Night John by Gary Paulsen

Date: 5/22/15
Time Started: 9: 47
Time Ended: 10:07
Pages read from: 1 to 33
Today I read about Night John coming to the Waller
plantation in bad Conditions. He arrived with scars up and down
his back. He is wearing no clothes and has flies surrounding him
on all sides. This is how Sarny, the narrator first meets night John.
The master and his horse brought night John to the plantation the
bad way his neck tied with rope being dragged along. Every
time the horse came to a stop, night John would choke and fall
back.
I wonder how night John got all his scars. What did he do to
get whipped so many times was Night John a rebellious slave or
did his master just whip him for the fun of it. Also I wonder why
night john was sold to the Waller plantation. Was it because he
was not working hard enough? I predict that Night John will get
hipped a lot by his new master.

Night John by Gary Paulsen

5/23/2015
Time Started: 7:00
Time finished: 7:20
Pages read: From 34 to 57

Today in Night John I read why Night John got all his
whipping mark. Night John was whipped because he was trying to
teach other slaves to read and write, which is something that
slaves are not allowed to learn. Also in the pages that I read in
Night John, I learned that Night John managed to run to freedom
in the North but returned back to the south just to teach the
slaves how to read. Night John wanted to teach Sarny how to read
but after what happened to the other slaves for learning how to
read, Sarnys mom was very hesitant for letting her daughter
learn how to read and write.
I feel sorry for all the slaves that cant learn to read or write
and have to wake up every day not knowing if they are going to
get whipped to death. I predict that Night John will try to teach
the other slaves how to read and write and maybe guide some of

the other slaves to freedom like he did himself. I wonder how

Sarnys mom feels knowing that her daughter is trying to learn
how to read and write which is something that all slaves are not
allowed to learn.
Night John by Gary Paulsen
5/24/2015
Time Started: 10:00
Time Ended: 10:20
Pages read from: 58 to 83
Today in night John I read about the punishment that slaves
get for learning to read and write. Sarny was caught writing the
word bag in the dirt and the master caught her. Master Waller
managed to hit Sarny a few times before she ran into her
mammys protection. When the master found Sarny, instead of
taking Sarny, he took her mom, to the springs where all slaves
get whipped. She hung there all day until night and then would
get whipped. Just as the master began to whip her, John said that
he had been teaching Sarny how to write and John received the
punishment of loosing his toes. After receiving his punishment,
Night John Decided to run away!

I wonder why it is illegal for slaves to learn how to read and

write. Are people scared that if the learn how to read and write
that they may rebel and then they will stop working? Is it just
because they cant stand the though of being similar to a slave? I
feel sorry for John because of what happened to him because he
took the blame for teaching Sarny how to write and save Sarnys
mammy from getting whipped. Also what gives slaves the guts to
run away knowing the punishments of getting caught?
Night John by Gary Paulsen
5/25/2015
Time Started: 9:03
Time Ended; 9:23
Pages read from: 83 to 92 (end)
Today in Night John by Gary Paulsen, I finished the sad book
on the life of slaves. My recent log explains that Night John ran
away after having his toes cut off after trying to teach Sarny how
to read and write. After hi severe and painful punishment, he ran
away. His master, Waller, went looking for him the next day with
his dogs and slave catchers. After many hours of looking for Night
John, they could not find him, which meant one thing he managed
to escape! Not long after he escaped Night John returned to

continue teaching Sarny how to read and write. Every night when
it was pitch black he would take Sarny to school along with
many other free and enslaved people. He was determined to
teach them how to read and write just like the Whites.
I feel sorry for all the slaves who cannot learn to read or
write because education is a major part in someones life. If gives
them many opportunities that a non-educated person would
have. Also I wonder why Night John is so determined to educate
all these people? Does he think that every person deserves an
education and to be treated equally?
Cause by Tonya Bolden
5/26/15

Time Started: 4:30

Time Ended: 4:50
Pages read from: 1 to 14
Today in Cause by Tonya Bolden, I read about the rights of
lacks and how they were very mistreated, not considered equal or
citizens. It took the civil war that caused 644,000 + causalities
before they considered giving blacks the same rights as whites.
Even after the Civil War, blacks were not treated differently. Some
people could live with them and other could live with out them. I
also read about the Death of Abraham Lincoln and many of his

workers. Abraham Lincoln was assonated by John Wilkes Booth

for wanting to bring peace between whites and blacks (for
wanting to bring back Confederate cause).
I wonder why blacks and whites were so different and why
slavery began and how it began. How did they decide that whites
were more important than blacks? Why did slavery begin in the
first place and who started it? Also I wonder how John Wilkes
Booth was able to assonate Abraham Lincoln considering that he
was in public.

Cause by Tonya Bolden

5/27/15
Time Started: 3:45
Time Ended: 4:05
Pages read from: 15 to 30
Today in Cause by Tonya Bolden, I read about president
Johnson and how he thought tat America was a country for white
men, not black. He thought that whites and blacks should not be
considered equal. In Mississippi I read that if you married a black
person you would be fined and put in prison. As you can see that
after president Lincoln was assonated things went back o the way

they were before the painful civil war. Also I read that freed slaves
were not trusted after the war because people believed that they
would seek bloody revenge on their old masters.
I feel sorry for all blacks that must live with the pain if being
mistreated and not thought of as equal or citizens. Also, it got me
thinking of what it was like to be a black person during this time
period. I wonder what the whites that would like to create peace
with the blacks can do in order to help make the horrible situation
better.

Cause by Tonya Bolden

5/28/15
Time Started: 9:34
Time Ended: 9:54
Pages read from: 30 to 45
Today in Cause by Tonya Bolden, I read about building a
railroad that was 2,000 miles long that ran through the far west.
Also I read that the government would give millions of dollars so
that people could dig for gold, coal and many other resources.
Also I read a little about Fredrick Douglass, one of the 40 slaves

to go to a womens rights convention and believed that slavery

has not abolished until the black man has the ballot. Also I read
about Clara Barton who aided the union fighters. She co-founded
the American Red Cross.
I wonder why Frederick Douglass believes that slavery isnt
over until a black man has a ballot? Also, what is a ballot, a right
to vote or equal rights as a white person? Also, was Clara Barton
one of the few people who though that there should be peace and
equality between whites and blacks and were her parents the
same as her? Did they want to abolish slavery? Also I wonder why
some people had different feelings about blacks then others?

Cause by Tonya Bolden

5/29/15
Time Started: 9:00
Time Ended: 9:20
Pages read from: 45 to 63
Today in Cause by Tonya Bolden, I read about the making
of a school was created to educate all people (including blacks).
This school was used to educate people who worked in black

communities. I also read about all the acts that were passed from
January to march. Also I read that in 1867 enslaved people began
a rally claiming that they know all the rights that they have!
I wonder what it is like to know all the rights they have and
how what goes on in the world is the exact opposite. Also, I feel
sorry for slaves that must work for endless hours without the
proper care that they are not being given all their rights. Also, I
wonder how the slaves leaned about their rights considering that
they had no education and were not allowed to learn to read or
write.

Cause by Tonya Bolden

5/30/15
Time Started: 7:03
Time Ended: 7:23
Pages read from: 64 to 80

Today in cause by Tonya Bolden, I read about the

presidential candidates of 1868. Both Candidates had different
opinions about how they world should be accorded to Slavery.
The Candidate of the Republican party wanted peace in the world
for everyone while the candidate for the democratic believed
other wise and believed that America was a white mans world.
Also, I read about the fifteenth amendment and how it granted
the rights for all black.
Was America different after the fifteenth amendment or was
it the same. Were blacks still treated like animals, were they
considered a part of the population, did people learn to accept
them.

Cause by Tonya Bolden

5/31/15
Time Started: 5:33
Time Ended: 5:53
Pages read from: 80 to 95

Today In cause I read about how the fifteenth amendment

celebrates black people and how it provided them with many
rights, however, it didnt declare their independence. The Day
that was declared freedom for black people was January 1, the
day the emancipation Proclamation went into effect. Also, I
read that in Louisiana they were many murders of black people.
I cant believe that blacks had to suffer so long before they
could even be considered part of the world and even then many
people did not accept them. I feel sorry r those who had to suffer
day to day in life knowing that they will never be treated like a
white person, never have the same rights, never be human.

Cause by Tonya Bolden

6/1/15
Time Started: 4:25

Time Ended: 4:45

Pages read from: 96 to 121

Today In cause I read about how during the civil war while
blacks were fighting for their rights, so were women. A woman
named Susan B. Anthony was one of the many women who
fought daily for the rights of women. She entitled women the
right to vote in the fourteenth amendment. I also read that many
republican parties wished to have peace with blacks and justice
for them as well but many were not in the same page as them.
I can connect this part of cause to fighting for women
rights because some people want them o have equal rights and
others dont. Also, both of these horrible things have taken war,
protest, etc. in order to prove the point. I wonder why the
Democratic and Republican parties have distinctive opinions on
the subject of slavery.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

6/2/15
Time Started:
Time Ended:
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Pages read from: 1 to 20

Today In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl I read about

how a girl who has been a slave since the age of 6 and how her
parents had tried many times to buy her but had failed. Her
parents were slaves as well but they are not dark skin so they are
considered mulattoes. I read that her, her siblings and her
grandmother were all slaves working for the same master. The
main character learned that she was a slave at the age of 12, and
feared being separated form her family at the auction block. She
was not fond of being merchandise either.
I didnt know that you could be classified into two different
groups, (mulattoes, blacks). I feel sorry that the main characters
childhood had become ruined because of slavery and how she
fears the auction block and being separated from her family but
who wouldnt. With all the rough things you must deal with as a
slave, you are going to need a loved one by your side.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Time Started: 3:30
Time Ended: 3:50
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Pages read from: 20 to 43
Today In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl I read about
the main character along with her family being put on the auction
dock and sold to the same family, a physician Dr. Flint. He was
rough his servants especially the ones who worked in the house.
The main character was just happy to have been kept with her
family. I also read that many slaves have attempted to escape
but their master has always gone out the next day in search of
the escaped slave and for the most part has found most of them
and punishments are severe.
I cant believe that her brothers are going to leave her to go
to California with the possibilities of being caught and punished. I
wonder, there plan on escaping knowing that their master will
probably find them and the dogs wil do bad things. I fee; sorry for
the main character who will no longer have her brother with her
at the plantation.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

6/4/15
Time Started: 6:55
Time Ended: 7:15
Pages read from: 44 to 63
Today In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl I read about
the main characters brothers attempting to escape by foot to
California. The day before her brothers left, she wouldnt leave
their sight. She also learned that her mom was a slave fugitive
and that once her brother fled to California, there would be no
one left besides her grandmother. Also I read that masters in the
south exaggerate about the conditions of slaves and that they are
lucky that they are not dying of starvation every day.
I wonder why the masters must lie in order to make the
slaves feel like they are treated with respect but really they are
treated just as baldly, being whipped daily and only being fed
most days. Also, I think that it is not a good idea if her brothers
try to escape to California, they are at risk of being caught and

also they are leaving there sister behind who has took care of
them since they became slaves.