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//A Soldier's Heart// by Gary Paulsen


What kind of flag is being carried into battle? What battle do you think this is depicting? Who is the painter of the picture?

[|Link to primary source letter from a new recruit at Fort Snelling to his sister back home.] Is there any similarity between this real person, Alexander Christie and Charley? Write a paragraph to note the similarities in character and experience.

Charley experiences his first battle at Bull Run, and realizes that, at some point soon, his officers will ask him to march into battle again. Although he thought he could never face the enemy, after receiving the command, he finds himself marching across that same deadly field. Finding the enemy gone, although a relief, Charley starts to feel the "inevitability of battle and the certainty of his own death" (page 43).

Traveling through the south, he and his men "farm" (steal) food and supplies from the homes. During his second battle, he feels himself fill with anger and violence as the rebel soldiers attack, emitting their "yell." Nelson, a soldier Charley had met, is shot in the stomach, and asks Charley to help him stay comfortable, knowing he will die. Charley leaves him, knowing Nelson will kill himself to avoid the suffering.

Food has become scarce, and disease is spreading through both the Union and the Confederate armies. Medical personnel have to make on-the-spot decsions about who will live, and who is to be left to die. Infections are causing even more life-threatening illnesses, and morale of all the troops is low. This is not the experience Charley expected.

How has Charley changed from the young, excited boy he was when he enlisted?

Do you think these experiences are making him a better person?

What do you think he is saying in his letters home to his mother and brother?

If his brother was old enough to join the army and fight, what advice would Charley give him?

[|Fort Snelling]