Pages 1-13
Cause:" He told Will his ship had found a cargo sooner than expected and had sailed on the evening tide."( p.7) | Effect:"Then the harbormaster added, "Greyhound is looking for fit and able men. You could do worse than sign on at younder inn,"pointing out an alehouse...Thus it was that by signing my name I ceased to be just the son of a doctor and became a sailor!" (p.7) |
| Quote:" Apart from the fish, all of it is contraband, which is to say, smuggled goods". (p.13) | Connection: This makes me think that the captain doesn't care about laws and rules. I wonder if the crew will get caught by the British government for transporting goods illegally? |
| Quote:" The Greyhound is an odd place." (p 10) | Reaction: I agree with this quote from what I have read so far. Life on the Greyhound is much different from life on land. The fact that all the sailor's material possessions are rolled up in their hammocks makes me think that they have very little and live rough life. |
Quote:"I saw the captain for the first time. I guessed who he was, for soon as he hissed " Away aloft" in a low voice the sailors hurried as if the rigging as if the devil himself had given the order." (p.12) | Reaction: This paints a very descriptive picture in my mine of how mean the captain is. I believe that he will continue to be mean and cruel to the men as they set out to sea which could lead to some type of rebellion. |
Section 2- Pirate Diary: The Journal of Jake Carpenter
Pages 14-33
Cause:"But then, suddenly, I heard Will cry, "Stop! Spare the lad, Dan, for God's sake. You'll kill him with that rope!"( p.19) | Effect:"If this boy is not to pay for his stupidity, then YOU shall- and doubly so." After I had counted nineteen lashes he fell senseless Will's tormentors then bundled him into the skiff, the smallest of our three boats- I heard a splash as it was lowered. He will surely die without provisions, and it is all because of my awful clumsiness."(p.19) |
| Quote:" We left the island today, but not before leaving behind the captian and second mate. This is the meaning of "marooning" that I heard the pirates speak of in their meeting. (p.30) | Reaction: I feel that this is a very light punishment for the pirates to give the captain of the ship after all he did to harm his crew. I guess that they think that this is the most humane way to get rid of the captain and second mate, but I would have figured that the pirates would enjoy torturing the men. |
| Quote:" The whole company (which is what the pirates call those who sail together on their ship) chooses the captian and other officers ." (p32 ) | Reaction: I was very surprised to read that the way the pirates run the ship is much more democratic than the way it was run by the sailors. Maybe life will continue to improve for the sailors as the continue on their journy. |
Quote:" A MAN that strikes another shall recieve Moses' law (39 lashes) on his bare back" (p.33) | Connection: In many countries around the world today including Iran people are still whipped or beaten for the crimes that they commit. By publicly causing harm to people authority figures feel that they are setting an example for what will happen to the next person who commits the same crime. |
Section 3- Pirate Diary: The Journal of Jake Carpenter
Pages 34-54
Cause:"From a ship out of Bermuda we learned that September last, England's King George declared an Act of Grace, aiming to bring an end to piracy"( p.46) | Effect:"I have decided to take the pardon. I fear that if I were to stay a pirate I might never see my father again. And if I were caught and hanged it would bring great shame to my family"(p.47) |
| Quote:"I run to the lower deck to fetch gunpowder. It is stored there in a "magazine," a cabin protected by curtains of wet canvas against sparks that fly in a battle. Inside, the gunner packs enough powder for each shot into a paper parcel ". (p.37) | Connection: This summer I went to Boston, MA and while there I went aboard the USS Constitution. This is the oldest US commissioned battleship. It is made entirely out of wood and has cannons lining the upper and lower decks. The process of shooting off the cannons on the Constitution that they described was very much the same as this. |
| Quote:" During the afternoon the lookout pointed to the starboard side and shouted, " A monster! A great sea monster!"" (p 35) | Reaction: I think that it is strange that some of the men on this ship thought that a whale was a sea monster. However, if they had never seen a whale or been taught what a whale I can see where the huge size of it would be terrifying. |
Personification:"As I listened to the creaking timbers, it seemed to me that our ship was alive, breathing and sighing as she pitched in the ocean swell "(p.42) | Explanation: Only living things have the characteristics of breathing and sighing. Given the ship human characteristics makes the events surrounding this sentence much more suspenseful and scary to the reader. |
Wrapping it Up
This book reminds my of the non-fiction book I read titled Blackbeard: Eighteenth- Century Pirate of the Spanish Main and Carolina Coast. Both of these books have many of the same pirate words and actions in them. Both the pirates in this book and Blackbeard's crew traveled along the North and South Carolina coast. I believe that the theme of this book is that not all pirates were bad people and that not everyone that ended up being a pirate set out with that being his or her goal in life. My favorite part of the reading was learning more about how pirates truly lived and worked together as a team to complete their missions. I think this book helped to clear up some of the misconceptions I had about pirates. Questions I still have are why some of the pirates were not willing to take the pardon and return to life in a normal society?
