To the Discussion Leader
Elizabeth is only nine when she
and her parents leave Plymouth, England for Jamestown, Virginia, to
establish America's first permanent English colony. Through her diary
entries young readers meet such important historical figures as Captain
John Smith, Pocahontas, and Chief Powhatan.
Young Elizabeth writes of lazy settlers who steal from the Indians
and the horrors of watching friends die from disease and starvation.
But she also writes of the joys of a new baby being born, the courage
and resourcefulness of the settlers, and the leadership qualities
of people like Captain John Smith.
Our Strange New Land: Elizabeth's Diary, Jamestown, Virginia,
1609 has the ring of authenticity from the first diary entry. Of
writing this book, author Patricia Hermes says, "At one time, I
lived in Tidewater, Virginia, just a few miles from the original
Jamestown settlement. I remember how hot and humid the summers were
there. I know about the bugs. I know about the winter cold. I know
about the swaying pines and the whisper of the rivers and the sandy
soil and the rich marshland alive with birds.
"I also remember how lonely I felt when I moved there. So, when
I created Elizabeth and her twin brother, Caleb, I think I knew
something of how she felt. I knew how hard it is to leave family
and friends. I knew how scary it was to be in a strange place with
strange people and new foods, and different customs. I knew how
lonesome it could be."
From her tales of a friendship with Pocahontas to the pride she
feels helping her father build their home in the New World, Elizabeth
aids today's readers in putting a human face on life in America
in 1609.
Summary
"Life is up, and life is down.
It is like the ocean in a hurricane," writes nine-year-old Elizabeth
in her journal. After spending 71 days at sea, Elizabeth and her parents
land at Jamestown, Virginia, in the New World. It is August 1609,
and Elizabeth misses her twin brother Caleb who stayed behind in England.
She does have a new best friend, Jessie Bolton, and together they
explore this strange new land, wading in the river, running through
the forest, and meeting Indians, including thirteen-year-old Pocahontas.
Still, it is not a carefree life, for there is much work to do,
and "many are ill with fever," including Jessie's mother, and many
have already died.
Elizabeth worries about her own mother who's soon to have a baby,
because "so many babies and mamas have died in childbirth." Baby
Abigail is born healthy, but Elizabeth's joy turns to sadness when
she learns that Jessie and Mr. Bolton are returning to England with
Captain John Smith. Mr. Bolton promises Elizabeth that he will take
her journal to Caleb, and she writes one last time, "Oh, Caleb,
it is a lovely land. When you join us here, come spring, we will
rejoice. For then it will be a real home indeed. Home in America."
Thinking About the Book
1. Why did Elizabeth
and her parents leave Plymouth, England to come to Jamestown, Virginia?
Did they find what they were looking for? Explain.
2. In a sentence or two identify the following:
Captain John Smith
Pocahontas
Chief Powhatan
Sea Venture
Virginia Company
thatch
3. Elizabeth's diary is filled with passages about how
she misses her twin brother Caleb. Why did Caleb not make the voyage
to Jamestown with his family?
4. Relations between the settlers and Indians were not
always friendly. What things did the settlers do to anger the Indians?
5. What surprised Elizabeth about Pocahontas? What kind
of person did Pocahontas seem to be? Do you think she would be a
good friend? Explain.
6. Elizabeth and Jessie were best friends, but they were
also very different. List two or three ways that Jessie and Elizabeth
differ.
7. What do you think is the happiest scene in Elizabeth's
dairy? What is the saddest? Explain your choices.
8.Now that you have finished reading Our Strange Land:
Elizabeth's Dairy, would you rather have been with Elizabeth in
the New World of Jamestown or back in England with her brother Caleb?
Why?
9. Elizabeth feels "a big burden seems to have lifted
from me" when she confesses to her mother that she took Caleb's
drawing book without his permission and has used it for a journal.
Think of a time you told the truth about something that was bothering
you and tell how it made you feel.
Student Activities
1. Make a list of all
the new things members of your discussion group learned about living
in Jamestown in 1609. Add your list to those of the other groups.
2. Draw a picture of what you think Pocahontas might have
looked like. Using an encyclopedia or an Internet site such as the
one listed below, compare your picture with the ones you've found.
What surprised you most about the pictures you've discovered?
http://www.co.henrico.va.us/manager/pokeypix.htm
3. Check out the web site http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/1001/poca.html
to learn how the real Pocahontas was different from the character
in the recent Disney cartoon film.
4. In your discussion group, discuss and vote on the three
best words to describe John Bridger. Compare your three words with
those chosen by other groups.
5. Summer sickness, which weakened many Jamestown settlers,
was probably the disease malaria. Look up malaria and find out what
causes it. What are the symptoms and how is it treated. What did
the location of Jamestown have to do with people getting sick with
malaria?
6. Elizabeth's friend, Francis Collier, tells a story
about food and spreading butter on scones. What is a scone? Search
through some cookbooks for a scone recipe or visit the web site
below for directions on making scones. Try your hand at making some
scones and share them with your class or discussion group.
http://www.virtualcities.com/ons/va/z/vaz27012.htm
7. If you had a chance to ask Patricia Hermes, the author
of Elizabeth's diary, one question about the book, what would that
question be? You can find more information about her books by going
to the web site listed below.
http://www.authorsillustrators.com/hermes2002/hermes2002.htm
Discussion Guide written by Richard F. Abrahamson,
Ph.D., Professor of Literature for Children and Young Adults, University
of Houston and Eleanore S. Tyson, Ed.D., Clinical Assistant Professor,
University of Houston, Department of Curriculum and Instruction.
Houston, Texas.
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