From: Connie Rockman <connie.rock>
Date: Wed, 5 May 2004 10:26:30 -0400

On the subject of using historical fiction in the social studies curriculum - I have to take issue with Jonathan. I think there is tremendous value in incorporating historical fiction in the teaching of history and cultures . . . and the more "notes" in the book, the better I like it. In fact, I wish more writers of historical fiction would include a "foreword" that would provide some background and historical context for their stories, rather than put all their comments at the end.

Often when I read historical fiction (also in the early days of Masterpiece Theatre, and some of the better-produced historical dramas on TV), the stories will send me to the history books to learn more. If fictional treatments are handled well in the curriculum, they can provide this same incentive . . . to spur creative research, rather than slog through a boring textbook. Now that we have so many excellent nonfiction books written with a narrative flow (Jim Murphy's books, Russell Freedman's, and many others), the research can be as exciting as the fictional reading, but for many kids the fictional involvement is helpful to build interest.

In college I had a wise professor for English History. He was a terribly dull lecturer and used a very dull textbook. But each semester we were assigned two works of historical fiction. We didn't discuss them much in class, but he arranged questions on his final exams so that you couldn't get an "A" in the course unless you had read those fictional works. To this day, I remember that class mostly for the jolt I received from Josephine Tey's Daughter of Time (a novel about research that reads like a murder mystery - great fun, and so illuminating) and John Dickson Carr's The Devil in Velvet (about a history professor who travels back in time to the days of the Restoration - not just historical fiction, but fantasy too!). Both were published, of course, as adult books, yet they made me aware of how much fiction can enhance a study of history.

And who is to say what is historical "fact" anyway? The theme of Daughter of Time is the degree to which "history" is written by the victor, in this case the much-maligned Richard III.

Russell Freedman wrote an excellent article on "Historical Fact and Fiction" some years ago (sorry, I don't have the citation) in which he talked about the different historical "facts" you can gather. I especially remember him comparing primary source material, diaries, etc. of the American Westward movement - the diaries written by men emphasize how threatening and hostile the various native tribes were, while the diaries of women emphasized how helpful they found the Indians in learning about edible plants, healing herbs, survival in the wilderness, etc. - History itself is colored by the viewpoint of the historian-du-jour.

So I say - the more "notes" the better in historical fiction. I want to know about the family connections in Esperanza Rising. I want to know the background for Mildred Taylor's stories, and I believe knowing the strong connections between some books and their authors, and the reasons why an author is drawn to writing about a particular era, event, or personage is of great interest to young readers. Symbiotic? You bet! I think that's where real "learning" takes place . . . and lifelong learning begins.

Connie Rockman
Received on Wed 05 May 2004 09:26:30 AM CDT