Huilan You
Professor O’Connor
English 101
8 October 2015
Paraphrase
The main reason ‘Captain John Smith’ and his colonists strived to communicate with
the colonists who had been living on Roanoke Island was for their own benefit and survival.
Besides being preoccupied with the Roanoke Island colonists and exploring the island, John
Smith’s colonists needed to contact the settlers of the island because they wanted to avoid
oppression from the aggressive natives’ leader, Powhatan.
It is apparent that they not only prudentially read Hariot’s description of Virginia but
also the Barlowe, Lane, and White narratives. Since the information provided by these
descriptions was obsolete, it was not as helpful as any information which could be provided by
the descendants of Roanoke island. The descendants could offer t current guidance and updated
information.
Summary
At first, the Jamestown colonists tried to contact the Roanoke settlers in order to survive.
Because people at that time were convinced that those settlers had disappeared, after a period of
time, people began to discuss the destinies of the Roanoke settlers. Historians had several
theories which had different pieces of evidence to support them. The first theory was that the
settlers were still alive in that area. When John Lawson came to Roanoke, he received a
welcome from the natives who declared themselves the descendants of the Lost Colony, and
Jones stated that he found “some Indians who were light colored and spoke Welsh” on the
island (226). Then Stephen Weeks discovered that “the surnames of the lost colony were used
by a tribe” and it was reported that survivors of Roanoke had mixed with Indians (233). The
second assumption was that they were dead. Francis assumed that they had died from famine.
The third hypothesis was that they had moved to other regions because “they were attacked by
Spaniards” and the most recent theory is that they were wiped out in the ocean when they
intended to sail to England (235,236). However, these theories were just speculations not solid
proof. The fate of the Roanoke colonists is still a mystery.
Works Cited
Stick, David. Roanoke Island: The Beginnings of English America. Chapel Hill: University of
North Carolina, 1984. Print.
From your research write a paragraph explaining what YOU think happened there and why you
think this.
The mystery of Roanoke Island is like a puzzle with a missing piece. We have obtained
some clues and information, but without solid evidence, the missing part in the puzzle, we can
not conclude anything. In my point of view, I presume that the survivors of the Roanoke
colonists mixed with local Indians and their descendants are alive. The first reason is that from
the 17th to the 18th century, many travelers encountered some native Indians who declared
themselves the descendants of Roanoke Island. For instance, in A New Voyage to Carolina,
John Lawson depicted his encounter with the Hatteras Indians, who welcomed him warmly and
asserted their ancestors were White. From his description, he claimed that these Indians were
“grey eyed and blonde” and thus, he believed that the origins of their ancestors were white. (48)
Furthermore, it was reported that near the Chaonoke river which was close to Roanoke, white
colonists were trapped at various Indians settlements and forced to work. Nowadays,
“archaeologists have identified the nearby site of a small Native American town named
Mettaquem, which may have adopted some of the colonists” (Tanya Basu National
Geographic)
Lawson, John. A New Voyage to Carolina. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina,
2001.Print.
Lee, Miller. Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony. New York: Arcade Publishing,
2001.
Basu, Tanya. “Have We Found the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island?” National Geographic.
National Geographic, 08 December 2013.Web. 8 October 2015.
Finally write the book as it would appear in a Works Cited list (see Rules for Writers section 59
and /or the PowerPoint)
Stick, David. Roanoke Island: The Beginnings of English America. Chapel Hill: University of
North Carolina, 1984. Print.