Lesson Plan Table of Contents
Letters from the Frontier: Reading and Writing Primary Documents Lesson Plan
Content Introduction
George Catlin made extensive observations on the various native peoples that he encountered on his travels west. He recorded his experiences in letters and notes. These documents provide us with critical information on the culture and daily lives of many Native American tribes in the nineteenth century. By examining Catlin's letters, students will gain a greater understanding of the tribes he encountered, the land they lived on, and who Catlin was as a person.
Part I is designed to introduce students to the concepts of diction and syntax and the power inherent in them. Students will also be exposed to the observations made by Catlin on his many travels west. By examining Catlin's choice and arrangement of words in his letters, students will gain a closer understanding of his ideas concerning American Indians, U.S. policy, and his own hopes and fears concerning his travels and the people he encountered.
Part II focuses on the value of role-playing in historical studies as a way to make history come alive. Students will have the opportunity to write their own letters and apply what they have learned to their own lives.
Part I: Interpreting Catlin's Letters as Historical Documents
Guided Practice
Instruct students to examine the letters of George Catlin found on this site.
- In what way is a primary document (such as the letters of George Catlin) different from reading a secondary source?
- Does Catlin express his views toward Native Americans through his choice of words?
- How does Catlin present himself in the letters?
- Does the fact that he intended to publish the letters influence his self-portrayal or the portrayal of others?
- In what ways do diction and syntax affect the meaning conveyed through Catlin's letters?
- In what ways might the content of the letters differ had they been written by a newspaper reporter?
Define the terms of diction and syntax for the class. Discuss with students the importance of diction and syntax in written composition.
- Using a poem, essay, or letter, highlight instances in which diction and syntax affect the overall tone and message of the composition. Prepare a chart for these examples. Place the word or phrase in the left-hand column and the idea or emotion it expresses in the right-hand column.
Independent Practice
Ask students to choose one of Catlin's letters to analyze as a primary document.
- After a close reading, have them write a brief paragraph summarizing the content of the letter.
- Instruct them to create a list of 3 to 5 instances throughout the letter in which diction or syntax affect the message of the document.
- Ask students to create a chart by listing the above instances in a column to the left and the idea(s) or emotion(s) that they express in the right-hand column.
Instruct students to write a news article based on information from the letter they analyzed. The article should be written in a straightforward "just the facts" style. Students may look through other news articles to get acquainted with a journalistic writing style.
Wrap-Up Activity
Lead a class discussion in which students share their examples from Catlin's letters. What role do word choice and sentence structure (i.e., diction and syntax) play in affecting the tone of the letter? In what ways, if any, is the news article different from Catlin's original letter? What role do time and place play in the creation of each document? What implications do these factors have for the reading of primary historical documents in general? Can a document ever be entirely objective?
Part II: Applying Historical Information to Role-Playing Activity
Guided Practice
Have the students explore the Gallery and Timeline in the "Catlinís Quest" Campfire Story. Ask students to select an event for the following exercise.
Independent Practice
Organize students into groups of five to six persons. Each student within the group should take on the persona of one of Catlin's family members: Putnam Catlin, the father; Polly Catlin, the mother; George Catlin, the artist; Clara Catlin, the wife; and Julius Catlin, one of several brothers. Boys can write as women and girls as men, or new characters can be invented from Catlin's large family.
Short biographies of characters:
- Putnam Catlin: A country lawyer in Pennsylvania and Revolutionary War veteran. Putnam was extremely knowledgeable in philosophy, European art, and the classics.
- Polly Sutton Catlin: Child to pioneers of the Wyoming Valley, her father engaged in combat with Indians and her mother was captured and subsequently released by Indians in the "Wyoming Massacre" of 1778. She wove fireside stories of her adventures to George and his siblings.
- George Catlin: Accused of being a sentimentalist by his peers, George became an artist and Indian policy advocate after abandoning a career as a lawyer.
- Clara Gregory Catlin: After two years of marriage, George left young Clara behind in "civilization" to pursue his dream of adventure and fame.
- Julius Catlin: Younger than George by eight years, Julius shared George's enthusiasm for collecting ethnographic details on Native American cultures. After graduating from West Point in 1824, he was stationed in Arkansas and came to recognize the full potential of the plans he shared with George. Julius drowned in a swimming accident before George left for St. Louis; this event intensified George's pursuit of their shared dream.
Each student should write someone else in the group a letter about:
- George's recent doings and goings: Assign the first topic so that students can later compare varying responses to a central event.
- Two to three events that would have taken place around the same time as an event in George's life.
- The emotional or psychological impact of the event on George and this member of the family.
- To avoid repeating topics, each student should select a distinct topic before leaving class.
This letter should be ready the next day. Have the students exchange letters and allow a few minutes of letter-reading time in class. The next step is for each student to respond by writing a new letter to another member of the family. The assignment continues through up to three repetitions.
- Students will have chosen different events to write about, and then will have to mention new things about the event through each subsequent writing. So if a student wrote about Catlin choosing to become an artist (from a father's perspective) subsequent to some national event, students who receive the letter must talk about their opinion (as, for example, from his motherís perspective) regarding Catlin's choice and their opinion regarding the national event.
- Each time they write they will respond to a different event in Catlin's life, but each original topic will receive three different perspectives.
Once everyone has written three letters, the letters should be organized by date so that the letters form a written timeline of Catlin's life composed of different voices and opinions from different family members.
Have the groups exchange their final products and look for similarities and differences of opinion between how they represented their character and how others in the class with the same character did so.
Open the discussion up to the entire class. Go around the room and have each person stand up and address the room, saying who their character was and how they reacted to the first event assigned to them. Have them discuss whether they (as Polly, etc.) responded differently or similarly to the other account they read (the Polly from the group with whom they exchanged their final record). They should then comment on whether hearing someone else's account made them reconsider the scope or emphasis of their own account.
- Have the students debate discrepancies between versions.
- It may be advisable to emphasize/discuss how one person can respond in a variety of seemingly contradictory ways given outside factors and emotional status.
- This part focuses on students analyzing each other. To make students more comfortable and willing to share more descriptive answers, consider turning the exercise into a writing activity. Assign a page-long narrative on the differences and similarities of one student's role-playing response when compared to another student's response.
Wrap-Up Activity
Conclude by inviting students to share in a class discussion how they would have responded to the political event they shared earlier, or how they would have chosen differently from Catlin in a certain situation. Ask them, for example:
- Why would you have chosen differently than Catlin?
- Why did Catlin choose what he did?
- What does his choice reveal about his character?
- How was his choice influenced by others?
- How does your response reveal your character?
- What other things contribute to the formation of a personal character?
Part III: Forming Personal Responses to Political Events
Guided Practice
Since this activity concentrates on personal responses to political events from a particular era, it creates a useful link to a discussion of current events. Suggest some topics for research such as:
- Native Americans lobbying for renewal of land claims.
- Should Indian reservations have to pay taxes (given that they have casinos on their land)?
Ask the students to take a stand on one of the above issues and give three reasons why, giving them a chance to connect with the historical figures they've been exploring.
Vocabulary
diction, syntax, motive, primary source.
Standards
National Center for History in the Schools—Historical Thinking (5–12):
- Standard 2: Historical Comprehension
E. Students should be able to read historical narratives imaginatively, taking into account (a) the historical context in which the event unfolded—the values, outlook, options, and contingencies of that time and place; and (b) what the narrative reveals of the humanity of the individuals involved—their probable motives, hopes, fears, strengths, and weaknesses.
National Council of Teachers of English:
- Standard 1: Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
- Standard 3: Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
- Standard 6: Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and non-print texts.
- Standard 8: Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
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