Grace M.

Letting Swift River Go

I am reading the book Letting Swift River Go by Jane Yolen. The main
character is Sally Jane and she is very passionate in what she believes in.
She is passionate because a] she wants to stop the men from bulldozing the
town that she is growing up in, b] she learned that you should fight as hard
as you can and always keep on trying and never give up,and c] she wants to
show what she believes in and turn down those rude, cruel men.

  
Sally Jane is so passionate in what she believes in. She really wants to stop
those ignorant men from ruining the town that she is growing up in. In the
beginning of the story,Sally Jane thought that the world was a very peaceful,
calm place.But when the men started to wreck her town, her thoughts
about the world changed. She wanted the town that she was growing up in
to be a nice,calm place but that changed for her, and she really, really
wanted to stop that. The men-and the women,too- were being very ignorant
of her, and the rest of the kids growing up in the towns of Swift River.
Sally Jane was so passionate about all of that. I know this because in the
text it states,”Mr. Baxter’s house went by truck along the blacktop to its
new home in another town. Nancy and I ran alongside it for a ways, but it
had more breath than we did.” The part,” Nancy and I ran alongside it for
a ways,” really,really shows how Sally Jane isn’t ready yet to let her town
go. Sally Jane really,really wants to stop those rude,ignorant, cruel men
from ruining and wrecking and bulldozing her town.

   
My second reason that Sally Jane is passionate in what she believes in is
that Sally Jane learned that you should fight as hard as you can and always
keep on trying as hard as you can. She learned this because in the book the
text clearly tells me,”The men went to Grange Hall. The women,too. But
nobody asked us kids.” Sally Jane thought that this was so unfair for the
kids in her town. She wanted to go right up to those men and give them a
piece of her mind! She also learned that you should really stand up for your
own rights. In the real world,it is very important to do so. Sally Jane
wanted to take a step up into the real world and show those men that she
had her own rights,and she wanted to tell the men that all of the children
had their rights too,throughout all of the little Swift River towns. Sally
Jane really learned something from this. She is so passionate,she wants to
show those men a piece of her mind!

My last reason that Sally Jane is passionate in what she believes in is
that she really wants to show those men what she believes and turn them
down! She really wants to turn the men down. In the text it tells me that
the Papa/Dad is telling Sally Jane,” ‘You have to remember,Sally Jane.
Remember our town.’ But it didn’t seem like our town anymore.” That part,
”It didn’t seem like our town anymore,” really describes what the men are
doing to her town. It shows that the town must look destroyed. Imagine
that: Your town feeling so empty. All the trees, houses, bushes, buildings,
all gone. Just water there in place of all of those things. That would be so
hard for you,wouldn’t it? Well,that is how Sally Jane feels,and what her
town will look like once the men finish. That is so sad and hard for her.
That feeling is what makes her want to stop those men. She wants to turn
down the men,whether they like it or not. But she cannot, so she is angry.
She is getting mad! She loves her town, her home, her place where she has
memorized the streets, known what is behind every corner, and to have to
lose all of the that. All of those precious memories. She does not want the
Boston men to dig up her town. This is why she is so passionate to stop the
men. She is passionate in the things that she wants to achieve, and this is
one of them.

Thank you for reading my essay about Letting Swift River Go. I have
worked very hard on it. It shows that Sally Jane is passionate in what she
believes. She is passionate because a]she wants to stop the men from
bulldozing her town, b]Sally Jane learned that you should always keep on
fighting and keep on trying,and c]she is trying so hard to stop the men
from ruining her town.Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed!