LO+Last+of+the+Mohicans+Questions

Lacey Olson Mr. Rowells APUSH-Period 1 18 August 2009 __The Last of the Mohicans__ Questions  1. James Fenimore Cooper decided to use the American wilderness as a backdrop to his love story in order to please his feminine critics. This book combined the manliness of the history and wilderness of the French and Indian war along with the femininity of a romantic plot between Heyward and Alice. This style of writing was created in order to compete with other English authors at the time, such as Austen and Scott, who were also feminine writers.  2. This book took place on the colonial frontier in 1757 near the Horican or Lake George. The Horican is also known as “Holy Lake”. The area around which the French is intruding the English is also known as holy which is ironic because of the savagery brought into the area. The areas around the Fort William Henry and Fort Edward are known as civilized and then the forests around these areas are uncivilized and in the wilderness.  3. Natty Bumppo is better known as Hawkeye or Scout. He is a focal point in the book because he serves as a link between both the Native American and the white cultures. He is able to adapt to different environments of the Native American and the white’s world. Hawkeye does not care about race and this helps him make good alliances in the book between the Indians and colonists.  4. Both the relationship between the English and the Native Americans and the English and the colonists were not very good ones. The English had no respect for the Native Americans and looked at them as savages because of their primitive ways. The English did not care about them and did not mind pushing the Indians out of their own lands to make room for more settlers. The English did not view the Native Americans as real people so it did not matter if they died fighting battles or anything else. The relationship between the English and the colonists was a little better but not by much. The colonists were starting to push away from England in a search for independence. The English treated the colonists as not much worth or wealth. They were just small farmers while the English were something better than them. There were also problems in the military because the English would not recognize many American soldiers because they were under qualified and under trained.  5. __The Last of the Mohicans__ was considered a master piece in 1823 because it was a big step for Cooper to transition the book to others that he had written before that time. He was already popular with the public and the critics and going oversees around the same time he wrote this book made him even more popular. When he connected this book with his other books he held the attention of his followers. Critics such as W.H. Gardiner loved how Copper depicted the nature and the scenery in the story but they did not like how he did not build in time for reflection between the characters. They found him influencing and an insightful writer who dug deep into American thoughts.  6. During the story I often got confused when they started using different names for the same people. I also was confused during the part when Munro surrenders to Montcalm and then the Native Americans attacked. I did not know which side the Native Americans were on because the attack was out of no where. Cora and Alice’s background was also a little hard for me to read into and I do not quite understand it.