Personal Reflection

Through completing this ISU, I discovered some helpful methods in writing essay. I found the four blog method very helpful in understanding the book. I would have been able to read the book and write the apologia and explication quite easily, but as I was forced to pay attention to little details and really understand little details. When it came time to use quotes from the book, I knew what section and the approximate page of the desired quote.

I also developed my time management skills. Due to work and other school work, I would only work on the ISU when I had a solid amount of time to complete the required task. This proved to be difficult, especially with the blogs. I almost didn't make the deadline. This showed me that even if I were to work for half an hour before work, that is a half an hour of the work done. This would have made the writing process easier and less stressful.

As well as learning skill that would benefit me in the future, I also gained some insight. I feel that I can better understand and sympathize with teachers after this project. I have always known that teachers have a large workload, but I never really thought about how the students affect them. When Mederic and the teacher weren't friends, he got under her skin. She was scared of him and didn't know how to handle him. I don't know why but I always figured that teachers would just brush off the insults and bad behavior.

Overall, given my schedule and time management mishap, I think I did okay on this ISU. If I had balanced my schedule to give me more time to complete the various stages of this assignment, I know I could have done better job at expressing my ideas. I think the main thing I would need to work on is the overall flow of my writing.

Works Cited

Apologia

• "Canadian literature - Characteristics of Canadian Literature." Spiritus-Temporis.com - Historical Events, Latest News, News Archives. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/canadian-literature/characteristics-of-canadian-literature.html.
• "Literature in English." The Canadian Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTA0004709.
• Roy, Gabrielle. Children of My Heart. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2000. Print.

Explication

• Roy, Gabrielle. Children of My Heart. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2000. Print.

Explication of Ambition in Children of My Heart by Gabrielle Roy

After reading Children of My Heart by Gabrielle Roy, I found it very easy to choose the dramatic situation. I immediately narrowed the options to two different situations, these situations were "Ambition" and the "Daring Enterprise". I chose Ambition because I believed it best suited the story. It is clear that throughout the story the "Ambitious Person" is the teacher, the "Thing Coveted" is knowledge, and the "Adversaries" are the students.

Throughout the novel, the young teacher, who remained nameless, had the desire to learn and have the students learn. She had a passion for teaching, and would have the students learn, no matter the cost. A perfect example of her desire is in part two, with young Andre. Andre lived the farthest from school, and during the winter season he was forced to walk to and from school. After he arrived home from school he would have to do chores before he could do homework and get to bed. This grew to be too much for the little boy and he was forced to drop out of school. When the teacher discovered this her only reply was "Leave school! Andre! You musn't think of it!" (95). After the winter season Andre's mother had high hopes for his return to school. When she asked the teacher if he would pass his year, the teacher was sure it wasn't possible but replied "I'll do my best" (106).

The teacher always did her best to get the students to succeed, because of this, it is clear the coveted object is knowledge. This is clear in part one with the teachers "little Demetrioff" (67). The Demetrioff family consisted of five children that could never pass their year, the teachers would "give [them] fifty percent and away [they] go in to the next class up" (57). When our young teacher gets her first Demetrioff, she doesn't have dreams of getting him to be her top student, but merely have some skills. The youngest Demetrioff took a liking to cursive writing, and the teacher used this to get him to learn some of the basic skills of his year. As a result the young student did a little better with writing and grammar and was able to cursive write across the black board. By doing this she became respected as a teacher and developed her teaching methods to further help students.

This novel would have been nothing without the students. The teacher needed the students to have a job, and she needed them to learn the life lessons they taught her. One of the most important students was Mederic in the third section. Mederic was at first a trouble maker. He even "held 'the last teacher' at bay at the point of his jack-knife" (110), but by the end of the story it was clear that this was just an act. Mederic's mother died when he was younger, and as a result his father became an alcoholic. His father would often say things to make Mederic feel bad and Mederic lashed out. He did poorly in school to make his father mad, and as soon as he was sixteen he wanted to run away. Running away was something Mederic was used to, he had often tried to get away. When the teacher inquired about this, Mederic he only ran away for "just two days. My dad's on the lookout now. They found me almost right away and brought me back like a thief." (123). Mederic loved his special hills, and after the teacher and him had become friends he wanted to show her. Again she bribed the young student, if he did better on the midterm, they could go. When Mederic accomplished this, he was extremely excited to get to share his passion.

This book was extremely compelling. The teacher had such a passion for the students to learn and do well you couldn't help but get passionate as well. The students meant the world to her, and she meant the world to the students. They would work together to accomplish whatever task, whether big or small. The young teacher’s ambition was clear from the beginning of the story, and only grew throughout the novel. This was an amazing book, and was definitely worth reading.

Apologia - Final

When Canadian Literature is talked about, the topics of nature and frontier life are brought up. They are then broken down into further detail such as the setting (urban vs. rural), and whether or not there is an underdog hero. Children of My Heart, by Gabrielle Roy, uses the characteristics of Canadian Literature to create great novel, and is worthy of its great reviews. While fulfilling these characteristics Roy makes you fall in love with the characters and fall in love with Canada.

Throughout the story we follow a young teacher as she is assigned to different schools as her teaching abilities progress. The few schools she teaches at have a wide age and grade range. This represents the "constant challenge to expand a foothold" (spirit) throughout the large expanse that is Canada. This is very important in the representation of the frontier life in Canada. When she is teaching children of many ages and grades in one class, this means they are in an unpopulated area. This shows that Canada is in the early stages of its expansion. As they are in an unpopulated area, the children and their family's are spread out over a large area. The children have to travel over two miles to arrive at school. At a young age these children are forced to face the challenges and difficulties of the Canadian climate.

Without the harshness of the Canadian climate several key events of the story would not have taken place. In part two, one child has a particularly long journey to school and the student drops out of school due to the limited sunlight and harsheness of winter. As there is so little sunlight, he does not have enough time to do the chores in the evening after school. Another event that takes place during a winter seasnon is when the young teacher goes to a Mederic's house for dinner. When the time comes for Mederic to drive her home, there is a blizzard. The blizzard is so terrible that they lose track of the road and get lost "in the blinding snow" (Roy), making the return journey much longer than necessary. During the journey the teacher is forced to make their relationship clear after Mederic expresses his true feelings for the teacher. He is left heartbroken. After he recovers from the initial shock, he tries to make the remainder of the journey home as fun as possible to redeem his mistake.

When Mederic puts forth the effort to recover his mistake, this shows one of the patterns found in Canadian literature. The pattern is when a character "turns failure into a form of grace" (Historica). Children of My Heart is a perfect novel to show the patternes as it uses variety of them. Another pattern it uses is when a "person leaves their homeland, [and] adjusts to the new world" (Historica). This is perfectly describes the students in part one. The majority of the students are immigrants for a several different countries. They adapt to the methods of the Canadian teaching style and the Canadian climate. Another example Roy uses is "people arrive in their new home only to find that they are excluded from power" (Historica). This is best shown in section two with Pasquier family. This family had immigrated to Canada and had difficulty getting enough money. They often were forced to send the father away for his job to earn money.

Toronto star states "Children of My Heart" is a slim book, elegiac and graceful, but so filled with homely wisdom that overflows its pages". Through Roy's use of the various traits and characteristics of Canadian Literature, she created an outstanding novel. It is well worthy of the classification of classic Canadian novel.

Apologia/Explication - Rough

Apologia

-Reviews are all positive

-Characteristics of Can. Lit.

~Nature

~Frontier Life

-Traits of Can. Lit.

~Humour

~Urban vs Rural

~Nature (the enemy or ideal)

~Underdog Hero

-Patterns/Motifs

~ "person attempts to recover from the past, the secret or suppressed life of a previous generation"

~ "people arrive in the new home only to find that they are excluded from power"

Explication

Part One

-Daring Enterprise: Bold Leader(teacher), Object: (knowledge), Adversary(students)

-Ambition: Ambitious person (teacher), thing coveted (knowledge), Adversary(students)

Part Two

-Daring Enterprise: Bold Leader(teacher), Object: (knowledge), Adversary(students)

-Ambition: Ambitious person (teacher), thing coveted (knowledge), Adversary(students)

Part Three

-Daring Enterprise: Bold Leader(teacher), Object: (knowledge), Adversary(students)

-Ambition: Ambitious person (teacher), thing coveted (knowledge), Adversary(students)

-Obstacles to Love: Two Lovers (teacher, Mederic), Obstacle (teacher student relationship)

-Obtaining: Solicitor (Teacher), Opposer (Mederic)