Agnes' Lit Crit

Well, I was pleasantly surprised to receive an email for Agnes, a 15 yr old homeschooler from my community. She has been homeschooling since pri 2.

She had dug up some old essays from her document files and kindly offered me some to publish. I want to publish these so folks out there will know that homeschoolers do more than fine academically being at home. :O)

And it is also an example of "Christian" homeschooling, whereby God is central in everything the child learns academically.

This essay was written when she was 13 years old and it's based on the text Robinson Crusoe.

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● Analyze the providential care of God for Robinson, while at the same time he was being chastened for his wickedness.

The fictional character Robinson Crusoe was born in 1632 in the town of York. His father was a foreigner from Bremen, and met Robinson’s mother when he moved to York. Though Robinson came from a fairly well to do family with all his needs well provided, he was a rebel from the very first. His only dream was to go out to sea and live his life on a ship. His father, foreseeing danger and an unwanted, regretful life ahead of robin if this dream became reality, could give no consent to it. Robinson describes his father as “a wise and grave man”, and for about a year or so, turned a deaf ear to all his proposals and persuasions. His mother, although speaking with much passion and in all love, was too turned down, and ignored by her son. Robinson did not hear the instruction of his father, nor did he obey the laws of his mother.

So the day came when Robinson ran away from home, seeking no more his parents’ approval, much less even saying goodbye, for that day, there was a ship leaving for London, and it would cost him nothing to board. This was his chief act of rebellion, because of which God would have to punish and correct him during much of his remaining life.

Soon, Robinson was captured and taken slave by the captain of a pirate ship. God still kept him alive. He soon made his escape whilst on a fishing trip, and was even rescued by a Portuguese ship. Not much later, he became quite a wealthy plantation owner in the Brazils. How drowned he was in the pride of his worldly wisdom and success! In the frame of all this, Robinson had not even thought about God, much less that he had been displeasing Him.

God is not blind; he will not suffer a man to rebel against him and go unpunished at all. So alas, Robinson was shipwrecked whilst heading for the coast of Guinea one stormy day. What’s more, he was alone as a human being, for he was the only survivor of the wreck. He was stranded and helpless on a lonely, desolate island. For this cause, he could do no more than scream and run around the shore of the island for some moments. Then, it dawned upon him – every breath he had been breathing was, in fact, the grace of God and it alone. He could finally begin to see that it was his own pride in his ability to live his own life against authority that had landed him in this miserable state.

All alone, many thoughts, all jumbled up, ran through Robinson’s mind. The first of which was – why him? What had he done to deserve this? Immediately he slapped himself back in rebuke saying, “wretch! Dost thou ask what hast thou done?”

Amongst the belongings and useful things he had salvaged from the wreck was a book so precious – the Bible. He began to read it daily, and saw not only God’s chastening upon him in all this, but also God’s providential care. When he ran away from home, he was taken slave by pirates, yet escaped unharmed. When he was shipwrecked upon a horrible, desolate island, he was still alive, unlike the rest of his mates. On the island, he was alone, separated from mankind, yet he was not wanting for food. He had little clothes to cover him, but in such a hot climate, who would wear any? He had no soul to speak to, to share a conversation with; yet God was there with him, to listen and provide, always.

From a carnal, worldly rebel, Robinson was transformed into a God-fearing, God-loving man who saw life so differently, by the island and all it brought into Robinson’s life. I can see from this tale that God not only wanted to chasten Robinson, rebellious as he might have been. God was interested in him, in changing him; so was the main purpose of all these trials. God is not a God of anger, wrath, and chastening only. He chastened Robinson for his wrongdoing, yet provided for his every need.

When God saw that Robinson was ready, a Spanish ship sailed by the island. He was rescued, a changed soul indeed. ☺

☺ ăgnes L, 13,

June 7, 2005

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Thank you, Agnes! This ex-lit teacher says,

"Excellently and succinctly written with every paragraph working towards stating the case and answering the question in a very cohesive manner. You show a deep appreciation of the text."

Comments

[Carol]

Very well written, Agnes! God has blessed you richly with the ability to wield the pen, both to draw and to write!