My Featured Novel

I. About the Novel: The Last of the Mohicans

The Last of the Mohicans is the fifth of the six "Leatherstocking Tales," about Indians and white men. It is written about the fight between the French and the British in North America in 1757. Most of the story happens near the Hudson River and it was a wild place at that time. The story is also about the fight between white men and two Indian tribes—the Mohicans and the Hurons. 

Works Cited （参考文献）

PENGUIN READERS "The Last of the Mohicans" 

II. Versions of the Novel in the Mass Media

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS (1977) - Steve Forrest, Ned Romero, Don Shanks  

Works Cited （参考文献）

             Http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiNxWoOJDqZAzp1yhGg8nJg. "THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS (1977) - Steve Forrest, Ned Romero, Don Shanks." YouTube. YouTube, 14 Oct. 2014. Web. 04 June 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAZgmPvDtKY>.           

III. About the Author

James Fenimore Cooper was born on September 15, 1789 in Burlington, New Jersey, the elventh of twelve children. His first book, Precaution (1820), at the age of thirthy.

While in New York, he founded the Bread and Cheese Club and became the center of a circle that included notable painters of the Hudson River School as well as writers like William Cullen Bryant.
In 1823, Cooper published The Pioneers which eventually consisted of five books about Natty Bumppo called The Leatherstocking Tales. With this, he created what can be critically viewed as the first American novel and hero. He also brought up the thematical complexities of natural right versus legal right, order versus change, and wilderness versus civilization which still fill the pages of American writing today.
Cooper continued to write a school primer, The American Democrat (1838) and three more Leatherstocking Tales: The Last of the Mohicans (1826), The Pathfinder (1840), and The Deerslayer (1841). Then came Cooper's obsession with the sea from his previous experience in the Navy. He penned The History of the Navy of the United States of America (1839), The Cruise of Sommers (1844), and The Distinguished American Naval Officers (1846).

Works Cited （参考文献）

             "Biography of James Fenimore Cooper." Biography of James Fenimore Cooper. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 June 2016. <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG02/COOPER/cooperbiography.html>.           

IV. My Reaction

A. Reaction Point - Setting（設定、背景、場所）

　  Setting is that setting a historical backdrop and a place of the story.

PENGUIN READERS: The Last of the Mohicans (p. 1)
[In 1757, a lot of North America was wild country and the thick woods were often dangerous.
Indians fought other Indians. Indians fought white men. The French fought the British because they wanted this country for France. Some Indians helped the British and other Indians helped the French.]


This story is set in 1757 in the middle of the French and Indian War.
This story is set in the woods in North America.

B. Reaction Point - Character（登場人物）
     Character is that a fictional personality created by an author.

 

The main characters

<Hawkeye>

He is a white man. He cannot live with his people, so he lives in the woods with the Indians. He is a great fighter and a good friend of the Mohicans. 

<Chingachgook>
He is a Mohican Indian chief, and Hawkeye's friend.

<Uncas>
He is Chingachgook's son, and Hawkyey's friend. He loves Cora.

<Munro>
He is the British Colonel. He has two daughters.

<Cora>
She is Munro's Daughter.

<Alice>
She is Munro's daughter. She is Cora's younger sister.

<Heyward>
He is the Blitish Major. He loves Alice.

<Magua>
He is a Huron Indian, and a bad guy. He hate white men. He wants Cora.


This story is written not only about the fight, but also is written about the friendship and the love.

C. Reaction Point - Denouement（ストーリーやプロットの結末）
     Denouement is that the ending of a story or a plot.


PENGUIN READERS: The Last of the Mohicans (p. 33)

  [ Magua pulled out his knife, but he couldn't kill her. So another Huron ran quickly to Cora with his knife in his hand and killed her.

    Uncas ran to Cora and fought Magua. Hawkeye ran to his friend, but it was too late. Uncas's blood was on Magua's knife. Uncas was on the ground, dead.

    Magua looked at Hawkeye and laughed. "White men are dogs! Mohikans are women!" he shouted.

    He jumped to the top of a cliff on the side of a mountain. Then he jumped again, but this time he fell. He fell off the cliff and died.
    Hawkeye carried Uncas in his arms and Heyward carried Cora. Gamut helped Alice through the woods. They found Chingachgook and Colonel Munro.
    Hawkeye took Chingachgook's hand and said, "I have no family. He was your son and your blood was nearer to his blood. But I will never forget my brother Uncas." ]

Uncas was killed by Magua. Cora was killed by another Huron. And Magua was killed by himself. Magua wanted Cora to be his wife. I think he loved really her. I think maybe he felt sad about Cora's death. Because I think Magua committed suicide. I feel This story's denouement is so sad. 

      

      

D. My General Opinion
In the beginning part of the story, Uncas's father, Chingachgook said "My son will die one day. Then there will be nobody with Mohican blood. My son is the last of the Mohicans." But his son died before him. I feel sorry for him.