I chose The Legend of the Teddy Bear by Frank Murphy as the book I authenticated. According to the application “Epic” this book is an eight to ten year old reading level for students reading by themselves. This picture book tells the story of our 26th president and how his trip to hunt bears in Mississippi turned out to become the starting point of making teddy bears for children. I focused on some of the five main points that the authors of “Authenticating Historical Fiction: Rationale and Process” tell teachers to focus on when they are checking facts in a book. The points I focused on from the topics topics were viewpoint of the author, stereotypical descriptions and notable omissions.
The author, Frank Murphy, is from Pennsylvania and …show more content…
There are two accounts on why the President went to Mississippi in the first place, maybe being the reason why Murphy left this fact out. One story is that the mining workers in the area wanted to go on strike. This would be detrimental to the nation because winter was coming and if people did not have coal, many would freeze to death. The other possibility was that the President was invited to go hunting and finally went. The story tells the tale that the President let the bear go and it lived happily ever after. One of the notable omissions in the story was that President Roosevelt ordered the men to put the animal out of its misery in the end. The dogs chased the animal into a watering hole where the bear swiped some dogs and crushed another. The President’s guide, Holt Collier, smashed the animal over the head to knock it out and tied the animal to a tree to let the President kill it. Since the animal was so beat up already Theodore wanted the hunters to just put it out of its misery. Another omission to the book was that Holt Collier, his guide, was African American and a ruthless bear hunter with many kills under his belt.
One stereotypical description I could find was that the Newspapers stated that President Roosevelt saved this poor animal, when in reality the animal had to be killed. The cartoon has Roosevelt in military attire with his back to the bear and the guide refusing to murder the animal. He’s noble and
The author, Frank Murphy, is from Pennsylvania and …show more content…
There are two accounts on why the President went to Mississippi in the first place, maybe being the reason why Murphy left this fact out. One story is that the mining workers in the area wanted to go on strike. This would be detrimental to the nation because winter was coming and if people did not have coal, many would freeze to death. The other possibility was that the President was invited to go hunting and finally went. The story tells the tale that the President let the bear go and it lived happily ever after. One of the notable omissions in the story was that President Roosevelt ordered the men to put the animal out of its misery in the end. The dogs chased the animal into a watering hole where the bear swiped some dogs and crushed another. The President’s guide, Holt Collier, smashed the animal over the head to knock it out and tied the animal to a tree to let the President kill it. Since the animal was so beat up already Theodore wanted the hunters to just put it out of its misery. Another omission to the book was that Holt Collier, his guide, was African American and a ruthless bear hunter with many kills under his belt.
One stereotypical description I could find was that the Newspapers stated that President Roosevelt saved this poor animal, when in reality the animal had to be killed. The cartoon has Roosevelt in military attire with his back to the bear and the guide refusing to murder the animal. He’s noble and