The Outcasts Of Poker Flat Regionalism And Local Color

'The Outcasts of Poker Flat' from The Overland Monthly, January 1869

https://ninatlanta.netlify.app/increase-your-chances-of-winning-roulette.html. '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.

Through the marvelously clear air the smoke of the pastoral village of Poker Flat rose miles away. Feathery drifts of snow, shaken from the long pine boughs, flew like white-winged birds, and settled about them as they slept.

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.

Outcasts

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.

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]

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]

Wikisource has original text related to this article:
  • The Outcasts of Poker Flat public domain audiobook at LibriVox
  • The Outcasts of Poker Flat – Annotated text + analyses aligned to Common Core Standards
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Outcasts_of_Poker_Flat&oldid=918632282'


Readabout Regionalism and quickly summery it in your unit1.doc

Regionalism

Regionalismliterature will focus on a specific area of character such as beliefs, behavior,and life style. This is to reveal the beautiful language within itself. Forexample, the regionalist writer will show the specific characteristic of itspeople and the locale area. So that people will know the culture of differentplaces and understands how their life is as well as knows what to deal with thepeople when visiting the place.


Read about BretHarte p.622 and summery it.

BretHarte

BretHarte was a classical writer. Before he became a writer, he had been working atschool as a minor teacher then moved to the local newspaper as an editor. Soonhe became very popular among other. He appeared as a local color writer whoexpresses different regional literature of different places. The story “TheOutcasts of Poker Flat” appeared during the year 1869.


Read “TheOutcasts of Poker Flat” and respond and think critically 1-17+vocab check


TheOutcasts of Poker Flat

1.Whyare Oakhurst and the others forced to leave Poker Flat?

= Oakhurst and the others are forced to leavePoker Flat because they win so much money from the townspeople. As well as the

residents of the Poker face wants to improve the town by expelling the group ofundesirables.


2.Why does Tom Simson act in the capacity of a“devoted slave” to Mr. Oakhurst?

= Mr. Oakhurst once won him $40 in a Sandy barbut Mr. Oakhurst decides to return the money to Simson and tell Simson not to

try to gamble again. So Tom admires Mr. Oakhurst as god and plans to go alongwith Mr. Oakhurst as a devoted slave with his

sweetheart, Piney Woods.


3.What has happened to the characters by thestory’s end? Which two might still be alive?

= Mr. Oakhurst gives the snowshoe to Simsonand tells him to go to the Poker Flat. The snow continues to fall nonstop. Theyhave

no food as well as the woods for making fire are decreased day by day.After Mr. Oakhurst goes sent Tom, he hasn't returned to

the cabin. So the two thatmight still be alive are Simson and Uncle Belly as the writer doesn’t mentionwhat’s happen to them

after going out from the cabin.


4.How does each outcast react to thedifficulties of the situation? Faced with hardship, do the

characters act noblyor treacherously? Explain.

= Well, only Uncle Billy shows out thetreacherous reaction. He steals other’s transportations and foods then leavesthe group. The less of characters react nobly to each other. For example, beforeMother Shiptondied, she decides to give her food to other. As well as when Mr. Oakhurst givesthe snowshoe to Tom to go to town in order to save Piney instead of himselfgoing. The Duchess also reacts nobly, as she takes role of Mother Shipton andtakes care of young Piney. At the end, Oakhurst shows the treacherous reactionby killing himself as he finds that there is no way and to survive.


5.Add a column to your chart, and for eachprediction, indicate whether your prediction came true. Hinh blackjack bac si quai di.

Use your notes toanswer this question: What changes in the characters surprised you?


Character

Clue

My Prediction

Yes/No

Mr. Oakhurst

“There’s one chance in a hundred to save her yet,” he said, pointing to Piney; “but it’s there,” he added, pointing toward Poker Flat. “If you can reach there in two days, she’s safe.”

Mr. Oakhurst will wait for the secure party to come and save him.

No

Uncle Billy

He even pointed out the fact that there was no provision, nor means of making a camp.

Uncle Billy will turn to be a good guy

No

= This is very surprised me when I know howthe story ends. I don’t think Mr. Oakhurst will kill himself as he seems to bethe leader

of the outcast group. He as well tells Tom that there is still beinga chance to survive even though, it is one in hundred. So I don’t

think he willsuicide.


Poker face heavy metal version.

Match eachVocabulary word with its synonym.


1.InterpretWhenTom appears, Oakhurst has “a vague idea that the situation was not fortunate”(page

628). Why might Oakhurst be uneasy?

=Oakhurst recognizes that the situationinvolving his outcast group is already in a bad situation, so when Tom Simsonappears,

Oakhurst sees that things have gone from bad to worse. Oakhurst alsoknows that Simson is innocent and Simsom cannot belong

to the undesirablegroup. Simson as well seems to be happyto meet with the outcast group, and he did not recognize the

situation thegroup is in. Oakhurst sees the signs in the sky of bad weather, and to him,Simson may have been still another sign

of the bad luck that has struckhim.

2.AnalyzeHow does each of the outcasts— except Uncle Billy—change in the course of thestory? What causes the changes?

= The outcasts start to change their behavioras they have to stay together in one house in a snowy day for more than oneweek.

They have to share food and try to make each other from being upset fromwhat has happened. From just knowing each other by

face, they start to help andcare about each other’s life. Since the beginning, this group is an undesirablepeople who get

expelled from the Poker Flat. They all start to change theirbehavior and adjust to each other.


3.InterpretIn which ways is Oakhurst both the strongest and weakest of the outcasts?

https://omglisting.netlify.app/what-is-the-difference-between-blackjack-and-spanish-21.html. This is especially true when you have a hard total between 13 and 16 that consists of 4 cards.The dealer’s going to have a hard time winning, and you want to take the opportunity to try to get that bonus payout for a hand made up of 5 cards or more that beats the dealer.The payout for a 5-card hand that totals 21 is 3 to 2. 2- Adjust Your Strategy Based on the Rules ChangesSince you get bonus payouts for a hand of 5 cards or more that doesn’t bust, you’ll sometimes hit when you would otherwise stand – just because you want an opportunity to get that bigger payout. The combination of having such a great starting total combined with the dealer’s likelihood of busting makes this a great place to get more money into action.You’ll always hit a hard 12, regardless of the dealer’s up-card.But when you have a hard 13, 14, 15, or 16, you’ll often stand against a dealer 6 or lower, and you’ll often hit against a dealer 7 or higher.In regular blackjack, that’s about all there is to consider, but in Spanish 21, there are other considerations.

= John Oakhurst is a clam person. He facesthe bad situation with no fear. Soon, Oakhurst becomes the leader of theoutcasts

group, and when the snowstorm hits, he tries to keep their spirits up.He makes a pair of snowshoes and sends Tom Stimson back

to Poker Flat to seek arescue party. However, when the party finally arrives, they find that Oakhursthas committed suicide rather

than face a slow death by freezing. It is in thisregard that Oakhurst is referred to both the strongest and weakest of thegroup.


4.Analyze Chooseone character from the story, and analyze how Harte brings him or her to life.

Which details reveal the most about the character? Cite at least three detailsfrom the text.

= In the beginning, Mr. Oakhurst is a grumblebut after he gets expelled from the Poker Flat as an undesirable. Mr. Oakhurst,

himself, becomes the leader of the less of the group. He becomes moreresponsible. From just doesn’t care about thing around

him, he starts to careabout other as he is the most calm person. These show how the characterdevelops himself through the

whole story. There is also a situation, when Mr. Oakhurstreturns the money to Simson. This shows that Mr. Oakhurst is a good

person. Aswell as when, Mr. Oakhurst gives his snowshoe to Simson and help pick up thewood for Duchess and little Piney before

The Outcasts Of Poker Flat Regionalism And Local Color Book

he leaves the house and never return.


5.Extend An archetype is an imaginativepattern repeated through the ages. Harte is credited with

inventing the Westernarchetypal hero— self-reliant, solitary, and fearless. The original Westerners

were only human, yet why do most people prefer legend over reality?

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= People need something to look upand related to. People as well need high powers to idolize thing that theycan’t touch or see it.




Literature