Essential+Question+Essay+on+The+River

Essential Question Essay on __The River__

**Student: Alexa Ryan and Lauren Feeley** **Earned points are 94. Make all of the revisions to raise the grade.**


 * Grading Points Rubric for Essential-Question Essay on __The River__**

**Maximum Number of Points: 10 POINTS EARNED:** **15 points. Full credit.**
 * 1) **Introduction Paragraph:** Thesis/topic sentence; at least three traits stated; explanation of how the essay will proceed.

**12 out of 15. Move from bottom part of the essay to right after the intro.**
 * 1) **Traits Paragraph:** List the traits; define each trait; provide a brief example from the novel for the trait.
 * Maximum Number of Points: 15 POINTS EARNED:**

**FULL CREDIT. 15 POINTS.**
 * 1) **Conflict Paragraph:** Description of the conflict at the beginning of the novel; description of how the conflict changes; explanation of what is similar to and different between the two conflicts.
 * Maximum Number of Points: 15 POINTS EARNED:**

Sixty-seven blanks to use the following thinking-process terms: observe or observation; wonder or reflect or reflection; name or naming or identify or identification; consider alternatives or options or considering; predict or predicting or prediction; choose a solution or make a choice or solve or choose; make a plan or prepare a plan or plan; gather resources; act or do or perform a solution. **FULL CREDIT. 25 POINTS.**
 * 1) **Fill-in-the-Blanks Paragraphs on the Thinking Process/Problem Solving:**
 * Maximum Number of Points: 25 POINTS EARNED**

From twenty to forty sentences summarizing what Brian is doing on these pages using the vocabulary of the thinking process. **15 POINTS. WEAVE IN THE ACTUAL THINKING PROCESS WORDS IN ALL PARTS OF THE SUMMARY.**
 * 1) **Summary of Paragraphs 97-132 in terms of the Thinking Process**
 * Maximum Number of Points: 20 POINTS EARNED:**

Restatement of the message or lesson of the novel; explanation of why this is an important message or lesson to know; description of how the writer of the essay (the student) can specifically use this lesson in his/her life in the future. **12 OUT OF 15 POINTS. ADD SPECIFIC DETAILS--IMAGINED, PROJECTED, ANTICIPATED--OF HOW YOU WILL USE THIS LESSON IN YOUR LIFE.** Lauren Feeley and Alexa Ryan November 22, 2011 Humanities 6-C
 * 1) **Conclusion**
 * Maximum Number of Points: 15**

__ The River Essay __ The essential question asked by Gary Paulsen in __The River__ is, “How should one behave in the face of overwhelming difficulty?” The answer that Paulsen gives is that to overcome an overwhelming difficulty, one should be brave, caring, and determined. For example, when Derek was in a coma, he was brave caring and determined to help Derek. This will be proved by when Brian was brave because when Derek was in a coma, he had to be brave and ride down 119 miles just to save a man’s life. Brian was caring because when Derek was in a coma he tried to give him water so he would not get dehydrated. Brian was determined to get Derek to safety so someone could contact a doctor.

Brian Robeson is brave because he wasn’t afraid of the animals in the woods, or the thought of drowning in the river, getting lost, and that Derek could possibly die. He is also brave because he survived the wilderness once and now he is doing it again and he is not as nervous even though he is risking his life. Brian is caring because he kept Derek healthy and alive. When Derek was in a coma for over a day and a half Brian got worried and thought he would get dehydrated so he tried to give him water to drink, but he choked on it and Brian helped to clear his throat. Brian is determined because he did not give up when Derek was in a coma. He built a raft and then Brian tied Derek onto it and he pushed the raft into the water. He jumped on and steered the raft all the way to the trading post where he could get help.

In the beginning of the book, the conflict was that Derek wanted Brian to show him how he survived in the woods for two-and-a-half months. Brian though about this offer and at first was crazed by the idea that Derek wanted him to go back in the woods after he already did it and almost died, but then after thinking about, he realized that it was for a good cause and decided to do it. Then the conflict became that Derek got struck by lighting and he went into a coma. Brian then tried to get him to safety by building a raft and floating down the river to the trading post where he could contact a doctor for help. The part of the conflict that stays the same is that they are both trying to survive, but the conflict changed when Derek went into a coma and it was even more severe and they needed to get to safety quick. The conflict changed towards the end of the book when Derek needed to get help. Brian had to try to move on and build the raft so they could travel to the trading post and get help. While he paddling in the river, he came across the biggest conflict of all, he had lost Derek.

The problem-solving process that Brian uses to solve his new conflict is the thinking process. There are nine steps in the __thinking__ or problem-solving process.

The first step in the thinking process involves making an __observation__ or a having a perception. This means that a person senses an event. At this moment, the person who sensed the event does not know what it is. Thus, he or she naturally reflects or __wonders__ what it is that he or she just heard or saw or felt or tasted or smelled, etc. Reflecting/ Wondering is the __reflecting__ moment in the problem-solving __process__. Often, this leads the person to investigate further the event that was sensed or observed. If enough information is available, the person will name the event or __identify__ the problem that he or she had just sensed. That is the third moment in the thinking process.

Next come the alternatives step in this problem-solving process: Considering __Solutions__ or Options. That is the fourth moment in the thinking process/problem-solving process. Once the person has listed the possible alternatives, then a decision must be made as to which alternative or choice is most logical. The next step, the __predicting__ step, in the process of making this decision is often what we mean when we use the word “thinking.” But really what most often happens here is that the person engages in a mental “__what__-if game.” Basically, this means that the person tries to make a __solution__ of what in the future what would most likely happen if each choice, or __decision__, were selected. Based upon those predictions, the problem-solver __choses__ a solution. That is the sixth moment in the thinking process.

The next, and __most important__ step, involves, __making__ a plan of how to put the solution into action. After this, the problem-solver gathers __facts__ or information to use when the plan is done. That is the eighth step. Finally, in the ninth step, the problem-solver actually __acts__ or does the solution.

On page 66 of __The River__, we clearly see an example of the third step in the thinking process: identifying or __naming__ the problem. Here, on page 66, we learn that Brian has a name for Derek’s problem. He says that Derek is in a __coma__. Shortly, thereafter, on page 67, Brian starts to feel angry at himself for allowing himself to be talked into going back into the woods to teach survival skills to Derek. Brian starts to feel sorry for himself. But then he stops himself, because he __sees__, or hears himself acting babyish and immature. On page 67 he says, “Listen to me… If I were talking out loud, I’d be whining. Derek gets hit and I act like I’m the one getting messed up.” Derek stops himself from feeling sorry for himself. And then he moves on to trying to solve the problem of saving Derek’s life.

Brian clearly is wondering/reflecting and considering __the problem__ on page 67 when he thinks, “Could he stay here with Derek for a week or ten days and wait for them? Could he not stay? What choices did he have?” Brian is listing all of the different __solutions__ that he has.

At the end of this chapter, after Brian senses the smell of human waste; he identifies that Derek has “soiled” himself. Brian chooses a solution when he says, “It had to be done. He had to clean Derek, take care of him, take care of another human being.” So, Brian comes up with a __solution__ to clean up Derek’s waste. We read on page 68 that the resources that Brian gathers are __sticks__ and __water__. Then he performs, or does, the solution when he carries Derek’s waste and buries it in a __hole__.

The thinking process/problem-__solution__ process continues. In chapter 13, on page 71, Brian is clearly reflecting or __wondering__ when we read that “He spent the morning trying to remember what he knew” about comas. At the top of page 72, Brian makes a __prediction__ about how long he thinks Derek can survive. We read, “But Brian was sure Derek could not go that long without water…. Somewhere he’d heard or read or seen that the human body couldn’t go that long without water.” So, Brian makes a “small spoonlike holder out of birch bark” and pours water down Derek’s throat. Here, Brian has used resources and has acted on his __plan__. When he __observes__ that Derek coughs up the water, Brian __identifies__ another problem: Derek cannot drink.

At this point, on page 73, Brian doesn’t know what to do. He throws down a __stick__, which bounces into Derek’s __briefcase__. When Brian sees the briefcase, “as if for the first time” he is making an __observation__. When Brian says, “What have you got in here?” he is __Wondering__/Reflecting. When Brian opens up Derek’s briefcase, he finds the map of the wilderness area where they are. On the map, he __observes__ a river.

Brian unfolds the map and he follows the flow of the river. He observes the words “Brannock __Trading__ Post,” on page 78. When we read that Brian thinks to himself, “There would be people there…. A trading post would have people” we know that he is making a __prediction__. On page 79, we read that Brian calculates that the trading post is about 150 kilometers, or just under 100 miles. When Brian thinks to himself that he could leave Derek and go down the river and bring back help, he is __considering__ the options. But then, he predicts that wild animals might attack or eat Brian. Brian decides that he cannot leave Derek. Here, he is making a __decision__.

At the very bottom of page 79, we read, “What if he took Derek with him?” Here, Brian is using “what-__if__” thinking. Once again, this is the step of making a __decision__. On page 80, Brian makes numerous predictions: “If he stayed, Derek would die of thirst…. If he made the run…at least there was a chance.” Finally, Brian __made__ a solution at the end of page 80 when we read: “He had no choice.”

At the beginning of chapter 15, Brian calculates that to float down the river would take thirty-five or forty hours. On page 82, he chooses a __solution__ when we read, “He needed to build a raft.”

Shortly after that, on page 82, Brian names or __identifies__ a problem. The problem is not that he lacks wood, but that he lacks a __hatchet__ to cut wood to build a raft. Luckily, Brian observes on page 83 that __beavers__ have felled trees, and the trees are the right size to make a raft. He thinks, “It’s like I hired them.” Here, Brian is making an __observation__ to use the trees cut down by the beavers. In fact, we read in the next-to-last paragraph on page 84, “He had a plan…for what he was going to do.” On page 85, Brian actually __acts__, or does his plan. He weaves together the large and small pieces of wood cut down by the beavers, and he cuts strips of __fabric__ from his jacket to hold the __logs__ firmly in place.

At the end of chapter 15, on page 87, Brian must decide if he, in fact, will act on his __plan__ of bring Derek down the river on the raft. So, Brian goes through a process that looks a little like a scientific experiment. He thinks, “… if there was the slightest, tiniest change in Derek…Brian would call off the trip and hope for the best.” When he looks into Derek’s eyes, measures his breathing and his heartbeat, __speaks__ into his ear, and __pokes__ Derek with his knife, Brian is acting out his experiment. But he is really making __observations__ with his senses. When Derek does not react at all, Brian says, “We go.” Here, he is clearly making a __decision__. In chapter 16, the thinking process/problem-solving process continues. On pages 92 and 93, Brian slowly drags Derek down to the raft, which is in the river. He places Derek onto the raft. But just before he pushes off into the river, Brian has a sudden thought, “What if they came unexpectedly?” Here, Brian is both wondering/reflecting, considering options and making a prediction, because he is realizing that __someone__ might come to check on them suddenly. So, Brian goes right to the step of choosing a __solution__. He decides that he has to write a note to rescuers just in case they show up. Brian writes the note. He is acting or __behaving__.

And then, on pages 94 and 95, Brian performs one last “scientific” __procedure__. He tests the __hypothesis__ to see if it is seaworthy, whether it will __benefit__ both himself and Derek. Brian __acts__ or does his experiment by climbing on the raft and by __paddling__ back and forth. He __predicts__ that the raft will not tip over. Thus, Brian makes a final __decision__ to act on his solution and push off into the river.

On page 101 in chapter 17 Brian makes the decision of moving on and trying to make it to the Trading Post. He makes that decision by the thinking process. He identifies his choices and then decides on one. Then after he has chosen a solution he acts or behaves on his decision. Then Brian uses the method again on page 104 in chapter 18. He thinks about how the river would flow into a lake because he knows that generally rivers flow southeast and widen into a lake.

On page 109 in chapter 19 Brian used the thinking process yet again. He uses this method to find a solution to his problem. Brian thinks about the direction that he needs to follow on his way to the Trading Post. He wonders about how to get to the Trading Post by judging the distance on the map, to the real distance traveling. On page 114 in chapter 20, Brian uses the thinking process and when he hears a loud sound, he wonders it could be. He decided that it is a waterfall that is coming their way, so Brian has to consider his choices and act quickly.

On page 115 in chapter 21 Brian had to make a decision quickly before they reached the waterfall. He thinks and as fast as he could he paddled sideways and tried to avoid the waterfall. On page 120 in chapter 22 he fell off the raft by the waterfall and had lost sight of Derek. Brian then had to consider all his options to where Derek could possibly be.

On page 125 in chapter 23 Brian found Derek but concluded that he looked dead. After a while of testing to find his pulse, he finally realized that he could find the pulse, but Derek was still breathing. Then on page 129 in chapter 24, Brian succeeded on his mission to find help at the Trading Post. He found people there and they contacted a doctor to help. These are ways that Brian used the thinking process to make decisions and come to a solution.

In the book __The River__ by Gary Paulsen Brian is brave, caring, and determined. This is true because Brian was brave to go out to the wild to show Derek survival skills. He was caring because when Derek went into a coma, Brian tried to take care of him. Finally, Brian was determined because he did not stop when he needed to get Derek to the Trading Post for help, he just kept going. We can be brave during tough situations such as Brian’s. We can be caring by helping someone who is injured. We can be determined when we need to get something done, for example a project for school. This is why Brian was brave, caring and determined. These are reasons that we can use some of Brian’s character traits. In the past, present and future, people have used these three character traits that Brian Robeson has used. Many people are brave such as the people in the army. They fight for our country. They have fought for us, and we hope they can continue their bravery. Some people are very caring for other people, and we hope they continue to care for us. Our parents have cared for us since we were little kids and we hope that they will continue, and possibly in the future, you would take care of someone who you cherish and Brian Robeson took care of Derek because Derek took care of Brian to make sure he was ok when they were in the woods. Also, we can use the characteristic determination in the situation as if someone you know is sick and you can be determined for that person. This is how we can use these characteristics in the future.