In American Studies we started a project called the Land of Golden Opportunity. We were instructed to create a children’s storybook with a partner based off of a book of our choosing (from the selection provided) that included all of the components that a book has. My partner, Makenzie, and I read the book Daughter of Fortune. It takes place during the Gold Rush following the main character, Eliza Sommers, who follows her lover to California. Using our shared passion of writing and our creative abilities, we were able to transform a lengthy 399 page book containing several adult themes into a children’s book. Due to the time crunch––this without a doubt, was a very difficult project. Originally, my partner and I wanted to get our book professionally bound and printed and were very excited to write our storybook. Unfortunately, we were not given enough time to execute our plans and could not do what we had originally wanted to do. Also, the illustrations were difficult for us due to our limited artistic abilities. All of our illustrations were done with acrylic paint because it’s very saturated and the brightness of the colors made the illustrations pop and look like what I envisioned a Chilean city would look like. Using acrylic paint was challenging because it was messy and because of the amount of time we had to complete it, we weren’t as neat as we could’ve been had we more time. Through this process, I learned how to cite sources using MLA format, how to think of a quick fix when a mistake or something gets in the way, and how to format a google doc so that everything is centered and looks like the page from an actual storybook. I learned that immigrating to the US was not as easy as it is now. People were rude and unaccepting towards certain races and laws were put in place discriminating them in an indirect way like the Foreign Miners Tax of 1853. It put a tax of $20/month on foreigners and made it difficult for them to mine because a lot of them couldn’t afford that. This was indirectly targeted towards Chileans because Chileans were known for being avid miners. Also, they were treated unfairly by Californians once they arrived. The majority of Chilean immigrants stayed in San Francisco in a small area called Chilecito or “Little Chile”. This area was attacked by a self-appointed militia group called “The Hounds”, who robbed and attacked Chilecito. I am proudest about the historical content and the illustrations because I put a lot of time and effort into perfecting them.
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AuthorHibah Shafi is a Senior at New Technology High School. Archives
May 2019
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