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Summary Of Out Of Depths By Isabela Knockwood

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Summary of the Book
“Out of depths” represents the heart wrenching real story of the experience of the Isabela Knockwood in the Indian Residential School in Shubenacadie in Nova Scotia. Additionally, it involves her horrifying accounts of whatever she faced in the institutions. Isabela incorporates different accounts from other former individuals in the institution. The abuse that the kids faced is unfathomable. Worst still after going through the story, it is quite hard to understand the reason a group of individuals could have treated kids in such a horrifying and abusive way.
Isabela initially joined the residential institution at Shubenacadie on September 1, 1936 (Knockwood, 2001, pp. 1). Her entire family accompanied her to school that …show more content…

The only way through which this was achieved was through discouraging the use of the native language in the institutions. The children were first taken away from their families and forced to speak a language that they never understood. This was a terrible experience, particularly when the failure to conform to the rules meant serious punishment. In retrospect, Isabela mentioned that the schools were “places in which many of the kids’ prayers were never answered” (Knockwood, 2001, pp. …show more content…

Additionally, the nuns had other favored girls who were considered as favorites. These girls helped in spicing the other kids and informed the nuns of the other girls’ behaviors that were deemed deviant. A form of panopticism had been established in the residential institutions. This was characterized by the manner in which the young girls were used as spies by the nuns.
The education obtained by the kids was rudimentary. Not only were the residential schools poor but also abusive. The English training was not adequate. Additionally, the emphasis on the religious practices was great. Most of the young girls were taken from the classes to carry out various duties in the laundry, and the young boys were forced to work in the stables. This aspect instead promoted the kids manual kill learning. Moreover, no reward was given for good work, and the only way to establish the right answer from the class activity was to acknowledge that the answer was wrong after being

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