Sarah K. Herz
After studying a particular historical period have your school librarian search for historical fiction related to it. Set up a cart in the classroom and ask three students to read the same novel. Duplicate copies are probably at the local library.
Divide the class up into groups of three or four. These groups are responsible for presenting a historical novel to the class using the guidelines listed above. Research should be completed within two class periods.
For example, a group has read
The Winthrop Woman
by Anya Seton. The group will be aware that the novel is divided into three parts: England 1617-1631, Massachusetts Bay Colony 1631-1640, and Connecticut and New Netherland 1640-1655. Each group can divide up the guidelines: one person responsible for plot, one student responsible for characters, etc.
For example, in part 1, England 1617-1631, a student can begin to analyze the characters. The heroine, Elizabeth Fones is introduced and her family relationships are described in great detail. The student might want to make up a visual chart depicting various family members and their relationship to one another and check it against the real Winthrop family. As the student analyzes this section of the novel the others analyze plot, setting, and theme. When they have completed their analyses, they begin to organize their oral presentation to the class. They should be responsible for leading class discussion on this part of the novel. After each group has presented its report to the class, the teacher might organize some activities based on the three or four novels.
Here are some activities that might be focused on:
The Winthrop Woman
.
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1) Develop a time line of Elizabeth’s life in the novel according to her age and where she lived and with whom.
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2) Make a list of soldiers, kings, politicians and ministers in the novel. Identify them using various historical reference tools.
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3) Find a sound, simple historical description of Puritan ideology.
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4) Write a brief history of the Puritan struggle in England.
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5) Using the source materials mentioned in the author’s note, write a brief biography of John Winthrop.
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6) Check the source of John Winthrop’s Patent as described in the novel.
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7) Research the structure of government in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
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8) Contrast the governments of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and New Netherland during the seventeenth century.
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9) As Thomas Dudley, you are Deputy Governor to John Winthrop. What is your opinion of him?
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10) You are Elizabeth Fones Winthrop. Describe the London you lived in until you left for Massachusetts.
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11) As Elizabeth Fones Winthrop write a diary about the trip to Massachusetts on the ship
Lyon
.
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12) You are a passenger on the
Lyon
; describe the Winthrop family.
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13) You are a devout Puritan. Describe the life of a Puritan living in Boston during the 1630s.
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14) Dramatize the trial of Anne Hutchinson.
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15) Draw a map of Elizabeth’s various homes from the time she landed in Boston to her removal to New Netherland.
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16) What Indian tribes were around the Massachusetts Bay Colony at this time? On a map identify the various tribes around Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Netherland at this time.
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17) Draw a map of the Massachusetts Bay Colony as it existed under the governorship of John Winthrop. Draw an overlay showing the geography as it is today.
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18) Draw a map of Boston, Watertown and the various early settlements at this time.
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19) Write a newspaper about the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Some feature articles should include the election of Governor Winthrop, the trial of Anne Hutchinson, Boston as a city and a port at this time, jobs available, interviews with residents about why they came to Massachusetts, etc.
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20) What’s fact and what’s fiction about the setting, plot, and characters?
These strategies are a few examples to illustrate the kinds of activities that can be organized around an historical novel in order to illuminate and vivify the era, themes, and characters it deals with. Teachers are encouraged to use films, film strips, video tape recorders, and field trips to help students to feel a part of the history. For example, in
The Winthrop Woman
, the heroine Elizabeth Fones Winthrop buys an island in Greenwich, Connecticut. It would be a fine idea to arrange a field trip to walk over and imaginatively create the island as it was described in the novel. The whole point of using local history to illuminate major historical themes is, of course, the availability of nearby historical sites and museums to vivify and dramatize classroom materials. Many historical novels connect with such local resources.
Students and teachers will become historical detectives as they begin to analyze and verify the accuracy of the various historical novels. They will find many discrepancies between history and historical fiction. This is a wonderful learning experience.
