Pioneering the Upper Midwest: Books from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, ca. 1820-1910
Critical Thinking
[Detail] An advertisement from The Minnesota guide. 1869 
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Historical Comprehension
The narratives of this collection recount events; disclose individuals' thoughts, feelings, and intentions; tell stories; and portray a time period. As such, they afford users of the collection a multifaceted and thorough understanding of a variety of topics. For example, Tracks and Trails, depicts frontier life in the second half of the nineteenth century. Use this text or pick a similar topic and narrative, and begin an inquiry with the following questions:
- How does the author think or feel about his life on the frontier? How can you tell?
- What are the major events of the narrative? How do they comprise a story? What does the way the story ends suggest about living on the frontier? What do other events in the story suggest?
- What do the descriptive details in the text tell you about frontier life?
- How do you think you would have liked living on the frontier in the nineteenth century?
Last Updated: 01/12/2010