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Nightjohn By Gary Paulsen Summary

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Imagine What Would Happen if Everyone Had Passion Nightjohn, written by Gary Paulsen, is the story of a man named Nightjohn, an American slave living in the Southern States. Brought to the Waller plantation with whip slashes and a rope tied to his neck—he was here for one reason and one reason only. He was here with the determination to teach slaves how to read. No matter the risk, he was going to spread his gift that most didn’t have. Through his work, Nightjohn realizes that dedication can help you finish what you start—never give up on your goals. To start off, Nightjohn was driven to teach slaves how to read. He shows his dedication when he took away his own freedom to share his talent with others. Before he was brought to the Waller plantation, he was a free slave in the North after escaping the South. He made the decision of returning to the South because he wanted to share his abilities of reading and writing with other slaves. “And you came back?” another slave in the quarters asked Nightjohn. “I did,” he replied. “To teach reading” (Page 55). Nightjohn was not about to take away his own freedom to quit, which shows that he was going to aim for his goals until they were reached. …show more content…

Nightjohn continued to introduce letters of the alphabet to Sarny—a young African American living on the plantation—even if he was caught for teaching her how to read in the first place. He was knocked down, but got right back up. A couple of days after he got his middle toes chopped, the first words that came from his mouth since the accident were “H”...“The next letter is H” (Page 79). Nightjohn continued his progress after his suffering, showing that he was willing to strive for his goals at all

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In the novel NightJohn by Gary Paulsen, chapter four is mainly about Sarny’s memory of how bad it is to try to run away from the Plantation. Sarny first has a flashback to when Jim a field hand tried to run away from the plantation; In response, Clel Waller the slave master set the dogs at him while Jim tried to hide in a tree. He was unsuccessful and whipped while the dogs ate at his skin. Furthermore, Pawley was a slave on the Plantation when he tried to visit a girl on another nearby plantation.

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Then Sarny remembered the times when Jim and Pawly to slaves from the plantation tried running away, yet both got caught and beaten up by Waller’s dogs. Next Sarny goes on with her lessons in reading and learns the letter B, but when Mammy

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Numerous things have occurred in history that most people either believes is false, or denies that it has happened, one of which being slavery. In the realistic fiction novel NightJohn by Gary Paulsen, Paulsen describes the life of Sarny as she goes through the struggle of being slave. Information such as brutality, family seperation, and acts of kindness can be corroborated with Nightjohn through Fredrick Douglass, Mingo White, and Solomon Northup. Multiple examples of brutality can be seen in Nightjohn, the most prominent being whipping and the use of dogs to hunt down slaves. The first act of brutality to be read is whipping, where Sarny reports that slaves would be whipped for going too slow.

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In the book Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin, Griffin observed racism firsthand. But he can never fully experience being a Negro, he only changed his skin for 6 weeks. These are point from the book that prove this. In the book Griffin was a white man who wanted to change his skin color to experience racism and see what a Negro goes through.

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In the book Milkweed Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli takes us to one of the most devastating settings imaginable- Nazi-occupied Warsaw. Spinelli tells a tale of Misha; of heartbreak, hope, and survival through the eyes of the young orphan. According to some readers, Milkweed is a weird title for a book.

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On June 28, 2005, United States’ Navy SEAL team 5 was ambushed by the Taliban during Operation Red Wings. SEAL team 5 was a group of the nation’s toughest men, but were given a small chance of survival. Marcus Luttrell, author of Lone Survivor, was the only surviving member of his team. He decided to share his inspiring message to many Americans through a novel and a movie. In the Film, Lone Survivor, author Marcus Luttrell kept some of the details from Operation Red Wings the same.

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In the novel, Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli, Misha constantly stays in the “ghetto of the damned,” (Spinelli) for his family. Whether it be to feed the group of lucky orphans, to protect them from the punishment of smuggling, or to simply lift their spirits, Misha sacrifices his freedom for his family. Through Misha’s dialogue and actions, he proves that his family is his tether to the Warsaw Ghetto. Misha Pilsudski, the protagonist living through the Holocaust, and Janina Milgrom, his sister, discover a hole in the wall imprisoning the Warsaw Ghetto. This absence of brick represents freedom from the torturous ghetto, yet they only tastes this luxury.

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He would then sneak into his master’s home and take his child’s homework to copy in order to practice writing. He would also look up definitions in the dictionary for words he had difficulty with. Douglass would write himself notes to be excused if he were found on the road, since slaves ‘couldn’t write’. His handwriting was almost identical with that of young Master Thomas’s, which could have led him to be caught on the spot. If it was discovered that, just as he learned to read, he was taught to write, he would be sent off, killed, or beaten badly.

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Nightjohn would be characterized as brave, literate, clever, and rebellious. After gaining the knowledge and freedom that came with learning to read and write, he wanted to impart this to others. Though it is covered in scars and mutilated, it represents in the fact that he is still living and passing on his knowledge the power of literacy and what it can add to the inside of a person, even if the outside is beaten and torn. Overall, nightjohn endures a punishment in order to give slaves the art of literacy, so that they might become aware of their situation and be inspired to fight for their

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NightJohn Simply, regret is a traumatizing emotion for people to have. Many African Americans were a very common target to become slaves and servants to mostly all white men due to the color of their skin. The cause of slavery, the abominable wrong doing on America’s behalf tore apart the equality of men. Although Gary Paulsen’s novel, NightJohn, is considered historical fiction, the descriptions of supporting to one another, brutal punishments, and harsh restrictions can be corroborated with multiple sources.

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The author uses a relentless tone. The author, Frederick Douglass, shows his relentless determination to learn to read in My Bondage and My Freedom. This is shown in the quote, “Seized with a determination to learn to read, at any cost”. (p.524) Frederick Douglass explains that he will continue to learn to read no matter what he has to do.

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Douglass began to view reading as a curse more than a blessing; a way in which he felt more imprisoned by the slave state he was in. Thus, the more he read the more he began to detest enslavers; which nonetheless in his mind would be nothing but thieves whom robbed slave’s homes. For it was not only reading but his ceaseless mind getting the best of him; such reading would create endless thoughts which haunted him and made him wish that he would remain an ignorant slave. Nonetheless, during Douglass’s thoughts, Douglass began to learn to

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Learning to read showed Douglass that the world outside of slavery was not as easy as it seemed, but also showed Douglass how evil slavery was. Douglass found out what the word “abolition” meant, and said how he “always expect[ed] to hear something of importance to [him]self and fellow‐ slaves” when he heard this word, but never did (30). Adding to his grief was the self realization that he was “in a horrible pit, but to no ladder” on which he could use (29). Being able to read also showed Douglas how “wretched [his] condition” was and how he could do nothing about it (29). 4 Douglass, now undoubtedly, knew that he would always be looking for liberty for his duration as a

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Douglass tells about his own childhood and how his father might have been a slaveholder. He explains

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According to Mistress Hugh, “education and slavery were incompatible with each other” (Douglass, 33). Although Mistress Hugh had stopped teaching Douglass how to read, the seed of knowledge had already been planted. In the years that followed, his hunger for knowledge did not dissipate. Douglass devised various methods to learn to read and write in very clever ways.

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