Chapter 15 Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

Nonfiction Reading:

Work in groups to learn about other things that were related to the Yellow Fever epidemic.  Your group will have a different nonfiction topic to work on.   Topics that groups may pick from may include the following:

• Yellow Fever (how it impacted the society at that time)
• Free African Society
• Bush Hill
• Dr. Rush
• George Washington

Use the internet or classroom books to research then record information in your interactive journal (this may take a couple of slides). 

• Give a brief summary of what you have found about your topic.
• What was the main point the authors wanted you to get from your findings?
• Which points did you disagree or find difficult to believe? Why?
• How does this influence your ideas or how does this give you a better understanding of the novel we are reading?

Interactive Journal Assignment for Chapters 13 - 14

Interactive Journal Assignment

Create a new slide in your journal.
Write a letter addressed to Lucille, (Mattie’s mother) from Mattie.  

• What would you write to Lucille if you were Mattie?  
• Think about it; Mattie left because her mom was sick and she has no clue how she is doing now and now the fear Mattie has for herself.  

Really empathize for Mattie and write a touching letter to her mom.

Perspective Chapter 12 Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

Create a new page in your interactive journal then respond to the following:

Put yourself in the shoes of the family who was carrying Mattie and her grandfather out of town.  

• How would you have acted if you were put in their shoes?  
• Would you have tried carrying them to a new town, would you disown them as they did?  
• How might you have handled this particular circumstance?

Chapters 9-11 Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

Interactive Journal Assignment:

Fever 1793 is full of figurative language.  Locate 2 examples for each chapter (there are many, many similes) and record them in your interactive journal.  Be sure to include how the examples of figurative language add meaning to the story or how does it helps you to understand what you are reading.  

Challenge:
The writing is also very poetic.  Find an example of a poetic passage and share it in your journal.
Here is an example from Ch.3 #14.

She had been a cradle friend,

The girl I played dolls with.

We sang nonsense songs together.

We churned butter,

My small hands and Polly’s

Together

On the handle of the churn.

I took a deep breath.

And closed my eyes.

Dead? Polly’s dead?

Our Polly?

The sweat on my neck turned to ice.

I shivered.

That can’t be.

From Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

Chapter 10 Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

In Chapter 10, we feel the panic of those who fled the city.  Why are people panicked to leave? Where did they go?  How did they leave the city?  Who stayed?  Why did people stay?  In order to better understand today and tomorrows readings, lets go on  a virtual tour of the city of Philadelphia in 1793.

Chapter 9 Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

In Chapter 9, we are introduced to the conflicting views of the doctors.  We see again the word, pestilence: a fatal epidemic disease.   Think back to the poem we studied, Pestilence by Phillip Freneau. What was the tone of that poem?  How did he feel about the doctors? We are also introduced to Rev. Allen (Richard Allen) and Dr. Rush.  What do you remember learning about them when you did the internet workshop?

We learn for the first time what yellow fever looks, feels, and sounds like.  Mattie describes her mother:
#67 Mother shivered so hard, her teeth rattled... She lay under the faded bedding like a rag doll losing its stuffing, her hair a wild collection of snake on the pillow, her cornflower blue eyes poisoned with streaks of yellow and red. It hurt to look at her. Her face was pulled taut in pain, and she jerked in her sleep.  #68  The tops of her hands were roped with muscle and veins, but her skin was wrinkled and soft. ... Mother flew off the pillows and was violently ill, vomiting blood all over the bed and floor.  Her eyes rolled back in her head.

Let's study the following video to get another picture of what the victims of Yellow Fever might have had to endure.

OOMM Book Project Trailer