Personal Reflection

            For me reading this book helped improve a few aspects of my life, I feel that it made me a stronger reader, it helped with my writing skills and it gave me a further insight into the past.

            Growing up I never liked reading. I would always put it off until the last minute. When I first got this assignment I thought it would be like the other books but I wanted to get a good grade so I said to myself “every night before I go to bed I am going to read 10 to 20 pages”. This is what I did. I feel by doing this it made me a stronger reader. Now I have confidence that when I get a book assigned to me in the future I will actually be able to read the book and follow the story line. I also have come to realise that I need to choose a book in which the story line interests and excites me.  

                       

            I think I am a pretty good writer but reading this book made me realise how descriptive writing and detailed settings really improve a story. The way Cooper explained and almost examined the mountainside, cliffs, waterfalls, and battle scenes really gave you a clear image in your head. When he was talking about the characters I was able to envision them and therefore relate to them in a clearer way.

            Growing up my brothers and I would always play Cowboys and Indians. I would always want to be an Indian because I thought they were more interesting and exciting. Before this book I never realised how interested I was in aboriginal history. After reading this book I learned a little about the Mohicans and actually looked up their tribe and some other older native tribes on the internet.

            In conclusion, reading “The Last of the Mohicans” was a very positive experience for me. As I have outlined above this book has improved my reading skills, my historical knowledge on the Native Americans, and my interest in picking up a novel and actually reading it.

Works Cited

"James Fenimore Cooper." http://www.online-literature.com/cooperj/. jalic inc, 2011.                                        Web. 28 Nov 2010.

"James Fenimore Cooper." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Fenimore_Cooper. Wikipedia, 2010. Web. 28 Nov 2010.

"James Fenimore Cooper." http://www.classicliterature.net/james-fenimore-cooper. Incka Limited, 2005. Web. 29 Nov 2010.

"Answers.com." http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_makes_a_classic_novel. Answers Corporation, 2010. Web. 29 Nov 2010.

Apologia

            James Fenimore Cooper, the author of The Last of the Mohicans, was a popular American writer who wrote historical novels in the early 19^th century. He popularised the sufferings and problems of the native people just like Mark Twain did with African Americans. Cooper wrote many novels, short stories, travel books and a play. His earliest novel was written in 1820 and his last novel was written in 1850. The Last of the Mohicans is widely considered to be his greatest work. It has been translated into many different languages, made into a movie and is still a popular classic to this day. According to answers.com “Classic works generally point out human conditions… and incorporates influencial life themes into the work… in a way that resonates for years to come. A classic can also be distinguished by the global awareness of its presence. Classics are often read or at least known by people worldwide, often resulting in it being translated into multiple languages.”(1)

           

            In addition to its popularity The Last of the Mohicans is still a classic novel because it goes deep into our human condition that everyone can relate to. In the book Cora and Uncas fall in love, many people are killed by wars and Native battles and there are positive and negative interracial themes. These are all human conditions that still happen to this day. The book focuses on interracial themes with Native Americans and Europeans which we can easily relate to now because of African American racism. There are many battles that take place in the book which we can compare to the wars taking place in Afghanistan. Cora and Uncas fall in love in the book and everyone can relate to this. Everyone knows what its like to feel some sort of love. Many books have these themes but the way that Cooper infused these feelings into the book clearly made people feel they could relate. Personally I was able to relate best to the love between Cora and Uncas and the challenges they faced.  

            The Last of the Mohicans was written in 1826. The novel has been made into films, aired on TV as an animation series, been adopted into comics and cartoons and there was even an opera based on the story. These adaptations of the book have been made fairly recently, most of them in the 1900’s.  The cartoon however, was written in 2004 and consisted of 26 episodes. The number of adaptations based on the book shows that the book is a true classic. People to this day are making new cartoons, comics and many other forms of entertainment evolving around the book.

            The Last of the Mohicans has what a book needs to be a great classic. It has great human conditions that Cooper made extremely relatable, it has been made into many movies in different languages, comics, animations and even a TV series. The book has endured the test of time, over almost 200 years, and I’m sure Cooper’s Last of the Mohicans will still be a classic for many years to come.  

Response # 4 Style of the book

            The last of the Mohicans is written like a story as opposed to some of the more modern novels that I have read which are only told from one person’s point of view. The last of the Mohicans has many different characters telling the story. It is written very formally for example they say things like “presented to the reader” or “when, therefore intelligence was received”. It also has illustrations with a list of illustrations and table of contents in the front. It has fancy lettering, artistic mortifies and short quotes at the beginning of each chapter.  The illustrations and the factual writing make the book seem like the story is fact in history rather then a fictional novel.

Response # 3 Inter racial themes

            There is both positive and negative inter racial themes explored in this book. The positive side of inter racial love is with Uncas and Cora, who fall in love. Cora herself is the product of an inter racial marriage. Exploring inter racial love and friendship in a different way Uncas is like a son to Hawkeye. In contrast Magua’s use of inter racial threats towards marrying Cora which is partially enabled by existing morals of the time.

Response # 2 Conflict Reflected in Nature

            Each time there is a major conflict there is different scenery. The first fight scene the Mohicans, Major Duncan Heyward, Cora and Alice and David Gamut are all under a waterfall hiding and the Mohicans leave to go fight in the river. There are Indians in the trees and fighting waist deep in a fast flowing river. The water itself is a conflict dragging the Indians downstream as they fight.

            Another scene in the book Chingachgook, Uncas and Hawkeye are tracking the Hurons using there “native skills” like they are hunting them through the woods. The last fight scene in this book they are fighting on a cliff. Gamut is saved by grabbing a branch while Magua plummets to his death by falling off the cliff. The conflict in the story is reflected in nature in many scenes like the violence of the river and the danger of the cliffs.  

Response # 1 Character Contrast

Hawkeye is one of the main characters in the book The Last of the Mohicans. He is a white man but was basically adopted into Chingachgook’s family. He has inner conflict about not having any Indian blood in him even though he acts more Indian than any of the Indians in his love for nature and comfort in the woods. In contrast Magua is an Indian who is a traitor to his heritage, kicked out of his tribe for drunkenness he is completely driven by revenge. Magua is willing to torture the Colonel by abducting his daughters and threatening to marry one of them.