Friday, March 18, 2011

Module 4: Social Studies Poetry - The Brothers' War: Civil War Voices in Verse



Bibliographic Information
Lewis, J. Patrick. THE BROTHERS' WAR: CIVIL WAR VOICES IN VERSE. National Geographic Children's Books. ISBN: 9781426300363

Summary and Analysis

With photos provided by the Library of Congress, Table of Contents and introduction, and Bibliography in the back, this book provides a scholarly overview to a poetic representation of the Civil War. It is deeply moving and provides an insider's look at the trials of war, perspective of soldiers, hardships of those enslaved, and with each poem there is a photograph of someone from the era. These photographs at times speaking louder than words not only due to haunting stares but because they are photographs and not illustrations which provides the reader with a human look into the struggles of lives and those influenced by war. Children will not be able to read this book and not feel some form of respect or wonder to this era. They may be drawn to the young faces of soldiers, or the injustice of slavery, but they will be drawn to this text and these photographs.

With each poem comes a following paragraph which goes in detail about the subject in which the poem was focused. These educational paragraphs provide dates, statistics, and are a great way facts are linked to poetry. There is a variety to styles from rhyme to free verse to even dialect in the exchange between Letter from Home and Letter Home.

Highlighted Poem
The Raider

Against a barbarous slave trade,
I swore with my last breath
Twenty-one worthies, black and white
And unafraid of death,

Would take the Armory that night.
We fought outmanned, outgunned,
And could not hold the prize though we
Had permanently stunned

Savage bigots everywhere.
We swung for it, but Lee,
That vile coward, must accept
Responsibility.

Let all the hired guns of hate
Punish this old John Brown.
The dam they opened up will flood
With blood until they drown.

In truth I am a white man,
In sympathy a black.
But for this rope, I might have seen
Us win our freedom back.

Connections
The connections offered with this book to other texts, topics, or sources are limitless. One could address the history of the war, covering the historical elements and key figures, or one could address the personal side of this and find autobiographical accounts. In the back of the book is a timeline and map identifying capitals and major battles. This is a book of poetry focused on social studies providing any teacher or librarian with tools in which to expand upon the poems whether by focusing on locations, personal stories, facts, or the wonderful photographs.

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