TRJ Writer's Craft #2

As mentioned in Writer's Craft 1, the theme of this book is heroism in hard times. I thought Chaim Potok did a wonderful job in the way she structured this book to make the theme stand out even more. At fist, the story seemed like the story would be third person limited but it was not. The author writes the story through different people's perspective throughout the book. In the beginning of the story, it was mainly in the old man’s viewpoint. After the boy gets better, it starts to switch between the three characters. Chaim Potok did a wonderful job of this to get the reader to understand the characters personally aside from imagery and characterization. The way she structured the book just fit together very well and let me see the theme of I Am The Clay even better.
Also, the author did a good job with the diction. The dialogue between the characters sounded like it was from that time period with the beliefs about spirits and stuff. Chaim Potok did a great job trying to make the dialogue between the characters in the same time period as the setting of the war. A specific dialogue the author did well on was the conversation between the boy and the chaplain in the American base. The boy spoke with broken English and tried to explain his situation to the chaplain. I thought this was another example of heroism because the boy told the truth to the chaplain even though there was an easy way out. Sin Gyu tried to do what was right.

TRJ Writer's Craft #1

A couple times throughout the book, we see some very descriptive writing by Chaim Potok. One time is when the author describes the old man through the eyes of Sin Gyu, the boy. The writer portrays the old man with “brown wrinkled features; dark angry eyes; wisps of graying beard on his upper lip and chin; a long stemmed pipe held between clenched teeth. His [the old man’s] body small, thin, wiry, even in the waded coat. A small ugly old man, head covered by a cap with ear flaps. A large mole on his left cheek.” From this descriptive passage, the reader really receives a visual image of the old man. Also, later on in the book, the reader gets to comprehend the characters better and see their feelings and type of person they are through their actions and thoughts. Additionally, Chaim Potok also describes the boy and woman, which helps us picture even better how they helped and were heroic in hard times.
I thought that this descriptive writing helped in underscoring the theme of this book. The theme of this book is about being a hero during hard times, so having a good picture of the characters assisted the reader to see how the characters would show heroism. From the descriptions like wiry, it can be implied that even if the old man is small, he is capable of doing some hard work. I thought the old man was brave in the fact that he did not give up on the boy, another mouth to feed, even though he wanted to. Even though he did not like the idea of taking another person with him, he did not force his wife to let the boy die.

TRJ Dialogue

“Hello, nice to meet you. I am Sin Gyu Park. Who are you?”
“Greetings, I am Tree-ear. How are you doing?”
“I fine. Thank you. And you?”
“Me too. So what is going on over there?”
“Well, the war is over and things are settling down.”
“What war? There was a war?”
“Yes, there was. It started in 1950 and ended in 1953. Foreigners called Americans came and helped us. If it was not for them, we would have lost. Now, there are two Koreas. North Korea is communist and South Korea is republican.”
“That cannot be. I would never have thought that there would be two Koreas. It is very depressing.”
“Yes, it is. However, the past is past. There is nothing anyone can do now. Oh yeah, I heard that the celadon pottery was amazing in the 12th century. Is it true?”
“What you hear is very true. It is beautiful. I am currently working for an incredible potter. His works are full of skill and expertise. You would be awed at his masterpieces.”
“Wow. I wish I could see your master’s pieces of work. They sound like something that should not be missed.”
“It would be nice if you could see them. So tell me more about the future. Do you not have anything that can take you back in time?”
“I am sorry. Not yet. I have never heard of anything like that. I would be nice if we had something like that. However, there are many machines that the Americans have brought. They are very powerful and destructive. Personally, I do not like them. The machines destroyed the land.”
“Machines that destroy land? That cannot be. It just does not make sense.”
“I know what you mean. That is what I thought at first. The machines not only destroy the land but also kill people.”
“How awful.”
“It is pretty awful. Well, it was nice talking with you Tree-ear. I hope everything goes well with you and your master.”
“Thank you. I wish you the best of luck in whatever you do.”

TRJ Correspondance

Dear Eragon,

I am Sin Gyu Park. I am eleven years old and live in Korea. I heard many things about you and your dragon. It is amazing how you are fighting against an evil king. There is a war going on here in my country. Currently, I do not know much about it or what is going on. I have been saved by a woman who decided to look after me. She picked me up from a ditch somewhere. I would have died if it was not for her. However, her husband does not seem very happy to have me. We are going south to get away from the fighting. At the moment, it is very cold and we are fighting to get enough food and wood for fire to survive. Do you have any suggestions that might help me in this time of trouble?
Before the war, I lived with my mom, dad, and my siblings, but they were all killed in the war. I miss them very much. I also want to see my dog Badooki. He was a good dog. It must be nice to have a friend dragon.
Anyways, how are you? How is the war going for you? Please tell me what is happening.

Please write back soon,
Sin Gyu Park


Dear Sin Gyu,

I am sorry about what happened to your family. I hope you are alright. At least you got to know your parents. I never got to know them. I just found out recently who my father was, and I am still in shock at who it was. I lived with my uncle and cousin, but my uncle was killed by the Ra’zac. The thought of this still angers me. Well, enough about my family
I am doing fine at the moment. I am training to become stronger in order to defeat the Empire. The Empire is under the control of King Galbatorix, a very evil king who should be killed. We won a battle not to long ago. It was a great defeat, but I lost to my own brother, also a dragon rider, in a fight.
It is wonderful to be a dragon rider and have your own dragon. My dragon’s name is Saphira and she is my best friend in the world. I do not know what I would do without her.
So about the cold and food shortage, to be truthful, I do not have any ideas that would be helpful at the moment. I am sorry, but do not give up hope. Stay safe and healthy. It was great getting to know you.

Keep in touch,
Eragon

TRJ Letters

Dear father,
May I call you that? I know that I do not deserve to call you that after leaving you like that all of a sudden. I am truly sorry for what I did. However, I had to do that for your safety. I hope you understand. I was in a very tricky situation. There was a boy bigger than me at the American camp who was a thief. He asked me to tell him where the chaplain kept his camera but I did not tell him. So, he threatened me and said that he would kill our ox and maybe hurt you. I could not let that happen so I decided it would be best if I left and went to Seoul to study as my other father would have wanted me, which is the other reason why I went. Please forgive me.
How have you been doing? It must have been hard on you after I left. How did you make your meals? How did you do your laundry? I have so many questions to ask, but they can wait. Anyways, I am sure you are just as curious about me.
After I arrived in Seoul, I started to attend school and learned the language of the foreigners. They are called Americans. They are so different from Koreans, so it was hard for me at first to get used to their culture. They are nice people who have fed me and sheltered me. They provided everything for me. I have decided to continue my studies and become a doctor to help kids. I want to save dying little kids that can be saved. I think that this would be a good way to repay God for saving my life.
Have you heard about the good news? Jesus came from Heaven to save you from all your sins so that you can enter the kingdom of heaven. Please let me know if you want to find out more.
Once again, I just wanted to say thank you for saving me and raising me although it was not for a long time. I am very grateful and will never forget what you did for me. I hope you are well. Please watch after yourself and stay healthy. I miss you.

Your son,

Kim Sin Gyu

TRJ Personal

Would you risk your life for a dying boy you just met in a ditch who has almost no chance of living when you are struggling to survive yourself? I certainly would not and I am sure that most people would not either, but the woman in I Am The Clay did. What the woman did totally blew me away. She took the dying boy, Sin Gyu Kim, and started to take care of him as if he was her own son. The woman did everything she possibly could in her situation to save Sin Gyu, an eleven year old, and loved him as her own. Sin Gyu had practically no chance of living from a serious wound below his right collarbone. A piece of metal was embedded fairly deeply in his chest and would have surely died without the woman’s care, love, and obstinacy.
I admire what the woman did because most people would not be able to do that. She was having a hard enough time trying to survive from malnutrition and fatigue running away from the Korean War, but she risked her own life to save another life. By taking along the boy, she would have one more mouth to feed and have to take care of him. I do not understand why she would do this and endanger herself. I would never do this unless I knew that the boy would live and that I would have enough food to feed the boy and myself.
The woman made me think about myself as a Christian. I really pondered about how the woman portrayed something Jesus would do and how I should be able to do that also. However, it was really hard for me to imagine myself doing what the woman did. It made me realize, once again, how much I still have to learn about being a true Christian. The story about the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37 came to mind after thinking back on this event. There was a man who got robbed of everything and beaten on his way to Jerusalem. The man was left to die on the road. A priest passed by but ignored the hurt man and intentionally avoided him. A Levite did the same thing when he passed by, but a Samaritan stopped to help the man. The Samaritan bandaged up the wounds of the man and took him to an inn. The Samaritan even paid the innkeeper to look after the wounded man. We should all strive to be like the Samaritan and help those who need it.