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You now the outcasts of poker flat review and assess answers have a balance the outcasts of poker flat review and assess answers of €200 and with “Real Money First” bonuses you are able to cancel the bonus without losing any of your winnings (as long as your balance has never reached €100 or below). Today, we meet the 'Outcasts of Poker Flat'! Driven out of the rough and tumble Poker Flat, the good, the bad, and the ugly of these men and women are introduced to our town. Plan your 60-minute lesson in English / Language Arts or Group Communication and Discussion with helpful tips from Christopher Arnett.

1. 1

   What is the story's ultimate treatment of religion?

   The story opens with John Oakhurst noticing the 'Sabbath lull in the air,' a phrase that instantly evokes Poker Flat's religious resonances. The exile of Oakhurst and his companions itself connotes divine judgement in line with the various cleansings that punctuate the Bible, including the Plagues of Egypt and the Flood, the latter of which is connoted by the narrator's comparison of the falling snow to 'white-winged doves.' Throughout the story, the narrator uses language that seems to pass divine judgement on the exiles, Tom, and Piney; for example, it describes Piney as 'the younger and purer,' and the Duchess as Piney's 'soiled sister.' However, Tom, 'the Innocent,' and his bride, Piney Woods, also initiate a round of religious hymn-singing once they have merged with the exiles, casting the entire group—including the supposedly sinful exiles—in a religious light. By the end of the story, this motif of purification has extended to include the exiles, as Mother Shipton becomes a martyr figure and the falling snow hides 'all human stain,' meaning the sin that, according to the citizens of Poker Flat, defined the exiles. In this way, the ending of the story is ultimately religious, in that it forgives the exiles of their sins in the same stroke as it eliminates them from the Earth, much like the religious cleansings of the Bible.

2. 2

   How does the playing card used as John Oakhurst's tombstone develop the theme of luck, chance, and fate?

   Oakhurst admits that, as a gambler, he believes a person's luck is always changing, and the narrator says that for Oakhurst, life is an 'uncertain game.' Oakhurst's ideas about his profession truly extend to his worldview, which suggests a resonance between the physical playing card and Oakhurst's physical body. In this way, it is fitting that his tombstone is a playing card, as it symbolizes his ideas about knowing when one's own luck is about to run out. His suicide thus becomes a victorious act, as he ultimately wins the game of life by taking his own life instead of succumbing to death like his companions in the mountains.

3. 3

   How does Mother Shipton's role as a martyr develop the story's existing themes of guilt, purity, and innocence?

   Mother Shipton begins the story as a sinful character but evolves into a martyr, providing a useful microcosm of the more global irony embedded in the story. Although both Mother Shipton and the Duchess have been exiled because of their profession as prostitutes, Mother Shipton is presented as a thornier, more vengeful character than The Duchess. When the journey begins, for example, Mother Shipton threatens to 'cut somebody's heart out,' whereas the Duchess directs her anger inward, simply threatening to 'die in the road.' As the characters' exile grows more desperate, however, Mother Shipton becomes the ultimate figure of selflessness, sacrificing her food—and therefore her life—so that Piney, who is clearly the most innocent of the expedition's women, may live. More so than even Oakhurst, Mother Shipton thereby enhances the irony and hypocrisy of Poker Flat banishing those whom they deem 'improper,' revealing that in doing so, they have sentenced an unsung martyr to her death.

4. 4

   How do the myths and mythical symbols mentioned in the story speak to the novel's themes of innocence and purity?

   Notions of good and evil are crucial to this story, as its premise is the exile of those deemed 'improper' by the good townspeople of Poker Flat. Much of this duality is communicated through symbols that relate to purity and innocence or, by contrast, stain and guilt. It is, for example, in the guise of a mere plot device that snow serves as a crucial symbol of purity. This is explicitly invoked by the narrator at the close of the story when the characters succumb to the blizzard: 'all human stain, all trace of earthly travail, was hidden beneath the spotless mantle mercifully flung from above,' says the narrator. Fire likewise becomes a dual symbol of both damnation (hellfire) and purification. In this way, fire and snow serve as almost biblical—indeed elemental—symbols that track the supposedly evil group of exiles throughout their journey from 'evil' to 'good.' It is the story of the Iliad, however, that serves as the ultimate mythical symbol in the story, invoking as it does the themes of fate and divine judgement.

5. 5

   Is this story ultimately fatalistic?

   Throughout the story, the narrator plays with the idea that life is a game of poker and therefore subject to the same odds. This is, of course, voiced explicitly by John Oakhurst, who calls life 'an uncertain game.' In a vacuum, this line would imply that one's fate is as predetermined as a deck of cards, a thesis that is likewise borne out when Oakhurst says that all one can ever know about luck is that it is 'bound to change.' That said, notions of fate and free will duel throughout the story on a character-by-character basis. Although the exiles are doomed, through no fault of their own, when Poker Flat banishes them on the eve of a blizzard (not to mention when Uncle Billy steals their provisions), Tom 'the Innocent' and his bride, Piney, choose to take the mountain pass to seek their fortune. Likewise, while most of the characters surrender to death by freezing, John Oakhurst chooses to commit suicide by shooting himself in the heart, while Mother Shipton starves herself. In this way, the story keeps in tension notions of fate and free will, as each character's fate is a product of both.

'The Outcasts of Poker Flat' (1869) is a short story written by author of the American West Bret Harte. An example of naturalism and local color of California during the first half of the nineteenth century, 'The Outcasts of Poker Flat' was first published in January 1869 in the magazine Overland Monthly. It was one of two short stories which brought the author national attention.

Plot summary[edit]

The story takes place in a Californian community known as Poker Flat, near the town of La Porte. Poker Flat is, in the opinions of many, on a downward slope. The town has lost thousands of dollars, and has experienced a moral. In an effort to save what is left of the town and reestablish it as a 'virtuous' place, a secret society is created to decide whom to exile and whom to kill. On November 23rd of 1850, four 'immoral' individuals are exiled from Poker Flat. The first of them is a professional poker player, John Oakhurst. He is among those sent away because of his great success in winning from those on the secret committee. On his way out of town, he is joined by The Duchess, a saloon girl; Mother Shipton, a madam; and Uncle Billy, the town drunk and a suspected robber. These four set out for a camp which is a day's journey away, over a mountain range. Once halfway there, all exiles other than Oakhurst decide to stop at noon for a rest, against Oakhurst's wishes.

While on their rest, the group is met by a pair of runaway lovers on their way to Poker Flat to get married. Piney Woods is a fifteen-year-old girl. Her lover, Tom Simson, known also as 'the Innocent', met Oakhurst before and has great admiration for him, as Oakhurst won a great deal of money from Tom. Oakhurst returned the money and pressed upon Tom that the latter should never play poker again, as he was a terrible player. Nonetheless, Tom is thrilled to have come upon Oakhurst on this day, and decides that he and Piney will stay with the group for a while. They do not know that the group is one of exiles; 'innocent' as they are, they are convinced The Duchess is an actual duchess, and so on.

A decision is made for everyone to stay the night together. Tom leads the group to a half-butty cabin he discovered, where they spend the night. In the middle of the night, Oakhurst wakes up and sees a heavy snowstorm raging. Looking about, he realizes that he is the only one awake, but soon discovers someone had awoken before him: Uncle Billy is missing, with the group's mules and horses stolen. They are all now forced to wait out the storm with provisions that will likely only last for another 10 days. After a week in the cabin, Mother Shipton dies, having secretly and altruistically starved herself for young Piney. Oakhurst fashions some snowshoes for Simson to go for help, telling the others he will accompany the young man part of the way to Poker Flat. The 'law of Poker Flat' finally arrives at the cabin, only to find the dead Duchess and Piney, embracing in a peaceful repose. They look so peaceful and innocent that the onlookers cannot tell which is the virgin and which is the madam.

Oakhurst has committed suicide. He is found dead beneath a tree with his Derringer's bullet in his heart. There is a playing card, the two of clubs, pinned to the tree above his head with a note:

BENEATH THIS TREELIES THE BODY OF JOHN OAKHURST, WHO STRUCK A STREAK OF BAD LUCK ON THE 23rd OF NOVEMBER, 1850, AND HANDED IN HIS CHECKS ON THE 7TH DECEMBER, 1850.

Characters[edit]

• John Oakhurst

One of the story's heroes, Oakhurst is occasionally frank but kind in motivation. He is chivalrous, insisting upon switching his good riding horse Five Spot for the mule of the Duchess and refusing to use vulgar language. Another instance of his good nature is: 'Tommy, you're a good little man, but you can't gamble worth a cent. Don't try it ever again.' He then handed him back his money back, [and] pushed him gently from the room'. Oakhurst is not a drinker. He is cool tempered, even keeled and has a calm manner about him. He believes in luck and fate. His suicide spurs the question whether he was simply giving in to his bad luck or rather, decided he was no longer going to live by luck and took his life.

Outcasts Of Poker Flat Worksheets

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations[edit]

Harte's story has been brought to film at least five times, including in 1919 with Harry Carey, in 1937 with Preston Foster, and in 1952 with Dale Robertson. The spaghetti westernFour of the Apocalypse is based on this story and another of Harte's stories, 'The Luck of Roaring Camp'.

Operas based on The Outcasts of Poker Flats include those by Samuel Adler,^[1]Jaromir Weinberger,^[2] Stanworth Beckler,^[3] and Andrew Earle Simpson.^[4]

The Outcasts Of Poker Flat Question Support Answers Pdf

References[edit]

1. ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2006-05-18. Retrieved 2006-08-09.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. ^'Jaromir Weinberger – Outcasts of Poker Flat – Opera'. boosey.com.
3. ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2006-07-18. Retrieved 2006-08-09.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
4. ^Andrew Earle Simpson. 'Coming to The Capital Fringe Festival: 'The Outcasts of Poker Flat''. DCMetroTheaterArts.

External links[edit]

Outcasts Of Poker Flat Story

• The Outcasts of Poker Flat public domain audiobook at LibriVox
• The Outcasts of Poker Flat – Annotated text + analyses aligned to Common Core Standards