Question

Nothing of importance has happened since I last wrote you, except that I have become a miner. I can truly say that I am sorry I “learned the trade,” for I wet my feet, tore my dress, spoilt a pair of new gloves, nearly froze my fingers, got an awful headache, took cold, and lost a valuable pin in this, my labor of love. I myself thought . . . that one had but to stroll gracefully along romantic stream . . . and to stop now and then to . . . carelessly rinse out a small panful of yellow sand in order to fill one’s work bag with the . . . precious mineral. Since I have been here, I have discovered my mistake. . . . . . . To be sure, there are now and then “lucky strikes.” Once a person took $256 out of a single basinful of soil. But such luck is as rare as the winning of a $100,000 prize in a lottery. We are acquainted with many here whose gains have never amounted to much more than wages:—that is, from $6 to $8 a day.

--Louise Amelia Clappe, letter of November 25, 1851

What is the purpose of the passage? Use textual evidence to support your answer.

Answer 1

This passage is essentially about the Gold Rush. The author wants the reader to know that the illusion of "striking it rich," was a fallacy. Clappe says, "I have discovered my mistake. . . . . . . To be sure, there are now and then “lucky strikes.” Once a person took $256 out of a single basinful of soil. But such luck is as rare..." She also says that she only brings in about $6 to $8 a day. Louise was apologizing to the reader, but also seemed to be self pitying herself. She had heard about the fortune and fame and ran toward it without heeding others and learning more about the supposed "gold rush." Ms. Clappe was genuinely disheartened and miserable and was hoping to advise others not to follow her foolish mistake.