THE KILLER ANGELS


Chamberlain once wrote a paper in college entitled
“Man: The Killer Angel” based on a conversation he’d had with his father in high school. Therefore,
The Killer Angels is a book about _ _ _.

Look for references to : heat vision rock as they form motifs throughout the novel .

Keep a vocab. list (West Point = Army training academy for officers.)

TKA: NOTICE AND NOTE

Parallels between Confederacy and Union commanders. There are more than are obvious at first; read closely to find them and think carefully to connect them to theme.

Quad packets: Use these to guide note-taking.
You are responsible to know material covered by inquiry guide questions on back of each quad.

JUNE 29, 1863 - CHAPTER 1:
THE CONFEDERATE SPY, HARRISON
•Hired by
Longstreet
•Paid in GOLD
•Loyal to
Confederacy
•Actor by profession
•Provides crucial information about the position of the
Union army (Army of the Potomac )

THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
“My kingdom for a horse” is an example of a
Shakespearean ________________.
Harrison says, “Your servant, General” (7). What does this mean? Can you translate it?
Why is the spy nervous about riding through the picket line in the dark?
Find the first references to Stuart’s missing cavalry.
Keep track of these through July 2.
How does the spy reveal the idealism in Lee and the realism in Longstreet?
Why is General Lee sorry that Hooker is no longer in charge of the Army of the Potomac? (11)

THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER

Are there any references to the motifs of heat, vision, and rock in the Foreword and ‘The Spy?’
Find as many examples as you can.

Always include page numbers.

FYI– When discussing the novel’s plot, we do
NOT include information gleaned from the
Foreword.

Remember: Shaara utilizes ______________ characterization in the Foreword; as critical and analytical readers, we are more interested in
_________________ characterization.

THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER

Why does Shaara begin his storyline with ‘The
Spy’ followed by ‘Chamberlain?’

Find evidence for a ‘father-son’ dynamic between 2 characters in ‘Chamberlain.’

Find evidence of one of the above as a realist and one as an idealist– and keep an eye out for more evidence in future chapters.

Why is the title The Killer Angels more appropriate than The Angelic Killers?

THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER. CHAP. 3 ‘BUFORD’

Motif: heat, vision

Angel: purpose, literal and figurative

Irony in army movement into Gettysburg

Favorite quotes from Chap. 3 ‘Buford’

Check on vocab. list. (I have one– do you?)
 infantry
 battery

 cupola
 deploy
 militia
Note in entire novel: references to fences and walls

THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER. CHAP. 4 ‘LONGSTREET’

Motif: heat, vision, rock

Find evidence of Longstreet’s relationship with
Lee.

Find evidence of Longstreet’s internal conflict(s).

What’s up with Fremantle?? Can he even be real ?

THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER.

What is the point of view of The Killer Angels?

Prove it!

THINK. CONNECT. INFER. (DON'T TALK.) JULY 1, 1863
Chap. 2 ‘Buford’
Vocab. List

 flank cover

 detail
Re-read page 96 from its first full paragraph.
What is the most powerful line on the page?
Why?

Why does Shaara include a seemingly random reference to a “wild-haired child?” What could this child symbolize? REMEMBER THE WILD-
HAIRED CHILD!




Chap. 3 ‘Lee’
Vocab. List
 front


 form/re-form artillery repulse
Think over Chap. 1 ‘Lee.’ What is Shaara exploring in that chapter? Prove it.
Look through Chap. 3 ‘Lee.’ What has happened/ what has changed? What is Shaara exploring in this chapter?
Think ahead, after the day’s fighting. Predict what will Shaara focus on in Chap. 6 ‘Lee.’

Chap. 3 ‘Lee’

Read over the disagreement between Lee and
Longstreet on pages 110-112.

Choose the three most significant words and phrases used by each man that encapsulate their disagreement.

Remember the lines about Stuart on p. 14:

”There should have been something from Stuart.”
“There should have been.”

Find a question and answer that is similar on p. 111.

Complete the Father/Son in TKA sheet.

LEE:
LONGSTREET:

LEE: Anything that relates to implicit honor , first in his own moral code, and then in the eyes of others-- including attack instead of defense
LONGSTREET: Anything related to defense , conserving troops , practical/realistic approaches to real obstacles

FATHER-SON RELATIONSHIPS IN
THE KILLER ANGELS
1.
Answer each question as thoroughly, thoughtfully, and honestly as you can:
Are you a realist or an idealist? Explain.
2.
3.
Would it be better to have a mentor/father figure who has the same perspective as you have or who has the opposite perspective? Explain.
Which mentor or father figure would you rather have: the one who sees the world as it is and prepares you for it OR the one who sees the best in everything and tries to bring out the best in you? Explain.

Chap. 4 ‘Chamberlain’
Vocab. List colors/color sergeant bivouac

What’s with those boulders in Maine?

What of vision/perspective during a Maine winter?

Any surprises from Chamberlain, the professor of rhetoric? Does this reaction make him seem more human or less human to the reader?

What parallels did you find?

SEARCH JULY 1, 1863

Chap. 5 ‘Longstreet’

How does Shaara characterize Longstreet in this chapter? How is it different than other chapters? What is the same?

PERSPECTIVE IN A BOX:
July 1, 1863, Chap. 6 ‘Lee’
Corps Groups
The following groups can look through the color of your assigned corps.

Gray: GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE ONLY!

Black: General Longstreet’s corps

Red: General Hill’s corps

Green: General Ewell’s corps

Yellow: General Early’s division

PERSPECTIVE IN A BOX




Form your Corps groups
The commander will look in the box for 15 seconds and take notes/sketch to determine what the picture is.
Each soldier under his or her command will look for
10 seconds and take notes/sketch. Each soldier will report back to the corps commander (Early’s group to the division commander) what he/she has seen.
Each commander will report to General Lee, who will take all information with him/her and look for
20 seconds, and then make a determination on what the whole picture is.

1.
2.
3.
PERSPECTIVE IN A BOX:
WRITE A CONNECTION


The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

LEE’S COMMANDER PROBLEM, JULY 1, 1863
Discuss and then write about the difference between “practical” and “practicable”?
Lee says to take the hill “if at all practicable.”
Ewell says he didn’t think it “practical.”
What difference does it make to the situation?
(Hint: all the difference in the world!)

Chap. 7 ‘Buford’

Find the most notable quotations in the chapter.
Explain what makes them notable.

What questions do you have?

What parallels did you find?

JULY 2, 1863 SECTION
Chapter 1 ‘Fremantle’
1. Explain Fremantle’s beliefs about class .
2. Identify prejudice or condescension in 2 other forms in the chapter.
3. Where is there an inconsistency in Fremantle’s assessment of the South?
4. What is it about Virginia that seems special to
Fremantle? WHY?? How does that relate to the first item?
5. What is Shaara’s purpose in including Fremantle in the novel, even giving him his own chapter?

JULY 2, 1863 SECTION
1.
2.
3.
Chapter 2 ‘Chamberlain’
Find Shaara’s use of juxtaposition in thinking about the South.
Discuss the latent prejudice that Chamberlain detects within himself. What does it stem from? How does he deal with it?
Find an example of Chamberlain not knowing what to do. Why is it important to include this information?

JULY 2, 1863 SECTION
Chapter 3 ‘Longstreet’
As you read, identify the 3-5 most important:
3.
4.
1.
2.
Quotations
Theme connections
Plot details
Questions that need clearing up
**In past years, one way of checking on Chap. 3
‘Longstreet’ was to have students explain clearly the
“great trap” of soldiering as Lee explains it to
Longstreet. Just saying…**

JULY 2, 1863 SECTION
Chapter 3 ‘Longstreet’
As you read, identify the 3-5 most important:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Quotations
Theme connections
Plot details
Questions that need clearing up
To find Mrs. Ross’s choices for #s 1-3, see
Rossnotes. The I. G. questions cover the plot details I thought important.

JULY 2, 1863 SECTION
Chapter 3 ‘Longstreet’
Re-read Lee’s and Longstreet’s discussion on pp. 190-194.
1. Is Lee correct in his assessment of Longstreet’s character concerning the reasons for his preference for defense, or has he misjudged Longstreet’s character?
2. What are the implications of Lee’s assessment on the characterization of the men as individuals and on their relationship?
18 February2016

YOU MAY WORK WITH A PARTNER!

On p. 194 find an image reminiscent of one of the themes in SWTWC .

Defend or refute Lee’s assessment that
Longstreet’s love for his men leads to his reliance on defensive strategy. Include textual evidence to support the analysis, listed with the strongest evidence first. Be sure to include evidence that fits in the context of the plotline— not random lines from the text.

GO FORTH AND LOOK FOR STUART!
Don’t mess up my classroom!

KATHLEEN MAVOURNEEN
Kathleen, mavourneen the grey dawn is breaking,
The horn of the hunter is heard on the hill.
The lark from her light wing the bright dew is shaking,
Kathleen, mavourneen, what! Slumbering still?

KATHLEEN MAVOURNEEN
Oh, hast thou forgotten how soon we must sever?
Oh, hast thou forgotten this day we must part?
It may be for years, and it may be forever,
Then why art thou silent, thou voice of my heart?
It may be for years and it may be forever,
Then why art thou silent, Kathleen, mavourneen?

KATHLEEN MAVOURNEEN
Kathleen, mavourneen, awake from thy slumbers,
The blue mountains glow in the sun's golden light.
Ah! Where is the spell that once hung on thy numbers,
Arise in thy beauty, thou star of my night!

KATHLEEN MAVOURNEEN
Mavourneen, mavourneen, my sad tears are falling,
To think that from Erin and thee I must part!
It may be for years, and it may be forever,
Then why art thou silent, thou voice of my heart?
It may be for years and it may be forever,
Then why art thou silent, Kathleen, mavourneen?

JULY 3, 1863 SECTION
THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Chapter 1 ‘Chamberlain’
What is Chamberlain’s overriding thought/feeling after the previous day’s battle?
Re-read the discussion about bayonets that the
Chamberlains have. Draw a conclusion about why it is easier to shoot someone with a gun than to stab him with a bayonet.
Draw a larger conclusion. What pattern might emerge re. weapons and how easy or difficult it is to use them on other human beings.
Explain the dramatic irony on p. 283 (You need to have been paying attention to Chap. 6 ‘Lee’ to get it.)

JULY 3, 1863 SECTION
THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER.
2.
3.
1.
4.
Chapter 2 ‘Longstreet’
Re-read Longstreet’s argument to Lee about the doomed nature of the attack (pp. 285-286).
Evaluate how articulate he is in making this argument.
How does each man’s approach to the upcoming assault reveal the nature of that man.
Look up hubris . Find evidence on pages 285-288 of this quality.

JULY 3, 1863 SECTION
THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER.
1.
2.
3.
Chapter 3 ‘Chamberlain’
What is the most significant element of the plot in this chapter?
What is the most significant theme that emerges in this chapter?
How is Chamberlain characterized here as opposed to other chapters? Does Shaara want us to feel the same about him now as we did in Chap. 2, June 29, 1863 section? How do you know?


Look for a tactic that Shaara uses to emphasize the imminence or immediacy of the attack.

Note a repeated phrase.

Think about walls.

JULY 3, 1863 SECTION
THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER.
4.
5.
1.
2.
3.
Chapter 4 ‘Armistead’
What symbol(s) did you notice? Are they logical and effective? Why or why not?
Find Shaara’s use of juxtaposition of characters. Whom does he juxtapose with whom? WHY?
How effective is the tactic Shaara uses to create a sense of imminence or immediacy of the upcoming assault?
Find the KILLER ANGEL references re. the cannonade.
We hear a phrase repeated, “Close it up, close it up.”
What does it mean literally? Figuratively?

JULY 3, 1863 SECTION
THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER.
6.
7.
8.
Chapter 4 ‘Armistead’
What is the most moving scene in the chapter?
Why does Shaara give Armistead his own chapter? (Hint:
Read the epigraphs after the Foreword and find the one that connects to Armistead).
What are the themes Shaara is emphasizing through the
Armistead chapter?
As you read Longstreet, remember how much rage he has been suppressing. Notice what he DOES to deal with that rage.

JULY 3, 1863 SECTION
THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER.
Chapter 5 ‘Longstreet’
Find and note at least 2 significant encounters, images or symbols, and quotations in general. Include page numbers!
You have 20 minutes.

JULY 3, 1863 SECTION
THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER.
Chapter 5 ‘Longstreet’
Encounters:
1.
2.
Lee's admission, "It is all my fault, it is all my fault."
(332) Watch how the men respond, refusing to blame Lee.
One even begs to be permitted to reform and try again.
Pickett's destruction, both militarily and personally and the parallels to the "wild-haired child" in the Buford chapter
3.
Pickett's encounter with Lee provides the incentive for
Longstreet to put himself in harm’s way, throw away his life along with the others’ lives Lee has thrown away, but he picks up the rifle so he can take a few of the enemy with him.

JULY 3, 1863 SECTION
THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER.
Chapter 5 ‘Longstreet’
Encounters:
4.
Longstreet's attempt to ride out and meet the remnants of the Union army alone on horseback—Goree’s response, “General, I tell you plain. There are times when you worry me.” (335) and “It’s no use trying to get yourself killed, General. The Lord will come for you in His own time.” Goree is a small but mighty character because, while Longstreet spends his career taking care of his boys and Lee, someone, Goree, is looking out for him. From what I’ve read, this is represented accurately.
Goree stays with Longstreet for a time even after the war.

JULY 3, 1863 SECTION
THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER.
Encounters Chapter 5 ‘Longstreet’:
5.
The final encounter between Lee and Longstreet (337-340).
Lee seems genuinely shaken in his ideals, looking to Longstreet for that vision of reality that he had previously dismissed.
Longstreet's anger and resentment toward Lee does NOT eliminate his genuine concern for Lee's welfare. His certain knowledge that the war is all but lost lingers on one side of his brain—the side with the calculator, while the side that feels things deeply has all manner of mingled emotions: rage, disgust, despair, and pity. He is still ready to help Lee at the slightest indication of Lee’s weakness or need. Indeed,
Longstreet and his wife name one of their sons Robert Lee
Longstreet. Historically, Longstreet does request to be removed from Lee’s army and sent to serve with his First Corps in the
Army of Tennessee, which is granted after Gettysburg. He returns to Lee’s army before the war’s end and accompanies
Lee to Appomattox. Both things are true simultaneously. The complexity of the relationship is authentic, as is the complexity of each major character in the novel.

JULY 3, 1863 SECTION
THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER.
Encounters Chapter 5 ‘Longstreet’:
6.
Notice Longstreet at the end of the chapter. He goes out onto the field to say goodbye. Now, who is going to be out on the field? He is likely thinking about Armistead and Garnett in particular. And notice that his last order of business in the novel is to give the order to retreat.

JULY 3, 1863 SECTION
THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER.
Images and Symbols Chapter 5 ‘Longstreet’:
1.
“The sun died gold and red.” If the sun is the Army of
Northern Virginia (the dying army), gold may correspond with honor and red with blood.
2.
“The old man had his hand over his eyes.” Remember in whose hands the Army of Northern Virginia is, and look how those hands, weak and painful, are shielding his vision. It’s after he takes them away from his eyes that he tells Longstreet, “And now you must help me see what must be done. Help us to see .” (339) Lee has been obeying his vision of idealism, which came up against Longstreet’s realism and was worsted in the face-off. Lee finally turns to the one whose “curse” it is “to see the thing clearly” (127) and asks for help.

JULY 3, 1863 SECTION
THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER.
Images and Symbols Chapter 5 ‘Longstreet’:
3.
“The facts rose up like shattered fenceposts in the mist.” (337) If the fenceposts are shattered, there is no longer room for decision, one way or the other.

JULY 3, 1863 SECTION
THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER.
Significant Quotations Chapter 5 ‘Longstreet’:
1.
“He tried once formally to pray, but there was no one there and no words came, and over and over he said to himself, ‘Heavenly
Father, Heavenly Father.’” This is the
come full circle. He tried substituting
Lee as a father figure for God and that didn’t work. He’s back to God in this chapter, but it doesn’t seem to be going any better.
2.
“,,,suddenly he saw George Pickett, bloodstained. His hat was gone; his hair streamed like a blasted flower.”

JULY 3, 1863 SECTION
THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER.
Significant Quotations Chapter 5 ‘Longstreet’:
3.
“Pickett’s eyes lighted as if a sudden pain had shot through him, He started to cry. Lee said again with absolute calm, ‘General, you must look to your
Division.’
Pickett said tearfully, voice of a bewildered angry boy,
‘General Lee, I have no Division.’” (333)
4.
“’Sir? What about my men?’ as if even now there was still something Lee could do to fix it. ‘What about my men? Armistead is gone. Garnett is gone. Kemper is gone. All my colonels are gone. General, every one .
Most of my men are gone. Good God, sir, what about my men?’” (333)

JULY 3, 1863 SECTION
THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER.
Significant Quotations Chapter 5 ‘Longstreet’:
5.
6.
7.
“He thought of Lee as he had looked riding that hill, his hat off so that the retreating men could see him and recognize him. When they saw him they actually stopped running. From Death itself.”
(335)
“All that was left now was more dying. It was a final defeat. They had all died and it had accomplished nothing, the wall was unbroken, the blue line was sound.” (337)
“’Peter, I’m going to need your help.’” (338)

JULY 3, 1863 SECTION
THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER.
Significant Quotations Chapter 5 ‘Longstreet’:
8.
“’I don’t think we can win it now.’” (339)
9.
“’I don’t know if I can go on leading them.
To die. For nothing.’” (339)
10.
“’They do not die for us. Not for us. That at least is a blessing… Each man has his own reason to die. But if they go on, I will go on.’”

JULY 3, 1863 SECTION
THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER.
Significant Quotations Chapter 5 ‘Longstreet’:
11.
“’If the war goes on—and it will, it will— what else can we do but go on? It is the same question forever, what else can we do? If they fight, we will fight with them. And does it really matter after all who wins? Was that ever really the question? Will God ask that question in the end?’” (339)

JULY 3, 1863 SECTION
THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER.
Significant Quotations Chapter 5 ‘Longstreet’:
12.
“’But if a soldier fights only for soldiers, he cannot ever win. It is only the soldiers who die.’” (339) Lee is comparing Longstreet’s focus on his men to the larger purposes in the war, those of the idealist, honor in particular. Lee’s last great truth is a challenge to
Chamberlain’s stirring speech at the beginning of the novel, “What we’re all fighting for, in the end, is each other.” (30) In essence, Lee is saying that battles can be lost without killing a Cause, but battles can’t even be fought without killing soldiers. It may be the most realistic thing Lee says in the novel. He still has traces of idealism in this chapter, but they are tempered with reality, unfamiliar to Lee but one which he faces honestly.

1.
1.
2.
1.
2.
3.
JULY 3, 1863 SECTION
THINK. TALK. CONNECT. INFER.
Complete your Anticipation Guide using the “After” side. How much did you LEARN ?!
Chapter 6 ‘Chamberlain’
Find at least 3 theme connections.
Notice Tom’s insight that the war is about slavery, “If it weren’t for the slaves, there never would have been no war, now would there?” (343) Who on the other side agrees completely?
Afterword
What surprised you here?
What seems to be missing?
What do you think is the most remarkable thing about any of the men listed in the Afterword?

BUILD-A-THEME PARAGRAPH – HONOR VS. HUBRIS
“Text” ( ) Novel’s Context
“They will break.”

(288)

“In any case, there is no alternative”
(288)

Early July 3
After July 2’s unsuccessful battle
Immediately after
Longstreet’s detailed reasons
Purpose~Hubris

Shows Lee’s unchangeable vision, refusal to listen

BUILD-A-THEME PARAGRAPH
There is often only a nuanced difference between what may seem like two extremes of pride: the positive quality of honor and the deadly flaw of hubris . Michael Shaara explores this difference in
Robert E. Lee through the unique confluence of events and characters in his historical novel The
Killer Angels , an account of the three-day battle at
Gettysburg in July of 1863. Shaara establishes Lee’s pride in the June 29, 1863 Longstreet chapter when
Armistead and Longstreet discuss defensive strategy. Armistead contends, “’…the Old Man is just plain…too proud’ ” for a defensive campaign (64),

and this characteristic is emphasized in Lee’s first chapter, after Longstreet explains his plan to maneuver. Lee’s internal response to Longstreet’s idea, “Take the defensive. Not again” (83) reveals to the reader the pride alluded to on June 29. In leadership style, it is Lee’s pride in his commanders that gives them freedom to make decisions on the field, and until this invasion of the north, that pride bears fruit in Lee’s having achieved so many
Confederate victories. At Gettysburg, however, the pride inches toward hubris in Lee’s reply to
Longstreet after the first day’s battle: “’We cannot disengage. We have already pushed them back’”
(111), a characteristic response to Longstreet’s inevitable defensive focus. Lee crosses that line between pride and hubris at the end of July 2 with his firm assertion, “They will break” (288)

in reference to the center of the Union line.
Because Lee declares this as fact after the unsuccessful assault on July 2 and immediately following Longstreet’s cogent listing of factors as varied as Division depletion, Union troop configuration, and assault distance, Shaara uses the line to push Lee from demonstrating reasonable pride to revealing a doomed hubris .
Lee has long dismissed the idea of moving in the face of the enemy, harking back to his record of having “never yet left the enemy in command of the field” (264). On the evening of July 2, he ignores Longstreet’s sound advice to redeploy, and thus determines the course of a doomed charge and failed battle. Lee’s pride has enabled

the Army of Northern Virginia to build success upon success over the course of the Civil War, but the hubris displayed at Gettysburg before the July
3 rd assault dooms the battle on that last day, and thus ultimately the war. In leaders of all sorts, guarding against the extremes of hubris often proves more important than avoiding an unwelcome blow to their pride.