Critique #1 "The Penguin History of Canada" by Robert Bothwell, 2006

Many of the histories are described from the viewpoint of the rulers. The writer says “along that frontier lived the Iroquois, who kept the colony in a constant state of fear.”(Bothwell, 2006, p.46) It seems natural for the Iroquois to attack the French people because they were deprived of their land, religion, and culture, and compelled to live only in the interior of the land. In old days they caught fish in the river and brought things freely on their canoe. But the European people came to their land and colonized there, which made the Iroquois unable to live along the river. It is not the Iroquois but the French people that kept the area in a constant state of fear, from the Natives' point of view.

The writer also says “Their mission was to… defeat the Iroquois. … As for the most hostile, the Mohawks, the French tried a march into their territory in January 1666. Luckily the expedition avoided disaster” (Bothwell, 2006, p.48-49) The word “mission” gives us the image that their job seemed solemn, which was to defeat the Iroquois and deprive the land from them, actually. And the word “hostile” gives us the image that the Iroquois were easy to get angry, primitive and inferior to the Europeans. We also feel it lucky for all the Iroquois not to be murdered, which was a kind of blessing or mercy given from the French army.

It is obvious that those historical descriptions help the discrimination to the minority people remain today. The historical description should be made from a variety of viewpoints

Sammary of The Penguin History of Canada 3

Material: The Penguin History of Canada 2006 by Robert Bothwell

According to Robert Bothwell in “The Penguin History of Canada” 2006, 1663, when Louis made a decision to make New France a royal province, was the threshold in North America. (p.43) France expanded her frontiers quickly to the south, Bothwell noted, and established new colonies. (Bothwell, 2006, p.46) The writer described that it was the Iroquois that “kept the colony in a constant state of fear.” (Bothwell, 2006, p.46) Then France sent troops to New France whose mission was to prevail the Iroquois, Bothwell continued. (Bothwell, 2006, p.48) The Iroquois most notably raided on New France in the 1680s, Bothwell explained. (Bothwell, 2006, p.49)
According to the writer, in order to organize the settlement France sent seigneurs and farmers who “sought river frontage along the St. Lawrence”, which was “the only reliable means of transportation.” (Bothwell, 2006, p.50) The writer continues that New France was unsuccessful in establishing industry and the keys to activate it were the fur trade and the land. (Bothwell, 2006 p.52) “CharlesⅡclaimed for England the lands of the Hudson bay watershed,” which “would become the Canadian prairies”, Bothwell noted. (Bothwell, 2006, p.55) However, as the only revenue in New France was the fur trade, in order to save it France tried to enlarge her colony into the interior and build her own trading posts, Bothwell presented. (Bothwell, 2006, p.55)
The writer stated that in 1689, the Algonquins finally defeated the Iroquois with the help of France. And the writer continued that even after the war the Iroquois still was “an important factor in the balance of power in North America” but, they were “no longer decisive”. (Bothwell, 2006, p.58) France established trading posts, and New France finally could “escape from the shadow of the Iroquois wars”, Bothwell noted. (Bothwell, 2006, p.59) Bothwell concluded that “the fur trade had reached a balance apparently favorable to France and French interests”. (Bothwell, 2006, p.59)


WORDS

1.tenuous: uncertain, likely to change, very thin and easily broken
Their future development was tenuous and uncertain.
2.turmoil: a state of confusion, excitement, and trouble
By the 1660s Europe had been in an almost constant state of turmoil for 150years.
3.assassinate: to murder an important person
In France a king was assassinated.
4.jaundiced: tending to judge people and things in an unfavorable way, often because you have had disappointing experiences yourself
Louis cast a jaundiced eye on French Protestantism.
5.periodically: happening many times over a long period, usually at regular times
The governor, the intendant, and the bishop were periodically reunited.
6.respite: a short time when sth bad stops happening, so that the situation is temporarily prospect.
The respite wasn’t permanent.
7.tempting: very good and you would like to have it or do it
New France wasn’t exactly a tempting prospect
8.compulsory: required to be done because of a rule or law
Compulsory service depended on whether one was around to be compelled.
9.regime: a government that has not been elected in fair elections
a particular systems of government or management, especially one you disapprove of
At the end of the French regime, there were only three settlements.
10.deterrent: sth that stops someone from doing sth or stops sth bad from happening
by making people realize it will be difficult or have bad results
Endless winters and the experience of scurvy were serious deterrants.
11.ambiguous: having more than one meaning, so that t is not clear which meaning is intended
He sent a small expedition with ambiguous instruction.
12.throne: the position and power of being a king or queen
The Protestant country placed the Dutch William of Orange on the English throne.
13.hindsight: the ability to understand facts about a situation only after it has happened
With hindsight, we can sea that the empire was past its apogee in 1690s.
14.favorable: promising, approving, beneficial
The fur trade had reached a balanced favorable to France.
15.perpetuate: continuing all the time without changing
He sought to expand his power and perpetuate his strategic advantage.

Sammary of The Penguin History of Canada 2

Material: Robert Bothwell, "The Penguin History of Canada" (Toronto: Penguin Group(Canada), 2006)

According to Robert Bothwell in “The Penguin History of Canada” 2006, in the 16th century, the coastline of North America was almost known to the Western Europe. (p.25) The author continues, the some parts of the North America were the profitable places for Western Europeans, who came for cod, fur, ivory, and oil. (Bothwell, 2006, p.25, 26) “A partnership between European traders and indigenous hunters” (Bothwell, 2006 p.26) began, who were willing to exchange the beaver for iron implements, steel knives and guns, which only Europeans could supply. The author explained. (Bothwell, 2006, p.26)
The article tells some French survived the severe winter and continued their exploitations. (Bothwell, 2006, p.27-29) Meanwhile, the French kept offering trade and salvation consciously to the Natives of North America, Bothwell noted. (Bothwell, 2006, p.30)
The writer explained that the Natives often had conflicts among them during which they needed the French as an ally. (Bothwell, 2006, p.31) “Clashes had already occurred between Huron and Iroquois, sometimes over furs, sometimes in the form of raids.” (Bothwell, 2006, p.34) “Between 1648 and 1650 the Iroquois systematically destroyed the Huron nation.” (Bothwell, 2006, p.34) The writer described that the French set up refuges for the Natives displaced by the Iroquois, in which they had to convert to Catholicism and live “under a loose form of religious tutelage”. (Bothwell, 2006, p.34)
By Algonquin tribes who could communicate with the French, the fur trade was in prosperity by the mid-1650s, the article explained. (Bothwell, 2006, p.35) In 1663 Louis, the king of France, finally decided to make New France a royal province and rule directly from Paris, and took back the right to the colony from the Hundred Associates, Bothwell explained. (Bothwell, 2006, p.38-39)

Words

1.lurk: to wait somewhere quietly and secretly, usually because you are going to do something bad
@If the Northwest Passage lurked beyond the next bend of the coast, gold was just over the next hill
2.monopoly: control of all or most of a business activity by a single company or by a government
@The charters conferred varying degrees of monopoly power on individuals.
3.conspiracy: a secret plan made by two or more people to do something that is harmful or illegal
@Champlain survived the weather, time, and conspiracy.
4.clumsy: awkward, uneasy, discourteous, indiscreet, all thumbs
@In that battle Champlain used a firearm, his clumsy arquebus, to intimidate the enemy.
5.devastating: badly damaged or destroying something / making someone feel extremely sad or shocked
@The colony didn’t suffer the devastating Native wars that nearly destroyed the English colony
6.feeble: extremely weak
@There were the feeble beginnings of farms, growing such crops as a cold climate would permit.
7.confer: talk it over, take counsel, discuss, debate, negotiate
@Having the French as a trading partner conferred great material and political advantage.
8.prospective: approaching, close at hand, destined, expected, predicted
@First learning the Native languages and studying the local culture, they lived among their prospective converts.
9.tutelage: the stage or period of being taught or taken care of be someone
@What would the future have been had Huronia survived under Jesuit tutelage?
10.capricious: motiveless, purposeless, fanciful, fantastic, eccentric, humorful, hysterical, mad
@Seventeenth-century authoritarianism could cruel and capricious.
11.wield: to have a lot of power, influence etc. and be ready to use it
@The Company of a Hundred Associated wielded a shadowy jurisdiction over the colony
12.contrive: to succeed in doing something in spite of difficulties etc.
@There were female religious who contrived to live autonomously in a society otherwise.
13.henceforth: from this time on
@Henceforth in colonial politics there were two poles, one religious and one secular.
14.censorious: always disapproving of something and criticizing it
@Moliere’s target was censorious religious hypocrisy.
15.appease: ease, soften, persuade, convince, tranquilize, satisfy, celebrate, offer worship
@The bishop was, at least temporally, appeased.

Bookreview of THE BROOKLYN FOLLIES 2

2. FAREWELL TO THE COURT – DISTURBING REVELATIONS (p.21-51)

Tom gave up his academic career two and a half years ago and began to work as a taxi driver in New York. First he thought he soon would quit the job but it was difficult for him to get the new job. Then he came to know Harry Brightman, an owner of a second book store, where Tom often goes as his routine. Harry asks Tom so many times to work in his book store but Tom keeps turning down his offer without knowing why. But at last, he accepted the offer in the morning after the night, when he noticed what the name of the cab company, 3-D, means. He has wondered what it means and notices suddenly it means “Darkness, Disintegration, and Death” (p.32)

This episode is very symbolic. Tom has been wandering in the dark world as a taxi driver after he gave up his carrier in a academic world. One day, he is taken out by a man whose name is Harry Brightman, a man of brightness, who is the symbol of the brightness.

One day, a girl named Flora comes to the bookstore. She says she is Harry’s daughter.

"Who are we talking about?" he asked.
"Harry Dunkel. Who else?"
"Dunkel?"
"It means dark, in case you didn’t know. My father is a dark man, and he lives in a dark wood. He pretends he’s a bright man now, but that’s only a trick. He’s still dark. He’ll always be dark --- right up to the day he dies." (p.36)

She tells Tom that the very person who took Tom out of the dark world is still and will be a dark man. Is Harry a bright man or a dark man? After Harry persuades his daughter to go back to her medication, he invites Tom to dinner with him. There he begins to talk about his past.

He began his carrier as a salesclerk. After getting married to a woman named Bette, who is a daughter of a millionaire, he has his own art gallery, Dunkel Freres, which means “brothers” in French. There he finds a talented young painter, Alec Smith. Harry loves him and his talent, and sells several paintings. But the painter suddenly kills himself, leaving only a few paintings. The other painter appears to Harry, named Gordon Dryer. He gives an offer to Harry that he continues to create Smith’s work, which Harry rejects first, but accepts at last. Harry is successful to sell Smith’s work painted by Dryer. But it doesn’t last long and he is put into prison for 2 years. After that, he moved to New York, where he opened his bookstore, Brightman’s Attic. It was 9 years ago.

Sammary of The Penguin History of Canada 1

1. NATIVE LAND
According to Robert Bothwell in “The Penguin History of Canada” 2006, The first people came to the North America through the corridor twelve thousand years ago, Bothwell said. (p.4) “The earliest humans to inhabit North America lived by hunting and fishing” using “implements of stone and wood.” (Bothwell, 2006, p.5)
The first inhabitants of North America are called the Paleo-Indians by the archaeologists.” (Bothwell, 2006, p.6) They moved north and south and gradually “evolved into a more elaborate and more densely populated form”, Bothwell stated. (Bothwell, 2006, p.6-7) The culture of the peoples of the Great Lakes and Atlantic regions changed greatly by the agriculture, which leads to a larger population, a more permanent settlement, and a more hierarchical society, Bothwell noted. (Bothwell, 2006. p.9) It is assumed that there were 900,000, and at the high end, 200,000,000 people in North America in the 15th century, Bothwell said. (Bothwell, 2006, p.10)
Sailors like Giovanni Caboto and Columbus were looking for the route to China. They didn’t reach there but found the land. Caboto also found the good fishing grounds, Bothwell explained. (Bothwell, 2006, p.13) “Once its location was known the cod fishery proved an irresistible magnet for Western European fishermen” Bothwell noted. (Bothwell, 2006, p.14) There weren’t political entities in Northern America and Europeans regarded the land to be a land belonging to no one. And Cartier raised the cross to mark his first landfall in 1534 for Christ and King Francois, Bothwell showed. (Bothwell, 2006, p.17)
The fishery was the main purpose for the Europeans, Bothwell said. (Bothwell, 2006.p.18) They caught not only cod but also the walrus for their ivory, oil and leather. As a result, “the Native peoples of Canada were little touched by the peripheral activities of explorers and speculators in the sixteenth century.” Bothwell concluded. (Bothwell, 2006, p.20)
Words
1. Accidents of geology also played a part.
The study of materials such as rocks, soil and minerals, and the way they have changed since the Earth was formed
2. The Americas in pre-glacial times boasted an impressive array of fauna.
All the animals living in a particular place or at a particular time in history
3. The North American peoples of eleven thousand years ago used implements of stone and wood.
A tool or instrument, especially one used in farming or building
4. Archaeologists have labeled the first inhabitants of North America the Paleo-Indians.
The study of ancient society by examining what remains of their buildings, graves, tools etc.
One of the people who live in a particular place
6. The Clovis culture evolved into a more elaborate and more densely populated form.
To develop by gradually changing or to make something to this
7. Agriculture altered the culture of the peoples … more hierarchical society.
A system of organization in which people or things are divided into levels of importance
8. The Stone Age was meeting the Iron Age, juxtaposing two cultures so different that …
To put things together, especially things that are not normally together, in order to compare them or make something new
9. Once its location was known the Newfoundland cod fishery proved an irresistible magnet for…
A part of the ocean where fish are caught as a business
10. In ancient times pagans had persecuted Christians before.
Relating to or believing in a religion that is not one of the main religions of the world, especially one from a time before these religions developed
To treat someone cruelly of unfairly, especially because of their religious or political beliefs
12.Christianity had developed in a world of menace, from…
Something or someone that is dangerous
13. The village-based societies weren’t political entities.
Something that exists as a single and complete unit
14.The Native peoples of Canada were little touched by the peripheral activities of explorers and speculators
Involved in or connected with an activity or situation, but not as one of the main features ore people
To think of talk about the possible causes or effects of something without knowing all the facts or details

Book Review of THE BROOKLYN FOLLIES 1

1. OVERTURE – AN EXPECTED ENCOUNTER (p.1-20)

This is the story of death and revival, departure and encounter and darkness and brightness. At the same time, this is the story of miracle and the story of chance. Everything changes as the time goes by while there’s something unchanged.

Nathan is “looking for a quiet place to die.” (p.1) He is almost 60 years old, divorced his ex-wife, Edith, sold their house, retired his job, his only daughter, Rachel, is already married and he got a lung cancer. He chose Brooklyn as the place to die in, where he was born.

He has a nephew, Tom. He has not seen Tom since their mother died. But in a used book store in Brooklyn, he meets his nephew by chance after seven years. Tom and Nathan used to talk about literature, sometimes about Poe and Thoreau. Tom was very talented, and he was sure his nephew would ascend “the academic ladder.” (p.18) But he meets Tom at a second-book store, where Tom was working.

The man, who is searching for the place to die, and his nephew, who has lost his way in his life, meet at a second-hand book store. The second-hand book store is the place of the end of the first life and the beginning of the second life. The books are waiting for the new life here for a long time. They don’t know who will buy them, when they will be bought, or if they will be bought or not. But they are still waiting for the time of the new life to begin. It is very simbolic that Nathan and Tom meet again. Something new is getting ready to start.

Hi. I'm Taka

Hi, I'm Taka from Japan.
I'm in Toronto.
I love the moon in Toronto.
It is waiting for the long daytime to finish under the lake.
And around midnight, it comes out stealthily.