Write a 250 word summary of "Three Seasons." In your introduction, site the name of the story, its author and the section you wish to delve into more deeply. Talk about the episodic style of the story and why the author might have decided to use this way to tell Maggie's story. If you like, you can talk about thematic overlap between "The Dance Boots" and "Three Seasons."
Why three seasons? What happened to the fourth? What season is left out?
Keep reading. The next chapter "Maggie and Louis, 1914" was handed out along with another chapter from Writing about Literature, "Writing about Stories" (57).
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22 comments:
Daniel Lu
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1B
21 June 2011
Summary of 3 Seasons:
In the section George in Summer, a section from “Three Seasons” by Linda Legarde Grover, the narrator is immediately established as Maggie’s son George. He starts off talking about his annual trips home during the summer, how his mother is able to send train tickets to Girlie and him so that they can come home. He talks about how during the summer, many people, both friends and relatives, would stop by and visit, bringing kids and extra food. George emphasizes multiple times that those times were “good times,” (Grover, page 33). George begins to talk about his mother’s well known generosity, and how one particular summer a group of visiting friends took advantage of her generosity, eating the potatoes Maggie provided yet not sharing their own food which they had brought secretly. It happened one night when George and Sunny were sleeping, still hungry, forced to listen to the sounds of chewing and the unwrapping of food. George urges his mother to kick them out, but his mother remains adamant about letting it pass. The section ends with a reflection from George, how he worked just as hard as his mother, yet was able to hold on to his money. He finishes with a reiteration of the fact that his mother “died poor, like a lot of other generous people,” (Grover, page 35).
In “Three Seasons”, the author uses an episodic style of writing, splitting up the story into seasons and the corresponding experience of various characters during those seasons. The style creates a story inside a story type of feel, making the writing feel concise and methodic. I believe the author choose this kind of episodic style to tell Maggie’s story because Maggie’s emotions seem to correspond with the seasons, from the numbing sadness from loss during the winter to a small measure of happiness in the summer. For example, in Maggie in Winter, Maggie deals with the choice of leaving her home and abusive husband. While she isn’t exactly grief stricken, she has to deal with the loss of her home, and the loss of “hopes and dreams she’d been silly enough to fill [the quilt] with when she’d married [Andre],” (Grover, page 23). In Maggie in Summer, the emotion behind the story is clearly more positive, still tinged with some sadness, but even Andre is seen in a more positive light than in Maggie in Winter. The only season that is missing is the season of Spring, perhaps suggesting that there is no Spring for Maggie, no time of pure happiness, unlike for Sonny and Mickey who have a great time running away from their boarding school.
Trang Tran
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1B
21 June 21, 2011
Summary of Three Season:
In the story “Three Seasons” by Linda Legarde Grove uses an episodic style of writing, illustrating different seasons to highlight the experiences and emotions of various characters during those particular seasons. The author could have thought that by using this kind of episodic style to tell Maggie’s story because each seasons could represent the different emotions that she experiences. For instance Maggie in Summer shows a more positive emotion. People like family came to visit, even Andre who dropped in by surprise but she thought, “well the children were glad to see him; he was good to the children. Why ruin it for them?” (Grover, page 36). She didn’t want to ruin the happiness of her children who barely see their father after she ran away from him. Compare to the Maggie in Winter where it all started. She was running away from home with her two little boys, leaving her abusive husband, leaving her home, and going to stay with her sister Henen. Winter represent the cold sadness truth of the life she was living, the heartache that she faces when all her older children were at Indian School, while she try to protect the two young boys from being sent to the school. However, she couldn’t protect them for too long. Maggie in Autumn shows the heartache of letting go of Giizis, one of her younger child. It was time for him to leave to go to Indian School; she watches him leave with his siblings. “Maggie kept her smooth and pleasant mask in place until they turned the corner. Her composure slipped for just a moment, exposing ravages grief that made her look like Aunt Helen’s twin, but then she pressed the crook of one arm to her eyes to absorb her tears…”(Grover, page 40). She is losing another of her child to the Indian School, leaving her with her last young son Biik. The only season that is missing is Spring, because I think that Maggie never experience living a new life, since Spring represent the blossoming of life.
In the Section Sonny and Mickey in Spring, a section from “Three Season” describes the experience of Sonny being the narrator and his cousin Mickey escaping Indian School. He starts telling the story with him and Mickey talking in their language until McGoun told them they need to speak English, and later punishing them because the washtub tipped over when McGoun pushed Mickey. It goes on to Mickey planning to leave this place with Sonny heading to Duluth. This is where Maggie lives. When they reach the house, Sonny addresses Maggie as Ma – being his mother—who was surprise that they were home. Maggie treats her son and nephew to some tea, some soup and called out her younger sons to come out and see their brother and cousin. However, after having a nice little reunion with his mother, McGoun was outside the house there to bring back the two boys. When they walk out the front door and saw him, the younger boys went to go hide, while Maggie stand up to keep her son at home. “It was McGoun’s job to bring two boys back, but I have to hand it to Ma, she didn’t back down this time and he was losing” (Grover, page. 33). Maggie is standing her ground to the man who is going to take her son away from her once again; she was strong and was willing to go against him in order to get Sonny out of that place no matter what.
Alex Lam
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1B
21 June 2011
Homework #2 - Summary and Analysis of "Three Seasons"
Ziigwan: Sonny and Mickey in Spring, a section from author Linda Legarde Grover's story called “Three Seasons”, is about the escapade of two Indian boys from their boarding school to their home. Attending the Harrod boarding school, Sonny and Mickey are two jovial American Indian boys who are constantly reprimanded by Mr. McGoun because of their amusive attitude. Tired of being punished all the time and being homesick, they take the initiative to go back home and to their family. They leave at night being unnoticed, taking some clothes and stealing food from the school's kitchen along the way. On their journey, Sonny and Mickey meet a farmer and his wife. Scared of raising suspiciousness, they lie to him, telling they are on their to Duluth for a funeral. Sonny convinces him by “looking solemn” and serious (Grover, 31). The farmer believes him and take them to his home, where his wife prepares them a great meal with “Fried chicken […] looking mighty tasty there in the frying pan” (Grover, 31). When they finally reach home, Maggie – Sonny's mother – is surprised to see them. She spoils them both Sonny and Mickey with food and invites their cousins to come join them. However, Mr. McGoon shows up later to pick them up. Maggie stands up for her son, preventing Mr. McGoon to take Sonny away from her once again. She succeeds: Sonny stays but Mickey is forced back to Harrod.
In “Three Seasons,” Linda Legarde Grover uses an episodic style of writing to tell Maggie's story by splitting it up in various sections that represents three seasons. The seasons correspond to Maggie's life and the emotions she experiences: from the chill, calm, and serene Summer to the cold, difficult, and harsh weather of the Winter. This style helps the reader to see and interpret Maggie's life in different perspectives through her emotions and other characters' point of view. In the Summer, Maggie is a happier person, spending her time with her children and even letting Andre, her ex-husband, to stay over because “the children were glad to see him” (Grover, 36). However, in the Winter, she deals with her decision of leaving Andre and how it could affect her life. She faces multiple obstacles, not knowing what to do after losing her home, and additionaly has to help her depressed sister Henen, who is now an alcoholic. The one season that is missing in this short story is Spring. Spring is depicted as the happiest season of all, when everything blossoms. The author tells us by omitting itt hat Maggie's life has always been difficult and that she never had the chance to had a break or actually start a new life.
Work Cited
Grover, Linda Legarde. The Dance Boots. Athens, Georgia and London: The University of Georgia Press, 2010. Print.
Branson Phu
English 1B
Professor Wanda Sabir
21 June 2011
Chapter two, “Three Seasons”, of Linda Legarde Grover's The Dance Boots is the beginning point where she begins to delve into Artense's family's past and where she writes in an episodic style. Grover's use of an episodic style of writing allows different stories to be placed within one section of reading, and she utilizes this style by connecting all the different episodes and both tying in Maggie's story and the stories of other family members. For instance, when Girlie asks Mickey on what happened during his escape from Harrod school: “I asked him one night when we were watching the fire outside about what happened when McGoun got him back to school last spring” (Grover 39). In all these stories, Maggie describes, during the Winter, how she ran away from her husband Andre and how she and her sister Henen went to Harrod school. In the summer, she finds Andre in her front porch, and she must send away her grandchild to Harrod Indian School in the Fall. Sonny and Mickey run away during the Spring, and George and Girlie describes life at home with Maggie and their family in the Summer. Overall, the thematic overlap between the book title and the chapter title shows that Indian culture is very unified, further supported by the fact that Grover uses the episodic style to create unity between the stories. The dance boots shows unity between an object, the wearer, and the traditional dance; the three seasons shows unity between the seasons and the stories within them. Looking more deeply into Girlie's episode during the Summer, the reader's begin to see Maggie beginning to become separated from her family.
In “Giiwe-Niibin: Girlie In Late Summer,” Girlie along with George and Mickey must soon return to Harrod school. In the middle of the night, Girlie overhears Maggie and Uncle Noel discussing sending the grandchildren Biik and Giizis to Harrod school, and this brings Girlie to think about the hardship Maggie will have to face being alone. Looking at this story much older, Girlie reveals that she is the last of Maggie's children, and the last to remember the caring image of Maggie. The title of the chapter “Three Seasons” resembles the narration of Maggie's past within three seasons of the year, while narrating the past of Artense's other family members throughout the four seasons. In the three seasons, Maggie finds herself becoming more detached from the rest of her family, while in the fourth season, Spring, where Sonny and Mickey come back momentarily and Biik and Giizis remain, was the only period where she was more attached to her family. As shown in the end, “...she prepared for winter, the season of hibernation and dreams of her children's return.” (Grover 41). The return of her chilren only occurred in the Spring, the only time where Maggie's story was not told.
Jeffrey To
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1B
21 June 2011
Summary “Three seasons”
In the “Three seasons” by Linda Legarde Grover, talks about different seasons revolving around Maggie’s life and experiences. In the section Biboon:Maggie in Winter, describes Maggie’s abusive relationship with her husband Andre who drinks. Throughout the section she referred to her husband as “that bastard” (Grover 20). In the beginning of the story, Maggie mention, ”It without her husband, who was because of her lying unconscious on the floor next to the woodstove…”(Grover 20). In the winter she experiences harsh times and sadness from her husband in the winter. Her 2 Indian kids are about to enter boarding school. She works hard to provide food for them by making potatoes. Later on in the winter, Maggie life began to be happier. She introduces us her sister Helen. During her experience at the mission school with her sister, Helen, who has “was a good sister” (Grover 23). For example, When Maggie was alone and miss her mother. Helen took good care of Maggie. Making sure she was okay. They began to write letters even after Helen went back home. The author uses a episodic style of story describing Maggie’s story. I believe the writer did this because each season represents the different emotions Maggie feels. During the winter she was sad and life wasn’t really good for her and late winter it got better when she met Helen. Her life began to be happier. In the summer, it talks about a lot of positive and happier moments. For example when the family visits, Maggie mention,” We had some good times”(Grover 33). The good times was when her relatives and friends came to visit and her took kids were there. In The summer shows a more positive side of the story. During the spring, it mentions her 2 kid’s sonny and Mickey. The story does not really talk about her. It goes more in detail her kids being gone from school.
The author talks about 3 seasons because each season describes the different emotions Maggie experiences. Each season her emotions change and become sad to a happier emotion in the summer. In the winter she was sad and faced an abusive husband. In the summer she is happy being with her family. The only season that is missing from Maggie’s life is spring. The spring season is left out of the story. I believe it is left out because spring shows the change from winter to summer. I believe in the spring shows the transition from how Maggie took all her sad moments of her life away. Spring seems like the moment in Mggie’s life where she leaves behind her hardship times and starts a life of positive -ness. It was the season where her life turned around. In the spring both her kids are away from boarding school and having a good time. I think Maggie is having her good time just as her kids were. It’s the transition in Maggie’s life.
Shipra Pathak
English 1B
Professor Wanda Sabir
21 June 2011
Summary of “Three Seasons”
“Three Seasons” is one of the short stories in the book The Dance Boots by Linda Legarde Grover. The Dance Boots is a collection of stories of Ojibwe’s struggle to follow and pass on their cultural and traditional ways of life. In the “Three Seasons,” Maggie, the narrator’s grandmother, escapes from her alcoholic and abusive husband, Andre, with her two children to live with her sister, Henen. After the escape, Maggie’s struggle continued as the seasons passed. Even though she struggled, she managed to obtain a positive outlook on life. The author’s writing style in the short story “Three Seasons” is episodic style. The short story depicted three episodes in Maggie’s life which happened to be three seasons. These seasons correlated with her emotions. There was one season missing in the story which was spring because spring is represented as a season full of happiness and joy which was missing in Maggie’s life. The section Maggie and Henen in Late Winter described a unique relationship between Henen and Maggie and Henens abortion which became a reason of her alcoholism.
Henen was a mothering figure for Maggie during boarding school. The narrator acknowledges that once in a while Henen brought over-baked snacks for Maggie and other girls to eat before going to bed and when Maggie missed her mother, Henen would comfort her (Grover 23). Even after Henen was sent home, she continued to provide support and maintained her relationship with Maggie by sending letters. Grover wrote that for Maggie, Helen’s letters “were better than the books from the library shelf” (Grover 24). Henen always provided support for Maggie whenever she needed it. Toward the end of this section of the story, Maggie took over the nurturing and mothering role for Henen when her drinking became a severe problem for her to provide care for herself, indicating the strong ties that they shared.
In the middle of this section, after Maggie moved with Henen, she noticed that her drinking which was the result of humiliation she faced during boarding school due to her pregnancy had now developed into a severe alcoholism. The boarding school had sent Henen back home after her pregnancy was confirmed. No one ever bothered to enquire about how the pregnancy took place, so she was treated like she had committed a sin. The disgrace she felt and faced after the detection of her pregnant in boarding school with the trauma of losing her baby after returning home forced her into drinking. Gradually her drinking habit turned out to be excessive drinking leaving fragile and unable to provide self care.
Grover, Linda Legarde. The Dance Boots. Athens, Georgia and London: The University of Feorgia Press, 2010. Print.
Sharron Dawkins
Professor Sabir
English 1B
21June2011
Maggie in Autumn, a section in the “Three Seasons” by Linda Le Garde Grover, is about her reality and acceptance that each of her children inevitably have to leave home to attend the Indian school. It is hard for Maggie watching her older children accompany their little brother Vernon (Giizis), to the train station to take him off to school. With a heavy heart and her last child at home, Maggie continues her normal routines without thought, attending to her duties within the house (Grover, pg.41).
Autum is a season that represents change, in Maggies world, change that’s not always invited. The first change is her first three children taken off to Indian school, and even though they come to visit in the spring the cycle continues, with the separation in fall, the longing for her children; state “as with the rhythm of the earth she prepares for winter, the season of hibernation and dreams of her children’s return” (Grover, pg41).
The beginning of Maggies Journey in the chapter “Three Seasons”, brings her to the season of Autumn which is a rollercoaster of emotions. Leaving her husband during the winter months with two young children and very little, show an act of courage. She like Artense had come to a point in her life where she made the decision that her life and the lives of her children mattered. Bothe Maggie and Artense made some brave decisions, and were willing to do whatever it took, Artense by going to school and Maggie by taking her children and leaving; their choices liberated them.
Ricardo A. Chavarria
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1B
21 June 2011
Ziigwan: Sonny and Mickey in Spring
Three Seasons is the story of an Indian family, and their lives as they grow up. All family members had attended some sort of Indian school and faced some sort humiliation or hardship at the schools. The story describes their lives at home and the relationship with each other. The story is told from the point of view of the several family members throughout different seasons of the year. Some of the recurring themes of the story are the separation of families by the school, the poverty in which the Indians live in, and the importance of family. I am interested in the story of Sonny and Mickey in Spring.
One of the sections of the book tells the story of Sonny and Mickey who are cousins. They are attending Harrod School for Indians where they are under strict supervision. The man who watches over them is McGoun, a strict and brutal supervisor ignorant of Indian language. McGoun had pulled Mickey so hard for laughing that he bruises his arm. “That night when we were getting ready for bed, I could see Mickey had bruises on his upper arm, four fingertip shaped on the back and one larger, thumb shaped on the front, from where McGoun pulled him(p.30).”. After that Sonny and Mickey decide to leave that night in the middle of spring. The situation at the school was bad enough for them, that they decided to run away.
Sonny and Mickey travel from Harrod to Duluth where Sonny’s mom Maggie lived. Along the way they get a ride from a farmer. They arrive home and greet Maggie who was aware of their arrival. As Mickey is heading to Mozhay to visit his cousins, he is stopped by the sight of McGoun outside of Maggie’s house. He grabs Mickey and Sonny and begins to pull them away. Maggie hides her younger children from McGoun and convinces him to let Sonny go, but takes Mickey with him. “I could see through the black window that his head was down and I could feel it that he wasn’t smiling anymore. We went back inside and Ma told Giizis and Biik that they could come out now (p.33).” Maggie finally stood up to the school and defended Sonny from being taken away. Maggie has a fear of her young children being taken away, she taught them where to hide in case the school officials came to the house.
Stephanie Chan
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1B
21 June 2011
Summary and Analysis of “Three Seasons”
Linda Legarde Grover’s short story, “Three Seasons, is a collection of vignettes that surround the lives of different American Indians. Each character’s story takes place in a particular season that represents the adversities or comforts he or she experiences. In the section titled “Biboon: Maggie in Winter”, Maggie, an American Indian mother, decides to leave her abusive and alcoholic husband, Andre. His drinking would “make her sick” and for this, the end was inevitable (Grover, 22). Maggie leaves Andre “lying unconscious on the floor next to the woodstove” due to blows in the head by a frying pan (Grover, 20). She flees with their two youngest sons and their wedding quilt; two symbols of their marriage. The story expresses her anger towards the abuse as well as her foolishness. She draws a flashback to the day she received her wedding quilt from her mother and aunts. Maggie wants recalls that day because she knows that she was already entering an abusive relationship from the start:
“Remember that day. Andre, good-looking little man he was, with those short bowed legs that she couldn’t help but follow the first time she saw him walk past her. But he was mean to her when he drank. She knew everybody could see that but nobody said anything, and she was as big as he was anyways and should be able to take care of herself. “ (Grover, 21)
However, it seems that Maggie did care about her husband at one point in their marriage and she wants to remember that as well. In the later part of “Three Seasons”, Maggie returns to the story in autumn. At this point, she allows Andre to spend time with their sons, which shows her care and some forgiveness to their situation. It seems that for Maggie, the cold winter was about enduring hardship and the autumn is her time for recuperation. She knows that the “children [are] glad to see him” and she gives Andre the chance to change just like the leaves in fall change on trees. It seems that the way Grover describes the weather in each episode correlates to Maggie's emotions and situations.
Work Cited
Grover, Linda Legarde. The Dance Boots. Athens, Georgia and London: The University of Georgia Press, 2010. Print.
Manuel Francisco Seminario
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1B
June 21st 2011
In “ Three Seasons” a short story that followed “The Dance Boots” ,One of Aunt Sherley’s grandkids or kids ,is now grown and in the walking the same path her Aunt
Sherley . Three seasons ,depicts the same attributions that the seasons are made of ,not only that but it mirrors Maggie’s feelings ,through the whole story. In winter ,she felt cold towards her husband ,which she showed by hitting him with a frying pan. In late winter Maggie recalls her days with her sister Henen, and the times they had in boarding school.In spring ,Maggie recalls when Sonny and Mickey escaped the boarding house ,which was cause by “We started laughing so hard he heard and came back and shoved Mickey ,who fell right on the ground ,and the washtub tipped over so all that white wash load was right in the mud.” for them it only took time and pressure,I guess after this they decided to escape,in other words a brand new day . In the Summer she recalls a fair time they had being home at last. And late Summer ,the troubles of transferring from the hot sunny days to the cold winter which meant absence.The section that got me the most was when Sonny and Mickey ran away from the boarding school, I guess everyone feels like that some day or another ,even if its not to run away from cruelty but to just run away from the troubles of life. Three Seasons has the same exact platform The Dance Boots ,because Maggie herself goes through the same exact feelings Aunt Shirley and Artense ,maybe not the same exact things but the difficulties of overcoming their own shadows. Like for example , Aunt Shirley wanted to overcome her shadow by taking on three jobs, taking care of a her degrading husband, finishing her university schooling , and her shadows of drinking too much.
Why three seasons? What happened to the fourth? What season is left out?
I don’t know why the author choose Three seasons as a title ,but I have an idea why . The seasons to us ,whether it may be cultural or superstitious we see the seasons as a way to decide our emotions ,its if its winter you may be showing signs of depression or low energy ,because as we all know winter is a grueling time. As for why the author didn’t want the fourth season in ,it may be because it’s the saddest of them all to the character, for it meant departure from the ones she loved until they came back in spring ,for that reason winter was kept out of the picture, as you can tell from the way the author describes every season.
Raymond Ye
English 1B
Professor Wanda Sabir
21 June 2011
In the ‘Biboon: Maggie in Winter’ section of “Three Seasons” by Linda Grover, the story is introduced with an overview that provides a hook which builds confusion and empathy. The story is a detailed explanation of the first paragraph, answering the questions of how and why. In the beginning, Maggie is stated to have hit Andre over the head with a frying pan, stole his riffle, took the children, and fled from home. Immediately, questions such as “why did she assault her husband and steal?”, “where would this story go?”, and “how was she able to knock a grown man unconscious?” are asked by the reader. As the author goes more in detail about the situation, Maggie does not appear to be an antagonist anymore. Andre was a small and abusive man, which was also a belligerent drunk. Maggie has put up with a lot of verbal and physical abuse. As Andre demands for dinner and becomes impatient, he tries to assault Maggie. He failed because he was too drunk to stand, so he fell to the ground as Maggie decides she is ready to leave him and live a better life in the pursuit of happiness. Andre attempts to stand and stop Maggie, but she took the frying pan and knocked him unconscious and tied him to his traps. As Maggie is ready to leave, she packs food, clothes and a riffle and takes her two youngest children onto the road.
There are three seasons in the story because three of the four seasons are portrayed as sad, suffering, or disappointment. Summer is known to be a relaxed time of the year, but it is also seen as the time of finding a job, cramming extra studying, or finishing summer assignments. In the autumn, everybody must work hard whether it is for work or school. Also, autumn is symbolized by brown leaves and lifeless plants, which is suggestive to death and loneliness. Winter is stereotyped by the “cold winter nights” implying that people are alone and cold in a stormy or snowy night. In addition, many people find the end of the year to be a sad time because it is the moment when a lot of people realize that they have not completed their resolutions of the previous year and refers to broken hopes and dreams. Spring, on the other hand, holds new hopes and builds new resolutions, suggesting happiness because of the open opportunities. The start of a new year creates new beginnings and gives second chances to anything not accomplished in previous years. Therefore, spring is the season left out of Maggie’s story because Maggie has been through a lot of tough times and her stories are mostly about sorrow, disappointment, and pain.
Joanna Louie
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1B
21 June 2011
Summary of Three Seasons
The novel, “The Dance Boots”, by Linda LeGarde Grover consists of connected short stories describing an Ojibwe community, bringing forth major contrasts of the past and present. In the second story of the book, “Three Seasons”, Maggie is a mother to five kids and a wife to Andre, an abusive and intoxicated man. Maggie takes the two youngest children with her to flee from her husband. Grover takes a unique approach of telling this story, like the title suggests, she breaks down her story into three seasons: spring, summer, and autumn, changing the point of view in each. Winter is the beginning of the story, and through the seasons we learn about the family and watch the kids grow. In “Giiwe-Niibin: Girlie in Late Summer”, readers see the separation Maggie has to undergo with her two youngest children.
As we learned in the first chapter of the book, the children were sent to boarding school and Indian school. It is already difficult for Mama to be separated from her three oldest children, however her second to youngest son has reached the age old enough to attend school. Uncle Noel mentions no one will be around the house to watch the youngsters and gives reason to send him to school, but “Mama was doing everything she could to keep those boys with her and not send them to Indian school” (Grover, 37). She simply is not ready to say goodbye to her youngest children, and the boys are not ready to be separated from their mother either, as they looke to their older brother for comfort.
“Biik and Giizis were scared; they pushed closer to me so that their little bodies got my sides all hot and sweaty, Biik’s eyes big so he looked like a little owl there in the dark, and Giizis trying so hard not to cry that he shook. Little brothers. I sat up on the floor cross-legged and sat one on each knee to lean back against me while I rocked them side to side. Side to side. Little brothers” (Grover, 38).
The little brothers feel safe and comfortable with their older brother, and for this reason he knew he would be helpful at home while Mama was busy with work. However, he would not have a reasonable cause to withdraw from school because the little brothers were a secret from the matron, so she “couldn’t really understand” the situation (Grover, 38). One assumption the matron may conclude is that Mama is an alcoholic, just like Aunt Helen, and most adults, however that is not the case. Always will Aunt Helen and Mama represent ladies, lovely ladies – it is in their character.
Work Cited
Grover, Linda Legarde. The Dance Boots. Athens, Georgia and London: The University of Georgia Press, 2010. Print.
Gerardo Guzman
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1B
22 June 2011
THREE SEASONS SUMMARY
The short story, Three Seasons by Linda Legarde Grover is a follow-up to The Dance Boots. In the latter story we read of Artense’s learning of the story of her people from her aunt Shirley. Three Seasons delves into that history focusing on Artense’s grandmother Maggie and her family including her husband, siblings, and children. Maggie is depicted as a very generous person who endures many hardships such as an abusive husband and having her children taken away to boarding school. This is in parallel to Artense who also has many struggles on her way to growing as a person.
The story is divided into sections which each titled according to a different character and season. The section titled, “Ziigwan: Sonny and Mickey in Spring” follows one of Maggie’s oldest sons and her nephew, respectively. They are away at boarding school as they are shown carrying a large washtub and speaking in their native tongue. A school official, McGoun, catches them and in the altercation the washtub is knocked over. In punishment the boys are forced to take all the dirty girls’ undergarments and handwash them. Embarrassed and angry they sneak out that night and make the several days journey back home only to have McGoun waiting for them. Maggie is able to argue on Sonny’s behalf that he is old enough not to have to go to school anymore leaving Mickey to go back alone. There are several descriptions of Mickey with a crooked smile seemingly plotting his revenge on the hated and abusive McGoun and it can only be imagined what he does back at school.
Rebecca Ramos
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1B
21 June 2011
Summary of Three Seasons
In the short story of Three Seasons Artense, the narrator goes into greater depth about her family and their numerous experiences. She begins by introducing us further into the life of Maggie and the relationship she has with her husband Andre. Andre is perceived as a good for nothing husband who constantly bullies Maggie. At the end of the story Maggie leaves for Duluth with her little boys (23). The next story Artense introduced Maggie’s older sister Henen. Together Maggie and Henen went to Indian school together where Henen flourished and Maggie spent most of her time homesick. However that was short lived because Henen became pregnant and was sent back home because she had “disgraced herself” (24). Soon after Henen went home her baby seem to have vanished and she did not want to speak of it, instead she acted happy and optimistic and asked Maggie about the girls at school. Artense then began to speak about her cousin Mickey and how they were unable to speak Sioux in school and how they would do so anyways and tried not to get caught. Artense continued other stories about her family and how they all had different experiences that made them who they are. Artense like her Aunt Shirley played the role of the observer and storyteller of the family.
The story of Artense’s mother was the one that spoke true to who Artense is as a person. Her mother was very generous and always looked out for others even when she was the one losing something. Artense begins and ends the story about her mother with the same line “ Like I said, she died poor. Gave it all away. Give you the shirt off her back and died poor, like a lot of other generous people” (35). Although Artense was not as generous as her mother there was still something honorable she saw in how her mother was. Artense did not always see or understand her mother’s actions but she always respected her anyways.
Fortune Andzouana Mban
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1B
21 June 2011
Summary of Tree Seasons:
The author, Linda Legarde Grove, uses an episodic style of writing in “Tree Seasons” to tell
Maggie’s story and experiences by splitting it up in different sections that are associated with three
seasons of the year. These seasons characterize the author’s view regarding Maggie’s life and emotions.
In the section “Biboon: Maggie in winter,” Grove introduces Maggie’s journey with her two young
children in that harsh period of the time to Duluth; her hometown where the family has a house.
Throughout this section Maggie describes her daily life with emotions and sorrows because of the
current “federal Indian policy to boarding school” (Grover p.20) and how she decided to run away from
her husband Andre who abuses her. She referred to him as “that bastard” (Grover p.20). This clearly
illustrates the complexity of their relationship.
Late winter is associated with Henen, Maggie’s sister. This section connects both sisters with
their past at mission school. In the beginning of this episode, Maggie says “Henen was a good sister […]
a truly good person who would do anything for you and one of those people everybody liked” (Grover
p.23). This describes how Maggie was happy to meet her sister again and reminisce about their life in
. Their relationship was exceptional because of bright attitude of both sisters. Even after Henen
was sent home because she became pregnant, she still has time to write letters to Maggie. Of course,
those mails were so important to her that she considered them to be “better than the books from the
library shelf” (Grover 24). Henen really took care of her sister. Throughout the chapter, Henen had
taken care of her. Unfortunately this time Henen became more fragile; and dependent to alcohol and
it was time for Maggie to take her responsibility toward her sister. What she did while she found a job
at the mattress factory. In the followed section “Ziigwan: Sonny and Mickey in spring,” the author is
drown on the story of Sonny and Mickey, the way they escaped Indian school and their relationship as
cousin and others members of family during spring time.
Work Cited
Grover, Linda Legarde. The Dance Boots. Athens, Georgia and London: The University of Georgia Press,
2010. Print.
Brittney Brunner
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1B
22 June 2011
Three Seasons Summary
In the short story "Three Seasons" by Linda Legarde Grover, Maggie, the narrarator in the first segment, talks about her life before she escapes the cluches of her abusive husband. She talks about how she was pregnant before she got married and how it was frowned upon her people to get pregnant before marriage especially when she went to a Catholic school. Even the doctor that examined her felt that she was something wicked or sinful, "Out of the corner of her eye she watched, although she tried not to, the doctor's head gleam with a shiny sweat, and his red face twist unhappilywhile he grunted, reachin in vain for her virginity"(26). Then he went on saying that, "Spoiled. She has been Spoiled"(26). Then the story talks about the young boys of Maggie who escape from the Indian Boarding school and go on a journey to make it home. They stay with a generous man and woman and get a ride home until Mr. McGoun shows up to take the youngest one back who is all smiles while saying farewell to his cousin but his pain seeps through his veins when he realizes he is now going back, alone!
Free Write
Walls surround my being
Built from betrayal
Streams of lies
Found a pathway
To an unsuspecting soul
Walls protect the soul’s serenity
I live within walls
Safe from Satan’s snare
There is a door
With a one way entrance
Dwan Mays
Professor Sabir
English 1B
21 June 2011
“Three Seasons”
I read the story titled Three Seasons by Linda Legarde Grover. I focused on the pain attached to the “boarding” schools and the pain it caused the natives. The story started off intense; Maggie the protagonist was fleeing from her abusive husband. While gathering her few possessions along with her two boys, Maggie begin to flash back to the moments where her husband Andre had been abusing her . This fueled Maggie’s anger and she left the house with her two boys. They were headed to her sister house.
I feel like the author writing style the tone of the story was based on the theme/topic of the story. From the beginning there is a lot of pain and struggle. So the tone of the story starts off serious and blunt. But as the story progresses the tone is more delicate when dealing with the issues that the native American families dealt with in regards to the “Boarding Schools” The tone was a sad one towards the end of the story. The constant fear of losing a child and dealing with the loss of a child was felt as I read the story .
After I read three seasons I understood why Artense family wanted to forgot their pass. Their pass was filled with so much loss and pain that the elders simply wanted to forget it. I do not believe that Artense family had ever healed from the destruction that was caused in their life by the “white” man. The stories intertwine because in both stories “boarding “ schools play a significant role in the Native Americans past and future. It has shaped them in their way and thinking and has played a big role in oppressing the native American people.
The story is titled three seasons because it is during those seasons that her children return home. The fourth season is left out because that is when her children are taken by force. The story is very sad and tragic as I read the story I thought about my daughters how they would feel? how would they cope with being snatched out their home and forced to give up their religion and culture. It broke my heart I was very overwhelmed by the amount of psychological abuse they received .
There are two films in the "On Demand" section of Comcast which are related to the stories that we are reading. The films are in the independent movies category. The films deal with Indian boarding schools. The titles are: "The Only Good Indian," and "Older than America." Unlike the stories we are reading, the movies actually deal with rape that also occurred in the schools as well as the beatings.
Michelle Kith
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1B
6/22/2011
The name of this story is called Three Season, written by Linda L. Grover. I will delve deeper into the section of the story, Maggie and Henen in Late Winter. This story connects to the first chapter we read in Dance Boots. The narrator shares her knowledge of her past family history to the readers. I’m choosing a specific section to summarize, which the section is called Maggie and Henen in Late Winter.
In this section, Henen is a good sister in Maggie’s eyes (23). She would do anything for a person, got a long with them quite well, and was well liked. Henen would write letters to Maggie, after being sent home for being pregnant. At first Henen kept her pregnancy from Maggie because Mother asked her to (24). One of the nuns noticed her belly sticking out, and confined Henen to the infirmary, so she couldn’t be seen by other girls (24). Later on, Maggie has blood coming out of her ears. Henen helped her get cleaned up. The following day, the doctor examined Henen. The narrative description of the event seem to imply, that the doctor must have enjoyed himself touching Henen bodily parts, maybe for his own desires, outside of his actual work duties. Later, Henen felt a movement in her belly, and the baby no longer moved again (27). I’m assuming that Henen must have suffered a miscarriage.
Satima Flaherty
Wanda Sabir
English 1B
22 June 2011
In the story Three Seasons the characters acted according to the season they’re in. Their livelihood is based on the season’s maybe that’s why Maggie didn’t get spring. Things never turned around for her. There wasn’t a fresh start for Maggie.
Giiwe-Biboon: Maggie and Henen are sisters and their story is based at a mission school where little Indian children are taken from their parents and put into a boarding school. They are only able to depend on themselves for support and love. Henen was a good girl in the mission school. She did everything she was supposed. Never causing any havoc. Henen took care of her sister because there was no family around. Maggie depends on her sister for support. Everything ran smooth until Ms. Rock found out Henen has a living organism in her belly. Henen is shunned from the boarding school because of her “sin”. Going through all that pain at a young age causes her pain and strife throughout her adulthood. She becomes dependent on alcohol.
What happened at the school was never mentioned and the baby growing in her stomach slowly disappeared but the pain was still there. The tables turned Maggie has the responsibility of taking care of alcoholic sister. What happened to the baby is still a mystery.
Virgil Gamble
Professor Sabir
English 1B
22 June2011
Sonny and Mickey in Spring, a section in the “Three Seasons” by Linda LeGarde Grover, is about reality of mission schools that Native American had to attended. This story outlines the fear and forceful eradication of the cultural of a people. The story begins with two cousins doing manual labor. During the initial exchange of words we learn that they were forced to have “American names” versus their Native American names. (Grover, page 29). This is the first sign of the methodical rewriting of their culture. The second piece of evidence appears when there care taker asked, as if they were doing something wrong,”Hey!, Are you boys talking Sioux.”, followed by, “Well, see that you don’t,”(Grover, page 30) This is primary example of an attempt to erase their language, which is a major part of their culture. Abuse is displayed in this part of the story also because the caretaker pushes one of the boys down and leaves bruises on him. This is where the fear is rooted in this systematic culture reform. The last piece of evidence shows up with the retrieval of the boys toward the end. The boys run away because they are fed up with the abuse, but when the care taker comes to collect the boys and take them back to school the fear helplessness of a people are shown. The younger boys that are at home know the drill and have to hide. I got the impression that if the school knew they were there, they would be forcefully taken away from their family and imprisoned in mission school. This shows that the change of culture is not a choice, it is enforced. The boys’ mother show the first sign of standing up for themselves when she tells the caretaker that one of the boys is old enough and needs to stay home.(Grover , page 34) This is the first sign of hope!
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