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Read “In the Beginning”-Chapter 4; Complete Student Packet Worksheets for “In the Beginning”-Chapter 4

Have students complete a 3-minute “freewrite” that answers the following prompt: Share a memory from your past in which you learned a lesson. Ask for volunteers to share their “lesson learned” with the class. Ask each student how that lesson impacted them. Discuss with the class how our own prior experiences impact who we become in the future.

will explain that, similar to the way our own personal history impacts who we are today, the past histories of characters in a novel are an important key to understanding the actions, thoughts, and feelings of the character in the present. While reading, good readers think about how a character’s past influences their present. To examine the impact of the past on a character’s present actions, thoughts, and feelings, I will first distinguish between “now” and “then” in a novel. There are a few ways to do this—by looking for information about a character’s background, by identifying memories or flashbacks, or by paying attention to the sequence of a story, to distinguish past from present. I will use this information to describe events or experiences in the character’s past. Next, I will describe the character’s present actions, thoughts, and feelings. Finally, I will draw a conclusion about the impact of the past on the character’s present.

I will model examining the impact of slavery on Vern’s present actions, thoughts, and feelings. (See the Past to Present Chart for an example chart.) First, I will identify background information and describe experiences from his past. I will note that Vern was previously a plantation slave in Virginia. Below that, I will note that he never knew his mother or father. Finally, I will write that Vern escaped slavery by hiding in a root cellar with nothing but a shirt to keep him warm and that people helped him along his route to freedom by hiding him.

Next, I will describe Vern’s present actions, thoughts, and feelings, in conjunction with my notes on the past. I will note that Vern names all of his horses after something important, often associated with a memory (for example, Hope is named after his hope for escaping slavery). I will also write that Vern cares for Charlotte. He lets her work in the stables and calls her his “right hand” in the stable. In a fatherly way, he encourages her in her horseracing and feels sad for her when Freedom passes away. Vern helps Charlotte escape by telling her where to catch a stage coach, how to disguise herself to escape, and by sending her off with a money pouch for the stage, a sandwich to tide her over on her journey, and the shears to cut her hair and disguise herself as a boy.

Finally, I will draw a conclusion about the impact of Vern’s past on his present actions, thoughts, and feelings. Vern probably cares for Charlotte, because like Charlotte, he never had a mother or father for most of his childhood. He also relates his feelings of being enslaved and trapped to her inability to escape Mr. Millshark and Mrs. Boyle’s kitchen. Vern’s experiences escaping from slavery, benefiting from the kindness and charity of those who helped him, and eventually winning his freedom, impacted his decision to advise and assist Charlotte in her escape from the orphanage. See the Past to Present Chart for an example chart.

Ask: "How did I analyze the impact of Vern’s past on his present?" Students should answer that you first identified background information about his past, which you summarized. Then, you described his present situation. Finally, you used the past to draw a conclusion about its impact on the present.

will examine the impact of Charlotte’s past on her life in the orphanage. (See the Past to Present Chart for an example chart.) First, we will identify background information and describe experiences from her past. We will note from the prologue that Charlotte lost her parents as a child. Charlotte was sent to live in a boy’s orphanage as the only young girl. Also, when Hayward arrived at the orphanage several years ago, Charlotte beat up the bullies that teased him.

Next, we will describe Charlotte’s present actions, thoughts, and feelings. For example, Charlotte doesn’t like working in Mrs. Boyle’s kitchen at all. She much prefers working in the stables with Vern, surrounded by horses. She also loves to race horses against the boys at the orphanage. Charlotte does not believe she should have to work in the kitchen, and she does believe she can do anything the boys can do (if not better).

Finally, we will draw a conclusion about the impact of her past on the present. Since Charlotte grew up as the only young girl in a boy’s orphanage, she becomes independent and strong-willed, believing that she can do anything the boys at the orphanage can do. She is unafraid to race horses and adventure beyond the orphanage on her own.

will continue to examine the impact of Charlotte’s past on her present by completing the Charlotte Parkhurst: From Past to Present Worksheet in your Student Packet. (See page 6 in the Student Packet.) You will be given two example pieces of evidence that tell you something about Charlotte’s past or present. You will need to find a complementary piece of evidence to help you draw a conclusion about how the past impacted her present actions, thoughts, and feelings.

will come together and share our conclusions about the impact of Charlotte’s past on her present, using our Charlotte Parkhurst: From Past to Present Worksheet. We will discuss how both Charlotte and Vern developed similar character traits (independence, strength, resilience) as a result of their pasts. We will also discuss how the past impacts Charlotte’s own journey to freedom.