Writing Samples
ELDORADO WRITING
 | |  | |  | |  | |  |
Expository: “A Brief History of the Boer War” (From “Preface,” The Legacy of Ladysmith, pp. 8-9.)
The Boer War fell into four distinct stages. The first was the relief of three towns under Boer Siege: Kimberley
and Ladysmith by late February, 1900, and Mafeking in May. Then came the second, or “Marching to Pretoria,”
phase in which the British armies under Lord Roberts and General Kitchener captured both Johannesburg
and Pretoria by early June, 1900. At this point, the war was presumed won, and Roberts returned to England,
leaving the infamous Kitchener to mop up. And so began the third phase, in which the remaining Boer
soldiers, actually just un-uniformed farmers on horseback, turned from organized warfare to guerilla activities,
ripping up railways and communication lines and making sneak attacks against British military units. These
forays continued unabated until well into 1901, at which point Kitchener devised the scheme that would
ultimately bring the Boers to their knees. This plan, carried out as follows, was the essence of the fourth
phase: All women and children of Boer families whose men continued to resist were incarcerated in detention
camps (where large numbers of them perished), their farms were burned, and the men themselves were
rounded up and confined with the help of thousands of miles of barbed wire which Kitchener ordered strung
through the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. The barbed-wire lines were manned by soldiers who
guarded them in blockhouses positioned, incredibly, one mile apart down the entire length of the longest
fence ever constructed. The Boer spirit of resistance was finally broken, and the peace treaty signed at
Vereeniging on May 31, 1902, officially ended the conflict. More than ten thousand British and Boer soldiers,
plus uncounted civilians, had died to complete Milner’s and Rhodes’s grand design.
Book Review: From Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel. (San Jose Mercury News,
October 4, 1998, Excerpt from the Cover Review, Book Section)
Barbara Kingsolver is one of America’s best-loved authors, but you have to admit she does not write pretty
titles: Pigs in Heaven, Animal Dreams, and now The Poisonwood Bible. These should not be held against her
excellent books, however.
In The Poisonwood Bible we see her regular themes establishing themselves from the opening chapters,
particularly the intrusion of modern America upon ancient customs that have deeply spiritual significance for
the people who practice them. Heretofore, Kingsolver’s fiction has dealt with incursions on Cherokee Indian
beliefs and rituals, but in The Poisonwood Bible she chooses the Belgian Congo around 1960.
A Baptist missionary, the Rev. Nathan Price, his wife, and four daughters from Bethlehem, Georgia, are off to
the Congo to assist in the missionary effort there for a year, although it turns out to be much longer. When they
discover that the airline allows them only 44 pounds of luggage apiece, the Prices find they are 61 pounds
overweight. This they solve by “wearing” what they cannot check for baggage. The girls wear six pairs of
underpants along with pedal pushers under two dresses apiece. The family tucks claw hammers, kitchen
tools, and a dozen boxes of Betty Crocker cake mix into their waistbands. . . .
Democratic Campaign Material: Excerpt from fund-raising letter
We have a problem on our hands if we plan to get out of Iraq in less than a decade. Democrats do not have a
veto-proof majority in the Senate. We can pass non-binding resolutions, but only to send signals to the
Administration. The White House, fully staffed by politicians who will never face the electorate again, does not
respond to the will of the American people. We cannot cut off funds for fear of leaving our young men and
women to their own designs to extricate themselves individually. That is clearly not what they joined the
military to have happen to them!
Anniversary Tribute: Reworded lyrics to song for a couple on their 33rd anniversary
“Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life”
(The lyrics as supposedly sung by Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald in “Naughty Marietta,” 1935.
Original words and music by Victor Herbert.)
Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life at last we found you,
Ah! Sometimes we wish we had not a clue!
All the striving, bitching, griping, threat’ning, crying,
The idle hopes, the crap, the burning tears we’ve caused ourselves.
For ‘tis love, and love alone, that kept us with us,
And it’s love, and love alone, we showed ourselves.
And our hearts have heard the answer to our call,
For ‘tis love alone that kept us here--forevermore!
The Boer War fell into four distinct stages. The first was the relief of three towns under Boer Siege: Kimberley
and Ladysmith by late February, 1900, and Mafeking in May. Then came the second, or “Marching to Pretoria,”
phase in which the British armies under Lord Roberts and General Kitchener captured both Johannesburg
and Pretoria by early June, 1900. At this point, the war was presumed won, and Roberts returned to England,
leaving the infamous Kitchener to mop up. And so began the third phase, in which the remaining Boer
soldiers, actually just un-uniformed farmers on horseback, turned from organized warfare to guerilla activities,
ripping up railways and communication lines and making sneak attacks against British military units. These
forays continued unabated until well into 1901, at which point Kitchener devised the scheme that would
ultimately bring the Boers to their knees. This plan, carried out as follows, was the essence of the fourth
phase: All women and children of Boer families whose men continued to resist were incarcerated in detention
camps (where large numbers of them perished), their farms were burned, and the men themselves were
rounded up and confined with the help of thousands of miles of barbed wire which Kitchener ordered strung
through the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. The barbed-wire lines were manned by soldiers who
guarded them in blockhouses positioned, incredibly, one mile apart down the entire length of the longest
fence ever constructed. The Boer spirit of resistance was finally broken, and the peace treaty signed at
Vereeniging on May 31, 1902, officially ended the conflict. More than ten thousand British and Boer soldiers,
plus uncounted civilians, had died to complete Milner’s and Rhodes’s grand design.
Book Review: From Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel. (San Jose Mercury News,
October 4, 1998, Excerpt from the Cover Review, Book Section)
Barbara Kingsolver is one of America’s best-loved authors, but you have to admit she does not write pretty
titles: Pigs in Heaven, Animal Dreams, and now The Poisonwood Bible. These should not be held against her
excellent books, however.
In The Poisonwood Bible we see her regular themes establishing themselves from the opening chapters,
particularly the intrusion of modern America upon ancient customs that have deeply spiritual significance for
the people who practice them. Heretofore, Kingsolver’s fiction has dealt with incursions on Cherokee Indian
beliefs and rituals, but in The Poisonwood Bible she chooses the Belgian Congo around 1960.
A Baptist missionary, the Rev. Nathan Price, his wife, and four daughters from Bethlehem, Georgia, are off to
the Congo to assist in the missionary effort there for a year, although it turns out to be much longer. When they
discover that the airline allows them only 44 pounds of luggage apiece, the Prices find they are 61 pounds
overweight. This they solve by “wearing” what they cannot check for baggage. The girls wear six pairs of
underpants along with pedal pushers under two dresses apiece. The family tucks claw hammers, kitchen
tools, and a dozen boxes of Betty Crocker cake mix into their waistbands. . . .
Democratic Campaign Material: Excerpt from fund-raising letter
We have a problem on our hands if we plan to get out of Iraq in less than a decade. Democrats do not have a
veto-proof majority in the Senate. We can pass non-binding resolutions, but only to send signals to the
Administration. The White House, fully staffed by politicians who will never face the electorate again, does not
respond to the will of the American people. We cannot cut off funds for fear of leaving our young men and
women to their own designs to extricate themselves individually. That is clearly not what they joined the
military to have happen to them!
Anniversary Tribute: Reworded lyrics to song for a couple on their 33rd anniversary
“Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life”
(The lyrics as supposedly sung by Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald in “Naughty Marietta,” 1935.
Original words and music by Victor Herbert.)
Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life at last we found you,
Ah! Sometimes we wish we had not a clue!
All the striving, bitching, griping, threat’ning, crying,
The idle hopes, the crap, the burning tears we’ve caused ourselves.
For ‘tis love, and love alone, that kept us with us,
And it’s love, and love alone, we showed ourselves.
And our hearts have heard the answer to our call,
For ‘tis love alone that kept us here--forevermore!