Helen Hunt Jackson's novel Ramona, published in 1884, was intended to arouse the nation's interest in the plight of California Indians using literary, melodramatic adaptations of actual events, such as the shooting of a Cahuilla Indian in the same fashion as Alessandro in the novel. Ms. Jackson was attempting to write "a story which will be a good stroke for the Indians." Very accelerated growth of the state of California was a key factor in the continuing marginalization of the mission Indians during the time in which the book had been written.
Romance is used as a device to drive the story of Ramona, a 19 year old girl of Indian and Scottish descent who falls in love with Alessandro, an Indian shepherd. Using a fictional love story to set the tone for her book allows the author to reach a broader audience than if it were written in a preachy, politically polarized style. Ramona became a bestseller in 1884, many literary critics at the time focused only on the romantic......

Join Now to view the rest of this term paper!
Members: Login to view this research paper.

Title: Ramona
Approximate Word Count: 2032
Approximate Pages: 9 (250 words per double-spaced page)

With the Term Papers Lab Membership Pass, you get instant access to every essay on this site, including this essay on Ramona, for as long as you remain a member.

Other essays sites charge almost $100 for a single term paper. At Term Papers Lab, you can get instant access to over 100,000 research papers for as little as $29.95!