HISTORICAL FICTION

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UNIT 8

• HISTORICAL FICTION

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HISTORICAL DEFINITION

• Story of people who seem to be real but lived in
  the past
• History -- story of world and its people and
  cultures
• Imaginative stories that may have been realistic
  fiction at one time (Little Women)

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Definition (continued)

• Characteristics
• some more factual than others
• memoirs of self or others
• some connect with specific time events while
  some do not

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Historical Fiction

• All good stories show that history is created by
  people.
• People living now are tired to people of the past
• Human conditions of the past shape our current
  lives
• Historical fiction allows the reader to travel
  across time and space

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Historical Fiction in Childrens Lives

• Author want children to
• Know historical figures as human beings
• Realize historical events affected common people
• Expose children to how common people responded to
  traumatic events
• Help children imagine living in different time
  and place
• Seeing daily lives of people may help children
  appreciate technology
• Integrate throughout the curriculum

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Criteria for Selection

• Historical Accuracy
• Setting
• Language
• Characterization
• Plot and Theme
• Illustrations

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Historical Accuracy

• Consistent with historical evidence remains
  within limits of chosen historical background
• Remember presentation of history is
  interpretation
• Book need to be careful to portray social issues
  honestly -- make sure stories themselves should
  not be racist or sexist
• Do not overgeneralize realize story tells about
  one one person or a few people

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Historical Accuracy

• Summary look for
• values and attitudes that re consistent with time
  period
• stories that avoid generalization

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CRITERIA FOR SELECTION

• Setting
• Integral to story
• Authentic in historical geographical detail
• Language
• Should keep with period place (dialogue)
• Author may need to modify language to make
  understandable to reader
• Should use metaphors, similes or images that
  describes what character is thinking or feeling
• Summary authentic language dialogue rings true
  to characters

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Characterization

• Characters should
• Behave according to standards mores of time
• Speak believe in ways that are appropriate to
  the period
• When actual historical figures appear -- careful
  writers do not attribute dialogue to them unless
  there is some documentary evidence or record of
  what they said

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Selection Criteria

• Plot-Theme
• Blend factual background as subordinate to story.
• Contain a theme with universal application and
  appeal
• Illustrations should
• Support enhance plot character development.
• Provide accurate realistic details of historical
  period.

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CHRONOLOGICAL PERIODS

• Prehistorical
• Ancient
• Middle/Dark Ages
• Renaissance/Age of Exploration
• Colonial/Revolutionary Times
• Civil War
• Life on Frontier

• New Century Immigration Industrial Revolution
• First world War
• Great Depression
• Second World War
• Europe/Asia
• North America
• 1950s-80s Political Social Turmoil

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Chronological Periods

• Prehistorical Times
• before written records
• draw upon findings of archaeologists,
  anthropologists and paleontologists
• often set in Mediterranean Sea area or ancient
  Britain
• Ancient Times
• often focus on life in Mediterranean
  civilizations (Egypt, Greece, Rome) as well as
  early Britons (Normans and Saxons)

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Chronological Periods

• Middle Ages (Dark Ages)
• Begins after fall of roman Empire
• little recorded history
• battles of barbarian tribes
• Renaissance/Age of Exploration
• explorers need some kind of courage willingness
  to force unknown
• 15th to 16th centuries
• Portuguese, Spanish, English

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Chronological Periods

• Colonial Revolutionary Times
• settlements by English such as Jamestown,
  Plymouth Boston
• American Revolutionary time does not have a clear
  beginning
• included in this time period are stories about
  Native Americans
• Civil War
• slavery -- part of American life -- till
  Emancipation Proclamation
• stories of horrors of war

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Chronological Periods

• Life on the Frontier
• themes of loneliness, hardship, and acceptance
• Example Sara, Plain and Tall
• more recently deal with clashes of culture
• New Century Immigration Industrial Revolution
• alteration of economic social structures
• story of immigration

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Chronological Periods

• World War I
• 1914
• The Great Depression
• 1930s
• began in 1929 Stock Market Crash

• World War II Aftermath
• 1938-1946
• Holocaust
• Underground movement
• War in Europe also war in Pacific
• Europe Asia North America

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Chronological Periods

• 1950s-1980s -- Political and Social Turmoil
• Korea, Vietnam and Cambodian conflicts
• Civil Rights
• Role of women in society

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Use in the Classroom

• Children too will be part of history some day
• Realize human drama inherent in history
• Coordinate English language arts and social
  studies
• Discussion
• Read aloud
• Link to poetry, nonfiction, biography
• Thematic approach

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Common Themes

• People have common needs to be met
• Quest for freedom and respect
• Struggle tween good and evil
• Love and hate
• Determination to seek better life
• Explore same theme across different periods of
  history
• Coming of age, learning self reliance, fighting
  for ones beliefs