User:Dreadnaught127/Rifles for Watie


 * Article title
 * Rifles for Watie
 * Rifles for Watie - Wikipedia


 * Article Evaluation
 * TALK PAGE DISCUSSION
 * There are many spoilers in the character's list about the content of the book. This can be changed either by completely removing the spoilers or by adding an entirely new section in the article contents. The image being used is under scrutiny. The image is claimed to have been added because it is protected under fair use, yet it provides no rationale as to why it is fair use in the specific article.
 * LEAD
 * Lead can be edited to specify time period of conflict (i.e., American civil war)
 * Lead claims the author used firsthand accounts of civil war veterans to keep the book as historically accurate as possible, but this is not mentioned anywhere else in the article, nor does it cite what veterans the information came from. ￼
 * CONTENT
 * Some content is missing, details about the story are not present. ￼ A good example is how the motivation of the main character is not accurately described. Jeff is motivated to join the union army because his family was attacked by bushwhackers and because his father is too old to fight. ￼
 * SOURCES AND REFERENCES
 * There are not many sources or references, more may be available to ensure accuracy and variety. ￼
 * ORGANIZATION AND WRITING QUALITY
 * Topic could be broken down into further sections, like chapter summaries rather than just a plot summary. ￼
 * Minor grammatical and spelling errors found throughout the article. ￼
 * OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
 * Article has a very detailed list of characters in the book, but too much detail in the character descriptions.
 * The article is not complete, and it is not well developed. It needs medium to minor adjustments, and maybe one major change. That change would be to add a per chapter summary of the book.
 * Sources
 * Sources
 * Sources

Lead (CITATION ADDED)
Rifles for Watie is a children's novel by American writer Harold Keith. It was first published in 1957 and received the Newbery Medal the following year.

Set during the American Civil War, the plot revolves around the fictional sixteen-year-old Jefferson Davis Bussey, who is caught up in the events of history. Actual historical personages (e.g. Generals Stand Watie and James G. Blunt) and battles (e.g. Wilson's Creek and Prairie Grove) are seen from the viewpoint of an ordinary soldier, enabled by the choice of protagonist. Harold Keith spent many years interviewing Civil War veterans and visiting the sites depicted in the book, resulting in an authenticity that is rare for historical fiction that targets a young adult audience.

The setting, west of the Mississippi, is also not typical of Civil War novels, so the reader gets a perspective on the war not generally available in other books, let alone one found in children's books.

Characters (MINIOR EDITS)

 * Jefferson (Jeff) Davis Bussey – The protagonist. Originally an infantry private but is later trained as a cavalryman. After a long secret mission and daring escape, he is promoted to sergeant and sent home.
 * Lee Washbourne – Lucy's brother, a Confederate soldier and scout. Killed by a firing squad after being discovered as a scout for the confederate forces.
 * Noah Babbitt – An itinerant printer older than Jeff, as well as a Union soldier and a lover of nature.
 * Stand Watie – Historical character, the last Confederate general to surrender at the war's end. His forces are described as "using old British one-shot Enfield's and double barrel shotguns." The use of Spencer repeaters could mean a victory against Union soldiers.
 * James G. Blunt – Historical character, Union general who battled to control Indian Territory.
 * Captain Asa Clardy – Jeff's commanding officer in the Union Army, and a major antagonist against Jeff. It is found that Captain Clardy is the one smuggling the Spencer Rifles to the Rebels. Eventually found killed and exposed postmortem as a traitor.
 * Heifer Hobbs – Company cook and mentor for Jeff in the rebel army of Stand Watie. He stands up for Jeff when Sergeant Fields accuses Jeff of being a Union spy.
 * Bill Earle – A singer in Jeff's regiment and fought alongside Jeff in the Union army.
 * Keegan - A commander for the Confederate Army.
 * Sully - A "bloodhound" that is supposed to be hunting Jeff when he befriends him. Described as very sad and ugly.
 * Jim Bostwick - A scout that Jeff works with. Killed in battle while posing as a Confederate.
 * Sparrow - The chef at the army camp. Killed by Clardy after telling Jeff a secret about him.

Controversial History (NEW ADDITION)
After receiving the 1958 Newbery award, the book was scheduled to be reprinted due to an expected increase in sales. This award brought the attention of librarian Charlemae Hill Rollins of the Chicago Public Library, who saw the opportunity to change certain descriptions of African American characters in the book; the period in which these changes were proposed was during the fall of legal segregation and Rollins believed the language should reflect this. After communicating with Rollins, Keith accepted one proposed change but rejected the others, claiming that he used the same language to define other white characters and for that reason it was not race-specific. The changes made in the third printing of the book did not touch on the characters use of language because it was deemed that the author was not pushing his own thoughts into the book but instead attempting to keep them as genuine as possible to the time period.