Across Five Aprils Literary Elements

Across Five Aprils Literary Elements

Genre

Young adult, historical fiction

Setting and Context

Southern Ilinois in the early 1860s, when the American Civil War has just broken out

Narrator and Point of View

Third-person limited point of view from the perspective of Jethro Creighton, a young boy living with his family on a farm when war threatens to break their family and their country apart.

Tone and Mood

Matter-of-fact, sentimental, vaguely hopeful

Protagonist and Antagonist

Protagonist: Jethro Creighton, a young boy with strong ideals living on a farm in Southern Illinois. Antagonist: the forces of strife in the Civil War, along with Guy Wortman, a bully-like character who makes life miserable for the Creightons.

Major Conflict

Jethro's brothers are off at the war, which is the major conflict of this novel. They are on different sides, so the lines of loyalty and morality become a bit blurry.

Climax

The Civil War is brought to a close by the signing of a peace treaty, but a few days later, President Lincoln is assassinated. To soothe Jethro's sadness, his sister and her husband let him know that he will be staying with them and getting a proper education.

Foreshadowing

The confrontation with Guy Wortman and his men is foreshadowing for the trouble they will cause for the Creightons later, burning down their barn and just generally causing a ruckus.

Understatement

“There may be war in the land at this minute for all we know.” - Ellen, Ch. 1

Allusions

The novel alludes to contemporary figures such as President Lincoln and the generals of the opposing armies during the Civil War, as well as to the Civil War itself, although it assumes that the reader is already familiar with the conflict.

Imagery

This novel concerns the American Civil War, and in accordance with the theme, the novel contains a substantial amount of war imagery. Two of Jethro's brothers are involved in the war, and the soldiers are often accompanied by descriptions of battle and wounds.

Paradox

One of Jethro's brothers fights for the Union Army while another fights for the Confederacy; this creates the paradoxical situation of Jethro not being able to pull for both sides at once.

Parallelism

The killing of Jethro's brother Tom during the war parallels the assassination of Lincoln at the end; Jethro looked up to both of them, and his sadness is evident in both cases.

Metonymy and Synecdoche

“... southern Illinois at that hour was pink with sunrise and swelling redbud and clusters of bloom over the apple orchard across the road.” (10)

Personification

“A south breeze brought the scent of lilacs and sweet fennel to his nostrils and set all the frosty-green leaves of a silver poplar tree to trembling.” (11)

Update this section!

You can help us out by revising, improving and updating this section.

Update this section

After you claim a section you’ll have 24 hours to send in a draft. An editor will review the submission and either publish your submission or provide feedback.