How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Second, I would be crossing the Atlantic – a trip that could last anywhere from one to two months – during the summer, when no formal education took place. (Preface.8)
The voyage across the Atlantic stands in for Charlotte's formal education at Barrington School for Better Girls. (Think of it as summer camp, but with, um, none of the arts and crafts.) How is the ship like or unlike a typical classroom? Who acts as Charlotte's teacher? Her classmates?
Quote #2
I was given a volume of blank pages – how typical of my father! – and instructed to keep a daily journal of my voyage across the ocean so that the writing of it should prove of educational value to me. Indeed, my father warned me that not only would he read the journal and comment upon it, but he would pay particular attention to spelling - not my strongest suit. (Preface.13)
Recording her experiences on the boat becomes a form of education for Charlotte. Charlotte's father, however, seems more interested in matters of form (as in, her spelling) than issues of content (the events that Charlotte will write about). Also, why do you think Charlotte has trouble with spelling? What does that tell us about her personality?
Quote #3
"As convenient, Mr. Hollybrass, send Mr. Barlow to Miss Doyle. She needs to learn where her trunk was stowed." (6.28)
While at school, Charlotte had her head stuck in books; however, learning aboard the Seahawk takes on a very different meaning. Charlotte must be educated about the layout of the ship, its customs, and its manners. (As must the reader! Note the illustration of the ship's parts at the end of the book.) Inevitably, her personal experiences – such as her adventure with the brown nut head, for example – take the place of formal education.
Quote #4
Then there were their yarns. I hardly knew nor cared which were true and which were not. Tales of castaways on Pacific atolls never failed to move me. Solemn accounts of angels and ghosts appearing miraculously in the rigging were, by turns, thrilling and terrifying. I learned the men's language, their ways, their dreams. Above all, I cherished the notion that my contact with the crew improved them. As to what it did to me – I hardly guessed. (8.14)
The men present Charlotte with tales the likes of which she has never heard at school: fantastic, weird, and probably fictional. As many of the crewmembers are illiterate, their culture is an oral one. (That means their stories are not written in books, but are spoken out loud.) While Charlotte finds the sailors' world fascinating, she also believes her presence is improving them. Do you think this is true? Are they also, perhaps, improving her?
Quote #5
Beyond all else I had been educated to the belief that when I was wrong - and how often my patient father found me at fault - it was my responsibility – mine alone – to admit my fault and make amends.
Gradually then, I came to believe that no matter how distasteful, I must beg the captain's forgiveness. And the sooner I did so, the better. (12.6-12.7)
Charlotte reveals what a huge influence her father has been on her education – and how his teachings and values still very much influence her behavior even out on her own. Also, Charlotte appears to be taking responsibility for herself, but what real good comes out of her apology to the captain? What would you have done?
Quote #6
"I want to show that I stand with you," I pleaded. "That I made a mistake."
"A mistake?" Foley snapped. "Two able-bodied men have died!"
"Besides," Dillingham agreed, "you'll bring more trouble than good."
"You can teach me," I offered.
"God's fist," Grimes cried. "She thinks this a school." (13.7-13.11)
Charlotte finally realizes that the men have something to teach her. Notice how Charlotte's and the crew's ideas about education are very different. Grimes scoffs at the idea that the ship is a school or that Charlotte could become their student. How is learning different in each environment? How is it similar?
Quote #7
Once I had showed myself willing to do what they did – by climbing in the rigging – once they saw me stand up to Jaggery, an intense apprenticeship commenced. And for it the crewman became my teachers. They helped me, worked with me, guided me past the mortal dangers that lurked in every task. In this they were far more patient with all my repeated errors than those teachers at the Barrington School for Better Girls when there was nothing to learn but penmanship, spelling, and the ancient authors of morality. (14.21)
After proving herself to the crew, Charlotte's re-education officially commences, and she begins acquiring a new set of skills. What is it, exactly, that she's learning? Clearly, she's not practicing penmanship or spelling. But we don't think her education is only about deck swabbing either. What do you think her new education is made up of?
Quote #8
"When I sent you to the Barrington School for Better Girls, I had been, reliably informed that it would provide you with an education consistent with your station in life, to say nothing of your expectations and ours for you. I was deceived. Somehow your teachers there filled your mind with the unfortunate capacity to invent the most outlandish, not to say unnatural tales." (22.159)
Charlotte's father believes her journal to be pure fiction. Interestingly, he blames her "unnatural" tales on the instructors at the Barrington School for Better Girls – oh, but of course. Why is the idea that Charlotte might actually be telling the truth – or that she could have learned something from the sailors – so hard for him to believe? Better yet, why does he call her writing unnatural? Is it possible for the written word to violate the laws of nature?
Quote #9
"What you have written is rubbish of the worst taste. Stuff for penny dreadfuls. Beneath contempt. Justice, Charlotte, is poorly served when you speak ill of your betters such as poor Captain Jaggery. More to the point, Charlotte, your spelling is an absolute disgrace. Never have I seen such abominations. And the grammar... It is beyond belief!
An American tutor, miss, shall instill a little order in your mind. But the spelling, Charlotte, the spelling..." (22.163-22.164)
It's the grammar that's beyond belief? Really, Mr. Doyle? Really? (Cue Seth and Amy voice.) Weirdly enough, the main concern of Charlotte's father isn't so much the content of her journal (the meaning of her words) but the form (her spelling and punctuation of those words). Right. Do you think maybe Charlotte's father might be missing the bigger point? Is he attempting to maintain order or merely the appearance of it? Think of this scene in relation to Captain Jaggery's battered cabin on board the Seahawk (21.36).
Quote #10
On September the eighth – surely one of the longest days I can remember – I informed everyone at the table that I wished to be excused to continue the reading that was so occupying me.
"What are you studying, my dear?" my mother asked nervously.
"Dr. Dillard's essay on patience, Mama."
"How very gratifying," she said. (22.182-22.185)
Charlotte pretends to be returning to her former course of education, but actually plans on returning to the Seahawk. How is the text she claims to be reading, an essay on patience, ironic?