The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

Group discussions really did help me understand this novel better. This is because every time I go to discussions, each person in the group would have questions and thoughts about the book. As we share our ideas, we get deeper and deeper into trying understand the author and the novel. I think that is is actually why we have Literature Circles and group discussions-to help each other to learn. Some of the subjects we talked about were why Zachariah was the one who was treated quite badly compared to the rest of the crew, especially when he was chosen by the captain, a white, to be beaten up. This could be a reason for the captain to have done that. I think that this is important because it is one of the conflicts that would have an effect in the story. We came up with an answer that during those times, racism was still a big issue. In the first group discussion, we also made predictions of who was the good and the bad in the novel, and what would happen next in the story.
Some of the connections I made during the group discussions were actually connections within the story. One of them were about when Charlotte overheard some sailors that were in the forecastle. A brief summary of what she heard is that these men didn't want her on board the Seahawk. I connected it with an event that happened early in the story when Charlotte first set foot on the ship. One of the sailors, Barlow, came to her cabin and told her that she wasn't supposed to be on this ship. I thought about the his purpose-keep Charlotte off the ship. I also thought about Barlow's role in the forecastle and the issue of the round robin. The other connection was just about when I traveled to Japan and also went on ships.


My predictions for the rest of the novel would be rather a happy ending. I think that Captain Jaggery might die eventually. Maybe the hurricane would put his life to an end, or he might die of killing another member of the crew-the crew might judge him and take over his place. Also, another prediction is after this voyage has ended, I think somehow Charlotte will find another opportunity to sail with "her" crew again. My last prediction is that Charlotte's father and mother might be quite angry with her since she did so many 'unlady-like' things.