Allison Winter

A. Winter 1

Allison Winter

Mr. Ahumada

ENG 4U1-03

September 22, 2016

The Orenda’s Orenda

Joseph Boyden’s The Orenda follows three characters: Bird, a Huron warrior; Snow

Falls, an Iroquois girl kidnapped by him; and Cristophe, a Jesuit travelling with the Huron. The story explores their lives, separate yet intertwined, in a time of constant conflicts and tensions.

Drawing inspiration from his First Nations roots, The Orenda is a prequel to Boyden’s novel

Three Day Road (2005), which has a sequel called Through Black Spruce (2008). Additionally,

Boyden has also written several short stories and received many awards for his books (Harvey).

He studied at York University, and later, the University of New Orleans (Joseph Boyden). This novel piqued my interest because of its historical subject matter. I enjoy reading fiction with current takes on past events, novels such as Front Lines by Michael Grant, a story of war told from the perspectives of three women allowed to serve. I also like novels that contain more than one character’s perspective. Seeing how each character views a situation allows for better development. As for the writing style, it has a variety of sentence structures that make reading interesting, for example, “The sun will show the Haudesaunee who chase us exactly where to go, how many of us there are, what condition we’re in, and especially that we drag a crow with us.

The sun today is not a friend. If we all die today, it will be because of it.” (Boyden 9) The way the first person narrative is written, descriptive and immersive, brings the reader into the characters’ world and thoughts so that character development is clear to see. Their voices are distinctive; it is easy to tell whose point of view is in each chapter. I chose this title because I A. Winter 2 liked Three Day Road. It had a way of capturing my attention and not letting go, enough that I want to read the prequel and learn more about the world that Boyden writes in. This novel is worthy of literary study because it contains challenging but beautiful prose (Ganshorn), complex ideas such as spirituality, religion, and cultural barriers (Greer, Foran), and well-developed characters (Johnson). It requires thorough reading to gain a good understanding. Such a book engages the reader and benefits them as well, increasing their literary knowledge.

Works Cited

Bland, Jared. "Joseph Boyden Tackles Native Torture, Colonial Amnesia and Ongoing Racism." The Globe and

Mail. The Globe and Mail, 14 Sept. 2013. Web. 20 Sept. 2016.

Foran, Charles. "Joseph Boyden Mines Canada's Bloody past for Surprising Spirituality." The Globe and Mail. The

Globe and Mail, 6 Sept. 2013. Web. 20 Sept. 2016.

Ganshorn, Heather. "The Orenda." Resource Links 20.1 (2014): 59. Education Source. Web. 20 Sept. 2016.

Greer, Allan. "Hurons and Jesuits Revisited: Joseph Boyden's The Orenda." Fiction and Film for French Historians.

H-France, 28 Apr. 2014. Web. 20 Sept. 2016.

Harvey, Alban. "Joseph Boyden." The Canadian Encyclopedia. The Canadian Encyclopedia, 18 Oct. 2009. Web. 20

Sept. 2016.

Johnson, Sarah. "The Orenda." Booklist 110.13 (2014): 24. Education Source. Web. 20 Sept. 2016.

"Joseph Boyden." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2014. Biography in Context. Web. 21 Sept. 2016. A. Winter 1

Allison Winter

Mr. Ahumada

ENG 4U1-03

September 22, 2016

Not Robert De Niro

De Niro’s Game by Rawi Hage tells the story of two young men, Bassam and George, during the Lebanese Civil War. Bassam turns to a life of crime to leave, while George frequents the underworld. They are forced to make a decision about their futures: stay and become criminals, or leave and become exiles. De Niro’s Game is Hage’s first novel, aided by his personal experiences during the war (Rawi Hage), published in 2006. His other works include

Cockroach (2008), Carnival (2013), and several short stories. He studied at the New York

Institute of Photography, and after immigrating to Canada, Dawson College and Concordia

University (Harvey). This is a novel with subject matter I have not read about, which makes it intriguing. Also, the characters struggle with many realistic internal and external conflicts, as opposed to fantasy novels where the many characters’ conflicts are improbable in actuality, such as defeating a monster. The lack of quotation marks is another aspect I like; deeper reading will occur if special attention must be paid to distinguish dialogue. As well, having read Blood Red

Road by Moira Young, the writing style seems freer without them. The novel’s prose switches from fragmented and swift, “We drove fast to George’s aunt’ house” (Hage 14), to slow and thoughtful, “We reached the open road, and our cotton shirts welcomed the wind; it molested our skin and dwelt in our ears” (Hage 15), producing a unique flow. It is full of literary devices, A. Winter 2 especially imagery. The reader finds themselves immediately thrust into the setting Hage has created. I chose De Niro’s Game for its promising plot and vividness. Repetitive usage of similes and metaphors draws me in and captures my attention, another reason I chose it. This is a novel worth studying because it comments on the crises that war causes, survival, trauma, and social relations during such times (Abdelfattah, Gana). It also has an engaging narrative structure that prompts the reader to look past the words, giving the novel a depth that allows readers to explore

(Gana).

Work Cited

Abdelfattah, Hany Ali. "National Trauma and the 'Uncanny' in Hage's Novel De Niro's Game." CLCWeb:

Comparative Literature & Culture: A WWWeb Journal 14.1 (2012): n. pag. Mar. 2012. Web. 20 Sept. 2016.

Gana, Nouri. "Rawi Hage. De Niro's Game." Rawi Hage. De Niro's Game. The International Fiction Review, 2007.

Web. 20 Sept. 2016.

Harvey, Alban. "Rawi Hage." The Canadian Encyclopedia. The Canadian Encyclopedia, 13 June 2011. Web. 20

Sept. 2016.

"Rawi Hage." Gale Biography in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Biography in Context. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.