By Wilson Rawls – Release Date: May 3, 1996

A determined young boy finds the true meaning of friendship and responsibility in the award winning author’s, mind grabbing, first of the series novel.

The main protagonist is a young boy at the age of ten years old, Billy Coleman. As he is in search of a good pair of raccoon hunting dogs, he learns and understands the true meaning hard-work and dedication. Even when in possession of his newfound hunting dogs, he learns the concept of responsibility and friendship as the story tells of their adventures as raccoon hunters. The setting is the Ozark mountains in the state of Oklahoma in the years of the 1930’s. Once “Billy” saves enough money to buy himself a pair of Redwood Coonhounds, he begins his journey, training his dogs to be the best hunting dogs in the state. Once Billy’s dogs were properly trained, Wilson Rawls, the author, takes a different approach in setting the structure of the book as she skips around three years into the future with a periodic time lapse, only showing key points in the main character’s story. As the character’s story progresses, Rawls uses stunning imagery to describe the setting and surroundings of the state-wide raccoon hunting tournament. In the heat of the competition the author throws us a mind-blowing twist as a storm crashes Billy’s chances of winning. However, even with the storm in play, he comes out with the victory. In a sad but beautiful conclusion, Billy’s dogs strike a fight with a mountain lion where one of the dogs dies of injury, and the other of a heartbreak as she loses her will to live without her beloved friend. In the midst of all the sadness, Billy goes to visit his dog’s graves when he finds a single red fern growing in between the two of them just as an urban legend told.

I thoroughly believe “Where the Red Fern Grows” is an amazing piece of American Literature. The story is set in the 1930’s, in the heat of the Great Depression in the Ozark Mountains of Oklahoma. The novel is beautifully presented with so many amazing moments as the book twists and turns your mind into an oblivion of emotions. The concept and story of the novel is American as it tells the tale of a young boy in search of a newfound goal. He works and grinds towards this goal in which he accomplishes. He then sets more and more goals throughout the book, crushing each one because of his relentless, hard-work and determination. My ideal of the American Dream is just that, a story of accomplishing personal goals while making a better life for you and your family. In this novel he does this and much more. In attempting to figure out which text I have read in class that relates to my story, I’d have to say I couldn’t find one. I enjoy this book so much because in my eyes I see it as totally unique. I believe the novel is so unlike the texts we’ve read because of the fact that this book set in the past and so many people can most likely relate to it whereas the things we’ve read in class are more science fiction, post-apocalyptic readings. “Where the Red Fern Grows” connects to the current events we are facing such as COVID-19. In today’s trying times we’re forced to stay at home and be away from the world. In the 1930’s in the Ozark Mountains I’d say that’s away from the world in so many ways.

A beautiful piece of American Literature as it puts the audiences emotions on an emotional journey. It tells the story of a growing responsibility and friendship between a boy and his two dogs in the path towards success and greatness.

The Covid-19 outbreak has effected so many innocent families across the world. How it has effected my family is special to me in so many good and bad ways. For one, being in this quarantine has separated me from the people I love outside of my family like my friends, girlfriend, and teachers. Without me being able to go out and have fun, I’m stuck in my house with a very limited number of things to do and activities to take part in. Right now I’m almost at the point to where all I can do is sit inside and do homework or watch T.V.. These online courses have messed up my world academically because in my eyes, it is so much harder to keep up with and to get everything turned in with the best possible paper I could write. Without the constant professional help and resources I find it difficult to complete the more essential assignments in the best form they could be completed. On the same subject, not having friends and classmates there in person it is so much harder to get the essential feedback needed in order to make the class easier to understand. On the other side of the spectrum, the isolation hasn’t been so bad. Because of the quarantine I’ve grown significantly with my younger brother as we’ve completed multiple projects we’ve assigned to ourselves. For instance, we built an 8’x8′ single pitch building on top of a 10’x10′ platform in the corner of my 200 acres of land completely out of scrap wood. We have successfully fixed and started two pieces of harvesting machinery that have been sitting in our barn for over 3 years now. I have also become more productive on the athletic side of things as I’ve ran around 6 miles every other day in order to keep my shape and built a custom weight set out of concrete and broom handles. I think this isolation from the world has really helped me discover what life is like outside of a screen. Yes, I’ve lived on 200 acres my whole life yet this is the first time I’ve realized how lucky I am to live on such a beautiful property. I wake up to the sound of nothing, and in this case it’s the best sound in the world compared to being woken up by the sound of a car alarm or someone running and screaming down the hall in my dormitory. So, yes the virus has effected me and my family, but not in all the ways that you may think.

• My favorite genre is science-fiction.
• It is my favorite because I love readings about advanced technology and mythology.
• I don’t like books about a love story.
• I think they are boring and don’t get to the climax fast enough and even when they do, it’s still boring.
• I love books that remind me of my hometown.
• An example of this is, “Where the Red Fern Grows.”
• I believe reading is sometimes enjoyable, but is becoming outdated.

This project was designed by me for my architectural studio course. It is an artist’s residence with one bed, two bathrooms and a personal design studio.

My interest in reading has brought me to the Architectural Library inside of the CAPPA building on the campus of UTA. I am very fond of this library because it contains all of the information and technical drawings I need in order to learn and achieve my goals as an architect. The shelves within this library are filled with books about architecture and the science within it. It shows plans, sections, facades, and perspective drawings of buildings that I’ve researched before and will research in the future. My interest in architect can be fulfilled all within this book-filled room.

My object is a pair of my soccer cleats in which I use most often. I chose this object to show, because of the sentiments and the meaning they have brought into my life. This particular pair of cleats have been a part of my journey as a player since I was fifteen years old. I still use these cleats because they symbolize the adversity I’ve been through while participating in the sport. When I was sixteen, I played for a Youth FC Dallas squad that had a very prestigious reputation. The coach of that team was so rude to me that it drove me to quit playing soccer. In those moments of my life, I realized that I needed to move in a new direction. From then to now I play tennis competitively and have won a bronze medal at the State Tournament. This object is important to me because it shows a change, and a new chapter of my life that not only changed the sport I played, but the mindset I’ve lived with in overcoming the adversities of life.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

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The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

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You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

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