Genre 5: Historic Fiction - The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Posted by Tamra S , Monday, July 26, 2010 8:19 AM

Bibliographic Data:

Speare, Elizabeth George. 1958. The Witch of Blackbird Pond. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Summary and Analysis:
Katherine "Kit" Tyler has grown up with her grandfather on the island of Barbados. She has never known a hard day's work and is used to fancy clothes and being treated with respect. But since her grandfather's death, Kit has been forced to sell off all their possessions. With no one left for her on the island, Kit takes what's left of her belongings and sets sail on a ship bound for North America, where her mother's sister, Rachel, lives with her family in Connecticut.

Set in 1687-1688 in colonial New England, there is much hard work to be done. Kit is welcomed coldly by her Uncle Matthew, and Kit's headstrong ways must be tempered. The small, Puritan town of Wethersfield is dull, religiously strict, and nothing like Kit had imagined. Kit struggles to adapt to this new way of life that grates against her independent nature. Her days become filled with labor and fatigue, with little time for herself, until she discovers the meadow with the tiny shack by the river. Here, she finds Hannah Tupper, an elderly Quaker woman rumored to be a witch. Kit finds that Hannah is no witch at all, but a kind and lonely old woman. Kit befriends Hannah and seeks refuge at Hannah's whenever she can, because that is the one place she can be herself.

When illness strikes the children of Wethersfield, angry townspeople blame Hannah Tupper and intend to arrest her for witchcraft. Kit is horrified at the thought and rushes into the night to save Hannah. But the witch hunt is not over. Soon the townspeople accuse Kit of being a witch. An unlikely person comes to her rescue, and it is through this that Kit discovers where her heart will feel at home.

This historic novel will intrigue audiences in grades 4 and up, though it will likely appeal to female readers more than male. It is not difficult to become attached to Kit. As she adjusts to a foreign place and way of life, one can only imagine what that experience must be like. Speare draws the reader into Kit's world and her mind, exposing what the strong-willed teenager is thinking. The time and setting of the novel lend themselves to the Puritanical beliefs and religious practice of the characters, as well as people's fear of the unfamiliar and those who are different from them. Speare uses actual historic figures as some of the characters in the story who were important men of the time, such as Sir Edmond Andros and Reverend Gersholm Bulkeley. Wethersfield is a real town in Connecticut, and according to the Author's Note, was one of the first Connecticut colonies.

Awards and Reviews
*John Newbery Medal, 1959
*Booklist: Strong plot, fully realized characters and convincing atmosphere distinguish this historical narrative of a girl whose rebellion against the bigotry and her Puritan surroundings culminates in a witch hunt and trial.
*School Library Journal: Unprepared for the religious intolerance and rigidity of the Puritan community, [Kit] is constantly astounding her aunt, uncle, and cousins with her dress, behavior, and ideas . . . There are several minor plots as well, including three romances, which help to bring this time and place to life.

Connections
*Research the two religious groups from the novel- Quakers and Puritans. Compare and contrast the two groups. Why would the Puritans dislike the Quakers so much? Is the characterization of Hannah as a Quaker and the Wethersfield Puritans accurate?
*For older students, discuss the ideas of bigotry and religious intolerance. Do those still exist today and in what ways? How does it affect our lives?
*As a social studies tie-in, discuss how the colonists had to make their living. In what ways are our lives different from the settlers? In what ways are they similar?
*An additional social studies tie-in: Research the Connecticut Charter that is used as a sub-plot. What was the charter and why would it have been important to the colonists? Why would they not want it to be revoked by the King of England?
*Complete a character map for Kit, tracing her changes as the novel progresses.

References

BookRags. 2006. The Witch of Blackbird Pond Study Guide. Retrieved from http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-witch-of-blackbird-pond/topicsfordiscussion2.html



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