McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson XLIX · Part 6: Lessons XLIX-LX: Sieges, patriots and pilgrims
55. Description of a Siege (Sir Walter Scott)
Goal: Your student reads a battle scene told through dialogue and explains how Scott makes us see it through Rebecca's eyes.
You'll need
- The book, or the scan beside this guide
- A notebook and pen
- A dictionary
What's in the book
From Ivanhoe: the wounded Ivanhoe, unable to rise, asks Rebecca to watch the attack on Front de Boeuf's castle from the window and tell him what she sees. Notes on the story and on the parts of a twelfth-century castle follow.
The lesson, step by step
Words and meanings
Read the book's notes first. They explain the situation (Ivanhoe is wounded and lying on a couch; Rebecca watches from a window) and the parts of a castle of the time: the keep, the two walls with moats and draw-bridges, the barbacan guarding the outer gate, the palisades, and the postern gate.
Read it aloud
Read the opening together:
'Under what banner?' asked Ivanhoe.
'Under no ensign which I can observe,' answered Rebecca.
Your student reads the scene, giving Ivanhoe and Rebecca different voices. A line to find:
His high, black plume, floats abroad over the throng like a raven over the field of the slain.
Talk about it
SayWhy does Scott tell the battle through Rebecca's words instead of describing it directly?
SayHow do Ivanhoe and Rebecca feel differently about the fighting?
SayFind a comparison Rebecca uses (for example "the meeting of two fierce tides"). What does it help us see?
SayWho is the Black Knight, as far as this scene tells us, and why does Ivanhoe care how he bears himself?
Tell it back
Your student retells the attack as Rebecca saw it, in order.
Copywork and memory
Copy:
His high, black plume, floats abroad over the throng like a raven over the field of the slain.
Write (optional)
Describe a game or contest as if telling it to someone who cannot see it, in a paragraph.
Tip
This is a long selection. Read it over two days if needed.