I really need help- I am really confused- The year is 1816 and you are a teenager living in St. Martinville, Louisiana. Though you left school at the age of twelve, you are the first in your family to learn how to read and write.

Your mother has come to you with a task.

Your great-grandfather, Jacques DuBois, is in poor health. At 80, he does not have long to live. He is the oldest member of your farming community and is the last to remember the first arrival of the Acadians in Louisiana from Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia in 1765.

Your mother has asked you to write his story for the family records. He has been reluctant to tell of his hardships over the years, but he has agreed to speak with you over the next few weeks.

Your assignment has five parts. You will write all of it in first person in the voice of your character. Each entry will be about 150-200 words. journal from

Part I: Explain who you are, where you live and what you do. Although you live in a Cajun community and speak French at home, you are a third-generation American who has never left Louisiana. Explain briefly the task that you have agreed to and how you will carry it out.

Part II: Tell the story of your great-grandfather's life in Grand-Pré during the Acadian Golden Age.

Part III: Tell the story of why he left Nova Scotia and how he ended up in Louisiana.

Part IV: Explain what it was like for him to settle in St. Martinville and describe the difficulties he faced.

Part V: Reflect on how you have felt about the process of speaking to your great-grandfather and writing down his story. Has this experience changed how you feel about yourself as a Cajun? If so, how?

You may need to do some research here. You can start with this site, which gives the background on Grand-Pré. Keep track of any sources that you use and include them in your report.

Format

You have a few choices here. You can use any of the following:

hand-written journal (you may have to scan this)
typed document which should look like it came from 1815
audio recording
oral report - discuss with your teacher the possibility of reading the report aloud from a set of notecards
Marks

If you choose an oral report, you will be marked out of four for fluency, pronunciation and intonation, rather than mechanics and grammar.