Honors Essay Semester 2

Finally, the last post that i ever have 2 make again this year!!!

With our US History class drawing to a close, we remember what we learned. The books, Shane, Call of the Wild, and The Diary of Miss Jane Pittman, explained history in a way that students would actually understand. These books have had effects on people for hundreds of years and probably hundreds more, being as there is always something new for us to learn from a book, regardless of how many times we have read such a book.
Our fourth book, Shane, talked of life in the West. History class merely skimmed over one of the greatest parts of our nation’s history. Without this era, there would be now Seattle, Portland, or Hollywood. We talked of the movements west, not of the lifestyle of people that were homesteaders and cattle ranchers. Many things were revealed to me about life there. Although this is probably a little exaggerated, the ongoing rivalry in this book between the two factions was a lot like the Civil War. We could see what that war was like on a smaller scale. This rivalry, like the War, was between those with power and those without. The rich and the poor. With the influence of a wandering cowboy, the tide was turned, thrusting the poor actually into victory, or something like it. This book revealed the true dynamic nature of the Wild West.
The fifth book that we read was The Call of the Wild. This was not even glanced at this time period in History. The textbook has no listing for Klondike or Yukon Gold Rushes. This is a story of survival of the fittest. Buck survives all of his adventures as he learns the ways of the frozen North. This book was the complete opposite of White Fang, another book by Jack London. In The Call of the Wild, London watches a dog transform from friendly mutt into a carnivorous wolf. White Fang goes the other direction, changing a crazed wolf into the tame half-dog with a wild past. This transformation is similar to that of a human. An American would adapt as the dog does if he is suddenly transported to Africa. But the native African coming to America would always remember his homeland and his life there would always be with him. With that, you can conclude that all living things have a desire to survive.
Our last book dealt with a very large time period. This we actually learned about. With the Emancipation, many slaves were forced into a hidden bondage. This happened all over the country after Lincoln signed it. Things would not get better for them until the 1960's. This part of history is also talked about in the book. The life of Jane helps you to see the hardships that the former slaves faced when confronted with freedom. You cannot unlearn what you have been taught all of your life. The slaves thought that they were inferior, though now all are equal. They were kept in the mind set that they were still enslaved because they didn’t know freedom. Those that do not know what something is cannot experience its glories when it is offered to them.
What we learned this year in Honors was alright. Stories of the World Wars or the War of 1812 would have been helpful to understanding history in general. These books helped us to comprehend what was placed before us, though not as well as many would have liked. I, personally, did learn a few new things from these books and would continue to do so if I read them all through another time.