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Historical Fiction Literacy Analysis

Due: Week 6, 9-29-16


Submit file & URL (both) to Assignments due 9/29
Definition/description:
Historical fiction draws from fact and imagination. This genre portrays the
life in a particular time period. With historical fiction, an author can take
the information they know about the past and twist the story to how they
think life was lived in that time period. Historical fiction allows us as the
reader to be able to see and experience the difficulties, conflicts, despair,
joys, suffering of those who lived before us.
Types of Historical Fiction:
Type I: Authors write a fictional story woven around actual events
and people from the past, creating an integral setting.
Number the Stars By: Lois Lowry (1989)
The Book Thief By: Markus Zusak (2005)
Type II: Authors write a fictional story with a backdrop setting, in
which the historical events and people are not extensively
featured or discussed.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn By: Mark Twain (1884)
To Kill A Mockingbird By: Harper Lee (1960)
Type III: Authors recreate their own personal lives and experiences
from a time in history from their memories, family documents, and
research.
The Little House on the Prairie By: Laura Wilder (1935)
The Birchbark House By: Louise Erdrich (1999)
Learning from Historical Fiction
Historical fiction is the only way for children to experience life of the
past. Historical fiction invites students to think as well as feel. This genre
helps children to discover critical thinking and judgement that are built
into the many novels that provide conflicting views on an issue and force
characters to make hard choices (Kiefer & Tyson, 2010; pp. 230). Many
historical fiction books help children to see and judge the mistakes of the
past, which, in turn, will help our conflict of wanting to teach our children to
not repeat the mistakes of the past. Stories of the past help children to see
the rise and fall of nations, times change, and how the human needs stay
the same throughout history. Lastly, it can foster feelings of continuity of
life and help children see their lives as part of a larger picture.
My favorite way to integrate historical fiction into my classroom is
through intertwining language arts and social studies. I would like to find a
book to go with each social studies unit. I would do this because it will not
only foster good literacy practices in my classroom but it would also help
my students enter into the lives of those who came before us. By lacing
historical fiction into my social studies lessons, my children will be able to

find a deeper understanding into each time period and see just how
important the past really is.
Historical Fiction Literacy Analysis
The Little House on the Prairie By: Laura Wilder (1935)
Book description & theme.
The theme of the book focuses on Pioneers and Family Life. The book is
number three of the infamous book series. It is a small chapter book the
follows a family of five on their journey through the pioneer lifestyle. The
theme is very explicit. I think children will be able to relate to the theme of
family life because it depicts a family who struggles like most families in
the USA.
Setting.
The Little House on the Prairie took place in 1869 during the Expansion of
the United States of America. The Ingalls family lived in a one-room log
cabin on Indian Territory in Kansas. The prairie-like landscape was quiet
unless there were Native Americans riding horse back through the prairie
chanting their war cries.
Plot.
The book is about the Ingalls family and their time spent on the Kansas
prairie near the town of Independence. Wilder describes how her father
built their one-room log house in Indian Territory because he had heard of
the governments plans to open the territory to white settlers soon.
The Ingalls family faces difficulty and danger as they all fall ill from
malaria. American Indians become a common sight for the little family, as
their house was built in Osage territory. The book described Ma's open
prejudice about Indians in contrast with Laura's childlike observations
about the Indians who live and rode nearby. The Indians begin to
congregate at the nearby river and their war cries unnerve the settlers,
who began worry they may be attacked, but the Indian chief who was
friendly with Pa is able to avert the hostilities.
By the end of the book, all the family's work is undone when word comes
that U.S. soldiers are being sent to remove white settlers from Indian
Territory. Pa decides to move the family away immediately before they can
be forced to leave.
Characters.
Laura, the protagonist and author, is a strong-willed, rebellious child
around 10-11 years old. She is the one who is telling the story from her
point of view. Her Ma, Pa, and sisters Mary and Carrie help Laura grow into
a young lady unafraid of what life has in store. Mary being the older sister
is very protective as well as an instigator of her tiffs with Laura. Laura is
very much like Pa, her father, which scares Ma, Lauras mother. The
characters are white Americans who are in the lower middle class. There

are a group of characters who are Native Americans. The characters are
extremely stereotyped throughout the book series.
Style & Tone.
The author uses astonishing figurative language and imagery throughout
the series. The author sets the tone by instilling fear into some of the
characters when they hear the loud and frightening war cries of the Native
Americans and the curiosity of Laura when she sees the Indian Chief ride
off on horseback. The tone is very obvious as you are reading. You can feel
the fear and excitement as the author talks about the different events
occur.
Literacy Growth.
I believe that this book would promote tremendous literacy growth.
Through this book, students could infer the mood and emotions of
the characters as they embark on their journey. The student can
predict what will happen next based on their prior knowledge of the
time period they learned about in their social studies unit. Students
will be able to question why things happened a certain way or why
Laura is filled with curiosity when her family is filled with terror when
they hear the war cries of the Indians and see the chief riding by
their cabin.
Illustrations Illustrations/Style/Color:
Book Rating. Rate the book on a scale of 0 to 5: Rate the book according
to your discussion of it above.
I would rate this book a 5! It is filled with many aspects that are needed to
make a great text. Students can learn many things from this text such as,
historical significance and grow in the literacy process.
Reference Page
Erdrich, L. (1999). The birchbark house. New York, NY: HyperionBooks for Children.
Kiefer, B. Z., Tyson, C. A., & Huck, C. S. (2010). Charlotte Huck's children's literature: A
brief guide (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Lee, H. (1960). To kill a mockingbird. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott.
Lowry, L. (1989). Number the stars. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
Twain, M., & Hill, H. L. (1987). Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York, NY: Harper &
Row.
Wilder, L. I., & Williams, G. (1953). Little house on the prairie. New York: Harper & Bros.

Zusak, M. (2006). The book thief. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.

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