OliviaW

Yea I totally agree, Conor. The only thing that I think is emotional so far is when Mr. Meeker
started to cry. If I was Sam and I witnessed my dad crying, I would feel totally guilty. Thank gosh
he didn't see him though. I still have to read the second chapter, to see if Sam found out about his
father crying. Ok I'm going to go, I'll post back in a couple of hours.
Talk to you later!,
Love,
Olivia W

So I read chapter 2 and heres what I think:
Really what I think Mr. Meeker is trying to say is that when you fight fire with fire, you just get a
bigger fire. You never get rid of bad things by doing bad things. I personally agree with him on that.
I still dont think he has the right to tell Sam who to side with. Its just like the presidential
election. I know a couple of people who had different opinions than their parents, and thats ok.
We are all entitled to our opinion. On the other hand, I think Sam overreacted by running away and stealing the gun. The whole fight between Mr. Meeker and Sam is horrible. I think they both should have just
kept their opinions to themselves because it could put more stress on Sam during the war, especially.
Chapter 2 overall was not the best chapter of them all, because in the beginning all it talked about was Redding and how it was set up. I just thought it was a very weak chapter.
On the positive side, Betsy was a good supporting character to Sam. She also tried to change Tim's opinion on Sam bringing the gun to war. She was just a little repetatvite, though.
Well yea thats what I think. It's a little on the crazy side, but it's my opinion.
I'll talk to you guys at Bayhead tomorrow,
and the rest of us I'll see in school.
Love always,
Olivia

Chapter 3 was really short! I was suprised at that.
A) If I were in Tim's place, I would definitly tell Father that Sam was coming cause then guilt would build up and work on my soul. I would feel that way because even though father is fighting with Sam, deep down inside, I would think he'd be worried about him. I also think that mother would want to know, also.
B) What I think Betsy's role in the story (to me) is almost like a messenger between Sam and Tim. I really don't think she is helping much because you can kind of tell she is starting to annoy mother. In my opinion I think she is goning to start trouble later on in the novel.
C) If I lived in the time of the American Revolution, to me it would probly get pretty boring. Being the person that I am, I would probly try to find a way to make milking the cows or collecting the eggs fun. Now that I have lived and grew up with all the new technology (Internet, Ipods etc) it wouldn't be the same. If I lived in the 1700's I would have never even thought of the idea of a Blackberry or a laptop or an Itouch.
D) As I mentioned before, the chapter was really short. At the end of the chapter it made you want to go on my Tim saying that he knew Sam was back. Overall it was good chapter.
So thats what I thought. I can't wait to read chapter 4.
Well I'll talk to everyone at Bayhead on Thursday?(<<I think?)I'll have to check the Wiki post paper.
See everyone from St. Al's tomorrow,
♥♥Love,♥♥
Olivia

Hey guys!,
Chapter 4 was full of intense action. It really scared me at first.
1) Well when I read that they were threatning father with a soward, my heart dropped. It made me feel horrible because even the person that Father is, I would never want to see him go that way. That I thought was just plain cruel. The Continental really should have checked the tavern and gone to the house if they really didn't belive him. That was just rediciolus. I would have done the same if I were Tim. The only thing I wouldn't have done is take the Brown Bess without noting Sam first. I would have made Sam march in there and give the run to the Continentals. I felt horrible knowing that Sam took the gun back and wasn't going to defend Father.
2) I think Father's next words would have been something like "I'm sorry" or "I was wrong to tell you who to side with.", and they probly would have hugged. He wouldn't yell for Sam to come back just to fight more? I mean that would just be like not right for Father to do that.
3) Tim probly called him a coward becausue he wouldn't go back and give the Brown Bess to the Continentals. He is partially a coward because he really should have gone in there and stood up for his father no matter the penalty.
Overall good chapter. A little sad and full of drama. Still good though.
Talk to you later!,
Olivia♥♥

Hey everyone!,
Chapter 5 really had no meaning to it whatsoever.
1) In my opinion, I think his feelings changed, but not about who hes siding with. He still partially thinks the same about the war, but after hearing all the stories about what the sides have done to each other (shooting and killing) it might change his future opinions.
2) War affects everyone because you always hear about it, and it makes everyone feel down knowing that the world can't live in peace like it was ment to.
3) I really don't think Mr. Heron is that much of a spy. If he was that strongly of a Tory, he wouldn't even be seen walking around with an Indian boy. I think in the end he will turn out as a "good" character.
Well that's my opinion,
See everyone in school tomorrow
Love always,
♥♥Olivia♥♥

Chapter 4 just stunned me(in a bad way).
1) Tim really should have never delivered that letter in the first place. You could tell that he knew something was going to go wrong, but he still did it.
2) Well, I actually do trust Mr. Heron because even though some people might not based on what Betsy said, has Betsy really been a good and trusted person in this chapetr? NO! She physically attacked Tim and you trust HER opinions on Mr. Heron. I completely do not trust her at all by the way she acted.
3) Betsy couldn't get any more annoying. She knew that she was annoying Tim by standing in his way. If she could have just left him alone and nothing with opening the letter would have happened. Tim would have gained Mr. Heron's trust. Tim could go to jail for breaking the seal on someone else's letter! She needs to have a little more respect for him. She is really getting on my nerves.
4) The chapter was relatively short, but still needed to be there. The last sentence really was a sign of foreshadowing. Betsy really needs to grow up and leave Tim and leave the Meekers alone.
Well theres my opinions on Chapter 6.
Talk to you later!
Love always,
Olivia

Chapter 7
1) The war is affecting Tim's family in a way where I think it is hurting Mother more than Father. She wants to write back but Father was wrong to tell her not to because she won't necessarily be writing things that are encouraging him to fight. I think deep down inside that Father does miss Sam a bunch and it's killing him that he is gone. So in a way you could say that it is affecting the Meekers in sort of a "silent" way because nobody is expressing their feelings about it.
2) The war in Middle East has and is affected my familiy both politically and mentally.
3) This chapter was another one that scared me because of the cow-boys. When Father explained them he didn't say anything about them getting violent.
Well thats what I got
Talk to you guys later!
Love,
♥Olivia♥

Chapter 8
1) I still don't think Tim has made up his mind. He says he has to his cousin Ezekiel, but I think he said that just to get him off his back. Hes being indifferent like someone who dosent want to get into politics theese days.
My emotional reactions- the chapter explained alot about the trip to Verplanks in very great detail which I thought was good. Otherwise, good chapter overall.
2) I'm still sticking with my answer as a Patriot aside from the cow-boys. They confuse me on if they are saying there Patriots but really collecting beef for the Loyalists or vise versa. I think thats going a little too overboard in defending your side.
There it is.
Talk to you guys later
Love always,
♥♥Olivia♥♥

Chapter 9:
1) I do think the cow-boys captured Father and I think they are going to do bad things to him. It will have an impact on Tim. I think it will crush him in sort of a "silent" way. I don't think he'll be crying, he'll just be in a daze.
2) This chapter scared me a little. You can definitly tell that the suspense is building.
Okay thats what I got for Chapter 9.
Talk to you later
Love always,
♥Olivia♥

Chapter 10:
1) What Tim meant by his comment was that he didnt understand why people were mad at the king. He didn't think the king caused HIM any harm. He didn't understand that he is a kid and kings don't tax children. He did things to OTHER people, (mostly adults) not him in particular. That I thought was pretty stupid.
Well thats chapter 10
Talk to you later
Love always,
Olivia

Chapetr 11:
1) What Tim means by "something big" is that Sam always went for the important things in life and felt he needed to be important. So by being in the war, it was something "big" and important happening at the time.
Good chapter, not much to say.
Talk to you later
Love,
Olivia

Chapter 12:
1) The statement means that in a war, people are going to die. Most of the time you need dead people to have a war. So once thoose people have died, the living have nothing to worry about. The war is over, no one's is going to die due to that cause. In that way, they are paying their debt.
This chapter broke my heart,especially in the last couple sentences. Sam is a good man and I would hate to see him go in such a cruel way.
Thats chapter 12.
Talk to you later!
Love always,
Olivia

Chapter 13:
1) This famous statment would have inspired Sam because he is very headstong and cares about the duties he must do for his country and lays his life down for it.
This chapter really makes me wonder what will happen next.
There it is.
Talk to you later
Love always,
♥♥Olivia♥♥

Patrick Henry Limerick:

Patrick Henry was an Anti-Federlist
He took a stand and rose his fist
"Give me liberty, or give me death!" was his famous line
He did not like paying the British taxes and fines
When this great man died, he sure was missed

Chapter 14:
1) The irony of Sam's execution was that when Tim and Mother and basically everyone alive at the time, heard how prisoners of war were executed, they didn't expect anything else. They all though that Sam was going to be hung, but he was shot instead.
2) It is similar to the way Mr. Meeker died was that both the men of the Meeker family were killed in the war.
This was a very sad chapter and I was sad to see Sam, the good and trustworthy man he is, go this way. It saddend me, but when I heard what Colonel Read said and really thought about it, it made the sadness go away.
That's Chapter 14 :(
Talk to you later!
Love,
♥Olivia♥

Epilogue:
1) My reaction to the statement is that there was possibly another way to make peace and become a nation without war. Honestly, I really think the war needed to happen because with a stubborn country like Britian, it would have been hard to make peace. They seemed like they would have been after money and riches, which the colonies didn't have.
2) My opinion on the novel was that it got better in the later chapters. In the beginning it was sort of boring, but as it got into Sam taking risks with the war, and the cow-boys, and the risky travel to Verplacks point, it made me want to read it more.
This is my last and final wiki post. :(
-♥Olivia♥