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It’s 1865. Near the end of the Civil War, twelve-year-old Cassie Willis learns that her brother Jacob has been killed while fighting in the Confederate army. Torn by grief, she runs to the secret thicket in the piney woods that she and Jacob loved---and stumbles smack into the hideout of a crazed deserter. Cassie escapes, but she can’t forget the deserter’s threats—or shake the feeling that someone is watching her. Is the deserter spying on her family from the woods, planning to steal from them---or worse? |
| Talking About the Story |
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Cassie lived on a small farm in Virginia near pine forests and swamps, miles from the nearest town. What role does geography play in the story? How might the story have been different if Cassie had lived in a city? On the coast? In the mountains? In a Northern state? |
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Cassie accused Philip of being a traitor for wanting to help Gus escape. Look up the word traitor in the dictionary. Do you think Philip really was being a traitor?
Later, Cassie said that turning Gus over to the army would be “trading one kind of betrayal for another.” What did she mean? Was she right? Why or why not? |
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Compare the movement of people and goods (transportation and shipping) and the movement of ideas (communication) in Cassie’s day to that of today. |
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The entire country suffered during the Civil War, yet, because most of the fighting took place in the South, the war took an especially terrible toll on families there. Talk about the impact that war had had on Cassie’s family and other families in the region, including the way family roles had changed. Compare their plight to victims of our modern wars, such as World War II, Vietnam, and the Iraqi War. |
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In Civil War times, the spread of news was slow and cumbersome; Cassie’s family did not receive word of Jacob’s death for nearly a month, and news of the surrender came to them days after it had occurred. Technology in communication was almost nonexistent. The telegraph was a relatively new invention and was not available in rural areas like Cassie’s. Discuss how more efficient and faster methods of communication might have made a difference to Cassie’s family. How has modern technology in communication affected your life, for better or for worse? |
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What economic hardships had the war brought to Cassie’s family? How had the family adapted? How did various family members feel about these hardships? How would you feel if your family was faced with similar hardships? What would you do to help? |
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A prejudice is a judgment made about someone or something without an adequate basis. Cassie and Philip had certain prejudices against Gus because he was a Yankee. What were they? How did their prejudices affect their actions? What did they learn about prejudice during the course of the story? Have you ever felt prejudice toward someone or something? How did it affect your actions? What did you learn from the experience? |
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When Cassie and Philip heard the animals in the barn raising a ruckus, they were afraid to go investigate, but Philip said he had to, because “who else was there to go?” What did he mean? Cassie went along with him, despite her fear that the deserter could be in the barn, even though she really wanted to go for help. Do you think they did the right thing? Why or why not? Have you ever been in an emergency situation, where you had to act despite your fears? What did you do? What are some occupations where people have to face their fears daily? |
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During wars and other difficult times in our nation’s history (like the Great Depression), many children have been forced to shoulder adult responsibilities to help their families survive. Talk about the responsibilities thrust upon Cassie and Philip (and Jacob and Emma as well) because of the war. How were they coping with these responsibilities? |
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In Watcher in the Piney Woods, there are a number of places people hide during the course of the story. The secret thicket and the Quaker caves are two; can you find others? How does the author’s use of hiding places advance the plot? What do you think is the author’s purpose in focusing on hiding places? Talk about times in our nation’s history when hiding places have been important, i.e. World War II, the Revolutionary War, the Underground Railroad. Have you ever had a secret hiding place? Tell the class about it. |
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Talk about the daily lives of a yeoman farm family like the Willises. What chores did they do? How were these chores accomplished? Consider washing, food provision and preparation, cleaning, clothing provision, shopping, etc. Compare Cassie’s daily life to yours. How do you and your family accomplish the same daily tasks that the Willises faced? |
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In her encounters with Gus, Cassie rationalizes---makes excuses for---her treatment of him. Find these instances in the text and discuss Cassie’s rationalization. What are some of the excuses Cassie makes for her behavior? Do you think her reasoning is sound or unsound? Do you think Cassie and Philip would have been able to go all the way through with their betrayal of Gus? Have you ever tried to rationalize something that you weren’t sure was right? |
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Writing About The Story
During the Civil War, many items became scarce, and people had to “make do… or do without,” as Mama told Cassie. Find as many ways as you can that Cassie’s family “made do” and list them on the board. What would you do if you had to “make do” without something that was important to you? Write about it.
Pretend that you could give Cassie’s family one modern invention to make their lives easier. What would it be and why? How would it change their lives? Write a story where the family has this invention.
In Watcher in the Piney Woods, the author frequently uses images---vivid representations or descriptions---to evoke, or stir up, certain emotions in the reader. One of these images is Cassie remembering her face reflected in Jacob’s brass buttons. What emotion do you think the author was trying to evoke? Can you find other instances of this technique in the story? Now write a story of your own and use one or more images to evoke your reader’s emotions.
Pretend you are Cassie writing a letter to Jacob in California. Tell him what has happened to each member of the family since the war ended. Then write Jacob’s reply, telling her what his life is like in California.
Predict what happens to Jacob after he leaves the family to go to California. Does he ever come home? Does Cassie ever see Jacob again? You might try writing a story about the family’s reunion five (or ten) years after the story closes.
During the course of the story, Cassie experiences a wide range of emotions: she is at times troubled, restless, relieved, dejected, scared, heartsick, happy. Write a poem that expresses one or more of these emotions. You may pretend to be Cassie, or you may write from your own point of view. Try to use figurative language and images to strengthen your writing.
Identify the major plot elements in the story (first this happened, then this, etc.) and define any causal relationships (this happened because of this). Now change one of the plot elements and rewrite the story’s ending.
According to Philip, Jacob had a difficult time trying to decide whether to join the army, then Emma pushed him into it. Write a mini-play---it may be only one scene---where Emma is daring Jacob to join up with the Army.
Pretend you are Cassie (or Philip). Translate the events of the story into diary form, complete with dates. (Hint: the story begins on April 8, 1865.) Remember to write in first person, and to include your thoughts and feelings about what is happening.
In the story, Philip makes two arguments to Cassie about how they should deal with Gus, and both times he convinces her to do what he wants. How does he support his arguments? What convinces Cassie to go along? Write an argument where you try to convince someone of something. |
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| Learning More |
Most people know that slavery was one of the major issues that brought about the Civil War. Find out what the other issues were--- political, economic, and social---and how each contributed to the outbreak of war.
Find out more about “boy soldiers” in the Civil War and other wars in our country’s history.
The Quakers (also known as the Society of Friends) were a Christian religious sect who were leaders in the fight against slavery. They lived in both the North and the South, though most Southern Quakers left to go north when the Civil War broke out. Find out more about Quakers and their role in the abolition of slavery.
A Southern-born Quaker named Levi Coffin was one of the founders of the Underground Railroad. Go to the library or to the Internet to research the Underground Railroad. How did it work? How did it get its name? What part did the Quakers play in its operation?
While it was largely men who fought in the Civil War, women played other roles, as nurses, as spies, sometimes even as soldiers. Research women in the Civil War and report back to your class your findings.
Most of the important battles of the Civil War were fought in the South, a large portion of them in Virginia. Make a map of Virginia with major battlefields marked. Place Cassie’s home on the map, as well as other places named in the story.
Find out about the daily life of a soldier in the Civil War. What did they eat? How did they pass their time? What sort of living accommodations did they have? What did they do for entertainment? The Life of Johnny Reb and Billy Yank by Bell Wiley, might be a good place to begin your research.
Gus had escaped from a Confederate prison near Cassie’s home. Many of the prisoner-of-war camps during the Civil War had bad reputations because of the ill treatment prisoners received. One notorious prison camp in the South was Andersonville, and in the North, Elmira. Find out more about Civil War prisons and the life of prisoners held there.
The abolitionists of the North are well-known---Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Beecher Stowe---but few people realize that there were also abolition movements in the South. Trace the abolition movement in both the North and the South. Choose a lesser known abolitionist to do a report on. |
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Reading More
Here are some books you might enjoy on related topics.
Fiction:
Getreat from Gettysburg by Kathleen Ernst
When Will the Cruel War Be Over: Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson by Barry Denenberg
Moon Over Tennessee: A Boy’s Civil War Journal by Craig Crist-Evans
Shades of Gray by Carolyn Reeder
Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith
Charlie Skedaddle by Patricia Beatty
The Perilous Road by William Steele
Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt
Nonfiction:
Too Young to Die: Boy Soldiers of the Union Army by Dennis Keesee
Drummer Boys of the Civil War by Sandra Kendall
White Roses: Stories of Civil War Nurses by Rebecca Larson
The Children’s Civil War by James Marten
Sharecroppers: The Way We Really Were, by Roy Taylor
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Chapter One
immer(ed)
snitch(ing)
prissy
vicinity
etiquette
whittle
bewilder(ed)
Chapter Four
Quakers
batter(ing)
dawdle(d)
slog(ged)
urgency
hone(d)
warbl(ing)
tinge
pungent
frenzy
taunt(ing)
whisk
chemise
scalawag
Chapter Seven
glint
scalawag
cadence
apprehension
fluster(ed)
queasy
ruckus
Chapter Ten
revelation
decency
exasperate(d)
Chapter Thirteen
frantic
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Chapter Two
orrespondence
regiment
skirmish
artillery
amble(d)
spew(ing)
trek(s)
anvil
sear(ing)
conjure
anguish
rogue
plunder(ing)
Chapter Five
vex(ed)
pummel(ed)
parole
drove(s)
frazzle
Chapter Eight
muzzle
gourd
peculiar
traitor
treason
cavalry
Chapter Eleven
glisten(ing)
Chapter Fourteen
meek |
Chapter Three
trespass(ed)
char(red)
forag(ing)
haversack
lurch(ed)
sallow
polecat
glint
wrench(ed)
Chapter Six
musket
Chapter Nine
vengeance
dumbfound(ed)
infantry
bumpkin(s)
logical
Chapter Twelve
scoundrel
engros(sed)
hunker(ed)
Chapter Fifteen
implor(ingly)
plod(ding)
hanker(ed) |
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