IMPORTANT / KEY FACTS SUMMARY

Title - Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt

First Published - 1964

Type of Novel - historical fiction

Setting - the Creighton farm in southern Illinois

Protagonist - Jethro Creighton

Antagonist - the American Civil War

Conflict - Jethro Creighton struggles with the responsibilities of manhood thrust upon him by the uncertainties of war.

Themes - bond of family; varying perceptions of the war; power of the Presidency; importance of justice and forgiveness

Mood - gravity, melancholy, determination

Point of View - anonymous third person chronicling the war and its effects on the life of Jethro Creighton

Symbolism - coffee symbolizes adulthood; the Bible ledger symbolizes joy, sorrow and the acceptance of fate

Motif - seeing both sides of each issue

Dialect - used to set the rural scene and demonstrate levels of ignorance

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