Patrick A. Velardi
My first thoughts about teaching the novel
Shane
to my upper level sixth grade English classes came to me when discussing the novel with my own twelve year old son. He had been assigned the book as part of a summer reading list, and it was the first book he chose to read. As many young boys probably do, he had thought that it was a marvelous story of good guys and bad guys, with the bad guys having the upper hand because of their utter disregard for the mundane world of legalities. That is, the bad guys had the edge until the mysterious appearance of Shane. The hero soon galvanizes the good guys not just with a spirit to fight the good fight, but with the necessary muscle when needed. My son cheered for Shane against the seemingly insurmountable odds until the victorious outcome, and he was not disappointed.
Then I, the omniscient father—English teacher, stepped in to discuss with my young charge why he liked the book. The answer, of course, was that he enjoyed the feeling of victory by a man who knew what was right and let nothing, least of all fear of numbers of men opposed to him, stand in his way. Needless to say, this is not an adequate enough answer for me. We started talking about why the homesteaders were there in the first place. After all, cattle ranchers were certainly there first. Didn’t that give them some rights that perhaps the farmers were impinging upon? and, since water was a precious commodity on the frontier, didn’t the cattlemen have a right to oppose people who came in after them and fenced off property, usually because the property had water on it? The discussion continued along these lines, and when we were through I had a strong feeling that
Shane
would be an intriguing vehicle to help young people understand a part of America’s early history that has had, and still has, a profound effect on the way we Americans think today. However, I was also attracted to the story as an English teacher, because I was confident that the story alone would fascinate young readers: I was confident that I had a “winner” on my hands. My students would learn history but, more important to me, they would also understand an excellent novel much more completely. Thus began my thought processes about how to plan a unit that would be literary in its primary intent, yet simultaneously give a deeper understanding of American history. All I needed to do was to discover what the right questions and activities would be to move toward this very general goal of teaching literature and history simultaneously and, hopefully, painlessly.
To begin, I myself had only a basic understanding of what “frontier” meant. What was the frontier, and why was it important anyhow? If life on the frontier involved life and death struggles, Why in the name of sanity would someone leave civilization to go there? Surely, I would have to help my students understand these questions if I wanted them to appreciate the plight of both cattle ranchers and homesteaders in
Shane
. Thus the novel would be enriched beyond the story. In addition to
Shane
, I chose two other novels,
Caddie Woodlawn
and
The Trees
, that I believe will round out my students’ understanding of pioneers and the frontier.
Caddie Woodlawn
, by Carol Ryrie Brink, provides a peer’s eye account of life on the frontier after the initial taming of the wilderness. Students get a view of everyday life as seen through the eyes of the Woodlawn children. On the other hand,
The Trees
, by Conrad Richter, gives a picture of the initial wave of pioneering into the wilderness. These two contrasting stories, one of users of the wilderness, the other of subduers, culminate in
Shane
, where both users and subduers clash.
Presenting the three books poses an interesting problem. Should one progress geographically, east to west? Or, should one present
The Trees
first as the initial wave of pioneers then
Shane
, as the conflict between groups gets resolved, and finally
Caddie Woodlawn
, as life after the conflict? Both paths make good sense, and I leave it up to the teacher of this unit to decide. For my purposes in writing this unit, I believe that
Shane
should be presented first to introduce all the aspects of the frontier I hope to teach. Also, I feel that
Shane
will grab the attention of my students more quickly than the other two novels. After
Shane
, the unit will focus on life on a farm after resolution of the conflict, (
Caddie Woodlawn
), and then back to the subduers, (
The Trees
). As an English teacher, this is the way the unit flows for me. I can understand different orders, particularly for a social studies teacher who would want to move across the country in geography and time. I believe that either order will work.
