Krupnikoff 1

Sam Krupnikoff
Ms. Barzun
English 1 Honors
September 2015
Rowing Through the Depression
During the Great Depression, the economy had crashed; as a result, many people were
homeless and/or out of jobs. Throughout this time period, people had to make their resources
last longer and be thriftier. Nationalism was lacking, since the government was barely helpful
during this time. Joe Rantz and his rowing team from Washington University changed this
thought process. Similarly, the movie King Kong despite being made during the Great
Depression was a big hit. Even though there were tough times, their eight-oared rowing team
provided a spike of nationalism and showed that they had gotten the best of the Great
Depression--not the other way around. Without perseverance and resilience, none of this could
have happened.
Interestingly, the movie King Kong figuratively demonstrates what American society feels
and fears on a daily basis about the security of our economy. The New York City setting in King
Kong shows what can get out of control fast and create unexpected challenges. This is shown
when Brown states: the story of a huge, irrational beast that had invaded the civilized world,
taken its inhabitants into its clutches, and left them dangling over the abyss (9). Symbolically,
society feels this way towards the economy because one can only predict so much to a certain
degree and just when one thinks the world is great one day, it shifts the next. Just as we think
the worst is over when a shift is in place, continuously, it can come back and haunt American
civilization. For example, the economy had taken everything from many innocent people ,
leaving them poor and stranded just like King Kong did to New York City. It created skepticism
among people everywhere because people had no idea who to trust and this was a large

Krupnikoff 2
problem during this time period. The Great Depression was an awful time that ruined the lives of
many as seen in the text.
Moreover, Joe Rantz, the main character in The Boys in the Boat, lived his life by the
moto: One mans trash is another mans treasure. What others saw as waste or trash, Joe
turned into an object of use. Correspondingly, this was a very useful skill during the Great
Depression. Especially when most people had little to no money, this was a very effective and
helpful mindset to have. For example, one time Joe makes a spectacle of this skill is when he
learns how to use the leftover wood on the trees that loggers have left behind. Brown writes,
thrilled as always at the notion that something valuable could be found in what others had
passed over and left behind (125-126). Joe learns, that despite the loggers disbelief, he can
make use of the wood. Another quote many people have heard is, there is always more than
meets the eye, and by all means, that was exactly how Joe was.
Furthermore, to have pride when representing ourselves is great, but when representing
our country individually, or as a group, one should have much more than pride. Joe Rantz and
his crew team that competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics were one unified force full of respect
and wisdom alike. In addition, they had a real sense of refinement, and intelligence; this set
them apart from many teams that lacked these important traits. Unlike the Germans, they were
not a fabricated group made to demonstrate power, they were there in Berlin simply because
they worked the hardest and followed the American Dream. Brown describes, trust in each
other, mutual respect, humility, fair play, watching out for one another--those were also part of
what America meant to all of them (289). When they took to the course at Grunau, they were
not dogmatic but adamant about winning; they were simply one with each other, and one with
the water.
To conclude, the Great Depression was a period of time no one was grateful to endure. It
brought forth the harsh reality that you could be rich one day and without a home, the next. With
little money many people had to reuse old items and repurpose others. Without that much help

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from the government, America definitely lacked nationalism. The rowing team from the
University of Washington demonstrated that tomorrow is going to be worse mindset was
wrong. Without a doubt, the movie King Kong was important, since people paid a precious
amount for it. Nationalism was brought to America when Washingtons eight oared rowing team,
brought home the gold, therefore beating the Depression. Life was hard for all of them,
especially for Joe Rantz. However, those nine men without a doubt, earned every bit of their
victory.
Sam - You got carried away towards the end a little bit, and I appreciate your enthusiasm about
the book and its content. However, you need to stick to the text and not make it more or less
than whats there. You started to turn the story into a cliche of accomplishment rather than the
true story it was. Technically, you struggled with your paragraph transitions. You cant just make
them work by using a transitional word or phrase. You need to actually show how one point
moves to the next. And I think you could make them all connect, but you didnt really do that.
You just said they did and hoped no one would notice. You used your quotations well. Id have
liked to see you reference your thesis statement terms of perseverance and resilience in your
text. By not doing so, your intro lacks real authenticity.
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