Resumo de Witness - Karen Hesse

Written in free verse form,Witness tells the story of a small town in Vermont in the 1920's faced with anew force in town. That force is the Ku Klux Klan, an organization of men thatspreads fear and hate for everyone else that is not white. We learn how theKlan and other important cultural events of the time impact people's lives andtheir values through the voices of eleven different citizens of the community. Inparticular, the words of 12 year old Leanora Sutter, an African-American, and 6year old Esther Hirsh, a Jewish American, offer the reader a chance to seehumans struggling with profound issues of good and evil.We learn how the Klan andother important cultural events of the time impact people's lives and theirvalues through the voices of eleven different citizens of the community. Using freeverse, Newbery Medal-winning author Karen Hesse (Out of the Dust) allows11 unique and memorable voices to relate the story of the Klan's steadyinfiltration into the conscience of a small, Prohibition-era community. Their chorus of hatredrings loudly at first, but is tempered by their dawning realization of theseverity of the Klan's punishment to their targets as well as the morerational, compassionate strains of the Klan's opponents. The authordistinguishes the characters (whose pictures appear in the front of the book)not only by their varying opinions but also by their tone of speech. Thesimpler, candid language of the two youngest cast members, Leanora and Esther,effectively crystallizes their gradual loss of innocence. Revived in the early years of the 20th century, theKlan expanded its campaign of hate and violence to include newer immigrants,particularly from Eastern Europe, and especially Jews and Catholics. In thevoices of eleven residents of the town, we experience this series of eventsfrom many different points of view, in the form of a poetic play in five acts. Asthe characters speak directly to the reader and relate the juxtaposition ofacts of hate and love, violence and peace, terror and kindness, they illuminatethe full range of human strengths and weaknesses in one small town.In thisbook, Karen Hesse returns to the spare, poetic style of her beautifully writtenOut of the Dust. Leonara and Esther have commited no crime but to be borndifferent from their white Protestant neighbors, but in the eyes of the Ku KlaxKlan, that is enough of a reason to target the Sutters and the Hirshes, andthose that would befriend and defend them. WITNESS wisely puts the voice of the story into different characters: theinnocent, the wise, the evil, the confused, the bystander, the individual whosefeelings and opinions are affected by the events and people around him/her --an individual who is tested, and passes. Discuss it with them and let them seethe pain and disgusting nature of humankind. Who arethe witnesses in this story and what have they seen or heard? What does each ofthem affirm to be true? Why do you think the author chose this title for thebook? Consider the characters of Leanora and Esther. In what ways are they similar?In what ways are they different?What part does Iris Weaver play in the story? What is the importance of her character?Why do we never hear the voices of Mr. Hirsh, and Mr. What does the Klanrepresent to each of them? What does it represent to you?What is the connection between Sara Chickering and Esther? Why is Sara soprotective of Esther? In what ways have Esther ? and her father ? made adifference in Sara's life? What other characters are changed during the storybecause of their connection to another person in the town? While there are some residents of the town who respond to the Klan's hatemessage, there are others who find themselves exhibiting new-found courage inresisting the Klan.

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