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Introduction
In the Spring of 1535, French explorer Jacques Cartier sailed up the St Lawrence River (so he named it) to Stadacona, near what would soon after become Quebec, and then further upriver to Hochelaga, which he named Montreal. Everything went well until winter came, for which the French were hopelessly unprepared.
Donnacona, the great chief of the Indians* at Stadacona, and some of his people went out in canoes to find whether the white men, or ‘pale-faces’ as they called them, had come for peace or war. Upon learning that it was a peaceful visit, Donnacona kissed Cartier’s hand and put it around his own neck, while the Indians waded out into the water shouting and singing. This was their way of giving a hearty Indian welcome.
After this Cartier went up the river to Hochelaga, another Indian village, at the foot of a beautiful mountain, which he named Mount Royal. From that we get the word Montreal, the name of our city which now stands where then stood the Indian village of Hochelaga. Here he had another Indian welcome. These people even thought him some divine being, and brought him an invalid chief to heal.
Cartier did not know what to do, but as he wanted to please the Indians he touched the chief and said a prayer. Then all the sick and lame from the village came to him, and he had to touch them and say more prayers.
* ‘Indians’ was Cartier’s name for the native Canadians, as it had been Columbus’s name for the people of San Salvador in what he christened the West Indies. Although the West knew of the Pacific Ocean (Balboa had looked upon it in 1513) the idea persisted that the New World was somehow a partner to the East Indies. Some more modern accounts call these original Canadian peoples the Iroquois, the name that French settlers gave to a confederacy of six North American peoples (Mohawk, Oneida, Seneca, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Tuscarora) who inhabited what is now southern Ontario, Quebec and northern portions of the US state of New York.
Précis
In the Spring of 1535, French adventurer Jacques Cartier sailed up the St Lawrence to an native Canadian settlement named Stadacona. The Indians (as he called them) gave him a warm and generous welcome, and even asked him to bless a sick chief. He also paid a visit to Hochelaga, a tall mountain he dubbed Mont Real. (57 / 60 words)
In the Spring of 1535, French adventurer Jacques Cartier sailed up the St Lawrence to an native Canadian settlement named Stadacona. The Indians (as he called them) gave him a warm and generous welcome, and even asked him to bless a sick chief. He also paid a visit to Hochelaga, a tall mountain he dubbed Mont Real.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, may, must, otherwise, since, until, whereas, who.
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
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