I had been entered in the Reservation school but a few days when a strange white man appeared there. He asked me through an interpreter if I would like to ride in a steam car. I had never seen one, and six of the other children seemed enthusiastic about it and they were going to try, so I decided to join them, too. The next morning at sunrise we were piled into a wagon and driven to the nearest railroad station, thirty miles away. We did get the promised ride. We rode three days and three nights until we reached Hampton, Va.
My parents found it out, but too late."
Diary: Recently I have been through a lot. I was convinced to ride in a car, which I rode in for three days, leading me to Virginia. I feel lost. All I wanted to do was ride in the car, I did not realize I would be taken away from my family and all the plans they had for me. These white men have a way of capturing us Indians into things we have not agreed to do. My mother told me about the things that these men do, but I was too young to listen or understand. The past three years have been like torture to me. I have not been able to see the ones I love, or experience things through my culture.
- Angel DeCora
Reflection: Though Native American’s were in America first, and also helped the early English settlers, I feel that Native Americans are not appreciated nearly as much as they should. This autobiography by Angel DeCora shows the way that some Native American children were taken advantage of. I feel the way in which this man went about taking Angel out of her hometown, was unethical and selfish, as he used the curiosity of the child as a captive tool to make her and others move. I also feel that it was wrong in taking Angel and other children away from their parents, at such young ages. This autobiography also brings up some of the obstacles that Native Americans had to overcome because of English settlers. I feel that it is very nice and that Angel did get the opportunity to succeed in the career that she chose, but I also think she could have succeed easier without the English men. Many of the reasons that Angle was forced to move and a change school was because of the white men, which in turn postponed her from achieving her dream.Likewise, if a man was to commit a crime like this the child would more than likely not be gone for near as long. The man would also be put in jail for a long period of time.
5 comments:
I took a similar approach towards the passage, the only thing I see differently is that the white man may have hindered Angel's future because she and her parents may have wanted her to take one career path but it was altered due to the white man. I liked the language you used to describe your feelings and the feelings of Angel. The only thing I would say to change about your blogspot is to double check your grammer and spelling.
I like the way you went about the dairy but I would go alittle more in depth about how she felt about being away from her family for three years. Also for your reflection I would check your spelling, you have the word "they" where it should be "the". But other than that I would have written it the same way.
In reading through your reflection I agreed with many of your points. It was completely immoral for those men to think that they could just take advantage of small children, simply because they were Indian. Had such an occurance taken place today the men would have been thrown in jail; which is what they deserve. The cruel actions of these men angered me greatly and I believed I have reflected that more than you did in your reflection. The language used in your reflection was good, and just like the others, my only suggestion of something to change would be to go over your spelling.
Thank you for your input. Your insight has opened my eyes to a new understanding of the passage.
I really like the dialogue in your group - why don't you try to respond to them? I like your piece on Native American. I would like to see you apply your essential question to this selection. Your diary entry is difficult to understand a bit at first - I like it - but I(as a reader) need you to give me some more data for clarification purposes.
Grade 91
Ms. Mic
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