Fever 1793

1. Do a quick search of the internet using the keywords "fever 1793." What are some of the documents you find? How do they represent the epidemic? How has Anderson integrated them into her story? Do you think she has done a credible job?

Check out especially http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA96/forrest/WW/feverlit.html

2. Contemporary American culture seems to be obsessed with concerns of race and class. What does this book teach you about the history of those concerns in America? Deal with these issues separately--first race and then class--and then together. You might also consider both the stereotypes and the facts about the French in this book.

3. What are some of the elements that make this book "work" as a story as well as an historical account? In other words, what elements of plot and character seem to be very typical of books for this age group? How would you rate this as a piece of historical fiction?

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

1. Why do you think this book is called The Witch of Blackbird Pond? To whom does the title refer?

2. Compare and contrast the island setting in which Kit grew up to her new home in Connecticut. In what ways and for what purposes is the island setting exoticized and romanticized?

3. Contemporary American culture seems to be obsessed with issues of race and class. What does this book teach you about the history of those concerns in this country?

4. Think of the three couples that are formed as three expressions of the American dream. Describe the couples' values and priorities. How does this contribute to a sense of diversity in the book?

Out of the Dust

1. Consider this book in light of the four elements--earth, air, fire and water. How are the elements out of balance? How is this reflected in the characters? Take your time with this question and really tease out the characters' relationships to each other and to the elements. You might start by making a table with each element heading a column. Then list the events and characters that go with each element. Then find a way to come to an interpretation of the novel based on your findings.

2. What was the effect of using blank verse to tell the story rather than prose narration?

3. This is another one of those books where the environment might be seen to act as an objective correlative for what is happening in the human environment. How does this work in this book?

When Zachary Beaver Came to Town

1. What are the various conflicts in this story? Consider the big ones and the small ones. How do they relate to one another? You might try mapping these visually rather than simply listing them.

2. Why is Zachary Beaver's presence in the town important to the story? In other words, how does he help Toby and Cal, as well as the others in town, deal with their difficult losses? How does he help them individually, and how does he help the individuals become a community? 

3. Why must Zachary be a spectacle rather than just a normal kid who gets left behind by his guardian? What does his body have to do with the story, both actually and metaphorically?

Sacajawea

1. Critique Clark's argument about why he doesn't give York his freedom. What are its merits and its flaws? What do you think Sacajawea would have said about it, had she addressed it? Why do you think she didn't?

2. What is the effect of having the two narrators tell their stories interchangeably? On what issues are their perspectives wildly different? At what points did they agree?

3. Why is the story of Sacajawea important for young people to know? She is considered an American hero. What makes her story heroic?

4. Clearly, Sacajawea has much more respect for Captain Clark and Captain Lewis than she does for her own husband. How might this perpetuate stereotypes if read as an example of Native American/white relations? How might that reading change if we simply thought of this as one woman's story (that is, if we read under a lens of particularity)?