1. Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella
Novel Review

2. Character review
Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella

3. Character review
Identify the following characters. Write at least a one sentence description of each.
Abner Bluestein
Archie Graham
Gypsy
Shoeless Joe Jackson
Annie Kinsella.
Johnny Kinsella
Karin Kinsella
Ray Kinsella
Richard Kinsella
Mark
Moonlight
J. D. Salinger
Eddie Scissons

4. Character review
Abner Bluestein - This character is the hard-nosed business partner who wants to evict the main character from the farm.
Archie Graham - This character first appears as an old doctor. Later, this character appears as a young baseball player and travels from Minnesota to Iowa in search of a game to play.
Gypsy - This character works in the change booth at the carnival and is able to see the baseball games on the field.
Shoeless Joe Jackson - This character was banned from professional baseball and is the first player to appear on the baseball field in Iowa.
Annie Kinsella - This is the main character's spouse who is always supportive and encouraging dreams to be fulfilled.
Johnny Kinsella - This character instilled a love of baseball into the main character. In the novel, he is the new catcher for the banned baseball players.

5. Character review
Karin Kinsella - This character is gifted with imagination and has no trouble seeing the baseball games that take place in the cornfield at the farm. This character chokes on a hot dog bun in a pivotal scene in the novel.
Ray Kinsella - This character is the protagonist in the novel, following the voices he hears to build the baseball field and "Ease his pain."
Richard Kinsella - This character has been estranged from his family since he was sixteen. Eventually, he is able to seen the magical baseball game and speak with one of the players.
Mark - This character is interested in the technological aspects of farming and wants to buy the farm so he can modernize it.
Moonlight - See Archie Graham
J. D. Salinger - This character is the real-life reclusive author of The Catcher in the Rye.
Eddie Scissons - This character claims to be the oldest living Chicago Cub and wants to be buried in his Chicago Cubs uniform.

6. History of shoeless joe and the “Black Sox”

7. Who was shoeless joe?
Joseph Jefferson Jackson “Shoeless Joe” 1888 – 1951 Lifetime Batting Average: .356 (third highest in baseball history)

8. Joe Jackson came from a hard life of southern poverty
Joe Jackson came from a hard life of southern poverty. He was born July 16, 1888 in Pickens County, SC
He was the first of six boys and two girls
When he was only six years old, he went to work at Pelzer Mill sweeping cotton dust off the wooden floors
In early 1901, his father moved the family to West Greenville, SC
Joe (13) worked at the Brandon Mill to help his family and was not in school, so he never learned to read or write
At age 13, he was playing on the Brandon Mill’s men’s baseball team
When he hit a home run, his brothers would scatter through the crowds collecting money, sometimes collecting as much as $25 a game.
Joe’s home runs were known as “Saturday Specials” and his glove was referred to as “A place where triples go to die”
How did Shoeless joe get his nickname? In 1908, Joe was playing semi-pro ball in Greenville in a double-header. Jackson had on new spikes and they gave him painful blisters, so he took them off and continued to play. In the seventh inning, he hit a triple, and a fan of the opposing team shouted “You shoeless son-of-a-gun!” and the name stuck. It was the only time Joe played shoeless in a game.

9. In August of 1908, he was signed to the Philadelphia Athletics and was later traded to Cleveland in The following year, Joe batted .408, the highest batting average ever recorded by a rookie.
August 1915, he was traded to the Chicago White Sox for $31,500 and 3 players
At this time, the White Sox were a talented team:
They won the world championship in 1917
They won the American League pennant in 1919
The White Sox were the heavy favorites to beat Cincinnati in the World Series, but the Reds ultimately won.
During this 1919 World Series, some players of the White Sox organization were accused of conspiring to throw (lose on purpose) the 1919 World Series.
Although Joe was indicted (found not guilty) in a court of law, the new baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis banned Jackson and the seven other White Sox players from ever playing professional baseball again.

10. What was the “black sox scandal”?
On October 9, 1919, the Cincinnati Reds defeated the highly-favored Chicago White Sox to clinch the World Series.
Traditionally, baseball players were not paid high salaries, so it was hard for many of them to play and raise their families.
It was not uncommon at the time for gamblers to pay players in exchange for inside tips, but never had anyone tried to rig an entire game, much less a world series.
White Sox baseball player C. Arnold “Chick” Gandil met with a gambler to talk about the possibility of throwing the 1919 World Series.
He would find co-conspirators (other baseball players) to help throw the series in exchange for a hefty payout of $100,000.
After the White Sox lost the series, rumors persisted for months that the games were fixed.
The 8 players accused of throwing the games were put on trial and later found not-guilty on all counts.

11. Who were the players involved?
C. Arnold “Chick” Gandil – first baseman
Eddie Cicotte – pitcher
Claude “Lefty” Williams – pitcher
Charles “Swede” Risburg – shortstop
Oscar “Happy” Felsch – outfielder
Buck Weaver – third baseman
Fred McMullin – utility infielder
“Shoeless” Joe Jackson

12. What was the role of commissioner Landis?
Although they players were found not-guilty in a court of law, new baseball commissioner, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, decreed that all players were to be permanently banned from organized baseball for life.
“Regardless of the verdict of juries,” Landis wrote, “no player who throws a ballgame, no player that undertakes or promises to throw a ballgame, no player that sits in conference with a bunch of crooked players and gamblers where the ways and means of throwing a game are discussed and does not promptly tell his club about it, will ever play professional baseball.”
Overall, Landis “cleaned up baseball” and brought respect back to the game

13. Role of gambling in the black sox scandal
The gamblers were supposed to pay out $100,000 to the players who threw the game
$20,000 was supposed to be given to them after each “thrown” game
Pitcher Cicotte hit a batter with one of his first pitches – a sign to the gamblers that the “fix was in”
Cicotte went on to make a series of uncharacteristic blunders throughout the game and Chicago lost 9-1
In game 2, “Lefty” Williams lost the game 4-2 after walking three batters in a row.
The White Sox went on to lose the next few games until the series stood at 4-1 (best of 9)
The gamblers failed to pay their $20,000 each game and the White Sox players became furious.
They called off the fix and came to life winning the next two games.
The White Sox ultimately lost the series in game 7, 10-5 either from intimidation from the gamblers threats or a strong Red’s team.

14. Evidence of throwing the game
Did “Shoeless” Joe Jackson help throw the series?
Although he admitted to taking $5,000, Joe played flawless baseball
He hit .375 for the series, the highest of either team and nearly 20 points higher than his average
He had 12 hits (a tie for the World Series record at the time)
He had 6 RBIs and NO ERRORS in eight games
He accounted for 11 of the 20 runs by the Sox
He hit the only home run in the series.

15. Joe told The Sporting news in 1942:
“Regardless of what anybody says, I was innocent of any wrong-doing. I gave baseball all I had.  The Supreme Being is the only one to whom I’ve got to answer. If I had been out there booting balls and looking foolish at bat against the Reds, there might have been some grounds for suspicion. I think my record in the 1919 World Series will stand up against that of any other man in that Series or any other World Series in all history.”

16. Life after baseball
Joe an his wife, Kate, moved around the South and finally settled back “home” in Greenville, SC in 1932.
During ball season, he played with semi-pro teams throughout the South
Jackson continues to be one of the most beloved and publicized ballplayers of all time. Movies, a Broadway play, songs, poems, countless books, television documentaries, feature articles, and the internet have helped to turn Joe Jackson into an American icon.

17. W.P. Kinsella (1935 - ) Born in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1935.
He has also written two collections of poetry, three baseball plays, and several works of non-fiction
He chose the main character’s name “Ray Kinsella” not because of his own last name, but because J.D. Salinger had previously written a character named Richard Kinsella into his The Catcher in the Rye novel and a character named Ray Kinsella into a short story. He wanted to name his protagonist Ray Kinsella “so he could turn up on Salinger's doorstep and say, ‘I'm one of your fictional creations come to life, here to take you to a baseball game.’“
He wrote this book based on his own father recalling stories of a disgraced baseball player undeserving of his fate (Joe Jackson)
His original title of the book was “The Kidnapping of J. D. Salinger” and was expanded from a 20-page short story that eventually became Chapter 1 of his novel.
W.P. Kinsella ( )

18. Born on January 1, 1919, in New York, J. D
Born on January 1, 1919, in New York, J.D. Salinger (Jerome David) was a literary giant despite his slim body of work and reclusive lifestyle.
His landmark novel, The Catcher in the Rye, set a new course for literature in post-WWII America and vaulted Salinger to the heights of literary fame.
In 1953, Salinger moved from New York City and led a secluded life, only publishing one new story before his death.
Salinger wasn’t the best student and was shipped off to military school before earning his college degree.
Right when his career took off, WWII happened and he was drafted into the war, where he served from 1942 – 1944.
In 1951 his novel, The Catcher in the Rye, was published
This novel has become an integral part of academic literature curriculum and sold more than 65 million copies
In 1953, two years after the publication of Catcher, Salinger pulled up stakes in New York City and retreated to a secluded, 90-acre place in Cornish, New Hampshire where he became reclusive.
J.D. Salinger (1919 – 2010)

19. Farming in the 1970s
In the 1970s, changing diets worldwide, bad weather in Russia, and U.S. government policies combined to create a boom in rural America.
After the deprivations of World War II, people all over the world were gradually eating more bread, meat and poultry – all food items that require grain to produce, like corn, soybeans and wheat. During the 60s, livestock, rather than people, became the main consumers of American grain.
In the Soviet Union, most of the country's grain production was in areas subject to severe winters and droughts. Harvest failures came repeatedly and were usually severe.
In the summer of 1972, the Soviets made secret deals with the five biggest American grain companies for 24.2 million tons of grain worth almost $1.5 billion in 1972 dollars – $7.6 billion in 2009 dollars.

20. As the supply of grain dried up and U. S
As the supply of grain dried up and U.S. stockpiles were depleted, Butz advocated increasing production. He went on a speaking tour and encouraged farmers to "plant fence row to fence row" to meet global demand. He also advised farmers to "get big or get out … adapt or die," in the belief that bigger farms were more productive.
In order to "plant fence row to fence row," farmers tore out shelter belts and other conservation land uses. They went heavily into debt to finance their expanded operations. For a few years, those actions seemed like a good business decision.
*A windbreak or shelterbelt is a plantation usually made up of one or more rows of trees or shrubs planted in such a manner as to provide shelter from the wind and to protect soil from erosion. They are commonly planted around the edges of fields on farms.

21. Chapter reviews
Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella

22. “shoeless joe Jackson comes to iowa”
Ray Kinsella is an Iowa corn farmer who hears a voice telling him only, "If you build it, he will come."
Ray has a vision of his childhood hero, Shoeless Joe Jackson, playing on a baseball field built within his cornfield.
Ray's wife, Annie, encourages him to build the field, believing he should do what makes him happy--not thinking that this idea is at all crazy.
Ray begins to build his field, concentrating only on the section that would be left field.
Ray senses "gathering magic" and after three years of building and growing left field, Shoeless Joe appears on the field.
Having played in one game on Ray's field, Shoeless Joe asks Ray if this field is heaven.

23. Answer study guide questions for this section
Using your novel and working with a partner, answer the reading guide questions. Practice answering each question with complete sentences. Begin each sentence with a capital letter and end each sentence with end punction.

24. “They Tore Down the Polo Grounds in 1964”
Ray completes the rest of the baseball field, with a new member of the Black Sox appearing after each section of the field is completed.
Ray hears the voice again, saying only "Ease his pain." Ray determines that "his" refers to the author J.D. Salinger.
After extensive research on the life of J.D. Salinger, Ray travels to New England to take J.D. Salinger to a baseball game.
Ray effectively kidnaps J.D. Salinger to take him to the game, but J.D. Salinger doesn't resist completely, and having an opportunity to escape confesses that he is interested in Ray's story.
While at the baseball game, Ray hears the voice a third time, this time instructing him "Go the distance" while the statistics of Moonlight Graham appear on the scoreboard. After the game, Ray drives Salinger back to his New Hampshire home.
While saying goodbye, Salinger repeats the statistics of Archibald "Moonlight" Graham, indicating that he also heard Ray's vision. Now friends, the two embark to Minnesota to find Moonlight Graham.

25. Answer study guide questions for this section
Using your novel and working with a partner, answer the reading guide questions. Practice answering each question with complete sentences. Begin each sentence with a capital letter and end each sentence with end punction.

26. “The Life and Times of Moonlight Graham”
Ray and Salinger drive from New Hampshire to Chisholm, MN, the town where Moonlight Graham died, stopping at the Baseball Hall of Fame to conduct research on Graham's life.
Calling home, Ray hears that Annie is under increasing pressure to sell their farm to Annie's brother, Mark.
Arriving in Chisholm, Ray and Salinger talk with locals who know Graham as a kind family doctor, not as a baseball player.
Unable to sleep, Ray takes a walk and is transported back in time to 1955 and greets an elderly Graham who invites him back to his office to talk about his short lived baseball career.
Graham tells Ray that he has few regrets about his baseball career, and instead would consider it a tragedy if he only got to be a doctor for a few minutes. Graham's only dream would be to get to bat in a major league baseball game.
Ray and Salinger leave Chisholm to return to Iowa. As they leave town, they pick up a young man hoping to find a baseball team to sign on with, he introduces himself as Archie Graham.

27. Answer study guide questions for this section
Using your novel and working with a partner, answer the reading guide questions. Practice answering each question with complete sentences. Begin each sentence with a capital letter and end each sentence with end punction.

28. “The Oldest Living Chicago Cub”
Ray, Salinger and Archie go to Minnesota and attend a Twins game. They return to the park at night where Ray comments, "A ballpark at night is more like a church than a church.
When the three reach Iowa City, they pick up Eddie Scissons.
Returning home, Ray finds that his brother, Richard, whom he hasn't seen in twenty years, is visiting.
Ray and Annie find out that Mark wants the farm because they are the only holdout on a grid of land that Mark wants to implement computer farming on.
Archie is asked by Shoeless Joe to play right field and Ray's father is playing catcher.
During an argument between Ray and Richard, Karin falls to the ground and is unconscious. Moonlight Graham approaches from the field and turns into Dr. Graham as he walks off the field to Karin. He is able to clear her airway and then walks away into the cornfield.
After a game, Ray and Richard approach the catcher, their father, and tell him that they admire the way he plays. The three men walk across the outfield talking about family, friendship and love.

29. Answer study guide questions for this section
Using your novel and working with a partner, answer the reading guide questions. Practice answering each question with complete sentences. Begin each sentence with a capital letter and end each sentence with end punction.

30. “The Rapture of J.D. Salinger”
Ray speculates on the whereabouts of the players once they pass through the door and hopes that one day they will reveal the secret to him.
Shoeless Joe asks Salinger if he wants to go with the players through the fence, which makes Ray jealous.
In order to calm Ray down, Salinger admits he gave the interview about playing at the Polo Grounds.
Salinger accepts Shoeless Joe's offer and hopes that Ray will not begrudge Salinger the chance to "touch the perfect dream."
Salinger promises Ray he will write about it.
At the end of the game, Salinger joins Shoeless Joe, and they walk through the door in the fence, signaling the lights to dim and the essence of the ball field to fade into the night.
Ray, Annie and Karin walk to the farmhouse, and Ray turns to see the ball field bathed in moonlight before he walks through the door.

31. Answer study guide questions for this section
Using your novel and working with a partner, answer the reading guide questions. Practice answering each question with complete sentences. Begin each sentence with a capital letter and end each sentence with end punction.