Portfolio: Feminism Concept Map

Portfolio: Blog

            I have already completed a blog where I described what I felt was the main archetypes of each of the main character. However, I only want to focus on showcasing a different archetype that each narrator possesses. Xavier can fall under “the hero” and Niska can fall under “the great mother” as a different archetype they have along with the other archetypes I mentioned in the other post.

Most characters with the hero archetype always wants to do what is right and will never alone anyone to sway their morals. For example, superman never let anyone change his morals, he knew what was right and what was wrong much like Xavier, he does not allow the soldiers to influence any changes in his behaviour. So, generally speaking most hero archetypes just have a good sense of justice and won’t allow others to change their beliefs and morals. Also, for a character to be a hero, they must excel at one particular thing which is what makes them so great that they are above and superior to everyone else in that field. Xavier narrates: “Elijah takes a long time sighting, makes a show of it for the spectators, gently squeezes the trigger and misses. My head is light and today has turned into a good day for m.” (Boyden 109). Xavier won the competition and it is clear within the story that Xavier is the better sniper between the two. This shows another aspect of how he is a hero because he is the best at hunting and heroes are meant to be very skilled.

Niska proves to have the great mother archetype as she is trying her best to nurse Xavier back to health during their three-day journey. The great mother archetype obviously has great maternal instincts as well being compassionate to other people, trying to help or take care of them. For example, Aunt Vivian from Fresh Prince of Bel-air, the television channel, also has the great mother archetype as she has to take care of her multiple children along with her nephew Will. She is strict yet she provides them with great advice and is always going to care for them. Niska is very similar in that regard because she is also Xavier’s aunt and she cares for him so much while she nurses him back to health she also tries to give him some advice. Niska narrates: “I must figure out a cure or I will lose him” (Boyden 34). This quote shows how much she cares for Xavier, doing anything in her range of capabilities she can to heal him.

The Lynx is an important symbol because this animal represents protection. The lynx helped both Elijah and Xavier escape the forest fire. Xavier says, “It was the Lynx that came to me most strongly, his growls puffing out the walls of my tent like a great wind trying to escape.” (Page 176). By knowing the lynx’s tracks they were able to be safe. Also, the lynx is a great symbol of protection because it protected the main characters.

Although, there is a harsh reality about people with these hero archetypes, they always have something to hide. Xavier tried to hide his morphine addiction but through all of this he is still the nest suited to receive this archetype in the novel. His journey is similar to some heroes because he and a bunch of heroes both have had horrible childhoods. However, the main character’s hero archetype differs from the general journey because of the time and place of the novel. The novel follows the three-day journey as they retell their past stories.

In conclusion, Xavier can also have the hero archetype and Niska is accurately depicted with the great mother archetype.

Portfolio: Persuasive Essay: The Wemistikoshiw mistreats the Cree

The novel written by Joseph Boyden, Three Day Road, follows Aboriginal natives who originally resided in Canada during the first world war. They were being poorly treated by the wemistikoshiw which means white people in their dialect. This novel is unique because there are two different people narrating the story and both each perspective is during a different timeline. Xavier Bird’s perspective is from World War I when he battled alongside his best friend, Elijah Weesageechak and served the country in the war. The other perspective comes from Niska as she retells her experiences as a child growing up as a Cree woman in Canada and she also happened to be the daughter of the hookimaw, or chief of their tribe. The wemistikoshiw create issues with the people who are living in the same general vicinity which happened to be the Cree. They are having problem with another but the Cree are getting harmed more. The first person that was harmed by the wemistikoshiw was Niska. Then, Xavier had also been negatively affected by the wemistikoshiw. Lastly, Elijah also endures problems with the wemistikoshiw. The Cree did not do anything to provoke the wemistikoshiw but the wemistikoshiw are the reason the Cree are still harmed and negatively affected because they will do as they please disregarding how the Cree felt.

First of all, Niska who is the main female character in this novel was a Cree native and also a woman during the early 1900s. She was mistreated by the white people that shared and live around the same area as each other. She became a strong and independent Cree woman through all of these negative events because they just helped her toughen her skin. Niska’s father, the chief had to kill a windigo which means cannibals that became crazy in the Cree language. She narrates: “My father was led away with his big hands bound behind him as our women wailed for the future. To take the hookimaw away who was to lead us into the bush for the long winter was unimaginable” (Boyden 44). The wemistikoshiw took away such an influential figure in Niska’s life as she is getting bigger and older, requiring guidance from their parents. Niska’s father who was the hookimaw or chief, got arrested and would later be executed by the wemistikoshiw which shows how they would mistreat the Cree people. Niska being forced to grow up without her father who the biggest influence and teacher in her young life was a very traumatic experience and time for her. The wemistikoshiw had no right to get involved with this situation because the Cree and wemistikoshiw are said to be separated in the book. However, Niska may have been the most devastated but the grief was not limited to her because this Cree tribe had just lost their chief who is considered to be the leader of the pack. So, the wemistikoshiw taking away the leader of the tribe because of a matter they should not have been concerned with shows how the wemistikoshiw impose themselves on the Cree tribe’s lives. The hurt the Cree as whole because they degrade the Cree and do not care about how they are feeling. Niska was not the only aboriginal that had to deal with the wemistikoshiw’s disrespectful actions but so did her nephew Xavier.

Xavier was Niska’s nephew and he had experienced his own issues and problems that had arisen with the wemistikoshiw. Throughout his entire life, the wemistikoshiw found ways to constantly make his life worse. He lost his mother and was terribly mistreated in the residential school, along with Lisette treated him and how the soldiers he fought alongside were racist towards him and look down on him. Xavier lost his mom due to the residential school, Niska says: “but the talk was that she [Rabbit, Xavier’s mother] was a drinker of wemistikoshiw rum and had abandoned her only son to be raised by the nuns in that residential school” (Boyden 197). Xavier’s mother assimilated into the wemistikoshiw culture because of how the nuns raised her. Shortly after she gave birth to Xavier, she began drinking alcohol produced by the wemistikoshiw and abandoned her son for some lousy residential school. Rabbit forgot how she was a Cree native because of what the wemistikoshiw did too her. Niska had to save Xavier every time that his mother abandoned him and left him behind. So, the wemistikoshiw took away a young Cree boy’s mother and turns her into an alcoholic that can barely recognize her own son. From their perspective, they left a little boy without a mother and did not care whether or not he would receive aby care fomr anyone. Even though, Xavier was lucky enough to be raised by Niska, the wemistikoshiw did not care about what happened to a young child. Xavier’s heart was also broken by one of the wemistikoshiw known as Lisette. He fell in love with he and consummated the relationship through sexual intercourse from his perspective. However, she turns out to be a prostitute that Elijah hired to carry out a job. He narrates “Something in me has gone dull and hard, and I force myself to keep running. My ears hear nothing now but the shallow woosh of my own breath in my chest” (Boyden 233). Xavier’s heart had been broken when he found her sleeping with another man, she was caught red handed in the act of cheating in his eyes because she was having a sexual relation with another white man. Lastly, Xavier also disrespected by his peers and comrades within the army because of their prejudice and racist minds looking down on him due to his ethnicity. All of these examples help prove how the wemistikoshiw mistreated the Cree in such a way that was so insensitive. They are constantly disregarding how a Cree person may actually have feelings and emotions. They will do whatever they want without thinking about how the Cree may be affected. Sadly, this was not the last case of a Cree person being mistreat but Xavier’s best friend Elijah had also been mistreated.

Finally, Elijah seemed to receive the most significant of the all the negative impacts dealt upon the Cree by the wemistikoshiw. During the beginning, the wemistikoshiw excluded both Xavier and Elijah but due to Elijah’s personality, he felt like he needed to prove himself to them. He would speak using a fake English accent around them in order to feel as if he belongs. This portrays such an accurate message of racism because racists make others feel that their race is inferior and those who have been negatively affected with that message choose to assimilate into the culture. The wemistikoshiw are representing the message that if the Cree can not defeat them then they should just join them. This is such a weak move by Elijah but he was influenced by the wemistikoshiw’s peer pressure. They used his insecurities to turn him into one of their own kind. This shows how manipulative the wemistikoshiw really are and they do not even care that they are doing so. They make other human beings feel bad without any reason other than their skin colour is different. An athlete who received an abundant amount of backlash because they made a similar choice is Kevin Durant. Durant blew a 3-1 playoff series lead against the Golden State Warriors of the NBA. So, Suring the off-season he was a free agent and decided to sign with the Golden State Warriors. This move is similar to what Elijah has done because they both feel they can not overtake or defeat the opposition, they decide to join them. The wemistikoshiw turning Elijah into of their kind not only negatively affects Elijah because he is losing sight of who he really is but those who were actually close to him are also heavily affected. Xavier felt as though he was alone in the war because of how Elijah, his best friend, had gone through some drastic changes. The wemistikoshiw do not care that they are completely changing someone just because they were able to poke at their insecurities. They made him feel bad about his native culture and influenced him that their culture was superior so he would join them. This shows once again how the careless actions of the wemistikoshiw have cause negative affects upon the Cree.

All in all, the wemistikoshiw been nothing but trouble for the Cree that live in the same area. They do not even care what they do towards the Cree as long as they are benefitted. The killed Niska’s father, the chief of the tribe at a very young age leaving her fatherless and leaving the tribe leaderless. The wemistikoshiw also took away Xavier’s mother, led to his heart being broken and a surplus of disrespect from those who are supposed to comrades. Also, Elijah had turned into one of the wemistikoshiw because they made him feel inferior about his country which led him to want to be included by his comrades. They did not accept him because of his ethnicity so he changed who he was as a person just so he may be included in the group. In conclusion, the Cree do not do anything harmful towards the wemistikoshiw while the wemistikoshiw have no reason to mess with the Cree but they still do so anyways without any regard of a Cree person’s well-being.

Works Cited

·      Drainie, Bronwyn. “Three-Day Road.” Quill and Quire, 11 Mar. 2005, quillandquire.com/review/three-day-road/.

·      Boyden, Joseph. Three Day Road. W. Ross MacDonald School Resource Services Library, 2011.

Final Blog

            I will utilize this blog post as a way to organize my portfolio. As for my actual portfolio, I am going to also post it on the same blog website and I will write a persuasive essay along with using the media platforms of a blog and a mind map.

The persuasive essay’s purpose is to convince the reader that the wemistikoshiw or white people are responsible for mistreating the Cree and whatever negative impacts come along with it because they did not care about the Cree’s well-being one bit. The white people mistreated all three of the main characters because of their ethnicity. The 1900s had a much more devolved way of thinking and I want to showcase how racism can cause significant events to occur.

The blog post that I am writing will incorporate the different archetypes present within the novel. As I finished the novel I realized more about each character and though it would be best fitting to update my readers on the archetypes I am able to find in the novel. I, especially want to correct Xavier’s archetype along with being able to add onto it.

The concept map will be centered around the concept of feminism. I think feminism is such a powerful and beautiful concept. Feminism is still a cause worth fighting for even to this day. Since this was the most modern issue I could relate to, I felt it would be suited to be explained and elaborated upon through a concept map.

Through this grade 12 English course I have developed so many skills as a writer and media text creator because I have been taught about various literary theories amongst other very important teachings. I was introduced to the postcolonial, feminist, archetypal and reader response literary theories.  I was able to enhance my knowledge of analyzing a poem and story. Also, I was reminded of how to cite sources correctly so that my work is not plagiarism. Also, I was able to gain more knowledge about media outlets such as, the medium being the message. I was able to learn about an intriguing podcast series that is very suspenseful. I feel as though the only challenges of this course were the timeline because a lot of work has to be complete in such a short period of time that it can be overwhelming. However, I was able to learn many things by taking this course.