is called “Sarah Eleanor Royce” and this was a great representation of the people’s goal back in the 1800’s to make the trek to California. A husband and wife made the decision to leave Iowa, and head towards California in the middle of the gold rush to start a new successful life. Anyone who makes the decision to make that long of a hike has to be determined and willing to work for what they want to accomplish. They had one thing in their favor, and that was their transportation. They were able to ride mules which benefitted them a lot throughout the story. They started the adventure and each night would stop and rest to prepare for the next day. The first night, they stopped and were surrounded by feet of snow. They were at a disadvantage as it was hard to get a fire started, but they did what they could to make it work.

            On October 19^th, it was an exciting day of their journey. As they made their way across steep slopes and hills, the wife looked out into the valley and saw the “promise land.” She was so excited and said “I knew I was looking across the Sacramento Valley.” There long journey full of hard work had finally gotten more exciting, as they were now closer to their end goal of reaching California. Each night, they continued to stop the traveling and get some rest and food in their bodies. Two days later on October 21^st, they unloaded their packs and made fires that were somewhat close to other campers and travelers. That night they were awoken by ruckus and loud footsteps, and then a few shots were fired. The Indians had found them and were trying to kill them. One man was hit by an arrow, and a few other men rushed towards the Indians to try and catch them. The Indians had an advantage of knowing the area better and they got away.

            A few days later on October 24^th, they reached another town called Weaverville that was full of villages and people. The husband and wife were finally comfortable with where they were, and at this time they were able to meet up with one of the husband’s old friends. His friend had been in California longer than he had, and he had a small portion of gold that he had earned while gold mining. The friend proposed a plan to the women’s husband, and that plan was to head towards Sacramento City to buy some goods, and then open their own store. The husband and wife agreed, and there new business journey had started. They worked hard to build housing for each other and also had work to do before they could open the shop. After hard work by both the husband and his friend, the time of opening the shop had finally come. They soon had people working for them, and their business was growing. They purchased cattle, and each day they were able to sell fresh meat which was a huge profit. They also had guys out gold mining during the day, which was also brining in profit to the business. As business continued, they started making new friends with the guys from the community who had make the same journey to California as they had. They even met some Indians and made friends with them. The husband and wife’s journey from Iowa paid off as they had reached California, started their own business, and became successful.

            This story evolved around work, lots of hard work. Back in that time, it was common for people to travel from all over to come to California because of the gold rush. Even though that was the “norm”, it was still very hard work and some people never made it. However, this husband and wife team traveled and traveled, encountered some crazy things such as getting hunted down by Indians, and in the end made it to California. This was all because of their hard work and dedication to reach their final goal. In California, they continued working hard and eventually opened their own store and created great business. People were working for them and the business continued to grow, and they were very successful. This shows that hard work can get you anywhere, and if you continue working hard you can accomplish your dreams like they did.

            There were many different literary devices used in this story. The first one was imagery. Imagery was used a lot in this story, especially when they explained their journey. The journey was hard and traitorous, and it was easy to create an image in my head as to what it looked like. Another literary device that was used was plot. There were many events laid out from the start to finish of this story, and each plot had a different meaning. The next device that was used a lot in this story was symbolism. First off, the overall journey towards California symbolized success and freedom. Once they made it, hard work of gold mining and opening a business symbolized their future lives, and the success they will have. Overall, work symbolized the outcome of this story, and that outcome was success and profit.