Here are the four books that you may be reading during this novel unit.
Red
Book Summary Tilly Pruitt and her family live in a muddy Illinois river town on the banks of the Mississippi. Everyone in the family seems to fear the coming of the Civil War except Tilly's twin brother, Noah, who makes Mama nervous by marching in town with the other boys, all of them anxious to fight to preserve the Union. One evening a steamboat docks at the landing and two mysterious women come ashore: a commanding and glamorous young lady in a hoop skirt and her darker silent servant. Mama invites the strangers to board with her family and life for the Pruitts is changed forever. Author Information Richard Peck is the first children's writer to have been awarded a National Humanities Medal. The author of 30 novels, he has also won the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in young-adult literature, the Newbery Medal (for A Year Down Yonder), a Newbery Honor (for A Long Way from Chicago), and numerous other awards and honors. His book, Fair Weather, was included on more than a dozen best-of-the-year lists. Richard Peck has also been an English teacher and a soldier stationed in Stuttgart, Germany. Mr. Peck lives in New York City. Print the Student Handout (PDF) Suggested Answers to Literature Circle Questions Use the questions and the activities that follow to get more out of the experience of reading The River Between Us by Richard Peck. 1. What state do Tilly and her family live in? What state lies on the other side of the Mississippi River? Briefly explain how the town of Grand Tower got its name. The Pruitts live in Grand Tower, Illinois. The state of Missouri is on the other side of the Mississippi River. The origin of the name Grand Tower is explained early in the book on page 12. "Across the river on the Missouri side another stone outcropping rose straight out of the water. This was Tower Rock, and it gave the town its name." Answers should reference Tower Rock by name. 2. What does Noah do in town that makes Mama afraid he will leave home? Noah and his friends meet after work to march and drill like Union soldiers. Mama fears that Noah will soon be drawn into the war and she knows she cannot stop him if he chooses to sign up. Answers should indicate that readers understand current events, especially the tense situation between the North and South. 3. List three items Delphine and Tilly bring to Camp Defiance from Grand Tower. Explain how they use each item to help the soldiers. Delphine and Tilly bring an assortment of items to Camp Defiance: jimson and bloodwort for medicinal purposes, homemade soap, biscuits and jars of food, winter clothes, and warm quilts. Readers should be able to deduce how each item is used. The cures are used to heal wounds and numb pain. Fresh food is used to nourish. Warm quilts fill a shortage of blankets and soap is used to sterilize the soldiers and the camp in the hopes of suppressing disease. 4. What book does Tilly see beside Noah's cot at Camp Defiance? Why does Tilly's heart sink after seeing this book? Tilly sees a copy of Hardee's Tactics, which she describes on page 116 as "a text about soldiering and great battles and how they were waged." She adds, "My heart sank. Noah was too weak to lift a bucket of water and still he was studying the arts of war, and yearning to let fly with grape and canister." 5. In his letter to Tilly, Curry explains that "Egypt is no place for them of my convictions." What does Curry mean by this? How do Curry's convictions differ from Noah's convictions? Curry means that he is loyal to the South while Grand Tower and much of southern Illinois, a free state, remain loyal to the Union and President Lincoln. Noah and his family are among the majority who support the Union. As Tilly explains on page 73, "The battle of Bull Run made Yankees out of all of us." Tilly offers several other hints about her family's convictions. On page 20 she says, "...Lincoln was an Illinois man, one of us." On page 44 she adds, "[Mama] took a dim view of slavery, and didn't care who knew it." Answers should indicate that readers are able to infer Noah's convictions from these and other hints. 6. Describe the friendship between Calinda and Cass. What do the two characters have in common? How does Cass change after Calinda's arrival? On page 65 Tilly says, "Calinda was the sister Cass needed." Calinda enlists Cass to help her prepare Prawleens to be sold to steamboat passengers. Tilly says of their relationship, "Her and Calinda spoke a language I was deaf to, a language of prophecies and cures, of visions..." Readers should mention that both girls have visions in which they see or sense other people suffering. Finally, Tilly notes how Cass grows through her relationship with Calinda, becoming much more outgoing and comfortable around strangers until she is even willing to be made up for a dance. 7. Imagine you were compelled to leave home like Delphine and Calinda and could not bring everything you owned. List three to five items you would take with you and explain why you would bring each item. This question should encourage readers to imagine what it would be like to be leaving home for good at a point in time when important possessions were often not easily replaced. 8. Mama says Noah left home "like a thief in the night." What do you think she meant by this? Imagine you are Noah and you want to leave a note explaining your reasons for joining the army. What would you say to help your family understand your decision? The first part of this question is designed to test the reader's understanding of Mama's metaphor. In her mind, Noah is taking away her sense of security. He is the man of the house and the one person Mama says she can not spare. Answers regarding the note should convey an understanding of Noah's reasons for joining the war (see question 2) and his feelings about his family, including his father. Look for answers which speculate whether Noah understands the impact his departure would have on Mama or whether he understands what he is getting into. 9. Reread the description on page 120 of the officers' quarters at Mrs. Hanrahan's house. Compare the officers' living conditions to the living conditions of the soldiers at Camp Defiance. What reason might there be for these differences? Do you think this is fair or unfair? Why or why not? Tilly briefly describes the relative comfort in which wounded officers recover while common soldiers lie in squalid conditions in the hospital tents at Camp Defiance. Answers should convey an understanding about what those conditions were and why they were so perilous. The question is an opportunity for readers to form a value judgment about the different conditions for officers and non-officers. Look for answers which attempt to address why such differences exist and whether there is any justification for them. 10. Delphine tells Tilly, "But New Orleans prefers its custom to the law." In your own words, state the difference between a custom and a law. Name one law and one custom that plays a role in your life and explain why you think each is important. The quote from page 128 refers to a time in New Orleans history when social morals in the city tolerated placage, the arrangement by which wealthy white men fathered children with mistresses, specifically free women of African American descent, even as they maintained legally sanctioned marriages to white women. Readers should infer that while laws are typically created and enforced by governments, customs are often unwritten, traditional practices followed by a group of people or a religion. 11. Dr. Hutchings writes Tilly regularly until they are reunited after the war ends. Imagine you are Dr. Hutchings sitting down to a write a letter to Tilly. What would you say to her? What would you ask her about life back in Grand Tower? This answer should challenge readers to imagine what sort of experience an Army doctor might have had during the Civil War. Readers should also be able to pose questions to Tilly which reflect specific aspects of her life. Questions should reference people and places important to her and be consistent with the relationship between the two characters, most importantly that they admired one another and would someday be married. 12. Tilly, Mama, and Delphine are all impacted by the outbreak of war. How does each character contribute to the war? How does each suffer as a result of the war? How are their war experiences different from the experiences of the men in the story? Answers will vary but readers should be able to synthesize information from various sections of the story. Look for specific examples. War forces Cass and Calinda to leave New Orleans. War takes Noah from Mama and creates conflict between her and the other ladies of Grand Tower. War takes Curry from Tilly but brings her closer to Dr. Hutchings, whom she eventually marries. General themes to mention include suffering, disruption, loss, sacrifice, and new beginnings. The women contribute goods, time, skills, and labor while exposing themselves to significant risk at hospitals. One important difference to note between the experience of men and women is simply that women did not go into battle. While men in the story are said to fight for glory or allegiance, women are shown to be motivated by a sense of compassion or humanity. 13. At the end of the story, we learn that Delphine's son may go to Europe to be a doctor in the Great War. Based on what you learned about war in this story, would you support his decision to go to Europe as a doctor? Be specific, using evidence from the text to support your argument. Readers should understand that while medics who go to the front lines face great peril, they play a critical role in alleviating suffering by tending to injuries and checking the spread of disease. Answers should include specific references to Dr. Hutchings's contributions at Camp Defiance. 14. Who is narrating the story at the beginning and at the end of the book? What is this character's relationship to Tilly? Did you like the way the author split up the story into two time periods? Why or why not? The narrator is Howard Leland Hutchings. He is revealed to be the grandson of Delphine and Noah, though his father was raised by Tilly and Dr. Hutchings. 15. Why do you think the author chose Grand Tower as a setting for this story? Do you think it was a good choice? Make sure to use what you learned about the Civil War in the story and in the author's note in your answer. Answers should convey an understanding of how geography shaped the experience of Grand Tower before, during, and after the Civil War. Illinois was a border state and the home state of President Lincoln. Grand Tower's proximity to the slave states (Missouri lay just across the river) meant that feelings over slavery and secession were divided and impassioned. Furthermore, Grand Tower's position on the Mississippi left the town vulnerable to military blockades. Note: These questions are keyed to Bloom's Taxonomy as follows: Knowledge: 1-3; Comprehension: 4-6; Application: 7-8; Analysis: 9-10; Synthesis: 11-13; Evaluation: 14 Source: Scholastic for The River Between Us Early in 1862, when his father is killed fighting for the Union in the War Between the States, thirteen-year-old Tom Carroll must take a job to help support his family. He manages to find work at a bustling ironworks in his hometown of Brooklyn, New York, where dozens of men are frantically pounding together the strangest ship Tom has ever seen. A ship made of iron. Tom becomes assistant to the ship's inventor, a gruff, boastful man named Captain John Ericsson. He soon learns that the Union army has very important plans for this iron ship called the Monitor. It is supposed to fight the Confederate "sea monster" — another ironclad — the Merrimac. But Ericsson is practically the only person who believes the Monitor will float. Everyone else calls it "Ericsson's Folly" or "the iron coffin." Meanwhile, Tom's position as Ericsson's assistant has made him a target of Confederate spies, who offer him money for information about the ship. Tom finds himself caught between two certain dangers: an encounter with murderous spies and a battle at sea in an iron coffin . . . Illustrated with period photos, drawings, and maps.
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Book title: Mr. Lincoln's Drummer Author: G. Clifton Wisler Summary: This story is about a drummer boy named Willy Johnston who is the son of a tailor and lived in the time of the American civil war. It was a really brutal time in history and most of Willy’s friends die. This is how it all began. One day there was a soldier parade in Willy's hometown, Vermont. The soldiers were the Union army who were going into battle with the confederate. At that time Abraham Lincoln, the President, wants to abolish slavery in the United States, but the people from the south didn’t like that so they formed a new contry, called the Confederate States of America, and rebelled against the union. Later on Willy’s dad introduced Colonel Hide to Willy and his big brother James. Colonel Hide gave orders to Willy’s mom to fix and sew new uniforms for the army. Willy’s job was to deliver the uniforms to the army. That was where he met a drummer who taught him how to play the beats for different assemblies. Soon after that, Captain Harrington, from the Union army, came to Willy’s town to recruit more soldiers. He had speeches every day but they didn’t attract much attention. So, Willy volunteered to beat his drum to get the people’s attention. Willy learned that if he joined the army his family would get the money they needed. So, Willy and his dad joined the army. In the beginning, it wasn't much to be a soldier, but later on Wily was caught in a real battle and even though he saw many people die he didn't want to go home. What happened at the end? Did Willy survive the war? If you want to find out more about Willy’s amazing adventure in the army and in what situation he met Mr. Lincoln in person, read the book. Time period of novel: This story takes place in 1861-1862. Political situation: This story takes place during the civil war led by President Abraham Lincoln. At that time Abraham Lincoln wants to abolish slavery in the U.S., but the people from the south didn’t agree so they rebelled against the union. Economic issues: People were struggling to survive but they had just enough food to eat. Most of the people were very poor. Social issues: The war was a big problem for everybody and many people went to join the army because their families needed money and the army pays a lot. Forces in society: There were some leaders with power in the community that were not in the legitimate government, and they are the confederate. Terms and vocabulary of the time: Here are some words from that time period that we do not use anymore. 1. To soldier (to be a soldier), 2. Gumption (nerve) and 3. Clambered (To climb with difficulty). About the Civil War: The American Civil War (1861–1865) was between the Union (Northern States) and the Confederates (Southern States). Eleven Southern states declared their secession from the United States and formed the confederate states of America (the Confederacy). Led by Jefferson Davis, they fought against the United States (the Union), which was supported by all the Free states and the five Border states. The Union states were loosely referred to as "the North." The main character in the story, Willie Johnston, is from Vermont. Vermont is one of the North-eastern states shown in the picture below. That is why Willy is on Mr. Lincoln’s side. Red Cap Novel Study Guide G. Clifton Wisler Answer all questions in sentence form. Chapter One
Enrichment: Prior to the Civil War, teachers in the schools were predominantly male. After the war this changed dramatically as women began to outnumber the male teachers in the primary schools. Can you suggest why this sudden transformation might have occurred? The blacksmith in early communities was often a well-known and respected person. Explain why this might have been. Are there any blacksmiths in your community? How has their contemporary role in the community changed? Explain why the blacksmiths disappeared in many communities. Research civil wars that have occurred in other countries. Are there any civil wars occurring at the present time? Explain. Chapter Two
Enrichment: Design a title page for your notebook.Design a book mark making sure to include objects that are strongly symbolic of the American Civil War. Conduct some research and then construct a chart showing the various ranks in the army during the Civil War. Compare it with contemporary military ranking. Chapter Three
Enrichment: In a small group discuss some of the reasons that soldiers might have deserted. Present your findings to the remainder of the class and see if they agree with your conclusions.Try and locate the phrase "thou shalt clothe the stranger" in the Bible. Chapter Four
Enrichment: Discuss the importance of leadership in times of war. Who were considered to be the great military and political leaders in both the Union and Confederate Army?Explain the phrase, "Truth is the first casualty of war". Do you agree? Justify your opinion. Chapter Five
Enrichment: One of the Confederate guards boasted that Washington and Jefferson would have supported the Southern cause. Research his claims and make a presentation to your classmates. Alternatively, conduct a mini debate on the issue. Chapter Six
Enrichment: Research prison conditions for prisoners of war today and compare those conditions with those of the Civil War.Locate some music from the Civil War era and present it to the class. Chapter Seven
Enrichment: Pretend that you are Ransom Powell and keep a diary of your daily experiences. Remember to include not just the details of what happened but also your feelings or emotions. Chapter Eight
Enrichment: Do some medical research on scurvy. What are the causes and what are the modern day treatments for it. Many early explorers suffered from scurvy but were cured by the natives. What type of treatments did they use? Chapter Nine
Enrichment: Pretend that you are Ransom J. Powell and compose a letter to send home to your parents about your experiences at Camp Sumter. Chapter Ten
Enrichment: Form two small groups of students. Have the first group write a newspaper column about Camp Sumter defending the living conditions while the second group will compose a column from the Union army point of view. Chapter Eleven
What is a pacifist? Describe the difference between a hawk and a dove. Which are you? Chapter Twelve
Enrichment: Construct a mural using the theme of War. Prior to starting work on the mural, research the essentials of a good mural. Chapter Thirteen
Enrichment: Write a poem about the Civil War and illustrate it. Memorize it and present it to your classmates. Chapter Fourteen
Enrichment: Research the role of blacks in the Civil War. Make a presentation to your classmates. Chapter Fifteen
Enrichment:Ransom wrote three letters for Billy. What would you want to say if you were writing a last letter to your family and friends? What things would be important and what would not? Chapter Sixteen
Enrichment: How do you think Ransom would be received by his family. Write an additional chapter including Ransom's reception at home.Is it ever okay to lie? Discuss with your teacher and classmates. Can the truth ever be harmful? Explain. Epilogue
U.S. Civil War Prison Camps Claimed ThousandsYancey Hall for National Geographic News July 1, 2003While the Civil War etched the names Gettysburg, Antietam, and Vicksburg into the historical consciousness of the United States, a more subversive skirmish went by almost unnoticed. Although precise figures may never be known, an estimated 56,000 men perished in Civil War prisons, a casualty rate far greater than any battle during the war's bloody tenure. The high mortality rate was not deliberate, but the result of ignorance of nutrition and proper sanitation on both sides of the conflict, according to scholars. "Intent and malice were never intended," said James Robertson, a history professor at Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg. Yet ignorance—coupled with shortages of food, shelter, and clothing—produced a cauldron of disease and death for inmates. While previous wars harbored similar prison conditions, the Civil War was unique in the sheer numbers of men confined. "Americans had never been faced with what to do with more than 100 men in captivity before," said Robertson. The hundreds of thousands of men imprisoned simply exceeded either side's ability or will to manage. More Horrible Than Battle Prisons often engendered conditions more horrible than those on the battlefield. The Union's Fort Delaware was dubbed "The Fort Delaware Death Pen," while Elmira prison in New York saw nearly a 25 percent mortality rate. The South's infamous Camp Sumter, or Andersonville prison, claimed the lives of 29 percent of its inmates. More than 150 prisons were established during the war. All were filled beyond capacity, with inmates crowded into camps and shelters with meager provisions. The North incarcerated most of their POWs in an array of coastal fortifications, existing jails, old buildings, and barracks enclosed by high fences. But early on, both sides realized that less formal, make-shift facilities would be required to house the overwhelming numbers of POWs. Union prisons such as Maryland's Point Lookout housed soldiers in tent cities walled in by high fences. While the South, lacking the means to build adequate structures, forced men into crowded stockades. Andersonville, by far the most notorious Civil War prison, housed nearly 33,000 men at its peak—one of the largest "cities" of the Confederacy. Inmates crowded into 26.5 acres (11 hectares) of muddy land, constructing "shebangs," or primitive shelters, from whatever material they could find. Lacking sewer or sanitation facilities, camp inmates turned "Stockade Creek" into a massive, disease-ridden latrine. Summer rainstorms would flood the open sewer, spreading filth. Visitors approaching the camp for the first time often retched from the stench. The prison's oppressive conditions claimed 13,000 lives by the war's end. Mental Toll Prison diets consisted of pickled beef, salt pork, corn meal, rice, or bean soup. The lack of fruits or vegetables often led to outbreaks of scurvy and other diseases. In many northern prisons, hungry inmates hunted rats, sometimes making a sport of it. Starvation and poor sanitation inflamed outbreaks of diseases like smallpox, typhoid, dysentery, cholera, and malaria. Sores, left untreated, led to gangrene—a disease curable only by amputation. Of all these diseases, perhaps the most dangerous was depression. American Civil War[edit]Main article: American Civil War prison campsAt the start of the civil war a system of paroles operated. Captives agreed not to fight until they were officially exchanged. Meanwhile, they were held in camps run by their own army where they were paid but not allowed to perform any military duties.[18] The system of exchanges collapsed in 1863 when the Confederacy refused to exchange black prisoners. In the late summer of 1864, a year after the Dix-Hill Cartel was suspended; Confederate officials approached Union General Benjamin Butler, Union Commissioner of Exchange, about resuming the cartel and including the black prisoners. Butler contacted Grant for guidance on the issue, and Grant responded to Butler on August 18, 1864 with his now famous statement. He rejected the offer, stating in essence, that the Union could afford to leave their men in captivity, the Confederacy could not.[19] After that about 56,000 of the 409,000 POWs died in prisons during the American Civil War, accounting for nearly 10% of the conflict's fatalities.[20] Of the 45,000 Union prisoners of war confined in Camp Sumter, located near Andersonville, Georgia, 13,000 (28%) died.[21] At Camp Douglas in Chicago, Illinois, 10% of its Confederate prisoners died during one cold winter month; and Elmira Prison in New York state, with a death rate of 25% (2,963), very nearly equalled that of Andersonville.[22] Desertion In The Civil War Armies: Union Army In view of the conditions which prevailed in the war department and in the Union army, it is not surprising that desertion was a common fault. Even so the actual extent of it, as shown in the official reports, comes as a distinct shock. Though the determination of the fully number is a bit complicated, the total would seem to have been well over 200,000. From New York there were 44,913 deserters according to the records; from Pennsylvania, 24,050; from Ohio, 18,354. The daily hardships of war, deficiency in arms, forced marches (which sometimes made straggling a necessity for less vigorous men), thirst, suffocating heat, disease, delay in pay,~ solicitude for family, impatience at the monotony and futility of inactive service, and (though this was not the leading cause) panic on the eve of battle - these were some of the conditioning factors that produced desertion. Many men absented themselves merely through unfamiliarity with military discipline or through the feeling that they should be "restrained by no other legal requirements than those of the civil law governing a free people"; and such was the general attitude that desertion was often regarded "more as a refusal . . - to ratify a contract than as the commission of a grave crime." The sense of war weariness, the lack of confidence in commanders, and the discouragement of defeat tended to lower the morale of the Union army and to increase desertion. General Hooker estimated in 1863 that 85,000 officers and men had deserted from the Army of the Potomac, while it was stated in December of 1862 that no less than 180,000 of the soldiers listed on the Union muster rolls were absent, with or without leave. Abuse of sick leave or of the furlough privilege was one of the chief means of desertion. Other methods were: slipping to the rear during a battle, inviting capture by the enemy (a method by which honorable service could be claimed), straggling, taking French leave when on picket duty, pretending to be engaged in repairing a telegraph line, et cetera. Some of the deserters went over to the enemy not as captives but as soldiers; others lived in a wild state on the frontier; some turned outlaw or went to Canada; some boldly appeared at home; in some cases deserter gangs, as in western Pennsylvania, formed bandit groups. To suppress desertion the extreme penalty of death was at times applied, especially after 1863; but this meant no more than the selection of a few men as public examples out of many thousands equally guilty. The commoner method was to make public appeals to deserters, promising pardon in case of voluntary return with dire threats to those who failed to return. That desertion did not prevent a man posing after the war as an honorable soldier is evident by a study of pension records. The laws required honorable discharge as a requisite for a pension; but in the case of those charged with desertion Congress passed numerous private and special acts "correcting" the military record. Confederate Army Desertion at the South, though less extensive than in the North, was a factor of large significance; and a study of the causes that produced it goes far toward revealing the conditions which made the war intolerable to thousands among people and soldiers. As explained by Miss Loun, back-woodsmen and crackers were drawn into the army who had no sympathy with slavery and no interest in the issues of a struggle which they did not understand. The conscript net gathered in even Northerners and Mexicans, whose tendency to desert was natural enough. Many of the deserters were mere boys. Poor food and clothing, lack of shoes and overcoats, and insufficient pay inevitably produced disaffection. Sometimes the pay was fourteen months behind; often a soldier on leave could not pay the transportation to return to his command. Unsanitary camp conditions had their debilitating effect. Soldiers kept in unwholesome inaction were more than commonly subject to homesickness and depression. Often the alternative was abandonment and neglect of wife and children or departure from the army - in other words a choice between two kinds of desertion, a dilemma in facing conflicting loyalties. Men felt that their services were actually more needed at home than in the army. Not a few Southern soldiers found themselves in the situation of an Alabaman who deserted the army when his wife wrote him: "We haven't got nothing in the house to eat but a little bit of meal. . . . I don't want you to stop fighting them Yankees . .but try and get off and come home and fix us all up some and then you can go back." Some Arkansas soldiers deserted when informed that Indians were on a scalping tour near their homes. Indignant at extortioners and profiteers, soldiers would become disgruntled at the "rich mans war and the poor mans fight." There were occasions when "whole companies, garrisons, and even regiments decamped at a time." In some cases deserters banded together, roamed the country, fortified themselves in the mountains, and made raids upon settlements, stealing cattle and robbing military stores. Some lived in caves. Forces had to he detached from the Confederate armies to run down such groups, whose retreats were inaccessible and whose courage in fighting off attack was formidable. Had it not been for Mosbys Rangers, as Miss Lonn had pointed out, many defenseless residents in Virginias debatable land between the shifting armies "would have been at the mercy of the roving hands of deserters, turned bushwhackers, who had been left in the wake of both armies At critical times in the war the extent of desertion prevented the South from following up victories or half-victories in the field; it was both the cause and effect of lowered morale; the amount was "appalling, incredible." Many who withdrew from the army "had little conception of the gravity of their offense." For such men desertion bore no stigma; and, in sum, it appears that this factor (which, after all, was but a reflection of many other factors) "contributed definitely to the Confederate defeats after 1862 and . . . [to] the catastrophe of 1865." Source: "The Civil War and Reconstruction" by Randall and Donald |