3rd Quarter Artifact – Book Project
General Information
Title of Book: Brotherhood
Genre of Literature (historical fiction or non-fiction): Historical Fiction
Author: Anne Westrick
Publisher: Scholastic Incorporated, 2014
Copyright Date: 2013
Number of pages (150-page minimum): 360
Setting(s): 1867 in Richmond Virginia after the Civil War
Main Characters – Name and give a brief description of 3-5
Shad – 14 and lives in Richmond Virginia. He can’t really read and is part of the Ku Klux Klan.
Jeremiah – Shad’s brother who should be learning to be a tailor but prefers to spend time doing stuff with the KKK which he is in with his brother.
Mrs. Perkins – Woman that is very wealthy and helps run the tailor shop. Known as the “Yankee sympathizer” because she works with education for colored people.
Book summary
This book takes place in Richmond Virginia in 1867, right after the South had lost the Civil War. The main character, Shad, ends up joining the KKK, not knowing what he is signing up for but he thinks it’s okay because he helps widows of the confederacy. Shad can’t read but he ends up joining a class where there are a bunch of colored children learning how to read. While this is happening, the KKK is trying to burn down the school so the children cannot learn. They succeed in burning the school but Shad helps some people get out alive during the situation. Shad’s brother, Jeremiah, is arrested and Shad is left between his decision of education or the KKK.
This book is from the perspective of the main character, Shad. This influences the story because it shows how he feels and what his thoughts on the KKK as well as the colored school education. Yet, we don’t specifically know what the other characters are thinking or doing which can also influence the story.
Application Questions
1. I think one of the most important events in the book is when Shad joins the literary school because he then has to make the overall decision of wether he wants to continue with the KKK or his education. He can’t continue to do both because the KKK wanted to burn down the school for colored people so that will face him with a very hard decision to make. This event happened on pages 84-96.
2. More detailed description – Shad is 14 and he lives in Richmond Virginia after the Civil war. He can’t read very well and doesn’t have an education. “Shad’s tongue tripped and fumbled over the lines. He put his finger under each word to slow down the letters and get them to make sense”(91). He also works at a tailor shop called Granddaddy Weaver. He is a member of the Ku Klux Klan and when he first joined, he didn’t know what he was signing up for but he thought it would be an okay idea because he got approval from some other men in the community and some of his other family members are in it too. “Jeremiad softly said, ‘Now you’re in. And you make sure you never embarrass me or Mama or our family’”(39). The KKK also helps widows of the confederacy. I can compare Shad to my uncle because he works at the soup kitchen for people that are in need of food. Obviously he isn’t a member of the KKK but he helps people a lot and to be honest he isn’t the best reader either.
3. My first quote that helped me learn something about this time period is, “‘Damn Yankees!’ He yelled at their backs” (3). From this quote, I learned that there is still lots of racism going on in this time period and there were also lots of white people calling black colored people “Yankees”. Another quote that helped me learn something about this time period is, “Shad’s tongue tripped and fumbled over the lines. He put his finger under each word to slow down the letters and get them to make sense”(91). This quote shows me that there were not a lot of educated children during this time period after the Civil War.
4. If this event had turned out differently than it originally did, then the world may be a little bit different but there wouldn’t be a huge change. For example, if the south had won the civil war, then I feel that slavery would have either decreased or maybe even ended because of black civil rights increased in the South. Another example of how it could be different is if the Civil War hadn’t even ever happened at all. That would probably make a huge impact on the world today in my opinion. If it never happened at all, then there may not be as much discrimination of black people then there was during that time period or even today. Also, there may still be slavery in the world today if the civil war had never happened.
5. One life lesson that I can learn from this book is to always be nice and care for everyone in the world, no matter what race they are because there’s always a different side of the story which is what Shad experienced in the book. Another life lesson that I can learn from this book is to always know the difference between right and wrong because of the fact that Shad joined “the brotherhood” which was not the right thing to do. Another life lesson that I can learn from this book is know when to remove yourself from the situation if things start to go wrong. Jeremiah stayed involved in the situation and ended up getting arrested at the end of the book for the things he had done.
6. If I had to give this book a different title, I would title it, “The Struggle” because Shad struggled very much in the book with his different decisions he had to make between choosing education or the brotherhood.
7. I would definitely recommend this book to my classmates because it has a very interesting plot line and it was very interesting to see what people’s lives were like after the civil war. I would also recommend it because it’s very suspenseful in learning about what Shad is going to do about his situation. Overall, I liked this book and would definitely recommend reading it.
8. Other sources
https://www.bookbrowse.com/bb_briefs/detail/index.cfm/ezine_preview_number/9671/brotherhood