WWll . . .

In this month, we celebrate some important dates in WWII and we remember the lives lost. My associates and I from Imagine Works and the Creative Corner wrote this:

Looking Back

- Thinking about WWll and how it affected the World -

   

   Fighter planes dropping bombs, soldiers shooting at the enemy, lives lost, and people saved. Wars happen all the time. Yet one in particular we remember especially well in this month, one that was one of the bloodiest battles in history; WWll. And now I will talk about it in this article.

   Looking at this war in general, you can already see that it was a tragedy, and that the whole world pitched in to fight for good reasons despite the costs of so many innocent lives. However, following this are the facts that aren’t so obvious, like the fact that around 16.1 million Americans fought in this war. Out of these many brave individuals, an estimated 670,846 American troops were wounded in the fighting. Also, in the whole world, about 60 million died due to this world. Worst yet, the average age of a man fighting in WWll was 26. Could you imagine maybe being their parent, watching them go off to fight a war in a distant country, knowing they may not come back alive? That personally would terrify me. I believe that the way that WWll most impacted Americans was through the hardships they had to endure because of it and the loss of many friends and family members. It must have really opened the Americans’ eyes to the world around them when they realized how much their lives and the lives of everyone around them would change because of this war.

   Next, I will focus specifically on June 6, 1944, another important date in WWll. Or, as it is most famously known as, D-Day. D-Day was the day when the Allied Forces landed on Omaha Beach and the Allies, despite the loss of life, had a great victory; they made the first big steps towards freeing France and eventually the rest of Europe. The purpose of this fight was to take back the coast and get supplies to land with which the ground troops could use to storm the nearest countries with, and this was a success, despite Hitler's plans to use their plans to his advantage. What it was like to fight on this day was awful. People dying before your eyes, running and screaming civilians, soldiers giving up their lives, gunshots ringing throughout the air. By lunchtime on D-Day, only about 10-12 men could actually stand and fight. Your chances of surviving were slim if you were fighting here. Of about 118 men, 112 would die. On D-Day, an estimated 2,499 American soldiers died and an estimated 6,603 American soldiers were injured/ suffered casualties. Today, this specific day is remembered by the many speeches made during this day, the soldiers who lived on to tell their future children and grandchildren about this, the many memorials found, and so much more. We must remember this dreadful day in history so that we will not be doomed to repeat it.

   And speaking earlier of survivors, I would like to mention the brave veteran, Nick Zuras. He fought in WWll and was awarded a Gold Medal for serving through this awful time in history. He was and officer on a boat at Omaha Beach. He wrote a book in 2008 about his experience and has a wife, two daughters, and a grandson. On an episode of CNN Student News he talked briefly about his experience and about the war. He exclaimed that WWll was very different from the wars we fight nowadays, such as the wars that we continuously fight out in Iraq and Afghanistan. When America fought with the Allies in WWll, it was very much a ‘group effort’ among the countries, not just a ‘lend some support and leave it at that’ affair. Every country was engaged and fought valiantly against a common enemy. That probably couldn’t be more true.

   Now we move on lastly to May 8, 1945, better known as VE-Day. This day is so significant because it marked the day that Europe was finally freed from the clutches of Hitler.  This day is remembered with the fact that it was made into a holiday, the many memorials made and the extra parades, celebrations, and etc about this awful time. After this, there really isn’t much more to say. It was a terrible yet wonderful day in history.

   In conclusion, WWll was important. We should remember it so that we aren’t doomed to repeat it. Instead of forgetting our history, we must embrace it. Celebrate the lives of the veterans whose lives were lost throughout this month.

Historical Fiction vs. Historical Account

   For my final post about 'Fever, 1793', I am going to talk about overall historical fiction vs historical accounts and how authentically Laurie Halse Anderson displayed her book. 

   After reading both 'Fever, 1793' and 'The Diary of Elizabeth Drinker, the Life Cycle of an Eighteenth Century Woman', I can easily point out the many similarities present. The first of which being that both shared the similar recollections of the fever throughout the year that it is striking. Both show the experiences of strong, capable women through the echos of the recently-past warfare and through a dreaded epidemic that raged throughout the city of Philadelphia. And, of course, there is the loss of life; Mrs. Drinker lost one of her children (look right for a picture of one of Mrs. Drinker's children, Annie) and Mattie lost her grandfather. However, these things are due to completely different things. 

   Mattie, upon she and her grandfather's return, found their house/coffeehouse in disarray and havoc. Within the week or so that they were back, burglars attacked and ended up killing Mattie's grandfather in the process. Death for me was personally predictable, since nearly no family escaped this epidemic unscathed who wasn't of wealth origin, but to not only have the rest of your family avoid the fever altogether and for you to personally fight it off with no health problems or struggles afterwards was practically unheard of and half-impossible. Even Mrs. Drinker, a rich woman by birth, lost a child due to sickness, and despite her lack of detail on the subject of this death, was effected though they had tried to escape it. And they were lucky to have the chance to as it was. This part of 'Fever, 1793' was the biggest part of the book, if not one of the only, that I could point at and say 'this isn't true' and 'that's almost impossible' with confidence. The list of deaths this year in Philadelphia was extremely high. And again, let me stress the fact that 'Mattie & Co' weren't real at all, although crafted carefully. 

   In conclusion, after tons of researching, I have concluded that the book 'Fever, 1793' by Laurie Halse Anderson was very accurate and true to the time period overall, despite some of the tiny road-bumps that the research detected with the novel as a whole. Anderson has done justice to this era by displaying it with an amazing new view on the life of a person actually living there. 

Characters

   I am now going to evaluate the characters in 'Fever, 1793' by Laurie Halse Anderson by comparing fact to fiction, based on 'The Diary of Elizabeth Drinker, the Life Cycle of and Eighteenth Century Woman', which was written by Elizabeth Drinker.
   In the two sources, Mattie and Mrs. Drinker are completely different. Mattie lived a life filled with chores and runs to the market, while Mrs. Drinker lived some-what of a life of luxury, and when the fever hit, she had the 'luxury' of being able to flee. Mattie had no such chance, and when she DID get to leave with her grandfather when the fever first strikes, the two are disguarded later on by the other family they are traveling with. This truly makes it impossible to compare the two people, real and fake, in this instance. Also, in the novel 'Fever, 1793', none of the main characters - Mattie Cook, Mattie's mother, Mattie's grandfather, Elisha, Elisha's family, Nathaniel, etc. - are not real. Instead, they are all but pure elements of fiction, with their experiences and memories similar to that of real people who lived then. This obviously is a big difference between Mrs. Drinker's real accounts. She existed.
   However, her character was not without thought.  Like in Mrs. Drinker's story, both contained the spirit and attitude necessary to truly capture the essence of an early American woman. And in addition to that, despite the fact that Mattie was completely made up by the author, her name was a popular one in the 1700s, as were some of the others mentioned (even though 'Mattie' wasn't specifically mentioned there). In 'The Diary of Elizabeth Drinker, the Life Cycle of and Eighteenth Century Woman', the names Mattie and Polly were mentioned quite a lot, though referring to many different people bearing this name. And of course, we cannot forget about the fact that both people suffered through this dreaded epidemic. If all that was not enough, both characters, real and fake, included mentions of the Washingtons (look slightly up and to the right for a picture of them) and the Revolutionary War in their novels. Mrs. Drinker describes the downsides of quartering and the inconveniences and terrible scares it caused, such as an armed drunk man trying to request stay in the Drinker home one night. The family had to lock the doors, secure all windows and other breakable things that could serve an entrance into their home, and hide away deep within the house. Mattie's grandfather talks often about the war, teaching her the 'things' a soldier must have in order to fight, and since the family is living in Philadelphia, the Washingtons are occasionally talked about; they are referred to as being noble and brave as well as being 'a few blocks down' and 'possible customers' at their coffeehouse before the fever. They are portrayed in both the historical fiction and account as being amazing people, and possibly the only real ones in 'Fever, 1793'.
   In conclusion, Anderson, despite making up all her characters and the fact that most of them have virtually nothing physically in common with Mrs. Drinker, has still found a way to dive around that and display characters that seem historically accurate and could have existed otherwise under the right conditions.

Setting

   After reading the book 'Fever, 1793' by Laurie Halse Anderson and the historical source 'The Diary of Elizabeth Drinker, the Life Cycle of an Eighteenth Century Woman' by Elizabeth Drinker, I am going to compare and contrast the setting of Mattie's world and how authentically Anderson displayed this 'fake world' in her novel in relation to the actual setting.
   One thing that you must understand was that Mrs. Drinker's house was notioned to be very posh and luxurious, giving the impression that the Drinker family was on the more wealthy side of the spectrum. The house was described as being big and spacious, and having a large garden (look right for an example of a wealthy family's house). When Mrs. Drinker and her family fled the capital from the fever, she specifically stated that she was sad to see her large silver tree go, and she mentioned its broken branches and lack of fruit upon the family's return. In Anderson's story, Mattie and her mother visit a wealthy family's house. It is described as having all the same qualities; it is very large and lavish, and all of the family's clothes are the newest, cleanest, coolest garments of their era. As they arrive, Mattie's mother becomes intimidated, and her hand 'immediately goes to the small stain on her dress'. Later on, like the Drinkers, this family also flees, as most rich families did, usually to the country where a luxurious summer home resided. In terms of a wealth family's house, the author was spot on.
   However, Mattie's life was not that of Mrs. Drinker's. Her family was poorer, and they lived upstairs from their coffeehouse (look left for an example of what one might have looked like). But, after doing some additional research on some other sites (CLICK HERE), I have found that the coffeehouse that Mattie and her family lived in also seemed to check out, also proven to be true to its time period.
   In both accounts, fictional and real, the people Mattie and Elizabeth lived in Philadelphia, the nation's capital. This is historically accurate, as most people effected by the fever lived here, and this setting encompasses all the others in the 'Fever, 1793' book.
   In conclusion, I still must say that Anderson has crafted her fictional story in a way that is both entertaining and true to the setting of the actual events in 1793.

Time Period

   After reading the book 'Fever, 1793' by Laurie Halse Anderson and 'The Diary of Elizabeth Drinker, the Life Cycle of an Eighteenth Century Woman', which was originally written by Elizabeth Drinker, I can conclude that the author of 'Fever, 1793' has indeed done a very good job crafting her story. But is it accurate to this time period?
   In Mrs. Drinker's dairy (look to the right), the journal states that she has lived through two great travesties; the Revolutionary War and the dreaded yellow fever epidemic of 1793. Obviously, you can see upon which event Anderson based her novel, but the historic separation of America from England is also mentioned several times.
   The book 'Fever, 1793' is about a 16-year-old named Mattie Cook and her small family. They run a small coffee shop that Mattie's father had wanted to run when he bought it, but he died before his time. The first chapter or so of the book displays the family's average, everyday do-goings in 1793, showing what their lives must have been like. Then the fever hit. It starts when Mattie's close friend dies unexpectedly. Rumors fly throughout the town. Then Mattie's mother becomes terribly ill and is diagnosed with the yellow fever. Fearing for her family, Mattie's mother sends Mattie and her grandfather away for their own safety. Around halfway through the journey, the family the two were riding away from town with kicked them out of their wagon/carriage and left them stranded with no place to go and nothing to use. A wild series of events takes off for Mattie, resulting in the taking in of another orphaned child, the return to Philadelphia, where the small 3-person family lived, an aspiring crush, the death of Mattie's grandfather, and the reunion of both Mattie and her friend Elisha (the black woman that helped out at the coffee shop) and that of Mattie and her mother, who were torn apart by the terrible panic of the epidemic and the fever itself. The novel concludes itself by showing how Mattie's life got back on track, the coffee shop reopened, and that things could only get better.
   Mrs. Drinker's story and Mattie's were very similar and didn't really differ much. Again, both talked about the Revolutionary War (look right for the historic picture of George Washington crossing the Delaware) and the fever epidemic. They also both included details specific to these events. For example, both described the specific number of deaths they had heard about and the ways that the war had affected their families. But, even more impressive than that (in my opinion), was the fact that Anderson was able to capture within her story the strong will and courage of a person living back in Mrs. Drinker's time, a year in the life of a woman from 1793. Anderson took extra care to make sure that the time period and all its elements were authentic.
   In conclusion, 'Fever, 1793' has proven itself, in comparison to another historical source from this era, accurate and authentic to the aspects of this time period.

Welcome!

Hello, and welcome to History Mystery, the blog that separates fact and fiction; did this really happen? I have 4 main categories; time period, setting, characters, and historical account versus historical fiction. Each month, I will be reading a new book and comparing it to a historical reference or source. This month is my first, and I will be reading the book, 'Fever, 1793' by Laurie Halse Anderson. Watch for the posts and enjoy this homemade trailer (though it isn't by me . . .)!