I hope you had a good summer filled with relaxation! This summer I read The Boys in the Boat, and I enjoyed the author’s details about hard work and what it meant to push through so many struggles and obstacles in the pursuit of success. As I was reading, I thought of our dance class and how Daniel James Brown’s descriptions of finding your ‘swing’ and practicing and getting their techniques right related to our classes discussions about allowing movements to flow and practicing our techniques and…
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In Daniel James Brown's novel The Boys in the Boat, the story highlights the coaching methods of coach Al Ulbrickson. Some readers may argue that Coach Ulbrickson's coaching style was harsh and inefficient, constantly pushing the boys to their limits and sending them from boat to boat. However, based on the details in the novel, Coach Ulbrickson's coaching was actually careful and strategic, focused on finding the best combination of players for his national team. In one case, Coach Ulbrickson told…
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full of copious amounts of relaxation and bliss. This summer I have read The Boys in the Boat, and I enjoyed the author's details about teamwork and individuality. As I was reading, I thought of our P.E. class and how Daniel James Brown’s descriptions of the team’s group effort such as him explaining that whether or not individuals are better than other but what matters is cooperation for the overall benefit of the boat and individuality such as psychological makeup of people are also very important…
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In the 1936 Berlin Olympics the boys crew team from the University of Washington won the gold medal in the men’s crew event. Each boy from this crew team had their own remarkable story and journey of how they were able to reach the olympics. Many of these stories were shaped by the harsh conditions of the great depression and how it impacted their families and lifestyles. In Daniel James Brown’s Boys in the Boat he tells the story of Joe Rantz, which starts deep in the grasp of the great depression…
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The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown is a book full of struggle and courage. It is about learning from failures, beating all odds, and overcoming stereotypes. Brown’s novel focuses on Joe Rantz’s life and the crew team that won gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Joe Rantz and his crew team have to overcome their struggles in both rowing and the Great Depression. From the novel, I have learned about life in Washington during…
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Daniel James Brown, author of The Boys in the Boat was born in 1951 in Berkeley, California. He grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in English at the University of California at Berkeley and then went on to receive a Masters from the University of California at Los Angeles. He taught writing at San Jose State University and Stanford University and eventually became a technical writer and editor. Now, he writes full-time, all narrative non-fiction. He lives in Seattle…
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Throughout Daniel James Brown's novel, "The Boys in The Boat" the head coach of Washington rowing, Al Ulbrickson is shown as quiet and some would say he is inefficient in his coaching techniques. However, this is the opposite, as Ulbrickson is a great coach. From the beginning of the novel, Ulbrickson is shown to be quiet, yet observant. For example, in Chapter 3, as the rowers are preparing for their 1st day of rowing, sitting reclusively is Ulbrickson, and rowing is said to be "the center of…
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I hope you had a wonderful and productive summer as much as I did. This summer I read The Boy in the Boat and I enjoyed Daniel James Brown’s details about every race the Washington crew had to do. Describing even the smallest features and creating suspense on what was going to happen. While I was reading, I thought of our physical education class and how the author’s description of perseverance and teamwork related to our discussions about sports. One lesson Brown describes is perseverance. Perseverance…
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“The Boys in the Boat” written by Daniel James Brown is the non-fictional story of Joe Rantz and his teammates' journey to winning Olympic gold in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The story starts with Joe’s rough childhood and how he survived without family. Once Joe gets to college, he realizes that he can’t afford it until he notices the rowing team and the free housing and food they get while on the team. Joe tries out and after many hardships, he and his team finally arrives in Berlin for the Olympic…
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Butterfly Effect In The Boys in the Boat, Daniel James Brown uses flashbacks and flash-forwards to develop George Pocock, and show the overlying theme of overcoming adversity. George Pocock is the boatbuilder for the international champion crew, the University of Washington; he also makes the boats for all the other best crews in the country. But like the protagonist Joe Rantz, George Pocock also had to overcome the trials of everyday life to make it to where he is now. At about age 20, “George.…
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