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Lesson 8: The Genre of Captivity Literature
1 class period (85 minutes)
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| Key Content Ideas Taught in this Lesson and
Teacher Background |
Captivity literature as a genre underscores the
power of "story." Such stories personalize the events
for the reader. Each story contains many of the same elements. Despite
the fact that overtime these stories may have been changed to serve
differing political motives, they provide a popular view of the
events of the time.
Teacher Background Essay: Captivity
Literature
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| Intended Learning Outcomes |
Understandings
Students will understand:
- that the past has a significant influence on present day lives
and society.
- that it is valuable to study the lives, actions, ideas, political
experiences, and judgments of people in the past.
- that it is important NOT to judge people in the past by today's
notions and beliefs.
Skills
Students will be able to:
- make reference to previously presented material.
- utilize technology to research information and present projects.
- compare and contrast events in Deerfield with world and national
events.
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| In Preparation for Teaching |
Read the Teacher Background Essay: Captivity
Literature
Further Background Reading:
Demos, John. The Unredeemed Captive. New York: Knopf. 1994.
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Primary and Secondary Sources:
1. From Memorial Hall Website: "People
and Places" entry about "Eunice Williams"
2. From Memorial Hall Website, "The
Turns of the Centuries Exhibit" : "Native Americans 1680-1720":
"Two Worlds: Bridging Cultures"
Other:
1. Computer access to locate further related
websites on the captivity literature genre.
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| Activities |
Materials in Context |
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Activity 1
1. Instruct students to listen to and
take notes on a short talk about the genre of captivity
literature.
2. Based on the artwork developed as
an assignment, ask students to post their work. Ask students
to respond to the artwork, identifying the situations in
Stephen's life from the Stephen Williams account that are
being portrayed. What does this story add to our understanding
of the captivity event?
3. Visit the Memorial Hall website to
find information on the "unredeemed captive" Eunice
Williams, Stephen's younger sister.
4. Ask students to think about what happened
to Eunice, Stephen's little sister (write a synopsis from
the web research) and jot down privately reasons why did
they think she not return?
5. As a class, discuss the following
ideas. Is the authorship of a captivity story always known?
What may be some of the motivations for telling the such
stories? What effect could time have on the stories? Do
we tell such stories today? Can you provide an example?
Assignment: Ask students to find
another captivity literature story on a website, print it
out, and identify the commonalties (plot, characters, setting)
with the Williams’ stories. Answer the following questions
about the article: Who are the main characters? Describe
the setting. Briefly describe the plot. Why, in your opinion,
has the story become part of the cannon of captivity literature?
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The writing exercise completed as a homework
assignment.
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