Fire Island, A Historical Overview “Rhythmic waves, high dunes, ancient maritime forests, historic landmarks and glimpses of wildlife—Fire Island has been a special place for diverse plants, animals and people for centuries” The origin of Fire Island's name is not quite clear; there are many stories as to where the Island got its name. It is thought that its Native American name was Sictem Hackey, which translated means “Land of the Secatogues”, an Indian tribe in Bay Shore, New York. It was also part of what was called the "Seal Islands."Some historians have also suggested that the name Fire derived from a misinterpretation of the Dutch word "vijf" ("five") or in another version "vier" ("four") referring to the number of islands near the Fire Island inlet. Some also say it is how the island appears to be on fire when looking back from ocean in the autumn. Yet other explanations of the naming of Fire Island come from without a doubt "Fire." The Native Americans may have used fires to signal the mainland; as did the whalers when they required supplies from mainland Long Island. It is also possible that whalers and fishermen erected fires along the shore to direct ships at night. One of the local lore’s tells about ship wreckers that lit fires on the beach to lure unlucky ships onto the shoals to be plundered. The most considerable fires were however, built by the whalers who required such large fires for days to "try out" i.e. boil down blubber into whale oil. There is another version that states that the natives named the island after the fiery rashes caused by rubbing up against the abundant Poison Ivy that grows all over the island. Long Island resident William Smith was given a vast area of land on Long Island as... ... middle of paper ... ...eople on the east side of the fence” or just plainly “oh you are one of them”, to Ocean Beach and its many shops and bar/restaurants which is widely known as the land of no which is ironic since it is the biggest party town on the island. The sad part of it is that a vast majority of the islands daily visitors or weekly/monthly renters have no idea of the islands history be it from the beginning or through the world wars. There are those of us that have been fortunate enough to have been raised either on the island, or within a boat ride from it. We are the ones who have been blessed with the knowledge of this wonderful place and lucky enough to have had it be a part of our lives. Works Cited www.fairharbor.com/history_fi_first_contact.htm, Fire Island: From Pirates to Slavery to Fun in the Sun - Newsday - Retrieved November 3, 2007, www.nps.gov/fiis/index.htm
Published in 1975 by Harper Perennial, The Fires of Jubilee by Stephan Oates explores the personality of Nat Turner and the events which lead up to his leadership of the Virginian slave revolt of 1831 (Oates 4, 126). Young Nat was born into slavery in 1800, but, due to his precocity, he was early lead to believe in the probability, nee inevitability, of his eventual freedom (11-16). However, things were not to be so simple for him. Disease, death, and the vicissitudes of fortune all converged to cause Nat to remain a slave in the hands of several different owners. Of a highly introspective, superstitious nature, Nat chaffed at and brooded extensively on his circumstances – longing for freedom (24-32). Seeking an outlet for his intelligence
Before European contact with Turtle Island, the Native Peoples fully occupied the lands, maintaining extensive trade networks, roads that tied different nations together, and successfully adapted to the specific natural environments across the continent.15 In her book, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz writes of the Natives also adapting the environment to their needs,
Despite the overall opinion of our class, I enjoyed Hugh Willoughby’s Across the Everglades. The short history he provided and the description of his journey through mangroves and saw grass was both enlightening and entertaining. He offered insight into the historical part of Florida that we, in 2004, will never know of by first hand experience. Willoughby’s journal was also the perfect handbook for an Everglades class canoe trip. From the intricate metaphors he weaves into his facts to the influence of opinion behind those facts, Willoughby’s work captures the minds of his readers.
The fire started by campers thirty miles north of Winthrop in Okanogan National Forest in the Chewuch river valley. The fire was only 25 acres in size when twenty one Forest Service firefighters were dispatched to the fire.
Assateague Island at one time was not an island at all. In fact, it was connected to what is known as Fenwick Island. In 1933, a brutal storm ripped through the Atlantic creating
The Island is used to battles and struggles for independence. Even going back as far as the 16th century when the Conquistadors had control of the island, the Indigenous people that lived on the Island called Taínos, united and revolted against the Spaniards. But only armed with spears, and bows they were no match for the flintlock weapons, cannons, and steel breastplate of the Conquistadors. In time the Spaniards all but wiped out the Taíno population and culture, and took control of the Island. Remnants of Taíno genes still exist due to the in...
island bearing an abundance of gold and ruled by Amazon-like women whose pet griffins devoured surplus men. He called the mythical place California. Spanish explorers familiar with the tale applied the name to Baja, Mexico, when they concluded the peninsula was in fact an island.
The yellow and orange flames danced in the darkness and cast flickering light on nearby trees. Sounds of waves lapping at the nearby ocean shore mingled with the crackling of the burning driftwood. Their campsite wasn’t far; a short trek up the beach. There were about five of them that Grendel could see from his position behind a fairly tall bush.
First, Ralph puts rescue ahead of everything while on the island. Fire was the key resource by making smoke. Many
In Jeannette Wall’s book The Glass Castle, the narrator and author Jeanette has had various terrifying encounters with chaos and destruction. She was burned cooking hot dogs when she was young, frozen in the winter, and starved when her family was low on money. Each time, she has pulled through and survived. In The Glass Castle, fire is a symbol representing chaos, destruction and fear. Jeanette has fought many battles involving neglect, starvation, and poverty but she has always pulled through these destructive experiences just like when she was a child burned from the hot dogs.
"'A fire! Make a fire!" At once the boys were on their feet'(William Golding pg 38). The boys wanted to make a fire because fire is the best chance at getting rescued. If they make a fire and it creates a bunch of smoke someone is liable to see it and come to see what is on fire. Golding portrays the fire as a sign of hot burning hope. The very first after thought of Ralph is to make a fire and once he mentions it to the other boys they all go wild. They think if they build a fire, they will be rescued soon. The boys all rush together to make it because they all have to stick together if they want to get off of the island safe and the only way to do that is to keep hope and have faith in each other and will. If it is willed for them to get off of the island someone will come and get them. Until then all of the boys
The history of Alcatraz Island reveals the many changes the island went through while serving its different roles. Originally, when Spanish explorers first discovered the island in the 16th century they gave it the name Alcatraces, meaning "pelican" or "strange bird" (Finckenauer). Alcatraces later transformed into the English-favored word
My original island is called the palm tree island. The island is shaped like a palm tree. That’s how it got it’s name. On the Palm Tree island there are a few stores, shops, and restaurants to go to. Every morning I can hear birds chirping like they were singing a song. I can also see many people jogging on the sidewalks before they go to work. The taste of coffee and donuts in the morning is always satisfying. A lot of times I can smell the cool blue salt water all day long. I can feel the soft moisture of the sand on the island. Across this island there is another island, but it’s unknown. Nobody lives on the island. Nobody knows what’s on the island.
This fire destroyed a big part of the island, thus limiting them on meat or fruits to survive on. This same disaster happened again when Jack and the hunters hunted Ralph, "Now the fire was nearer; those volleying shots were great limbs, trunks even, bursting. The fools! The fools! The fire must be almost at the fruit trees-what would they eat tomorrow" (Golding, 198). They went as far as burning the whole forest to smoke out Ralph. The event, if wasn't for the ships noticing the fire and rescuing them was all but positive, the hunters didn't think as to what would happen next after they burn the forest and kill Ralph. Ralph of course wasn't even a threat to them; Jack feared that Ralph's presence could be disastrous toward his control.
Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel Jane Eyre depicts the passionate love Jane Eyre and Edward Rochester have for each other, and as Bertha Mason stands in the way of the happiness of Brontë's heroine, the reader sees Mason as little more than a villainous demon and a raving lunatic. Jean Rhys' serves as Mason's defendant, as the author's 1966 novella Wide Sargasso Sea, a prequel to Jane Eyre, seeks to explore and explain Bertha's (or Antoinette Cosway's) descent into madness. Rhys rejects the notion that Antoinette has been born into a family of lunatics and is therefore destined to become one herself. Instead, Rhys suggests that the Cosways are sane people thrown into madness as a result of oppression. Parallels are drawn between Jane and Antoinette in an attempt to win the latter the reader's sympathy and understanding. Just as they did in Jane Eyre, readers of Wide Sargasso Sea bear witness to a young woman's struggle to escape and overcome her repressive surroundings. Brontë makes heavy use of the motif of fire in her novel and Rhys does the same in Wide Sargasso Sea. In Rhys' novella, fire represents defiance in the face of oppression and the destructive nature of this resistance.