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Three Day Road Chapter Notes Essay

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Chapter notes Prelude (1-2) -1st person point of view established, and the three main characters. -E and X are hunting; 12 years of age -Who is the more experienced hunter? (X) How do we know this? -Establishing the story and its struggles through foreshadowing: -We stand back and stare as the marten struggles in the air. The black eyes focus on me. It does not want to die” (2). -We are great hunters and best friends, yes?” (2) Chapter 1: Returning (3-9) -We encounter the second speaker, Niska (Xavier’s aunt). As in most chapters, Boyden makes it easy to identify the new speaker in the first two paragraphs of the chapter. How? -It is the summer of what year? (1919) -She feels conspicuous and unwelcome in the white man’s town. …show more content…

-There is a focus on storytelling as a means of healing: "It is the story of my childhood. Now I tell it to you, Xavier, to keep you alive."(35) -We are introduced to Rabbit [The nickname of Niska's sister (Xavier's mother)], as well as Niska's mother. -They live in conical lodges called askinkans, which we call teepees. -Niska has inherited her father's ability to foretell the future, usually through epileptic fits that isolate her from the rest of her community. -The central story is of Niska's early adolescence. It is the winter during which she enters puberty. Her Oji-Cree Anishnabe clan of roughly 30 people still live near Hudson's Bay, in the wilderness. The winter is a harsh one, with few animals to trap and eat. They are reluctantly forced to consume a young hibernating bear, who they regard as a spiritual brother (38). Niska's father, a medicine man and a spiritual leader of the clan, argues that they have no choice but to eat or starve (37). Nothing it should be added, is to be wasted. - A young man named Micah leaves with his wife and child for better hunting. Their expedition proves disastrous, as Micah ends up freezing to death while fishing. His wife is forced into cannibalism (42) on behalf of herself and her child. -The wife returns to her clan, but she and her child slip into madness. This madness is personified as the windigo, a mythical wild beast 20 feet tall (44). Niska's father is forced to kill them (45). Niska is made to watch;

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