The+Girls+They+Left+Behind+by+Bernice+Therman+Hunter

Novel Study by Christina Marrella

__The Girls They Left Behind__ by Bernice Therman Hunter In __The Girls They Left Behind__, Hunter introduces her readers to her protagonist Beryl who struggles with her identity and life during the last years of World War II in Toronto. Beryl, empowered by changing dynamics on the home front while trying to establish her own identity, creates a new persona by renaming herself “Natalie.” This Natalie constantly worries about her friends and family who join the war effort whom too often wave goodbye to her at the train station, while she is “left behind.” Although there is much hysteria around the war in the beginning, with those handsome boys in uniform, soon enough, Natalie and her family cannot wait to see the war come to an end. Nonetheless, Natalie remains fulfilled by her new and powerful role in society as the shortage of men allows women like herself to do work that contributes to the war effort. However, Natalie faces difficulties as well growing up as she looks and experiments to find a suitable boyfriend, and faces the experience of losing her favorite cousin who is first claimed to be missing, then believed to be dead. By the end of the war, Natalie’s experiences demonstrate her to be a strong, grown and experienced young woman.
 * Brief Synopsis **

I think my position/identity/professional abilities would make me do a great job in teaching this text firstly because I have a history attached to books by Bernice Therman Hunter because I remember reading many of her novels while I was in elementary school. This I think provides me with a sense of comfort and enthusiasm in teaching her work. Furthermore, the fact that the novel takes place in Toronto, along with the fact that I am also an aspiring history teacher, makes this novel hit home for me by allowing my passion for the city I live in, and my subjects, English and History, to shine through. I am also a reader who digs deep into wide implications in texts (i.e. in this novel the idea of women fulfilling men’s roles during the war) which I think are valuable analytic strategies to bring forth to a class.
 * Consider your position, identity and professional abilities which may be a factor in teaching the text. **

This text is considered “teen fiction” and it is a very easy read so therefore, the appropriate grade and level to teach this in would include grades7 and 8, and both grade 9 applied and academic English classes. However, I think using it in a high school English class, I would lean more towards using it in an applied because I feel the academic class deserves more of a challenging, round text, than this provides. Moreover, this novel, a World War 1939-1945-Canada-Juvenile fiction text, thereby makes it appropriate for grade 10 Canadian history classes where students learn about the war. I think it can be used in either applied and academic because the narrative is very fitting to the issues covered in grade 10 history, and thus allows students to grasp a further understanding of the experience of the War, particularly right at home in Toronto.
 * a) What grade level/course would you teach this text? Are there other courses for which it might also be appropriate? **

**b)What are the main ideas/ issues/ teaching points which you would emphasize when teaching the text?** (Consider the knowledge possibilities: Social, topic, cultural, textual.) The main ideas/issues/teaching points that I would emphasize when teaching the text can be broken down into the following categories and points:


 * Textual knowledge: **
 * Distinction between written and experienced history
 * Multiple narratives - the text has a hybrid format: through the diaries and letters, and through the narration
 * Conventions of the diary novel and storytelling through this style
 * Classification of the genre of the novel: Autobiography? Fiction? Historical Fiction?
 * 1st person narrative & the reliable narrator
 * The ‘coming of age story,’ its components, and how it functions in this text
 * Bildungsroman novel
 * The Linear Structure: dates are often provided creating a sense of structure and guidance
 * Silences in the novel re: World War II


 * Cultural Knowledge: **


 * Background of the history of World War Two (i.e. start and end date, significant dates/ events, where is the War taking place, etc.)
 * Shifting gender dynamics at the time (i.e. women could take on male roles)
 * The hardships on the home front (i.e. food rationing)
 * Students will understand the psychological, social, emotional, physical experiences and attitudes of witnesses of the war (i.e. people first thought going to war was exiting)
 * Family relationships through the War (support for one another)
 * Gender Roles at this time and place


 * Social Knowledge: **
 * How does the novel relate to our own personal experience in our society, in our lifetime (i.e. has anyone lived through a war?), in regards to our knowledge/understanding of this war or any War?
 * How does the novel relate/differ from our own experiences of ‘coming of age’?
 * What knowledge of our own personal experience regarding gender roles does the novel make explicit?
 * The role of significant relationships in an adolescent’s life and for everyone during hard times
 * How we learn through reading diary entries and letters (i.e. often as primary sources)


 * Topical knowledge: **


 * Beryl (Natalie) informs us about the experiences on the home front in Toronto during World War II. Through narration, letters, and diary entries, the text provides an historical-fiction account of this experience. Students will gain an understanding of this experience to survive during such a time and the feelings that came with the experience, as well as some of the occurrences during this period (i.e. Raid on Dieppe).
 * The novel, being a ‘coming of age’ story also informs the reader on how growing up is hard to do, but the journey and experiences one must go through shape and develop him or her to a more mature, wise young adult leaving the reader confident at the end that this character has come of age.

Although the reading level of the novel is quite accessible, especially if students in grade 9 or 10 are reading it, there are some issues/challenges that I think may be encountered in teaching the text in any grade and/or level. For example, the boys in the class may find it unable to relate to because they might claim it to be a ‘girl story.’ This I fear may make it difficult for boys to get into, as well as it might create the situation of choosing to read a text that does not reflect the general interest of the class. Therefore, how would I, as the teacher, stimulate interest in the text for the boys in my class, especially because I as well perceive it to be ‘girl story.’ Moreover, I also think that teaching this novel in an English class poses a challenge of getting students engaged with the text because, firstly, its time setting is very disconnected from the time students are living in now, and as well, the fact that students often find history ‘boring’ makes me think that many would not find this novel interesting to read. Another challenge I may encounter in teaching the text that is likely to come up more in a history class is how do we study an historical fiction novel about World War II that does not once mention the Holocaust or the severe events of the war, but rather, silences these and often glosses over the war by just talking about how exciting it was to see men in uniform and just that near the end, they could not wait for it to be over. This indeed could be a challenge, but I think although I think it is a valid point, the fact that the novel is like this actually tells us a lot about war ideology and awareness of the true atrocity of war at this time.
 * C) What are the issues/ challenges you might encounter in teaching the text? **


 * D) Describe one possible assignment / activity which you could use when teaching the text. How does it connect to the curriculum expectations of the course you are teaching? **

An assignment for a grade 9 academic class: **1.5** Extending Understanding of texts. This assignment connects to this curriculum expectation because student will be able to extend their understanding of the text by making connections between the ideas in the text and personal knowledge, insights, experience, other texts, and the world around them. Teacher will explain that before World War II, women workers were typically young, single, and a rarity and married women assumed the responsibilities of maintaining a home and a family. However, during the war, as seen in this novel, a shortage of men meant that thousands of married women had to enter the workforce. **Task 1:** The students’ task is to think about what life was like for women during the war as seen through the novel. Imagine what it was like to enter the workforce for the first time and write a diary entry like Beryl. Are they excited? Afraid? What are their experiences like? How do they adjust at work? How do they maintain the home now too? The second component of the assignment is to think critically or use already attained knowledge, research, or evidence from the novel to determine if women were fulfilling these roles after the war after they proved themselves. If not, how did they feel about this? As well, what implications does your knowledge revel about gender roles in society at this time? Reflect briefly on these observations and how this norm has changed.