Portfolio Assignment
Westward Ho!
Instructions
When you complete this assignment, save it in a portfolio folder you will later submit after lesson 8. This portfolio folder will contain portfolio items you will be collecting throughout the course.
During the nineteenth century, hundreds of thousands of Americans migrated en masse to the wild and rough terrain of the West. Some made the gruelling journey for a new start, some in hopes of striking it rich in the California gold mines, some in search of a haven from persecution. In many significant ways, this expansionist movement defined the era. Within this larger national context stand the individual stories of those brave souls who traversed the country. Many lost loved ones and buried them in shallow graves along the trail, many caught debilitating diseases, and most suffered cruelly from the harsh weather conditions and lack of supplies. In their experiences lies the heart of this diverse movement.
Choose one of the following themes to write about: the Oregon Trail, the Donner Party, or the Mormon Trail. Search the websites under your chosen subject to understand better the conditions and experiences faced by those people. Then, write a series of journal entries as if you were one of the pioneers. Your entries should be at least a single-spaced page long. You can write about subjects such as these: Who are you? Why are you taking this journey? Is it what you expected it would be? Where are you? What are your physical surroundings? With whom are you traveling, and what do you think of them? What is your daily life like? What makes you happy or sad on this trek? There are a lot of other things you can write about as well, but try to get as close as you can to what the experience might have been like for a pioneer. Excellent research and empathy (remember it from lesson one?) will help you think what these earlier Americans might have thought.
| Grading Rubric | ||||
| Activities | Not Acceptable
0 Points |
Acceptable
1 Points |
Good
2 Points |
Excellent
3 Points |
| Lesson 8: Westward Ho! | Answer shows little evidence of research or thought into pioneer subjects; very general and obvious information. | Evidence of some research and thought into pioneering life; somewhat specific reflections. | Evidence of significant research and thought about what pioneers experienced; specific descriptions and impressions. | Substantial evidence of deep research and extended thought into what it was like to be a pioneer; precise and accurate description and impressions for the pioneers chosen. |
Oregon Trail
http://www.isu.edu/%7Etrinmich/Allabout.html
http://overlandtrails.lib.byu.edu/
http://www.isu.edu/%7Etrinmich/00.n.dairies.html
Donner Party
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/interview/donner-rick-burns/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/map-widget/donner-map/
http://www.books-about-california.com/Pages/Academy_Pacific_Coast_History/Diary_of_Patrick_Breen_txt.html
Mormon Trail
http://overlandtrails.lib.byu.edu/
http://lds.org/gospellibrary/pioneer/pioneerstory.htm
My name is peter Braithwaite, a 17-year-old, and this is a narration of our trip that took several weeks, and the overall experience that this had to bring. Exactly three weeks after me and my family had set off for the Oregon Trail, an experience that was quite hard and long, I work up to a smell of bacon and eggs. While in Oregon, my dad had promised that he will strike it rich with gold as this was readily available in California. He starts a conversation which covers a story of how life will be like when we attain financial stability. Am happy to see the gold within us and I can’t wait to get to California.
According to the projections by my dad, it would take us a while to get there, an aspect that am still comfortable with, though my mum seems not okay with it. According to him, my mum has too many expectations about how it really should be. My younger brother had just turned 8, and he happens to be the most excited than anyone else in the family. His excitement is expressed by his statement where he claims that he can’t wait to get fishing, and is hopeful that he will be able to get too much gold. In my view, I think that the life experience had so far been hard for him as he had just gotten over from a bad fever. We thought that he was to succumb to the condition, but luckily, he pulled through.
The journey has been fair for the most bit of it though it seemed burdensome. The wheel of our wagon had broken 3 days ago, but we were able to fix it. So far, there were no Indian sightings to talk about yet. They would be visible if they did not have the intention of causing harm, and this is according to my father, and would only be seen if they were ready to hurt someone.
All the travelling was done during the day with relaxation taking place at the night bringing all the wagons in a circle. This is the best part to me as people engage in cooking and entertainment.
Being almost 4 weeks old to the journey, this week has been a good one compared to the previous one. Our pace has been considerably fast, though my dad predicts that the hardest bit is yet to come. As per his predictions, the Rockies will get very difficult, and we may be forced to throw out some items, which I am not sure what that will be.
We currently are short of supplies to include eggs, though our friends in the wagon that is ahead of us have some chicken and are willing to share some eggs. The weather has been quite cold of late, and this makes me easily fall asleep. All along, I have been meditating about the gold that lies ahead of us as per my father, with my line of thinking being on how much there will be and how we will get rich, or even if we will get any. This makes me anxious about what lies ahead.