Genri 5 - The Fighting Ground by Avi

The Fighting Ground
Written by Avi
New York, N.Y.: Harper Trophy
ISBN:0-06-440185-5

The book tells about a 13 year old boy named Jonathan who has the desire to go into battle and have the same experience as his brother and cousin. The story takes place in 1778 during the Revolutionary War when as Jonathan hears his father and friends talk about “the tyrannical British; their cruel mercenary allies, the German-speaking Hessians; and the hated Tories, those American traitors who had sided with the brutal English king.” Intrigue with the stories he was compelled to find out for himself. Jonathan’s adventure as a volunteer fighter becomes a 24 hour ordeal in which he experiences all different kinds of emotions, fear, anticipation, trust, loyalty, human kindness, and a desire to understand the rigor of fighting. His capture by the Hessians, his escape and then faced with the question of loyalty to the patriots or the human kindness he feels his captors. This experience that Jonathan goes through does not make him a hero or bring him any kind of glory, but it does change his view of the difficult decisions one has to make in these situations.


Analysis

The book is written a historical style novel as it depicts the Revolutionary War of 1778 and the events experienced by the American Volunteers to do their part of fighting their country. Avi writes with such conviction of the historical setting and interweaves the plot, setting and theme in his style of writing. His description of Jonathan’s minute by minute ordeal, the heaviness of the musket he must carry and the conversations that took place as they marched to the place they were to encounter their enemy is so compelling that one feel being there. As Avi writes about the character, Jonathan, being 13 years old, his vulnerability to impulsive decisions he shows him following his desire to fight, disregarding his father’s warning;
“The bell tolled on. Jonathan, stealing glances at his father, touched his fingers to the glossy butt of the gun, liking its burly satin finish.
“Maybe you’d better get back to the house,” his father said. “Could be someone’s come on through with news. I’d need to know.”
Jonathan sprang up. Too fast.
“Jonathan!” his father cried. Grabbed by his father’s voice, Jonathan stood where he was.
“Don’t you – by God- don’t you go beyond!”.
His mother also warning him to go and find out what was happening she says;
“Just find out!” she called after him. “Then come on right back! You hear?”
Once at the tavern he is taken up by his impulse to go as others are volunteering and when the tavern keeper as him; “Going, are you?” the tavern keeper said before Jonathan could speak.
“Yes, sir.”
The dialogue embodied in the story makes it come to live and the sense of that era.
Avi writing Jonathan’s 24 hour experience through his eyes and his feelings made it more real. An enjoyable book to read.


Reviews

The compelling story of a young boy's first encounter with war and how it changes him.

Publishers Weekly

“Avi has accomplished his intent: to have readers experience, minute by minute, what it’s like to be involved in war.”

School Library Journal

“A small stunner.”

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Connection

Ideas for Reports and Papers
1. Research and report on the role of mercenary soldiers in the Revolutionary War.
2. During the Revolutionary War, minutemen were American civilians who agreed to be prepared to fight on one minute's notice. Research and report on the minutemen's role in the war.
3. Though more sophisticated than The Fighting Ground, Stephen Crane's Red Badge of Courage presents similar themes and incorporates similar techniques. Read Crane's work and compare it to Avi's novel in terms of literary techniques and the protagonists' experiences.

http://www.easyfunschool.com/article1076.htm

However, there are several activities that could work with the unit study approach, or just as activities for extending the book.

1. Library Resources: Add videotapes about the American Revolution that include the actual sounds of canon and musket fire on them. This will help the reader understand about all the sensory input that a soldier deals with during battle. How confusing and frightening it can be.

2. Field Trip Idea: Attend a battle re-enactment. These, even better than video, illustrate what Jonathon would have been going through. The canon and musket fire is very loud even though they use “fake” bullets. The smell of the gunpowder is also very potent.

3. One of the first ideas that comes up in the book is the idea of obeying your parents. Jonathon really wanted to be a soldier and he heard the tavern bell, but his parents had other ideas. You could cover the proverb “Obey your parents” and the consequences if you don’t.

4. Writing Activity: The Fighting Ground is written as an hour-by-hour chronicle. Have the children keep an hour-by-hour account of one of their own days. It could be for that day, or it could be memories from a special occasion. After it has been written, see if it recreates the memories of that day for you. Does it feel like you are actually re-experiencing the day. If not, give them the opportunity to had more description and personal observations.

5. Geography: The Fighting Gourd took place in New Jersey. Jonathon mentioned several places during the book. Take a detailed map of New Jersey and see if you can locate the places he named.

6. Geography/History: The activity in number five can be expounded on by studying the state of New Jersey and in particular about the state’s colonial period and any contribution it made to the American Revolution.

7. History: Who were the Hessians that were battling the patriots? What are mercenaries? What does mercenary mean?

8. Art: Jonathon describes the Hessian uniform in the book. Recreate what a Hessian uniform looked like and what color it was based on Jonathon’s description.

9. Writing Activity: Before reading the book, have the child write an essay on what they think of war and set it aside. After their essay have them write another essay on their feelings about war. Did the book change their feelings? In the second essay did they use the book to illustrate their feelings if they didn’t change?

10. What is a dialogue? Write a dialogue between two people, any two people, for practice. Then, once you get the concept, write an original dialogue between two characters in the book, perhaps two that didn’t meet in the book at all but were still part of the story.

11. The house Jonathon and the Hessians stayed in was a Swedish-style house. Draw a floor plan of the house as it was described in the book.

12. The Swedish-style house became the popular “log cabin” prevalent in colonial and pioneer eras of the USA. Make a three dimensional replica of a log cabin using whatever materials you have at hand. Even rolled newspapers can be used and then painted brown to look like wood.

13. Biographical reading: Additional reading can be accomplished by reading biographies of real life figures during the American Revolution. At the end of this article is a list of people you could chose from.

14. Physical Education: The musket that Jonathon carried weighed about 12 pounds. The longer he carried it the heavier it got. How long can you carry something that weighs 12 pounds before it gets to feel heavy?

15. Home Ec: Make Johnny cake. Its basically just your standard cornbread recipe fried up in a skillet like pancakes instead of baked in an oven. This is still a very popular bread in the south.

Teaching Ideas

(1) "Letters Home" After watching the movie Johnny Tremain, the students will write letters to their family, in the voice of Johnny. The students will describe the events they witnessed and experienced during the Revolutionary War.

(2) "Common Fears" Students create a survey to find out the most common everyday fears children face. The students distribute their surveys to other classrooms. When the surveys are complete, the students compile the results and create a graph of their data. The teacher will display the graphs to promote discussions about fears and courage. [Adapted from "Toliver's Secret" by Michael Foster in The Mailbox Bookbag. Greensboro, NC: The Education Center, Inc. October/November 2001, p. 37.]

(3)"Military Perspectives" Students will create a venn-diagram to illustrate similarities and differences between American and British soldiers. The students will use the following Web site as a resource for this activity: http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/perspectives_military.html

(4) “Vocabulary” The vocabulary words can be added to the list or delete words according to your students’ needs. Page references are should be provided. When working with groups, you might encourage students to use context clues as well as picture clues where relevant for word meanings before using a dictionary, or integrate the words into your vocabulary program.