Patrick A. Velardi
I
The unit is primarily an attempt to introduce sixth-grade students to good literature depicting life on the American frontier in the nineteenth century. However, another stated intent of the unit is to provide an historical context from which the students can derive a deeper understanding of motivation in the novels. I also want the students to develop critical thinking skills which will enable them to recognize character traits of early pioneers. As an early lesson I intend to provide historical background on the frontier to help students define it more clearly, but I do not want to turn my English class into a Social Studies class. Therefore, using R.A. Billington’s
America’s Frontier Heritage
as my main source, I will provide through lecture and ensuing class discussions the information contained earlier in this unit in the historical background section.
The following conclusions about the frontier, motivation for westward migration, pioneer spirit and the types of pioneers need to be reached in discussions of the historical background.
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1. Frontier is a place, but it is also an atmosphere that allows for self-improvement.
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2. Pioneers left for the west out of need, having a life in the east that did not provide comforts and security.
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3. Pioneers who did have a comfortable life in the east also migrated out of a desire for adventure or further advancement.
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4. Transplanted people left tradition behind, established new societies in the west, and this made for lawlessness to occur.
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5. Conquering an environment or a situation was a mark of success, and fear had no place on the frontier. This attitude shaped America’s spirit.
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6. Users and subduers of the frontier both contributed to taming the wilderness, but the subduers caused the land to develop.
II
Shane
deals with many themes on many levels. One theme which ties my unit together to a great degree is the users versus subduers idea introduced earlier in the text. Once again using Billington as my source, I will introduce these terms and a general definition of both before beginning the reading. Students will be told that they are to look for character traits and behaviors in
Shane
that will help to sharpen our general definitions of users and subduers. Students should be able to recognize the following character traits in each group:
Cattlemen
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Homesteaders
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Lawlessness
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Lawful
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Use the land to produce
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Re-use the land to produce
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Interested in money
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Interested in making the country grow
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Resistant to civilization
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Wish to have civilization
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Of course Shane fits into neither group, but has some characteristics of both. Shane demonstrates lawlessness as the gunfighter, and yet lawfulness in his support of the homesteaders, for example. This leads us into discussion of the myth in
Shane
. To appreciate the novel as literature students need to understand that Shane is supernatural in the sense that he is above both groups in his actions. Discussions of the unreality of Shane in the American west focus students’ attention on the need for American pioneers themselves to meet and overcome problems they faced. Role-playing can be employed here to have students understand reactions of pioneers to frontier problems. For example, the teacher can set up a conflict situation, with the class divided into two groups, homesteaders and cattlemen. Each group will work together to formulate a list of reasons why they have a right to the land. Homesteaders will work toward the ideas that they have obtained the land legally, that they want to develop the territory, and that they want to establish civilization. Cattlemen will work toward the ideas that they were in the territory first, they are using the land to make money, and they left the east because they wanted no part of civilization. The teacher should maintain a Shane-type role in helping to settle any disruptive disputes.
III
To further help students understand pioneer spirit and motivation, I plan to use the books
Nineteenth Century American Painting
,
19th and
20th Century Art
and
The U.S.A.: A History in Art
. These volumes contain excellent reproductions of nineteenth century paintings portraying America at this time period. The books are readily available in public libraries and should prove useful in the classroom for many types of lessons. Many of these pictures are also available as slides and in print collections in local libraries. Some of the prints I would use are:
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Durand “Kindred Spirits” and “In the Woods”
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Fisher “Mountain Stream”
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Whittredge“The Trout Pool”
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Church “Study for a Forest Pool” and “Cotopaxi”
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Bingham“Fur Traders Descending the Missouri”
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Moran “The Spirit of the Indian”
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Inness “The Clouded Sky” and “The Rainbow”
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Blakelock “Indian Encampment”
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Cole “Schroon Mountain”
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McIlvaine “Glowing Sunset”
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and Caitlin’s studies of the American Indians
After viewing the pictures and discussing student reactions to them, the students will write a short paper, two to three paragraphs perhaps, comparing and/or contrasting the historical background from Billington to the pictorial representations. Students should focus on which one provides a more accurate or more vivid portrayal. From which portrayal do you get a better idea of the American westward migration? If you were alive in 18—, would you have been inspired by the paintings to migrate? Were the paintings made just so people would be encouraged to move west?
IV
Caddie Woodlawn
and
The Trees
are used to help the students round out their understanding of pioneers on the frontier, the former to develop the concept of subduers, the latter the concept of users. Building upon the historical background, the reading of
Shane
and discussions and activities,
Caddie Woodlawn
and
The Trees
further emphasize the importance of both users and subduers on the frontier. I want the students to see that ultimately the Worth Lucketts had to disappear, and the Caddie Woodlawns had to prevail. The two novels speak well for themselves and students discussion should be lively and energetic.
The main point I want the students to reach in
Caddie Woodlawn
is the style of living the pioneers had after settling in and laying down roots. To develop empathy with Caddie and her siblings I will have the students write reaction papers to particular scenes in the book. Since the book is neatly laid out in short chapters, any one of which is interesting and thought-provoking, the students will have no difficulty finding several to write about.
V
The Trees
will take more careful consideration, since there is a movement from a family of users to a family who finally does lay down roots. The novel best portrays the mentality of a user in the men, and in particular Worth Luckett. To develop a sense of what users were, the students could do a character study of Worth Luckett, focusing on his attitudes about hunting, Indians and the wilderness. Since Wyitt, Worth’s son, progresses through the novel and becomes the same man as his father, his character would reinforce the user concept. Sayward, the heroine, is the richest character for study. She works through the pioneer attitude toward women and finally emerges as the anchor for the family. Students doing a character study of her will work toward conclusions about gender discrimination, strength of belief in settling down and the need to have a home with permanence.
Finally, students need to relate to the concept of family to understand
Caddie Woodlawn
and
The Trees
. The Woodlawns are a traditional family in which the mother and father are both present and act in forceful but loving ways. On the other hand, the Lucketts have a father who would rather be someplace else, a mother who succumbs to the hard life of the wilderness and a teenage child who must assume the role of family matriarch. The contrasts between both novels are evident and provide fertile grounds for class discussions and role-playing. As an example of role-playing using
The Trees
, the students could be asked, if you were Worth Luckett, what would you do? Would you stay with your family or leave to hunt? A possible situation could be, your father gets a new job in a city far away; your mother must stay with the family because she has a job at home; you are the oldest child so you must see to your younger brothers and sisters. What are your feelings about your new responsibilities? Is it fair that you have to be in charge of your brothers and sisters? Another example using
The Trees
and
Caddie Woodlawn
could be to ask the students to choose which family they would want to be a part of. They would then tell why they chose the family they did, and why they didn’t choose the other.