In the novella, The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway depicts the story of an aged fisherman who sets out on his most extravagant journey yet. Along the way he faces many obstacles that affect the outcome of his fishing adventure. The old man, named Santiago, encounters many struggles such as the marlin, the sea, and even himself before his fishing trip can end.
One obstacle that Santiago has to face on his voyage out to sea is the marlin. The marlin was sixteen feet in length and weighed about one thousand five hundred pounds (his skiff was only fourteen feet long). Throughout most of the novella, Santiago struggles with the marlin in order to catch it. The old man also never doubted the strength or power of the marlin. “You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. But you have a right to. Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or more calmer, or more noble thing than you, brother,” (92). In this quote the old man is saying that it would be somewhat of an honor to be killed by the fish that he greatly looked up to. That is how the marlin was an obstacle for Santiago.
Another obstacle that the old man faces is the sea. The sea that Santiago is referring to is the Gulf of Mexico. He was out in the middle of the ocean for a total of four days with the blistering heat and no food or water. Even though Santiago was lost in the middle of the ocean, he always thought of the sea as, “feminine and as something that gave or withheld great favors, and if she did wild or wicked things it was because she could not help them,” (29). Santiago never spoke badly of the sea and always spoke kindly of it. Even through Santiago’s worst times he always admired the sea and treated it as a person would toward another person, or someone they loved.
The final obstacle Santiago faces is himself. Throughout the entire novella, the old man struggles against himself in order to catch the fish. He is always pushing himself to further extremes and testing his body. Santiago never doubts that he can do anything and for that reason he was able to catch and hold the marlin for as long as he did. Santiago explained that, “’A man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated,’ ” (103). This quote sums up Santiago quite well. He is saying that a man can be brought down to the lowest of lows, but he will never be beaten by someone, or a marlin.
The old man, Santiago, faced many struggles on his extravagant journey into the ocean. Although he may not have caught the fish, he persevered and never gave up on himself. He always thought he could do it even when he might not have been able to. Even though he struggled with the marlin, the sea, and himself, he managed to catch the fish. Although the fish was eaten by the sharks he was able to bring a carcass to shore to prove that he had actually caught the fish. He felt very satisfied and accomplished even though he did not necessarily have the whole fish.
17 comments:
MEGHAN!!
Great essay. The thesis "The old man, named Santiago, encounters many struggles such as the marlin, the sea, and even himself before his fishing trip can end." was very clear and easy to pick out. I think your first quote, “You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. But you have a right to. Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or more calmer, or more noble thing than you, brother,” was the best quote. It told about the honor and dignity the old man would get if he captured the marlin. In your story the quotes flowed with the story and they made sense. I think the only thing I would change is you use "struggles" in almost every paragraph. Pick a different word.
Besides that, Good Job!!
Meghan,
i thought your story was excellent. You didn't drag on about something pointless. I liked how you got straight to the point with great detail. Your essays thesis is that the old man goes through many obstacles and challenges. And even though he went through a lot of bad things, he never gave up. I thought it was very clear for what you were trying to say.
Your strongest quote was, “A man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated." i think this because it does sum up Santiago. and your reasoning for putting this quote was great. One thing that is done well in your essay is detail. You had short, descriptive sentences which i liked. You did a great job!
Meghan,
Your essay was really good! I liked it a lot. The thesis of your essay was “Along the way he faces many obstacles that affect the outcome of his fishing adventure.” I think that this thesis was clear it showed you would talk about Santiago’s obstacles. I then wanted to find out what the obstacles were. I think your best quote was “You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. But you have a right to. Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or more calmer, or more noble thing than you, brother,” (92). I liked this because it really agreed with what you were writing about. I think the best part of your essay was the way you put your quotes in with the story. You picked really good quotes to go with your supposing paragraphs. One thing I might suggest would be just putting in a little more detail with your paragraphs, for example, when you say he struggled with his body, talk about why. Like how he was fatigued and hungry. But your essay was really good, I really enjoyed it.
Meghan,
Your essay was really good! I liked it a lot. The thesis of your essay was “Along the way he faces many obstacles that affect the outcome of his fishing adventure.” I think that this thesis was clear it showed you would talk about Santiago’s obstacles. I then wanted to find out what the obstacles were. I think your best quote was “You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. But you have a right to. Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or more calmer, or more noble thing than you, brother,” (92). I liked this because it really agreed with what you were writing about. I think the best part of your essay was the way you put your quotes in with the story. You picked really good quotes to go with your supposing paragraphs. One thing I might suggest would be just putting in a little more detail with your paragraphs, for example, when you say he struggled with his body, talk about why. Like how he was fatigued and hungry. But your essay was really good, I really enjoyed it.
Meghan,
I thought that your essay was very well written. It got right to the point and the reader could understand what you were trying to say very well. I can see very clearly that the thesis is the obstacles that Santiago faced in the book. I think that your strongest quote of the three was the first one where you talked about the marlin being one of the obstacles. “You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. But you have a right to. Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or more calmer, or more noble thing than you, brother,” (92). It stood out from your other quotes because Santiago really thought this a lot throughout the story. Santiago thought that the marlin was trying to kill him and that he had a right to because of all the stuff that Santiago was putting him though to catch him. This essay is very organized. It gets right to the point and tells all the things that are needed then it is quickly wrapped up with a nice, strong conclusion paragraph. My advice for you for next time would be to put a few more examples into each paragraph. It doesn’t have to be something quoted from the book, just an example of something that you remember from reading it. Good job, Meg, it was a really strong essay!
Meghan, Your essay was really good, I liked it. Your thesis was “The old man, named Santiago, encounters many struggles such as the marlin, the sea, and even himself before his fishing trip can end.” This was clear and explained exactly what the essay was going to talk about. I thought your best paragraph was the second one. I really liked how you incorporated the quote right into the sentence, it flowed nicely. My favorite part of the essay was the examples you used, they were interesting and made me want to read more. I like how you used a lot of description, like Santiago in the “blistering heat.” One thing I would have done differently is make the last example more clear, but it was a great essay.
Meghan great job on your essay. I thought it was really good. Your thesis was “Along the way he faces many obstacles that affect the outcome of his fishing adventure. The old man, named Santiago, encounters many struggles such as the marlin, the sea, and even himself before his fishing trip can end”. That was a really good thesis statement. The quote that stood out to me the most was “You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. But you have a right to. Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or calmer, or more noble thing than you, brother,” (92). I thought that quote really helped out your paragraph. It showed that the Santiago was struggling with his old age. On thing you did very well was use detail to explain everything. I think you did a great job Meg.
Hey Meg. Good job on your essay!
Your thesis was excellent. It was short, to the point, and said everything in a short, simple sentence. It was easy to pick out and really set me up for the rest of the essay. I completely agree with Sam that the quote, ““You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. But you have a right to. Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or calmer, or nobler thing than you, brother,” ” was the best one. I thought that was a great quote when I read it for the first time and I really think it applies to the struggles you were describing in your essay. Your organization, like always, added to the story and helped it flow. The only thing I would suggest is to use some different word choices in the paragraphs.
meghan,
your thesis statement clearly informs the reader that the main character faced many challenging obstacles. You kept your essay straight to the point, and always had excellent detail. I liked the quotes used, especially the one "You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. but you have a right no. never have i seen a greater, or more beautiful, or more calmer or more noble thing that you, brother" I feel as though he really became close to the fish, and i thought that was an excellent quote to use. Overall, your story was very interesting, and i enjoyed reading it. I don't know what kind of advice to give you because it's already so well written. great job!
The thesis is sort of the entire first paragraph, but it was good and well-thought out. The introduction engaged me and was a good start for the essay. I believe the first quotation is the strongest, “The old man also never doubted the strength or power of the marlin. “You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. But you have a right to. Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or more calmer, or more noble thing than you, brother,” (92). “ This one proved the point in a spectacular way, where the others were a little more shaky.
The essay’s best quality is word choice, because it has a great selection of words that make it more clear and strong. “In the novella, The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway depicts the story of an aged fisherman who sets out on his most extravagant journey yet”. This sentence has great word selection.
One piece of advice I have is to stick to the point your defending. In the third and fourth paragraphs, the point is a little less clear than in the beginning.
meghan,
i LOVED the story. i could tell right away that your thesis was “The old man, named Santiago, encounters many struggles such as the marlin, the sea, and even himself before his fishing trip can end.” it was very clear.
i thought that the quotes in the 1st and 2nd paragraphs were the best. they told what you were saying throughout that paragraph.
i loved the whole essay.
i wouldnt change anything.
GREAT JOB!!!!!
Meghan, great job on your essay. your thesis, "In the novella, The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway depicts the story of an aged fisherman who sets out on his most extravagant journey yet. Along the way he faces many obstacles that affect the outcome of his fishing adventure."
was well written, it was very clear and easy to understand. I thought that your best quote was “’A man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated,’ ” (103)because it clearly backs up the ideas you were writing about. The only thing you could improve on would be to change what you're saying because you kept repeating things, but otherwise, great job
Meghan,
Your opening thesis statement was so good. “In the novella, The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway depicts the story of an aged fisherman who sets out on his most extravagant journey yet.” It was very easy to find and it was very intriguing. I think that the quote from the third paragraph when you are talking about the sea is the best one because I feel like you did a really good job comparing the two things. One of the strongest points in your story was the detail and vocabulary you used. Everything was given enough details so that I could get a clear picture of what was going on, and you had a wide range of vocabulary, which was good. One thing to maybe try for next time is integrating your quotes a little bit more, so that the sentences around the quotes flow better. But overall, you did an awesome job :)
Meghan you essay was well written. Your thesis was clear, and to the point. I like your first quote. It gives great description, and it supports the essay real well. Your story was clear, and the paragraphs flowed well. I wouldn't change anything. Great job.
Meghan
I think that you did an amazing job on your essay. The thesis was very clear, and all of your examples and quotes fit in perfectly with your paragraphs. I think that they really showed how much santiago was struggling throughout the book. I think that one thing you could have worked on was word choice, for example the word "struggles" was repeated in about every paragraoh. Otherwise your vocab throughout the story was very strong. Great Job!!!
meghan!! wow great job. i thought your thesis statement was really clear. "The old man, named Santiago, encounters many struggles such as the marlin, the sea, and even himself before his fishing trip can end." this was a really good thesis.
i think the best quote you used was "Even though Santiago was lost in the middle of the ocean, he always thought of the sea as, 'feminine and as something that gave or withheld great favors, and if she did wild or wicked things it was because she could not help them,' (29)" i liked the way you worked it into your paragraph.
i think your strength in this essay was word choice. it sounded really good.
my only advice would be to use a little more description. but it was a great essay! good job!!
First essay and the best one too, '']
The thesis is how the old man goes through many obstacles in the story. The range of obstacles is wide in the essay.
I think the most effective is how Satiago has a challenge against himself. He does push himself in many situations. This paragraph is explained very clearly and the quote supports it fully.
Describing the fish was best involved. The greatness of the fish was described by this quote. Nothing was left out of it.
I would not add or take any anything. I feel this could be the standard of this essay topic.
Great job.
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