https://padlet.com/abigail_struthers/8n8vzpczczca The Mountain and the Fathers en-us 2018-10-03 00:21:24 UTC 2018-10-08 22:52:53 UTC hello@padlet.com abigail_struthers https://padlet.com/abigail_struthers/8n8vzpczczca/wish/289737212 Joe Wilkins retells the unique story of his childhood in The Mountain and the Fathers. Joe grew up in Montana, where the weather is merciless, the living conditions atrocious, and the suicide rate high. The Mountain and the Fathers shows how Joe and the people around him attempt to cope with their difficult and confusing lives.]]> 2018-10-05 17:15:03 UTC https://padlet.com/abigail_struthers/8n8vzpczczca/wish/289737212 abigail_struthers https://padlet.com/abigail_struthers/8n8vzpczczca/wish/289737925 "And sometimes it struck not us, but what we loved: After my father died, my grandfather, who was one of the last of the old-time cowboys to ride the Comanche Flats before barbed wire, who deeply knew and dearly loved this land, sold the family ranch. And then he told us boys a new story: He told us we would leave this place and go off to college" (Wilkins 146).
-Joe Wilkins
This quote is meaningful because it shows how great the change is for Joe and his family once their livelihood, their ranch, is taken away.]]> 2018-10-05 17:16:20 UTC https://padlet.com/abigail_struthers/8n8vzpczczca/wish/289737925 abigail_struthers https://padlet.com/abigail_struthers/8n8vzpczczca/wish/289738007 One theme I interpreted from The Mountain and the Fathers is that no matter how far you go, family is always there. I say this because Joe did a lot of drinking, smoking, and hanging out with an 'interesting' crowd and his grandfather never shunned him, he just acted like normal and expected him to be up in the morning for work. Joe's mother was also always there for Joe to talk too, she never turned away.

A second theme that was strong in The Mountain and the Fathers is that no matter where you are placed and in what situation you are in, you can get anywhere you want if you put your mind to it. Joe was placed in lowly old Montana, working on a dusty ranch and going to a tiny school, yet he had big dreams. He dreamed of of getting out of Montana and going to college and he never gave up on that dream, he made it happen himself.]]> 2018-10-05 17:16:29 UTC https://padlet.com/abigail_struthers/8n8vzpczczca/wish/289738007 abigail_struthers https://padlet.com/abigail_struthers/8n8vzpczczca/wish/289738180 I give The Mountain and the Fathers 3.5/5 stars because it was kind of an interesting story but it was hard to get through and had an awkward plot line. However, I think once I started to get more into it, it got better. The first half of the book is more scattered. The second half has longer stories that flow together better.]]> 2018-10-05 17:16:53 UTC https://padlet.com/abigail_struthers/8n8vzpczczca/wish/289738180 abigail_struthers https://padlet.com/abigail_struthers/8n8vzpczczca/wish/289738314 2018-10-05 17:17:10 UTC https://padlet.com/abigail_struthers/8n8vzpczczca/wish/289738314 abigail_struthers https://padlet.com/abigail_struthers/8n8vzpczczca/wish/289738645 The genre of The Mountain and the Fathers is biography. It is a biography because Joe wrote it himself about his life experiences from his past.]]> 2018-10-05 17:17:47 UTC https://padlet.com/abigail_struthers/8n8vzpczczca/wish/289738645 abigail_struthers https://padlet.com/abigail_struthers/8n8vzpczczca/wish/289738756 A reoccurring conflict in The Mountain and the Fathers is one of character versus society, Joe Wilkins versus the Big Dry community. Joe knows he's different then most of the folks around him. The ranch is sold and everyone is "heartbroken" except for Joe. He already knew he had no desire to stay on the ranch. This was different because most of what his community did was ranch and it was odd when someone who grows up on a ranch doesn't stay on one (Wilkins 99). Another way Joe doesn't fit in with his community is that he enjoys school. He gets teased about reading all the time and writing essays. Joe even gets teased by an adult when he is out with his friends. The man says, "You ought to be home studying or something" (Wilkins 123).]]> 2018-10-05 17:17:57 UTC https://padlet.com/abigail_struthers/8n8vzpczczca/wish/289738756 abigail_struthers https://padlet.com/abigail_struthers/8n8vzpczczca/wish/289738978 “Joe Wilkins.” Joewilkins.org, 2018, raggedpointroad.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/cropped-joe-wilkins-serious.jpg.

“The Mountain and the Fathers Book Cover.” Joewilkins.org, 2018, joewilkins.org/themountainandthefathers/.

“The Mountain and the Fathers.” Joewilkins.org, 14 Aug. 2018, joewilkins.org/themountainandthefathers/.

“Quote by Deborah Roberts.” Quotefancy.com, Quotefancy, 2018, quotefancy.com/quote/1669773/Deborah-Roberts-Aim-high-work-hard-and-love-your-family.

Wilkins, Joe. The Mountain and The Fathers: Growing Up on the Big Dry. Counterpoint, 2012.

]]> 2018-10-05 17:18:21 UTC https://padlet.com/abigail_struthers/8n8vzpczczca/wish/289738978 abigail_struthers https://padlet.com/abigail_struthers/8n8vzpczczca/wish/289776749 The author of The Mountain and the Fathers is Joe Wilkins, seen below.]]> 2018-10-05 18:30:54 UTC https://padlet.com/abigail_struthers/8n8vzpczczca/wish/289776749 abigail_struthers https://padlet.com/abigail_struthers/8n8vzpczczca/wish/289971248 "I have lived all my life on these Montana plains, and it has somehow never been enough...in the stories my mother and grandfather tell me, in the books I read, there are other ways to live in the world, other worlds" (Wilkins 131).
-Joe Wilkins
This quote is meaningful because it shows Joe's longing to be somewhere else, to make something of himself.]]> 2018-10-07 02:12:36 UTC https://padlet.com/abigail_struthers/8n8vzpczczca/wish/289971248 abigail_struthers https://padlet.com/abigail_struthers/8n8vzpczczca/wish/290455377 I think that the cover of the book is like this because Montana is "big sky country" and it shows the openness and plainness of Joe's surroundings. I believe that the boy on the cover is Joe.]]> 2018-10-08 19:00:03 UTC https://padlet.com/abigail_struthers/8n8vzpczczca/wish/290455377