Kylee Messmer

Renee Metcalf

Critique RD

10 May 2016

[sentence openers] [dress-ups]

DO2 / Never Judge a Book by its Cover
The Witch of Blackbird Pond is a classic novel published in 1958. In this historical fiction, the author, Elizabeth George Speare, writes as if she is the main character trying to comprehend life in the congested Connecticut colony after moving from tropical Barbados. This book is set in the Salem Witch Trials era when women were frequently accused of practicing witchcraft. Many women were falsely accused and it cost them there lives. There is definitely a lesson to learn from The Witch of Blackbird Pond.
The main character, Kathrine Tyler, or Kit, as all her friends call her, makes a long journey by boat with Nat Eaton, the captains son. When she arrives, she must go live with her Aunt Rachel, Uncle Matthew, and two cousins, Mercy and Judith. She meets Hannah Tupper, a widow accused of being a witch. Hannah and Kit become good friends and Kit enjoys visiting Hannah regularly to escape from everyday life in the colony.
Unfortunately, Hannah is misjudged because of her religion and thus considered an outcast. The Puritan colony shuns Hannah and denounces her a witch. Kit is very friendly to her and is not bothered by what other people say about their friendship. Nat has been a good friend of Hannah's for many years, and he visit her as much as possible. I enjoyed reading how much Kit and Nat cared about Hannah, and how they tried to convince the Puritans she meant no harm. Sadly, no matter what they did, Hannah would never be safe in the Connecticut colony.
One night many people became ill. The people believed that Hannah was cursing them, and soon the whole colony would be sick. They quickly took action, and an angry mob set out to attack Hannah and her house. Kit arrived at Hannah's house before the mob and warned her, saving her and her cat. Nat came to help, as well, and they decided Hannah would go with him, aboard his father's boat, until they could find a safe place for her to live. If not for Kit and Nat, Hannah would have been killed.
The Witch of Blackbird Pond has several important lessons Kit learned. She never let other people convince her to stop being adventurous and stop doing what she loved. She trusted her instincts and believed in herself. She also believed in her decisions, like when she decided to help Prudence learn to read and write. Kit risked everything just to help a little girl have an education. Kit might have made some bad decisions, but that’s part of learning. She learned from those mistakes and bettered herself from them. This story can relate to our lives today. Although we don’t experience the same difficulties as in the book, we do experience difficulties in everyday life. We must trust our instincts, believe in ourselves, and learn from our mistakes like Kit did in The Witch of Blackbird Pond. Ultimately, the most important lesson is not to, as they say, judge a book by its cover.