A Coal Miner’s Bride
Summary:
In a place in Poland called Sadowka
were the Russians had colonized. In Sadowka there were a lot of strict laws
made by the Russians. The strictest law is that they’re not allowed to talk,
teach, or learn Polish. There was a girl called Anetka she lived with her
brother, Jozef and grandmother, Babcia. They are a Polish family and a very
poor family. Anetka’s mom is dead and her father lives in America. She sent
letters to him every day, one day she received a letter from him saying that he
had arranged her marriage back in America. Anetka got very mad and went to talk
with her best friend, Stefania. One day she meets a sergeant called Private
Leon Nesovich and he likes her very much. One day when she was walking she
passes by the mayor’s office and he grabs and tells her that there was a girl
that was teaching Polish and he thought it was her, but out of nowhere Private
Nesovich comes and shoots the mayor and they both run home. After that, Anetka,
Leon, and Jozef had to flee to America to be safe from the Russian soldiers,
but they leave Babcia because she wanted to stay were she’s been all her life.
To get to America they went by ship. On their way there Anetka doesn’t get
along very well with Leon. One night, Anetka and Leon were dancing and then
Leon kisses Anetka, so she feels very guilty and mad because she’s going to get
married when she makes it to America she’s going to get married to Stanley.
When they make it to America Anetka meets her husband Stanley and it turns out
that Stanley has 3 little girls, their names are Rose, Violet, and Lily. After
Stanley and Anetka get married Anetka turns into a working wife, mother and
sister. Every day Stanley goes and works in the coal mine and when he gets back
he would have dinner and directly go to sleep, and at the same time she takes
care of her new daughters. In the coal mine the bosses treated the foreigner
workers bossily and with disrespect and the workers didn’t like it. One day,
Anetka received news that Stanley died in the mine today, when Anetka heard the
news she was devastated and after that Stanley’s boss came and gave Anetka a
bill she has to pay because Stanley was dead and she had to pay 100$. Anetka
started thinking of how she could make money, but the boss told her that there
were three men that needed a place to stay and if they come to her house they
can pay her and she accepted. The workers of the coal mine were thinking of
ways to make the bosses treat the foreigners fairly, so Anetka’s father
suggested that they make a union. Will Anetka be able to pay the bill and will
the union work out? Read to find out!
Time
Zone Research:
My
book is takes place in the Progressive Era. The comparison between my book and
the Era is that in the progressive era there was poverty, violence, greed, racism, and class warfare. In my
book there was also violence and racism by the Americans done to the
foreigners.
Historical Effect:
The historical effect is on the plot
and characters. In the book the foreigners that went to America used to get
miss treated by the Americans but in these days there are laws or rules against
that. In that time segregation was constant in America to foreigners. They used
to beat up the foreigners or through rocks at them. “Three American men burst
inside.” This is a part of the book where Anetka and her friends and family are
celebrating and three American men come in to beat the up.
Characters:
Anetka: Anetka is an active worker,
someone who cares about love, and brave women.
Stanley: Stanley is Anetka’s husband
and a coal miner, but dies at a coal mishap.
Rose: One of Stanley’s daughter and
a lovable girl.
Lily: One of Stanley’s daughters and
is worry full girl.
Violet: Oldest of Stanley’s
daughters, she starts out hating Anetka but at the end they start to get along.
Author’s characterization techniques:
This book is mostly told by diary
entries, there is also some dialogue but it’s mostly through diary entries. The
way the story is told improves how I see the character, when I was reading I
could imagine what was happening. “I lit the kerosene lamp and tried to write
in my diary.” This is an example of when Anetka wants to write in her diary
which she does almost every day.
Point of view:
The story is told from Anetka’s
point of view. This point of view makes think of how Anetka is living and it’s
like you’re in her shoes or in her place. This book is Anetka’s diary so
everything is explaining what she did with detail so you would start to imagine
how everything looks and it makes it very interesting.
Theme:
The theme of this book is overcoming
challenges. The theme is overcoming challenges because Anetka passes through a
lot of challenges in her story. For example, leaving her grandma in Sadowka,
getting married, taking care of three children and a husband, and overcoming
Stanley’s death.
Reflection:
I enjoyed reading this book because
it explains how hard times were and especially if you were a foreigner in a new
country. It explains how much trouble people used to go through and how a lot
of the people used to work in the mines and how low they used to get paid. This
book also talks about segregation and how the Americans didn't like the
foreigners and used to treat them unfairly. In this book I didn't really
picture myself in there times because a lot of the kids worked or were married
at early ages. I would recommend this book to people that are interested in
learning about the old times in America. On a scale of 1-10 I would rate this
book an 8.
Vocab:
Parcel: An object wrapped or packed.
Tamped: to force in with repeated
strokes.
Rye: the seeds of a plant.
Pestering: to
bother persistently with petty annoyances.
Shanty: A hut, cabin, or house.
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