Red Badge of Courage, The - E-Guide

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#30 on the 100 Best Novels Written in English

Stephen Crane’s classic novel looks at the trauma and horror of war through a young man’s eyes. Henry Fleming joins the Union army as a green recruit dreaming of glory and heroic acts on bravery on the battlefield. He wants to earn his “badge of courage.” He imagines himself "a blue determined figure standing before a crimson and steel assault, getting calmly killed on a high place before the eyes of all." Camp life, he soon discovers, is far less exciting than the army of his imagination. During long periods of enforced idleness, Henry is plagued by adolescent doubts: Will he distinguish himself in battle? Will he run? He longs for the fighting to begin so that he might be tested, might "watch his legs" in the midst of battle to see whether they stand firm or flee. But the harsh reality of the Civil War, his terror during his baptism of fire, and the terrible death of his friend send him fleeing the battlefield in great leaps.

Falling in with a convoy of wounded soldiers, Henry wishes that, like them, he too had an external sign of valor, a wound, “a red badge of courage” to prove to the other soldiers and himself that he was made of heroic material.

Henry must learn, through much mental and spiritual agony, to stand in the face of physical danger with no thought to his own heroics nor to the opinions of others. He learns to despise his earlier dreams of war and glory. Instead he finds a quiet manhood, non-assertive but of sturdy and strong blood. He has faced death and become a man.

Through Stephen Crane’s up close and raw look at the effects of real war, students will learn:

Background Information

Author Biography: Learn about Stephen Crane.

Vocabulary words used throughout the novel, utilizing a variety of activities to stimulate retention and growth.

Literary Techniques: Words create setting, double meanings, parallels, synonyms, antonyms, foil, similes, characterization, in context, metaphors, self-justification, role models, natural law, Christ figure, coming-of-age.

Moral Lessons and Character Values: The church and war, Jesus is our example, lessons from nature, small before God, coming-of-age, fear & cowardice, mortality, courage, maturity, anger, heroism, suffering and the refining it causes.

Activities and Writing Assignments: Wordsearch, God looks at our inner character/not outer, Essays including a just war, Lincoln and the Civil War, nature as a counterpoint to humanity, coming-of-age, Civil War timeline, creative writing: letters from a soldier, biography of your choice of famous Civil War men and women, write a historical play/scene, field trip to a Civil War site, journalism interview of a war veteran.

Suggestions for Further Reading:  We include an in-depth reading list of more books by the same author(s) and other books that tie in with, or are similar to, The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. Movie suggestions included.

All of the unit lessons are written from a Christian perspective!

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