Narrative Essay : Blank Faced Redemption

During this time the only thing predictable about politics in Reconstruction was its unpredictability. Colfax massacre being one of the bloodiest encounters of Reconstruction, serves as the base to Nicholas Lemann's book. Redemption is a story that shows the violent overthrow of Reconstruction in Louisiana and Mississippi in the 1870s. Brief knowledge is known to historian, but very little is known by the general public. In Lemann’s demonstration of the Civil War and Reconstruction, "redemption" is a very ironic term, and a huge play on words. Redemption was a term white supremacists used to commemorate the destruction of what they thought to be the vile imposition. Lemann’s way of embracing the white supremacist nomenclature, he made the paradoxes and the contradictions much more vivid.

Thoughts of drowning run rampant in every man’s mind on that boat. At dawn, the men decided that their only chance is to row toward the distant shore again and swim when the boat finally capsizes.

For the first time in our small rowing club’s history, we made it to the finals in what was our biggest regatta of the season. Unfortunately, our boat came in dead last...by a lot. We felt bad enough, but the last thing I expected was the outburst by one of the veterans. Having only a few months of rowing experience, I assumed his yelling at us was directed at me and my novice teammates. The scenario of confronting him was running through my head. By the time we stacked the boat back on the trailer, the thoughts myriad of thoughts through my mind were spoken. I spoke in a tone that my teammates have never seen before. I even surprised myself with how I stood up and defended myself and the other newer members.

"The three-step key to happiness when everything is down is - Redemption, Reconstruction, and Recover." Redemption, Reconstruction, and Recover demonstrate how the Reconstruction era prevailed. The Reconstruction era did redeem and reconstruct the United States but did not recover it. However, the United States still hasn't fully recovered because we still struggle with discrimination. For example, during the era, slaves were freed from slavery and received suffrage (the addition of 3 new amendments to the Constitution). But, the whites were not able to come to terms with the new Constitution. As a result, they continued to discriminate against the former slaves because of their new rights. Instead, we have to define the most important factor

You’re lining up now!” You turn and look at the whiteboard, and sure enough, a big 19 is spread across the top. Although it pains you to do it, you remove your heated, comfy layer of sweats, exposing your newly formed goosebumps, and head down to the pool. When you arrive at the table, a woman checks off your name and tells you to sit in the fourth chair down. It’s only been an hour, and the woman looks as though she has been working for three days straight. You don’t recognize either of the girls sitting next to you. It turns out that the girl to your right is from Watertown, and the girl to your left is from Cortland. You strike up a conversation with the girl from Watertown, and it turns out that you have a lot in common. Gradually, the line would inch forward, and you would be stuck sitting in someone else's chair, in which they had left a pool of water in, so you resort to sitting on the very edge of the chair. About two races before your own, your coach walks by, and starts talking to you, knowing that you are very nervous. “Don’t worry about it, you will do fine! Just remember, the faster you swim, the faster you’ll be able to dry off and get warm again.” You nod and laugh shyly and continue to anxiously wait for your race.

Joe attended the University of Washington and thought it would be fun to row. The dedication of Joe and his fellow rowers was truly indescribable. The boys had to work for their success, it wasn’t just handed to them. Once they did reach success, such as winning the nationals, it wasn’t the end of the road, they had to keep pushing. According to Richard St. John “Success is a continuos journey.” (St. John 0:58) Joe and the boys that rowed with him didn’t always win, in fact there where many times when the boys got second, third, or even last. Even after winning nationals the boys still would sometimes fall behind. This is what made them push harder and harder to the point where they felt that they were gonna break. “Somewhere deep down inside, each of them grasped at shreds of will and strength they did not know they possessed.” (Brown 350) The last push of strength and will was the reason that they won the gold

The story of Joe Rantz and how he came to be a collegiate rower is astounding. However the story of the Washington Row team who had to be perfect to be successful in the water. The hardest part about this team sport “is that when any one member of a crew goes into a slump the entire crew goes with him” (Brown). If one of the nine men in the boat were off count and there was no communication the whole run could be effected and could be the difference of a

I heard the announcer on his microphone call you for ages 14 to 15 reps in 45 minutes I went down to the water to see what I really got myself into and surprisingly it was not too cold but it definitely woke me up. 20 minutes I heard him call out but then people started grouting around the water 10 minutes he started the race in knee-deep water the countdown has begun 5958 57 my heart beaded faster and faster my knees were shaking people were cheering 10 98 I put my hate hands out ready to dive 4321 and I went went reaching my arms as far as they can get kicking my feet with power. When I turn my head to breathe you could hear people's cheering and screaming around that the Bewley I went falling behind a kid as I was reading the sand I pulled myself as hard as I could to the beach and ran to the transition station my body Felt like rapper I was so cold as it was changing my shoes as best as I could grab some water and I was off rating my bike out on the road my mom screaming is all I heard passing my family with

coxswain did not see the start signal. To quote the book, “The Husky Clipper, for a horrific moment, sat motionless at the line, dead in the water.” They were already quite behind and they had a sick rower. He was doing well until the coxswain asked to up the tempo. The ill rower did not respond. The coxswain tried again to no avail. As he was starting to get worried he decided to pass on the order to Joe hoping that the rest of the boat would follow Joe’s lead and pick up the pace as a team. Just as the coxswain leaned forward to tell Joe what he wanted, the sick rower seemed find strength in himself and the team picked up the pace. They were already far behind and had the odds stacked against them. Through shear will power, the U.S. crawled their way back to the front of the pack and won the race in a photo finish. It was so close, no one could tell right away who had actually won. This is the most prominent example of the ‘Boys in the Boat’ over coming difficult circumstances and finding a way to

One day when a rowing coach saw Joe practicing Gymnastics, he immediately knew that he would be a great rower and invited Joe to try out for rowing. For Joe, rowing came easy and after a few months in bulky training boats, he was moved to the real deal: a 60-foot racing shell. But it was not close to over for

As i read pages 114-115, i understood the anticipation of the rowing race in poughkeepsie. First, as the coaches held final workouts at night, i imagined their drive to win when they would go over rowing strategies. On the race day, as i read the passage, i witnessed a large crowd of people that were filled with excitement. Also, as if i were there myself, i tried to imagine the scent of fuel from the coaches’ boats. I felt the freshmen’s team will to win, along with the coaches.

John Demos in a sense presents themes that are entirely familiar and conventional. The themes of sin, retribution, and repentance are very prevalent in his writing. The loss of piety, the failure of spiritual nerve, the absolute necessity of reform; and the certainty of God's punishment if reform was not achieved appear throughout his book (Demos). (In this instance, Eunice's failure to return to her native land is putting her at risk in the eyes of God). For approximately 60 years John Williams who had been a captive for almost two years, and is one of the main characters of the story writes different letters, sermons, in an

Before I knew it the Starter pointed his gun high and fired. Across the starting line from both sides I felt runners storming off, as did I. I wanted to take a smart approach as I planned I would. The first mile quickly came up and I was advancing my place further to put myself into a positive position to finish. A mile and a half into the race overall I felt relaxed  and was still moving up passing runners. Next the second mile came up and I was starting to struggle as were some runners close by. Additionally hills were to come in the next mile and a half and I wasn’t looking forward to it, but I knew If I stopped then slowed down, I wouldn’t satisfy myself. Eventually I made it through the hills along with other struggling runners. The last part of the race came and as soon as I made it to where I had about 400m left, overall I gave it all I had in the moment so that I finished in excellent standing with myself. As I gave it all I could I passed a few runners in the process and as a few passed by as well. Finally, after several minutes of trying to catch my breath I finally

Rowing forces me to challenge myself and push my boundaries. I am especially grateful for Abbey pushing me. She never lets me take the easy way out. If she weren’t there, I would probably not try as hard and not improve as much. When I erg all by myself, it’s really hard to get motivated, but whenever I erg at practice I always want to show Abbey how well I can do. Even when I think I’m doing my best, she always tells me to go harder and drop my split lower, and I always find that I can. Rowing has made me work harder than I thought possible, push farther than I believed I could, and hurt more than I thought I could take. Through all that, I am constantly inspired to push harder every day of practice. I love to get in the boat and get started, and every new workout just makes me want to

Almost every weekend during months of April, May, and June, I am out on the water racing. The daily practices are draining and boring, but what makes this sport worth it is when it comes time to race. The minutes leading up to the race are the most stressful and chaotic. All the teams in the category line up bow ball to stern, waiting for the marshalls to give instruction. As my boat and I wait, it's my job to calm the nerves of the rowers and make sure we are all ready to go in a moments notice. Before the start I always say “It’s a beautiful day to row”. I save it until the last minute, right before the countdown begins; 10, 9, 8 strokes until the clock is on. It has become a tradition. Even in the worst conditions I'll still say it, and