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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 involves fact and imagination. It considers how life was
lived in the past giving the readers an insight into history and the human
struggle over the decades. The characters that are involved in historical
fiction are real like, and believable.
Types of Historical Fiction:
Type I: Authors write a fictional story woven around actual events
and people from the past, creating an integral setting.
The Fighting Ground by Avi. (2009)
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes. (1987)
Type II: Authors write a fictional story with a backdrop setting, in
which the historical events and people are not extensively
featured or discussed.
Two Crafty Criminals by Philip Pullman. (2012)
Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm (2010)
Type III: Authors recreate their own personal lives and experiences
from a time in history from their memories, family documents, and
research.
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston. (1988)
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. (1935)
Learning from Historical Fiction
Historical fiction can be extremely useful for intermediate grades
because it teaches them lessons beyond what theyve read. They get
to stop, think, and reflect. Because historical fiction is based on real
time periods students can feel for the characters theyre reading
about and compare it to their life now. It helps them use their
analyzing skills to read between the lines of the pages.
As for how Id teach it in the classroom setting having students read
historical books theyre learning about past, present, and future. With
learning about those three they can compare and contrast events
and time periods in intermediate grade levels. An example would be
students would learn about an important historical figure and write
and present a biography on them to their classmates. I think this
type of lesson would be great for students to learn something from
their findings as well as what theyve learned from their peers. The
students will be using other resources to find information.
Historical Fiction Literacy Analysis
A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck. (1998)
Book description & theme.

A Long Way from Chicago is about two children Joey and Mary who visit
their grandmother who lives somewhere between Chicago and St. Louis.
They visit her every time during the summer time. Each chapter focuses on
a different summer trip with their grandmother and a different story line
that the children and grandmother go through within the people of their
town. From this book I think students will be able to compare the two time
differences of the Great Depression to their time now. And how the
simplest activity as hanging out with your grandmother will have two
different looks compared to then and now.
Setting.
The setting of this book is during the Great Depression 1929 till 1939. This
setting is throughout the whole book from how the town is set up with
foreclosure homes to homeless. Although, you can sense the time period
throughout the story the funny situations the grandmother gets into really
brings a humor aspect to the setting and how the story is told.
Plot.
This book takes place during The Great Depression, which really affected
all of American life. It flows heavenly throughout the book in the town that
the grandmother lives in. It may not always be mentioned but you feel it in
the book as you read each chapter. There are banks that are foreclosing
homes as well as the foreclosure home happening to the main characters.
Characters.
Joey, Mary, Grandma Dowdel, Effie Wilcox, The Cowgill boys, and a few
others. Grandma Dowdel is the main character along with her
grandchildren Joey and Mary. Joey is narrating the story as an older man
looking back at his time spent with his grandma and all the trips he and his
sister use to take. She is this spunky woman who gets herself into all these
fun types of situations. Effie Wilcox is her enemy. The Cowgill boys arent
her favorite either. And all of these characters help move along the
different situations that happen in each chapter.
Style & Tone.
Joey who is the narrator tells the style of this book in first person. Each
chapter of this book is a different storyline series involving Grandma
Dowdel. I think the tone of the story is fun, family oriented and colorful
because of all the mischief Grandma Dowdel gets herself into with the
people of town. You can sense Joeys fondness of his grandmother through
the story and how he recounts their time together as well as with his sister
Mary.
Literacy Growth. Because this book takes place during the Great
Depression you could use this book to teach students about how
effective that time period was to the people in America and how we
bounced from it as a nation. Using this book as a tool for

intermediate grades to read and analyze and compare the life styles
of then and now to promote literacy growth. You can have students
make that connection to the text and real life to really reinforce their
knowledge of this time period and make it connect on an emotional
level.
Illustrations Illustrations/Style/Color:
This book is more for older children, and a chapter book so there is no
illustrations except for the front cover.
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 4 because I think intermediate grade levels will
really like how fun and spunky Grandma Dowdel is. I think they can relate
someone in their life to her. I think overall, this book is a fun read for them.
Reference Page
Forbes, E., & Ward, L. (1943). Johnny Tremain: A novel for old & young.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Holm, J. L. (2010). Turtle in paradise. New York: Random House.
Houston, G., & Cooney, B. (1988). The year of the perfect Christmas tree:
An Appalachian story. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers.
Peck, R. (1998). A long way from Chicago: A novel in stories. New York: Dial
Books for Young Readers.
Pullman, P. (2012). Two crafty criminals!: And how they were captured by
the daring detectives of the New Cut Gang ; including Thunderbolt's
Waxwork & the gas-fitters' ball. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Avi. (1984). The fighting ground. New York, NY: J.B. Lippincott.
Wilder, L. I., & Williams, G. (1953). Little house on the prairie. New York:
Harper & Brothers.

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