revised+essays



68 points.
 * Student: K. Shala**
 * Grading Points Rubric for Essential-Question Essay on __The River__**


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

13
 * 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:**


 * 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**
 * You never did this. Zero points.**

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. 25
 * 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.
 * 1) **Summary of Paragraphs 97-132 in terms of the Thinking Process**
 * Maximum Number of Points: 20 POINTS EARNED:**
 * 10**

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. 10
 * 1) **Conclusion**
 * Maximum Number of Points: 15**

Brian Robeson, the main character in Gary Paulsen’s The River, is adventurous, trustworthy, and resourceful. The main character trait of Brian Robesen is his resourceful. By Resourceful we mean that he uses things around him to make beneficial. Brian shows his resourcefulness on page 72 when he tries to give Derek water (since he is in a coma and cannot drink himself) by breaking a piece of bark off a tree and making a sort of cup for Derek to drink out of. Thinking Process in Gary Paulsen’s The River: Kristian shala

In the Book the river ,brian robansen is very adventures in my opinon. When Brian was looking for supplies he was being adventoures because he was venturing so far from camping ground that he had a sort of feeling of being alone. He was terrified though because he might of thought there were dangrous animals

In the book The river, Brian Robenson He is trustworthy because when derek into a deep coma, he took care of him, brought him into saftey and eventually when Derek came out of the coma ,he gave him a raft ,with a note saying ,” next time it will be easier to paddle.

The problem-solving process that Brian uses to solve his new conflict is the problem process. There are nine steps in the thinking or problem-solving process. The first step in the thinking process involves making an por 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 redirects what it is that he or she just heard or saw or felt or tasted or smelled, etc. Reflecting/ Wondering is the RIGHT moment in the problem-solving mystery. 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 the problem that he or she had just sensed. That is the third moment in the thinking process. Next comes the step in this problem-solving process: Considering 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 choice 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 plan of what in the future what would most likely happen if each choice, or alternatives, were selected. Based upon those predictions, the problem-solver creates a solution. That is the sixth moment in the thinking process. The next, and final step, involves preparing a plan of how to put the solution into action. After this, the problem-solver gathers resources or information to use when the plan is done. That is the eighth step. Finally, in the ninth step, the problem-solver actually preforms 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 him 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 observers, 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 options 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 alternatives that he has. At the end of this chapter, after Brian senses the smell of human waste; he identifies that Derek as “soiled” himself. Brian chooses a solution when he says, “It had to be done. He had to clean Derek, take care of him, and 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 hands and grass. Then he performs, or does, the solution when he carries Derek’s waste and buries it in a hole. The thinking process/problem-solving 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 decision 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 spoon-like holder out of birch bark” and pours water down Derek’s throat. Here, Brian has used resources and has acted on his options. When he pours that Derek coughs up the water, Brian foresees 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 plan. When Brian says, “What have you got in here?” he is perception /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 plan. 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 list 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 an alternative. 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 plan. 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 considered 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 option 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 fallen 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 a plan 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 preforms, or does his plan. He weaves together the large and small pieces of wood cut down by the beavers, and he cuts strips of cloth from his jacket to hold the wood 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, yelled into his ear, and Derek pricked with his knife, Brian is acting out his experiment. But he is really making do with his senses. When Derek does not react at all, Brian says, “We go.” Here, he is clearly making a plan. 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 people might come to check on them suddenly. So, Brian goes right to the step of choosing a alternative. 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 identifying. And then, on pages .94 and 95, Brian performs one last “scientific” hypothesis He tests the raft to see if it is seaworthy, whether it will kill both himself and Derek. Brian preforms or does his experiment by climbing on the raft and by rocking back and forth. He predicts that the raft will not tip over. Thus, Brian makes a final performance to act on his solution and push off into the river. Kristian Shala Last saved at 12/2/11 KRISTIAN--YOU NEED TO CHECK OVER AND REVISE YOUR SUMMARY OF PAGES 96-132. ADD DETAILS. RE-READ PAGES 96-132. USE THE THINKING PROCESS WORDS. Brian is a very important character in the book The River. Brian remembered that Derek could not drink, so he took off his own shirt ,dipped it in the river .He put it over his face, to cool him off. As he awoke, he checked Derek .There was misquote bites all over his face and body. Brian would sleep in-between pushes of the paddle, too tired to think just mind-numbing After he tested the raft, the two jumped on the raft (even though Brian had to carry Derek on The log) and went down the river. In chapter 19 ,Brian sets out the map from the briefcase, in any hope to find an alternative pass or an easier pass. Brian is in denial ,he knows that the map is very old and thinks the trading post could not even be there. The next day ,Brian arrived to shore for food and rest. He was dulisunal, remembering the smells of home ,cereal and milk, toast, fried eggs ,and bacon. It annoyed him, as he remembered an old freinemy, it made him forget about food. He needed to keep moving ,time, time was the only thing on this mind. Brian concludes that there isn’t much time left. He thinks that “we will be on the river for at least a month. Thunk!! Next thing he sees is a huge waterfalls. Oh God he said as the raft seemed to be an alive animal, kicking around as he was struggling to hang on. For a split second he was soaring in the air holding on to uncouniousis Derek. Everywhere was madness, thick ,sticky green bubbles. He came up a moment later to see the horrorifing sight of Derek being shot through the air by through water. Fighting for air clawing ,and pushing the rock on top of him. Going down the stream faster ,he heard an explosion. A light flashed in Brian eyes, AAAH!!! He suddenly awoke to coughing up an ocean of water. Derek” hit him harder than the current that just hit him. He pushed through the water like a motor boat. He finally found Derek floating on the Raft. He checked his heartbeat, and pulse. Derek was alright.

Brian and Derek made it to the trading post. They were rescued by a husband ,a wife and a small child. They radioed a helicopter rescued them. Derek came out of the coma in a week, yet he suffered severe dehydration, but he recovered in 6 months. 7 months later, Brian was wondering what to eat for dinner, then a driver for the postal system stops at his house with a huge canoe ,with a note on it saying “ next time it will be easier to paddle”.

=Conclusion of the book and the lessonn that taught me //was that helping othere does pay off. In this book Brian saved Derek ,by taking care of him and bringing him to a hospital where he would be treated. The lesson it taught me was that to be independent as Brian did after Derek was struk by lightinging. Being independent is important because if you are not, you are most likely to realy on. If that person or thing cannot help your survival is very slight//=