FINAL GROUP Q&A's

      We thought that Sharon Draper's novel Copper Sun was very successful at blending the facts and the story. On a scale from 1-10 we thought the book should be rated an 8 out of 10. We think this because some of the events were a little confusing and hard to follow but it was overall a very good book. Some events that are strictly fictional are the characters: Amari, Tidbit, Clay, Polly, Teenie etc. Things were really accurate. The slaves went through all the pain portrayed in the story. One specific event that the slaves went through in the book was the slaves stacked on the ships and the women being raped by the soldiers. Another was that Fort Mose was a real place and fugitives would run south instead of north. As Frederick Douglas expressed in his short story the slaves would stand up to their masters as Amari and Polly did with Clay. Since the book is so realistic and on the spot it is very memorable and you can learn a lot while you are still being entertained by a story.Sharon Draper's method of blending the facts with the emotions made all the reader's feel for the characters and want to keep reading.

Breia Kirby Connector

    I am connecting my reading this week in Copper Sun to a part in Chains. The connection I made was when Isabelle met Curzon in the jail and they were reuntied for the first time in a while to when Amari came upon Besa while traveling South. This is very important because there are things that we never want to let go of, people we never want to leave behind. But keep in mind that letting go isn’t the end of the world, it’s the beginning of a new life.

   Amari had to stay strong and act like it wasn't hurting her to see Besa at the little cottage in the woods. She saw where he had been beaten, whipped, and scarred. I think personally it would be hard to meet up with someone you have seen in forever and have known them for a long time, it would also be very hard to see how they have been mistreated and hurt. Much like how Isabelle always saw what shape Curzon was in when she went and visited him in the jail cell. He was weak and hungry, just like Besa. Amari and Isabelle are both two strong girls who stay determined and have a very courgeous personalities.

 

Deanna Frey Pd.6 Discussion Director

1. What do you think of the community/family feeling that exists at Fort Mose?
2. How would you react if you were Amari and carried Clay's child? What name would you choose for the child?
3. What existed inside Polly and Amari that eventually led them to freedom? Do you think you could survive the journey that these girls went through? Explain.

Reflector- Sean Eberly

            When I first heard those foot steps outside the little shack, I thought it was Clay. Thankfully, it was a very nice lady named Fiona. After explaining to her what we were doing, I was so glad she wanted to help us. Later at her house, when I first recognized the voice of my love, I almost fainted. I was so excited to see him until I saw what happened to my beautiful Besa! I was so angry those white people would hurt him so bad. It hurt me the most when he told us we would get caught and he didn’t believe in anything anymore. I was very heartbroken when he told me he would not escape with us.

            After a long hard journey, we made it to the river Fiona told us about. All three of us were so excited to be on the edge of freedom. When we crossed the river and woke the next morning, we traveled as fast as we could until reaching the fort. At first sight I couldn’t believe we made it to the fort. I was so joyful and wanted to just cry, but I knew I had to stay strong. There at the fort we met another kind woman named Inez. Inez fed us well and then she and I took a walk. After she told me I was pregnant it all made since. I did not want the baby at all knowing it belonged to Clay! This baby will not be Clay’s though; it is mine and holds the spirits of Afi, my parents, Kwasi, and all others from my true home in Africa.

"Tidbit shrieked in alarm as the door flew open and a woman, dressed, amazingly, all in buckskin, stared openmouthed at the three children."

jordan nogle word nerd

wordle was not working

the words i choose were
1. freedom
2. baby
3. pregnant
4. house
5. life
6. hush puppy
7. soliders
8. children
9.payment
10. money

I choose these words because they were very important to the story, but the three main words where freedom, pregnant, and money. i choose freedom because they were finally free from clay and slavery. i choosse pregnant because amari found out at the end of the book that she was carrying a child. the last word i choose was money because amari and polly would finally be paid for the word that she did.

Corinne McGuire Reporter

To Polly:
1. How do you feel now that you finally made it to Fort Mose?
2. How excited are you to be the new school teacher at Fort Mose?
3. Do you still worry about Clay?
4. Are you jealous that Amari is Tidbit's new mother figure?
5. Do you think you'll miss Nathan since he was so kind to you and saved your lives?

Jordan Nogle connector

Chains and copper sun are alike because amari and Isabel both had little children that they had to take care of. They also both lost their little siblings. They both ran away from horrible house holds to go south to find freedom. Amari and Isabel escaped with close friends.
I would compare this section of copper sun to the vietnam war because the soldiers spent many days in the woods without food and resources. They both ran away from horrible mean people. They were both fighting for freedom but in different ways. The soldiers were fighting to get home and amari was fighting for a new home in the south. Runaway slaves and soldiers both faced many issuses that were alike in many ways

Breia Kirby Reflector

Its been a rough couple of weeks. Our journey gets more challenging each day with the little amount of food we have available and the limited resources. Not much can be done but when we do try our best we still end up giving in and taking a break to get ready to travel many more countless miles. Every night we try to find our dinner (if we are lucky) and we would cook it over the fire in the cave. The cave is a very scary place where we thought we were safe until we heard the noises of a creature and the next morning come to find out its clay. Clay was on a hunt to find us and bring us back to the plantation. I'm sure we would have been beaten to death and severely punished for what trouble we caused.

Over time we keep traveling in hope to find Fort Mose for freedom but the trip seems endless. One night in the woods we came upon a boy named Nathan. He found just Polly and ask her who she was traveling with and she had told him she was by herself. He obviously didn't believe her and he asked where the salve girl was (me) and the little boy (tidbit). He offered us to stay in the barn where he keeps the hay for the animals and he told us we had to stay quiet because his dad would turn them all in for the reward money. Just then the next morning Nathan's dad opened the barn door holding a pitch fork and he scoped us out in the hay. I will write back and tell you what happens and hopefully we stay safe and we can continue our worthy journey to Fort Mose.
Yours Truly,
 Amari.

Corinne McGuire Word Nerd

I tried 3 times tonight, but I couldn't get Wordle to work!


The 10 words I chose are: 
1.Doctor
2.Freedom
3.South 
4.Escape
5.Clay
6.Followed
7.Snake
8.Trust
9.Hush-Puppy
10.Swamp


I chose the word "Freedom" because that is what our characters are searching for and desperately trying to achieve. Amari, Polly, Tidbit, and Hush-puppy are all running south to a Spanish territory so they can have their "Freedom" from the lives they've lived as slaves. I also chose the word Clay because he was very important in this section. He caught up to the runaways and told them about Mr.Derby being poisoned and was set on ruining their lives by bringing them back. They shot him, tied him up, and left him with a poisonous snake to get their revenge. The last main word I chose was Hush-puppy, and I chose him because he saved their lives and gave Tidbit the hope and happiness to keep going. He caught the girls and Tidbit a rabbit and other small animals to eat when they started running out of food. Hush-puppy was a HUGE help to the runaways! 

Dicussion Leader- Sean Eberly

1.       Do you think anything bad will happen to Dr. Hoskins for letting Amari, Polly, and Tidbit escape?

2.       Do you think Clay was killed by the snake or he got loose and is chasing Amari, Polly, and Tidbit?

3.       Now that Mr. Derby is dead, do you think Mrs. Derby will have more freedom to do what she wants, with Clay in charge?

Deanna Frey Pd.6 Reporter

to Nathan
1. What caused you to follow the group of Polly and her friends when you first spotted them?
2. How is life alone with just your mean and druken father?
3. Why would you let yourself go through pain just to let some strangers have a chance at being free?
4. What was your first reaction when your father found your hidden group?
5. Would you help slaves gain freedom again if you were given the chance? Explain why.