HS English can sometimes be considered boring.

The curriculum often focuses on grammar rules, vocabulary memorization, and analyzing classic literature.

While these aspects are important for building a solid foundation in the language, they may not always engage students in a meaningful way.

The traditional teaching methods used in many HS English classrooms can also contribute to the perception of boredom. Lectures, worksheets, and tests can make the learning process seem dry and repetitive.

However, it doesn't have to be this way. Teachers can incorporate more interactive and hands-on activities to make English class more interesting.

For example, students could participate in group discussions, debates, or role-plays to practice their speaking and listening skills.

They could also create their own written works, such as short stories, poems, or blogs, to express their creativity and ideas.

By making HS English more engaging and relevant to students' lives, we can help them develop a genuine love for the language and a desire to continue learning.

Centennial is a remarkable novel set in Colorado, and it truly lives up to the description of a large book in every sense. It is one of Michener's most successful works.

It features the extensive timeline that readers have come to anticipate from him, and the fictional elements are firmly grounded in a wealth of fascinating historical facts. While there is an abundance of exposition, it is well-balanced with the human stories.

Michener begins with a somewhat educational geology lesson, presenting the personal trials and tribulations of dinosaurs and early mammals, and then surprisingly, beavers. It's evident that he dedicated a great deal of research to even the beavers, showing his commitment as a writer.

The human aspect of the book commences with the first inhabitants, the Arapaho, and their initial encounters with whites. This part introduces some of the most interesting characters, such as the Arapaho chief Lame Beaver and the adventurous French trader Pasqinel. These characters are so vivid that they seem to be based on real historical figures.

About a third of the way through the novel, there is a particularly disturbing massacre, similar to the Sand Creek Massacre. It's sad that the author had to invent so few of the horrific details.

A diverse cast of characters appears and disappears throughout the pages of this book. There are the typical good and bad characters, a significant number of morally ambiguous ones, and a few underdeveloped minor roles. Overall, it's an engaging and informative read, not high literature perhaps, but by Michener's standards, it's quite good.

Do you渴望一本能让你在夏日里沉浸其中的大部头读物？不妨试试这本。米切纳详细讲述了科罗拉多州一个定居点——百年镇的故事，从地质情况、史前动物一直讲到现代。书中有美洲原住民、捕猎者和早期定居者，有养牛与牧羊的纷争，有骗子，有马戏团进城，有沙尘暴的恐怖，还有当今的现代问题。最令人心酸的是阿拉帕霍人的命运，他们不断被美国政府和军队欺骗和迫害。值得称赞的是，米切纳几乎没有对那段历史中的残暴行为有所隐瞒，同时也提供了一次精彩的阅读体验。总体而言，这本书可以打五星，是一本必推荐的书。

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The story sets off at a pace that is slower than molasses in winter. It initially covers what appears to be an introduction to remedial geology. After that, it follows up with painfully anthropomorphic tales of the local fauna.

It gets slightly better when it delves into the human characters. However, overall, fifteen mediocre tales strung together do not make one great story.

Each of the individual tales may have some merit on their own, but when combined, they lack a cohesive and engaging narrative. The pacing remains sluggish throughout, making it a bit of a chore to get through.

Perhaps with some tighter editing and a more focused storyline, this collection of tales could have been more successful. As it stands, it is a rather underwhelming read that fails to leave a lasting impression.

Great book!

I absolutely loved learning more about my home state of Colorado. I went into reading it completely blind, thinking it was about the past 200 years in Colorado. However, to my surprise, it's actually about the area around Centennial.

The book takes you on a journey that starts at the time of the dinosaurs and ends around the 1980s. It really reminded me of Edward Rutherford's books, with its detailed and sweeping narrative of a particular place and time.

One thing to note is that it's a long book. So, be prepared to devote a large swath of time to reading it. But trust me, it's well worth it. You'll gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the history and evolution of this fascinating area.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Colorado's history or just a good historical read. It's a captivating and engaging book that will keep you hooked from start to finish.

Wow, this was an incredibly exhausting read.

It is the very first book by James A. Michener that I have ever delved into, so I truly had no idea what to anticipate. The section titled "The Massacre" nearly shattered my heart, just like the brutal slaughter of the buffalo and the trial of Floyd Calendar. Even though this is a work of fiction, it is firmly rooted in history, and many of the heinous atrocities described within these pages actually occurred in real life (or perhaps even worse).

I do sense that the author seemed to be running out of steam towards the end, especially by skipping over the decades from the 40's through 70's. And in the final chapter, he completely abandoned the pretense of this being research for a magazine article, which was rather feeble to begin with.

One last observation - there is a significant amount of racism and sexism prevalent in this book. It is truly painful to read, but once again, this was the mindset that many people held during that era. And, unfortunately, some still hold such attitudes today. Additionally, considering that this was written 50 years ago, it helps to put it more into context.

Overall, it is depressingly bleak and yet it managed to suck me in completely.

Fifty hours of listening later and I've completed Centennial. I'm truly very glad I did. It's an extraordinarily remarkable book, which has played a pivotal role in shaping my identity.

I'm not originally from Colorado. Instead, I grew up in a small Kansas prairie town. My home town has undergone experiences quite similar to the setting described in the book, with both a rise and a subsequent decline.

I've read Centennial on multiple occasions, and each time I've been left feeling completely satisfied. This time, with the listening experience rather than reading, although the narrator wasn't the absolute best, I imagined my dad reading it aloud, and that made it truly enjoyable.

I also watched the 1970s miniseries with my family. My dad had the paperback, and I think he said “you should read it this way” (although I may have just found it and started reading it on my own; note: this isn’t really a book written for ten-year-olds).

Listening to it brought every single detail to vivid life, making some scenes even more heartbreaking. There was one scene that actually moved me to tears, which was a first for a Michener book.

The book's themes, such as the mistreatment of Native Americans and environmental destruction, still resonate strongly today. The last chapter's warning about water and land depletion feels almost eerily relevant. Michener's message about respecting the land is just as important now as it was in 1973.

While Michener's books may not be for everyone, they do offer great depth and satisfaction. After each reading or listening session, I'm left both fulfilled and filled with a sense of nostalgia.

A few passages and quotes really stuck out to me. Paul Garrett, the protagonist in the last chapter “November Elegy” said “We may find, and very soon, too, that if the white man wants to survive on the prairie, he’ll have to go back to the permanent values of the Indian. Respect for the land. Attention to animals. Living in harmony with the seasons. Some kind of basic relationship with the soil. An awful lot of the white man’s progress will come to grief when the next dry spell comes along.”

Alice Grebe, the tragic Dust Bowl wife from the chapter “Drylands” lamented “How can a nation allow such things to happen?” This applied to so many other events in the book, and I think it could be considered a theme. A probably very pointed theme during the turbulent Sixties and the lead up to the Bicentennial.

I chose this book because I have decided to take a literary tour of the United States.

Having been to the south with Eudora Welty and the Optimist's Daughter, I decided to go West. And I couldn't have chosen a better guide than Michener (whom I have never read before.)

I was absolutely fascinated by the details and historical information - beginning way back some billion years ago when the cooling earth began to shape itself into what is now known as Colorado.

Each chapter of this book was like reading a separate novel except that they all fit together in one sweeping progression that took me from the age of the dinosaurs right on through to the present time.

I grew attached to all of the characters - even the beavers, the horses and the buffalo but especially the people - the Indians, the settlers, the fur traders, the cattle ranchers, cowboys, hunters, farmers, even the scoundrels, swindlers and politicians - because they were so carefully portrayed.

But this wasn't primarily an epic story about people and families (although it was fun watching them or their descendants show up from one era to the next). It was an epic story about the west itself and what happened there over the thousands and thousands of years that have made it what it is.

What a trip!! This book has truly opened my eyes to the rich and diverse history of the American West. It has allowed me to experience the beauty and harshness of the land, and to understand the struggles and triumphs of the people who have lived there.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in American history or who simply enjoys a good adventure story. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to take a literary tour of the United States.

I read this book when the mini-series was on the verge of being released on TV. At that time, I was employed in the Wyoming State Archives/Historical Dept.

Michener had conducted research there, and he recognized the staff in the introduction to this book. Since my dad's family resided in Greeley, CO, and I had relatives in Ft. Collins, and my dad's people (Germans from Russia) were depicted in this book, I was deeply captivated by it.

I still vividly recall the outstanding characters - McKeeg, Clay Basket, Potatoes Brumbaugh, and so on. I adored it, adored it, adored it! I truly desire to read it once more.

The story was so engaging that it transported me to a different time and place. The detailed descriptions and well-developed characters made it a truly remarkable read.

It's a book that has left a lasting impression on me, and I'm eager to revisit it and experience all the emotions and adventures it has to offer once again.

Michener is truly in a class of his own. He is renowned for his many long novels, and this particular one consists of a hefty 909 pages, filled with accurate historical facts. I initiated the reading of this book last September and just recently completed it this April. It presents the history of Colorado, but it doesn't stop there. It also delves into the histories of New Mexico, Texas, Wyoming, and Mexico. The detail about the lives lived by the Indians, the Anglos, the Mexicans, and even some Russians and Japanese is simply amazing. One astonishing fact is that the number of people killed in Colorado in a single year due to auto accidents exceeds the number of those killed by the Native Americans in all the decades of their battles with the Anglos. Many whites desired the extermination of the Indians, but what about the role of cars? So, if you have an interest in learning about the hunting of beavers, cattle and sheep raising, the construction and subsequent abandonment of towns, and the water situation in Colorado, this book is definitely for you.

I came to this book with certain expectations. I thought it would cover a broader time span and involve more families. However, it didn't turn out that way.

Unlike the historical sagas written by Rutherford or Follett, this book maintained the same group of characters for the majority of the chapters. Only a limited number of families were delved into. And whenever a new character was introduced, he often had a son or daughter who was almost a carbon copy of himself. As a result, it felt like I was reading the same story repeatedly for 900 pages.

Characters who had been developed over a hundred or more pages were suddenly killed off in a single sentence. This made me double-check to see if I had read it correctly. And when I confirmed that they did die, I found that I didn't really care.

The only part that truly interested me was the chapter titled "The Massacre," which vividly portrays the American genocide of Native Americans. By the end, I was extremely tired of reading about beets, Herefords, and the Platte. There was even a long chapter solely dedicated to the formation of the mountains.

In conclusion, I will not be recommending this book to anyone.

This book, which applies the art of Michener to the state of Colorado, has been on my reading list for years. It was truly an enjoyable read, and I gained a wealth of knowledge about the West. I learned about its settlement, the modes of travel, the various important groups such as French trappers, Native American Indians, the military, settlers, and investors (especially the British), as well as the impact of natural resources and economic factors. Additionally, one can't help but learn a great deal about geography and the cities that grew along with the USA.

There are so many memorable characters in the book! I even had to look some of them up on the web to distinguish between fact and fiction. The entire cast is incredibly strong. I was particularly struck by Elly Zendt - what a tenacious girl! Only Michener could make you love her with the limited space dedicated to her. The others are too numerous to mention, but they have all stayed with me as I've reflected on the work over the years.

However, there were some aspects that detracted from my overall enjoyment. Firstly, Michener's tendency to go back to the "primordial soup" frustrated me. I confess that I skipped scores of pages in the sections on geography and animals. The "millions and millions of years ago" discussions seemed incredibly tedious, especially since I believe in a younger earth.

Secondly, while the character development was very strong for most of the book, and Michener has a remarkable way of interweaving families over generations, it seemed much weaker towards the end, resulting in slower reading.

Thirdly, Michener appears to have a fascination with illicit sexual relationships, which I found overemphasized. Although it's to be expected in such a work, by the end, I couldn't help but think that in the West as Michener portrays it, there were monogamous marriages, but exploits before marriage were expected, at least for those with strong physical or personal attributes. To be fair, the coverage of this wasn't overly explicit.

Fourthly, the final section, set in the early 1970s, seemed off-kilter. There wasn't enough character-driven action, and something felt amiss - perhaps it was too political? I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I did learn about the problems facing the state 30 years ago, but the weakness here seems to be the lack of perspective. Since the author was writing close to his own time, it was more difficult to see which shaping influences would emerge. As a result, this section was weaker and less compelling.

Fifthly, I have to amend my review to add that there is a niggling anti-Christian bias in this book. The Mennonite family is portrayed as self-righteous, pompous, and pharisaical. Also, two families in the wagon train are disliked for their insistence on a Sabbath rest. There are no redeeming religious characters, although the bit parts played by two priests may count, but they aren't emphasized like the Mennonites. This detracted from the enjoyment of the book.

Despite these drawbacks, I still consider this book worth reading and would recommend it. True, it's a commitment at just over 900 pages, but it's well worth the time, especially if you skim the slower parts.

The Centennial miniseries from 1978-79 was also watched by my family during the lockdown holidays of 2020. The miniseries consists of 12 episodes, with episodes 1 and 12 being 3 hours long and the others running 90 minutes. Watching the miniseries brought many of the same issues from the book to mind. I initially thought I was watching it alone, but the production steadily pulled in everyone in our household. The early character development and plotting were captivating, firmly implanting the Pasquinels, McKeags, and Zendts in our minds, along with Major Mercy, Mr. Seecum, the spunky Charlotte, Skimmerhorn, Lloyd, Broombaugh, and Garrett. Even Dumire and the Wendells were poignant. However, then the storyline hit a wall. The final episode was tedious, boring, and pedantic. After an entire series of showing how the founders settled and changed the land, the storyline embraced 1970s Colorado politics to push an illogical environmentalism and stifling conservatism that was obstructionist and stuck in the past. The family found it bizarre. It serves as an example that when one tries to write a dogmatic position into historical fiction, the narrative breaks down. Propaganda is simply inadequate to capture the multitexture, multicolor, multiculture panorama that the best of Centennial displayed. Like the book, the miniseries is worth watching, at least episodes 1-11. You could skip 12, but after enjoying the earlier episodes, you'll probably have to get through it like we did. I don't need to watch 12 ever again, but I wouldn't mind rewatching the bulk of the series.