Understanding A Separate Peace: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents

Since its publication in 1959, A Separate Peace has acquired the reputation of a minor classic of American literature. This insightful analysis helps young readers relate to the themes of disillusionment, guilt and betrayal, and the fear of failure and intergenerational conflicts experienced by the teenaged characters in the novel. This casebook also situates A Separate Peace against the backdrop of World War II, enabling students to see the connections between the fictional world of the novel and the real World as it existed for young people. Moving well beyond a standard literary treatment, this interdisciplinary casebook provides a collection of historical primary documents drawn from official records, War Department orders, institutional histories, personal memoirs and letters, and poignant interviews.

With commentary by Knowles himself, the casebook takes readers from the prep school setting of the novel to the impact of wartime on American students and their schools. You're in the Army Now explores the difficult transitions through induction and military training. The Combat Zone graphically confronts the realities of war with interviews of two former P.O.W.'s who experienced firsthand the terrors and tragedies of WWII. The volume also examines some of the contemporary issues of the novel including current controversies in athletic programs, gender issues in education, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Teachers and librarians will find helpful suggestions for oral discussion, research projects, and further suggested readings on these important topics.

Uses insightful analysis, commentary and historical documents--including two powerful inteviews with former POWs help readers follow A Separate Peace against the course of World War II developments.

School Library Journal

Gr 10 Up-Bryant has put together an eminently readable and fascinating collection of primary-source materials, interviews, essays, and literary analysis to help readers better understand John Knowles's novel and the context of the time in which it takes place. A variety of topics are explored, including a literary analysis of the novel; prep schools of the period; becoming a soldier in World War II; and actual combat and issues contemporary to our time, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and hazing. The primary-source materials used in the examination of the war will be valuable not only to those studying the novel, but also to those studying the history and social conditions in the U.S. in the early 1940s. Each source is tied to the novel in an introductory paragraph, so the author consistently keeps the focus on the culture of A Separate Peace. Also included are several articles by Knowles and interviews with the author, elucidating his characters, his experiences at a male prep school, and the use of war references throughout the novel. Students studying the book will find this work valuable, but don't discount its use for World War II buffs and those interested in learning more about this period in our history.-Lynn Evarts, Sauk Prairie High School, Prairie du Sac, WI Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

HALLMAN BELL BRYANT is a Professor of English at Clemson University where he teaches American and British Literature of the Victorian period. He is the author of A Separate Peace: The War Within (1990).