Trial+by+Fire

toc =Trial by Fire=

Kevin Randolph (krandolph@nscds.org), History Teacher Vinnie Vrotny (vvrotny@nscds.org), Director of Academic Technology Sharon Minnoch (sminnoch@nscds.org), Librarian

Introduction
Author and historian Shelby Foote described the Civil War as a turning point in the history of the United States. It turned us, he said, “from an //are// to an //is//.” Even today people remain fascinated by the conflict and its legendary figures, epic battles and colorful imagery. What is sometimes lost in the preoccupation with legend and lore is the simple truth that war is ultimately about sacrifice and loss. Once upon a time we told war stories about glory and heroism, but now it is time for a different kind of war story and for different voices.

Ira Cahill Stevens, a young Union soldier taken captive by Confederates during the Battle of the Wilderness in May of 1864, finds himself fighting a new battle as the novel opens. One waged within the head and heart against "the dead nothingness of despair." It’s a bad time to be a prisoner-of-war. The long and acrimonious debate over prisoner exchanges has come to a stalemate, and Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant has halted all exchanges in order to prevent released Confederates from immediately returning to their regiments. As a result, prison camps are desperately overcrowded and conditions fatally dire often tantamount to a death sentence.

With Ira is Gus, a seasoned soldier and religious man who believes U.S. Grant synonymous with the Almighty; Marinus, cynical, learned, and brooding, who appears to have some tragic secret; Louis, a practical and unscrupulous man of action; and Willy, a boy who escaped from an orphanage to enlist, hoping for better food in the Army of the Potomac. Together they make up a "family" in a world that becomes increasingly absurd and barbaric, one in which rumors of imminent exchange and the threat of death wreak as much havoc on the psyche as starvation, filth, overcrowding, and brutality do on the body. Most of the characters are fictional, but the details, and many of the events, are accurately historical. The prison camps, with their notorious "dead lines,” create a kind of extreme metaphor for our own times. Even in the most grim and circumscribed of situations, there is choice.

//A Soldier’s Book// is about choice, about becoming, and above all, about the possibility and revivifying force of love.

Now in its fourth printing, this novel was just named a finalist for the "Michael Shaara Award" given by the United States Civil War Center. (The Permanent Press Publishing Company website [|http://www.thepermanentpress.com/bookdisp.ihtml?id=1])

Assignment
 You are required to write, record, produce and deliver a **4-6 minute podcast** in which you discuss //A Soldier’s Book// and answer this essential question:
 * // Why, in the 21st century should we be reading a book about a Civil War POW? //** ** Think about the text: **
 *  What do I know about the author?
 *  What do I know about the subject (Civil War POW camps)?
 *  What was the point (thesis) of the book?
 *  What were some of the key passages and why were they key?
 *  What do I think about the style of writing in the book?
 *  What did I learn from the book that is worth sharing?
 *  Is there anything to be learned about the cost of war?
 * Think about the actual recording and consider these factors: **
 *  Who is my audience?
 *  What is my personal style as a speaker? Do I need to enhance it with music or something else?
 *  Who (as a public speaker) do I think is interesting to listen to and why?
 *  How can I use creativity in my podcast?

**// Write a script that considers these questions and organize it in this form: //** IntroductionComments about the bookReview of the bookClosing

**Time Frame:**
You will have until Friday March 2nd to complete this project. The completed audio file MUST be in the correct location (we will provide you the website) with your name in the title by 3:15 on the due date.

Evaluation:
A rubric will be developed for for the audio recording and provided to you.