True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
By:Anusha M, Anu U, Tyler N, Ethan B, Sudeep R
Summary
Our Predictions
Characterization
Charlotte Doyle
Zachariah
Zachariah represents the caring tone in this novel, because when Charlotte Doyle first boards the Seahawk he is very kind and wants to be her friend. "...that Miss Doyle will have use for a friend..... Zachariah can be a fine friend'" (24). He also gives her a dirk for protection on the Seahawk, "... I only wish to give you the knife for protection..."(25). When the captain shoots Mr. Cranick, Zachariah was the only one who put up his hands and approaches him even though Captain Jaggery had said not to. "He held his hads before him, waist high palms up,as if to prove he carried no weapon. He kept his eyes on the captain ......continued on with slow, deliberate steps toward the fallen man"(92-93).
Captain Jaggery
Mr. Keetch
Charlotte Doyle's Dirk
This is the dirk that was given to Charlotte by Zachariah, and was also used to kill Mr. Hollybrass.
Women's clothing worn in 1832
This is the clothing that Charlotte probably wore on the boat until she becomes one of the crew members.
The Seahawk
This is the Seahawk on which Charlotte boarded and set sail with the crew from Liverpool, England to Providence Rhode Island.
Plot
Setting
It arrived in Providence, Rhode Island on August 17, 1832.
Exposition
Rising Action
Climax
"There beneath it, lay Mr. Hollybrass, face down. A knife was stuck in his back, plunged so deeply only the scrimshaw handle could be seen. I recognized the design of a star. This was the dirk Zachariah had given me.......It was my handkerchief" (138-139). "'Miss Doyle, I charge you in the willful murder of Mr. Hollybrass'" (145). "The very image of Zachariah-....... I moved forward, reached out, and touched his hand. Real flesh. And warmth" (149).
Falling Action
Resolution
Figurative Language
- On page 21, the similes help describe Zachariah's features to the reader, "His arms and legs were thin as marlinespikes. His face, as wrinkled as a crumpled napkin....."
- On page 34, Charlotte says "....as though I was a baby. Indeed I was a baby", where she is saying that she felt like a baby because she was sick and Zachariah was feeding her like she was a baby.
- On page 140, ".....my wet and heavy hair, like a horses tail, kept whipping across my face." This simile helps the readers understand how Charlotte's hair was causing trouble for her while she was climbing the sail.
- On page 136, "my words made him turn as pale as a ghost-a ghost with murder in his eye." This simile helps the readers understand what the captain looked like after Charlotte had insulted him and said what she had.
- On page 166, the imagery helps us understand how she felt when she came out to the top of the boat for the first time in a while. "I felt as though my legs would give away under me."
Conflict
Internal and External Conflict
There was not much internal conflict.
- On pages 49-50 and 64 when Charlotte was trying to figure out if she should tell the captain what she had found out and on page 99 she realizes that she shouldn't have told him.
- On page 102, she cried for everyone but didn't who would trust her or who she could trust.
External Conflict:
There was more external conflict than internal conflict, but because of the internal conflict there was external conflict.
- On page 91 Mr. Cranick was talking to the captain about how the crew wanted their justice and that the captain be put to trial and how he used Charlotte as his eyes and ears and how she could defend him when Captain Jaggery fired his musket and shot Mr. Cranick in the chest.
- On pages 134-135 there were all three kinds of external conflicts. First there was man vs. nature when the captain told Charlotte to fix the bowsprit, she was going against the waves, because the bowsprit was dipping in and out of the waves trying to pull her in every time. The next kind of external was man vs. man physically when Charlotte was safe on the boat and Captain Jaggery slapped her, because they had to change courses to get her safely back on the boat. Then the last one was man vs. man verbal, was after the captain slapped Charlotte, she started yelling at him and threatening to go to the courts and reveal the truth about him.
- On pages 204-205 the captain tries to kill Charlotte because he made the crew believe that she killed Mr. Hollybrass but while he is trying to get her the boat starts rocking very hard because of the waves the captain ends up going overboard while trying to get Charlotte.