Bibliography

"Francis Pegahmagabow, aboriginal World War 1 veteran." Fox Meadow, book design and publishing. 20 Apr. 2009 .

"A Lost Heritage: Canada's Residential Schools ." CBC Archives. 20 Apr. 2009 http://archives.cbc.ca/society/education/topics/692/.

"Joseph Boyden author profile Quill & Quire." Quill & Quire ? Canada's magazine of book news and reviews. 7 Apr. 2009 .

Personal Reflection

In approximately 350 words I will explain how the ISU has not academically or intellectually progressed my education in the direction that I so desired. This ISU seemed just as typical and repetitive as any other academic English course. Furthermore, most of the repetition came from the reading and identifying of themes in the book and supporting this with quotations. I cannot count the number of times this grueling task has been done in any university or academic English class. Although this assignment hasn't headed me in the intellectual direction I wished, I can assume by constantly fighting with Blogger to upload parts of my English ISU that this has somehow enriched my understanding of this program. Also, I can appreciate the fact that teachers are now trying to enrich their students writing through different forms of media, but you're never going to get the same feedback on a blog in comparison to the suggestions a teacher underlines and elaborates on for a paper that you have handed in. To what extent am I a better reader and writer? I would have to say that the ISU did do what it was designed for by aiding me in the repetitive task of searching through text for themes and supporting this with blatantly obvious quotations. On the contrary though, there was one thing I found that reallydid increase the quality of my writing: the fact that any one of my classmates could read or comment on my blogs. This created added pressure for me to enrich the quality of my writing, and to stay in tune with the writing of my classmates. Unfortunately, I found that writing for this larger audience also did hinder another part of my writing that is already lacking, this would be my inevitably poor punctuality. Overall, I'm not going to be close minded and say that this ISU lacks the credentials to assist in the developing of ones intellectual abilities, but it would be nice if there could be a little less English repetition and a little more English inspiration.

Apologia

Joseph Boyden’s novel stands out from the vast canon of Canadian literature because of the direction and the overall goal that is met by this Canadian piece. Joseph Boyden’s writing is an unbiased description of the contributions aboriginal soldiers made towards the war effort and their sacrifices as well. Boyden’s novel also portrays the inequalities that these soldiers had to face on the home front and the front lines of battle even though they had served their nation. The fiction that is portrayed in Three-Day Road has been influenced by Joseph Boyden’s relatives: "Raymond Boyden was not the only soldier in the family. Joseph’s maternal grandfather, as well as an uncle on his father’s side, had served in the First World War, and Boyden draws upon this fund of family stories for his first novel, Three-Day Road"(Quill & Quire ). Along with this, Joseph Boyden who is partially aboriginal allows the reader the security that Boyden has a general understanding of aboriginal issues in Canada, and will have the utmost respect for individuals of his ancestry.

The characters in Three-Day Road are accurately portrayed for their time, and their treatment by the Canadian Armed Forces. Joseph Boyden allows the reader to be immersed in an historically accurate setting and war attitude, this allows the reader to sympathize with the two fictional main characters in the story. Since Boyden has chosen two fictional main characters in his story it allows him to create emphasis on issues he feels necessary like the inequality that is viewed to be perfectly normal in World War I, and their recalling of past abuses that took place back in their Canadian residential school. This allows the reader to be educated on what the conditions were like for these brave soldiers who were not treated equally. Boyden also uses the inspiration of Ojibwa Francis Pegahmagabow, the legendary First World War sniper, and his struggles as a veteran after returning to Canada. (Fox Meadow, book design and publishing). By unbiasedly shining a light on Canada’s treatment of their First Nations’ people, Joseph Boyden captures the significance of this novel and why Three-Day Road should be viewed differently than other pieces of Canadian literature.

Canada is a country that puts great emphasis on its multi cultural status, but the fact is Canada crippled its first Nations’ cultures through years of forcing first Nations decedents into residential schools. Canada, at the time, viewed residential schools not as something that hindered first Nations’ lives, but something that advanced their culture and allowed them to have a more equal chance in Canadian society as is shown in the CBC archive video(CBC Archives). Although the negative extent of residential schools was not intended, we as Canadians need to learn from our mistakes and acknowledge that Canada has made multi cultural mistakes in the past that we have learned from. This is what Joseph Boyden aids us in by opening a window to the majority of Canadians through educating them on the issues of inequality in Canada’s aboriginal past. To aid in the prevention of inequality of any future race in Canada, Joseph Boyden’s novel Three-Day Road should be read by all Canadians. Three-day Road does an excellent job of portraying the accomplishments of the first Nations in World War I, and the serving done by these individuals in a country that did not serve them equally in return.

AUTHOR PROFILE

http://www.quillandquire.com/authors/profile.cfm?article_id=6573


http://www.penguin.ca/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000065078,00.html

http://web.ebscohost.com/pov/detail?vid=3&hid=115&sid=939bec4c-0e3d-4b8d-8b36-09934e8d05cc%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JmFtcDtsYW5nPWVuLWNhJnNpdGU9cG92LWNhbg%3d%3d#db=p3h&AN=MYO179720846305


Joseph Boyben grew up in Willowdale, Ontario, in the 1970s,the third youngest of 11 children. Boyben was an outstanding reader for his age as he found himself reading through the family encyclopedias at the age of six inquiring deeper in to topics that interested him.S.E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders, sparked the ambition inside him to become a writer, as fiction engulfed his writing style. There was only one other thing that Boyben Like better than fiction, it was the stories of his father and his relatives time serving in the great world wars. His father Raymond Wilfrid Boyden the highest decorated medic in the second world war passed away when Boyden was only 8. He drew inspiration father, relatives, and his first Nations background to write the book three-day road. Joseph Boyden has only published one book before three-day road, the 2001 short-story collection Born with a Tooth a collection of first Nations stories. Joseph Boyden now recites as a Canadian literature and creative writing teacher at the University of New Orleans.



Negative

This book review dwells more on John Boyden’s writing style and addresses his issue with prose. For example “‘That winter and the following summer and the winter and summer after that were plentiful and very happy,’ Niska says. ‘But as always happens, the good times bled into harder times and our third winter together proved long and difficult and very cold.’” Overall, the article had a definite negative tone, and unfortunately as a individual that would recommend this novel it makes difficult to take the review seriously.

http://www.goodreports.net/reviews/threedayroad.htm





Positive

In this review the writer focuses mainly one the good characteristics of the story such as the undeniably at excellent plot line this story entails. The article also discusses about the clashes between first Nations and the European settlers. The author of this review also so praises Boyden for his excellent ability to constantly leave the reader with a vivid picture of what is going on. Overall, I agreed with this book reviews depiction of the book three-day road.

http://www.straight.com/article/three-day-road-by-joseph-boyden

Cultural, historical and geographical context

These historical archives footage from the CBC shot in 1950's depicts the “wonders” of the residential schools in Canada. The footage is taken in Moose factory where the two main characters in three-day road were forced to attend school. This video shows an interesting contrast between how the residential schools were viewed as by the Canadian public, and the actual harm and destruction of residential schools displayed in the book. I found this video quite interesting and one of the goals of the author of three-day road is to teach what residential schools were really like. This video helps the reader understand the mindset of Canadians during the time of residential schools and aids in the comprehension of why we Canadians financed and allowed these schools.

(Watch videos one and two)
http://archives.cbc.ca/society/education/topics/692/

http://archives.cbc.ca/society/education/topics/4002


Interview

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=p3h&AN=6JN6JN345484731&lang=en-ca&site=pov-can


During this interview Joseph Boyden discusses that he uses northern Ontario and his family and friends to inspire his stories. He also briefly discusses that he has received Ojibwa name which isnThunderbird Man that means "Pay attention." Borden’s uses his writing to try and promote aboriginal culture and break down the stereotypes that these people have been faced with their whole lives. Boyden also discusses about his younger years and how when he was twenty he was offered a job to teach up in Moosonee, Ontario at Northern College. Boyden also elaborates on how this discusses to teach in Canada enhanced his love for this land and its people.