lesson 14 – mercy at appomattox

B T L EW

Lesson 14 – Mercy at Appomattox

Part ThreePart Three

ENTER

B T L EW

Text Text AppreciatioAppreciationn

I. Text analysis 1. Theme2. Structure3. Further discussion

I. Writing devices1. Oxymoron2. Anaphora

II. Sentence paraphrase


B T L EW

I.I. Text AnalysisText Analysis

The dramatic scene of the surrender of Lee’s army to Grant best represents the spirit—there was no loser in this war; all American people had won; through their bloodbath they had achieved the rebirth of their nation again.

Theme of the story

The end of Theme.


B T L EW

Part 1 (paras. 1- ):Part 2 (paras. ):Part 3 (para. ):Part 4 (paras. ): Part 5 (paras. ):Part 6 (paras. ):

I.I. Text AnalysisText AnalysisStructure of the text

3

4-5

6

7-10

The author’s choice to visit Appomattox.Descriptions of the ending of the war: Lee decided to surrender.

The choice of the site for the surrender.The meeting of Grant and Lee and the generous terms of the surrender.

The end of Structure.


The dramatic scene of the surrender.11-15Comments on the theme of forgiveness and reconciliation and the three great people.16-21

B T L EW

I.I. Text AnalysisText AnalysisMentioned in Paras. 1-2.

To be continued on the next page.


Question: Why was the author eager to visit the Civil War site of Appomattox instead of such sites as Gettysburg and Chickamauga?

Appomattox best represents the spirit the author admires, that is, ending the war peacefully and starting the journey of rebuilding the country as brothers with merciful forgiveness and reconciliation rather than bloody revenge and hatred which are typically memorized at such battlefields as Gettysburg and Chickamauga.

B T L EW

One officer suggested that the troops could disperse and carry on as guerrillas. Lee refused; …




Question: Throughout history, we know defeated generals and revolutionaries and traitors were usually beheaded or they were hung or they were imprisoned or like Napoleon, they were exiled. If you were Lee, would you consider guerilla warfare?

In Para. 5

For Reference

B T L EW




For reference: The South itself was a maze and a tangle of hills and swamps and streams and forests. They have the temperament, the ability and the incentive and arguably, if they had decided to wage guerilla warfare, they would have been one of the most formidable guerilla armies in all of history. And in fact, at this very moment, Jefferson Davis, the Confederate president, his government was on the run calling for a guerilla warfare, but in the end, Lee says no to guerilla warfare because he reasons that it will destroy not only the North but the South and quite impressionably he says, it will take many generations before this country recovers.

B T L EW

I.I. Text AnalysisText AnalysisQuestion: List out the contrasts between the

appearances of Lee and Grant during their meeting in Paragraph 7. What is indicated in the

picture?

Lee was in full dress uniform, with a sash and a presentation sword. Defeated though he was, honor and dignity would never die. Grant was in customary field uniform, with muddy trousers and muddy boots. He was the victor, but he was not showing the slightest sense of superiority and vindictiveness.



B T L EW

I.I. Text AnalysisText AnalysisQuestion: What examples were taken here to show that the terms of surrender were quite generous?• Far from hounding the enemy with reprisals, simply let them all go home. • Grant also allowed the Confederates to keep their horses for the spring planting. (This scenario is humorously echoed during the 1962 steel crisis. President Kennedy firmly rejected the steel industry's attempt to raise prices. When asked about the terms of the government's agreement, Kennedy stated, “I let them keep their horses for the spring planting.”)



B T L EW

Question: In Paragraph 10, “Grant put an end to it.” What does “it” refer to? Why did Grant stop it?


It refers to the fact that when hearing the news of surrender, Union soldiers fired cannon to celebrate it. Grant stopped it because “the rebels are our countrymen again” and “he couldn’t exult in the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly”.



B T L EW

I.I. Text AnalysisText AnalysisQuestion: What is “the final act of healing” mentioned in Paragraph 11?

On April 12, 1865, at the surrender site the Union troops and the Confederates saluted to show honor to each other.



B T L EW

I.I. Text AnalysisText Analysis Question: Give a simple description of the “honor answering honor” scene.

On 12 April 1865, as a major general Joshua Chamberlain was given the honor of receiving the arms of the first Confederate unit to formally surrender at Appomattox. Gordon was at the head of the column of the Army of Northern Virginia as they marched to the surrender site where they were to stack arms and surrender their colors. Chamberlain ordered the Federal troops there to "carry arms" in salute to the Confederates, Gordon, impressed by this show of chivalry, returned the salute—reared his mount and dropped his sword to his boot tip to return the honor.



General ChamberlainGen. John

B. Gordon

B T L EW


Question: Was there any significance about the contrast formed between “100,000” and “a few”?

The war must have been bloody with such large a number of people involved and the reconciliation must have been peaceful when they all had headed for home within such a short time.



Counting the Union troops, almost 100,000 men had been in Appomattox Court House. A few days later they were all gone.

in Para. 15

B T L EW

For Reference

I.I. Text AnalysisText Analysis Question: Contrast between Grant and Lee has long been studied. Can you find their similarities and dissimilarities in the article?

Similarities: Both looked “far into the future”. With their mutual insights, the theme of forgiveness and reconciliation could be initiated. Contrasts: Lee, “symbolizing nobility and the aristocratic tradition of the old South”; Grant, “symbolizing the self-made common man of the new North, Midwest and West”.



General Lee

General Grant

B T L EW

I.I. Text AnalysisText AnalysisFor reference:One was a small, slouchy man with reddish-brown hair, unimpressive in his appearance, but coldly efficient and determined, like a lion stalking his prey.The other was a tall, erect man with broad shoulders and gray hair, naturally elegant, charismatic and bold.Grant was the modern man emerging; beyond him, ready to come on the stage was the great age of steal and machinery, of crowded cities and a restless burgeoning vitality. Lee might have ridden down from the old age of chivalry, lance in hand, silken banner fluttering over his head. Each man was the perfect champion for his cause, drawing both his strengths and his weaknesses from the people he led.

See Warm-up Grant and Lee



B T L EW

I.I. Text AnalysisText AnalysisQuestion: Why does the author say there are three heroes including Lincoln? What do you know about it?

According to the author, “Appomattox was, finally, his show”. Lincoln “had often spoken of wanting a merciful peace”.For reference: When Grant and Lee are meeting, Lee is more or less acting on his own. Grant, regardless of what his own personal feelings may or may not have been, is really, clearly, acting on the direct orders of Abraham Lincoln. That‘s the way Lincoln wants this war settled. There are not really orders, but there are wishes, very emphatically expressed over time.



B T L EW

The author says that there is one Civil War site that keeps beckoning to him. What is that site? Who was the meeting between at Appomattox?What had been General Lee’s options before he finally decided to surrender?What was the name of the man who allowed the meeting to take place at his house?Who rode to the village to find a place for the meeting?Where did Grant and Lee meet at Appomattox? Did high school textbooks tell the author accurate details?

I.I. Text AnalysisText AnalysisFurther discussion about the article



B T L EW

What kind of surrender terms did Grant offer?Why did Grant put an end to his soldiers’ celebrations for victory?What General accepted the terms of surrender at Appomattox?How long did the ceremony last?How many soldiers on both sides were all gone within three days?What are the author’s comments on the three great people: Lincoln, Grant and Lee?

I.I. Text AnalysisText AnalysisFurther discussion about the article

The end of Further Discussion.


B T L EW

II.II. Writing Writing DevicesDevices

Before us in proud humiliation stood the embodiment of manhood: … (13)

Oxymoron: a rhetorical figure in which an epigrammatic effect is created by the conjunction of incongruous or contradictory terms.

Oxymoron


What effect do you think it has here?


B T L EW


Oxymoron is “not a small cranny of rhetoric, but sustains a philosophy and a strategy”. (W.D. Redern)Oxymoron “acts as a condensed form of paradox”. (George Held) Oxymoron has “wall-eyed perspicacity”. (Jean-Paul Sartre)

OxymoronMore examples



B T L EW

II.II. Writing Writing DevicesDevicesOxymoron: more examples

a wise fool idiotic wisdom cruel kindness victorious defeat crowded solitude bitterly happy conciliation court constant variable cowardly lion deafening silence

Can you find the similar rhetoric in Chinese?



B T L EW


• It is now an open secret that he is also involved in the scandal.• The play is adapted from Greek tragedies and Shakespearean drama by Tadashi Suzuki, and although performed in Japanese, caused a big stir among the western audience with their strange and cruel beauty.• Economist Joseph Schumpeter’s famous description of capitalism as an ongoing process of “creative destruction” was often cited during the 1980s, but the emphasis was mainly on the word creative.

Oxymoron: more examplesUnderline the parts of oxymoron in the following sentences.


The end of Oxymoron.

B T L EW


… men whom neither toils and sufferings, nor the fact of death, nor disaster, nor hopelessness could bend from their resolve; … (13)

Anaphora: Repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences, or lines.

Anaphora


What effect do you

think it has here?


More examples

B T L EW

II.II. Writing Writing DevicesDevicesThis royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Eden, demi-paradise,This fortress built by Nature for herselfAgainst infection and the hand of war,This happy breed of men, this little world,This precious stone set in the silver sea,Which serves it in the office of a wall,Or as [a] moat defensive to a house,Against the envy of less happier lands;This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings [. . .]This land of such dear souls, this dear dear land,Dear for her reputation through the world,Is now leas'd out — I die pronouncing it —Like to a tenement or pelting farm. —John of Gaunt in Shakespeare's Richard II (2.1.40-51; 57-60)


The end of Anaphora.

B T L EW

III.III. Sentence Sentence Paraphrase 1Paraphrase 1

On April 2nd, his railroad lifeline cut by the North, Lee retreated. (4)

At that time, military transportation largely depended on the railroads, and one reason why the South was defeated was its far inferior railroad network as compared with that of the North.

absolute constructionMore examples

go to 2

with his railroad lifeline cut off by the Northern army



B T L EW

III.III. Sentence Sentence Paraphrase Paraphrase

1. The work done, they put away their tools and left the workshop.

2. His health failing, he decided to retire from office.

3. With summer coming on, it’s time to buy air conditioners.

4. With test finished, they began to analyze the result.

back to 1


B T L EW

There is nothing else I can do except to go and see General Grant (to surrender to him).

III.III. Sentence Sentence Paraphrase 2Paraphrase 2 “There is nothing left me but to go and see General G

rant,” he said, “ and I would rather die a thousand deaths.” (5)

past participle phrase

attributively modifyingthe indirect object

go to 3

More examples

The noun is modified by an adjective or preceded by a number.



B T L EW

III.III. Sentence Sentence ParaphraseParaphrase

back to 2

1. He lived to be 90 and died a natural death although he was much hated by the underworld people.

2. I dreamed a terrible dream last night.

3. They lived a happy life in a small coastal city.


B T L EW


Grant, who had outraced his baggage wagon,

was in his customary field uniform. (7)

Grant had left his baggage wagon far behind, so he could not wear his more formal dress.

move faster than

go to 4

vehicle that carried the heavy load of baggage


B T L EW

III.III. Sentence Sentence Paraphrase 4Paraphrase 4Finally, Lee brought up “the object of our

present meeting.” (7)

go to 5

Finally, Lee started to talk about the purpose of their meeting.

understatement:Their meeting was not for reminiscing their friendship but to arrange for the surrender. Lee did not use the word “surrender” however, as it was much too painful and humiliating for him.


B T L EW


“This will do much toward conciliating our people,”

Lee replied. (9)

have a lot of good effect on

“This will have a lot of good effect on making our people peace,” Lee replied.

gerund phrases

go to 6


B T L EW


In parting, he told Grant that he would be returning some Union prisoners because he didn’t have any provisions for them—or, in fact, for his own men. Grant said he would send 25,000 rations to Lee’s army. (9)

Before he left, he told Grant that he was going to return some Union prisoners because he didn’t have any military food supply for them—or, for that matter, for his own men. Grant said he would send 25,000 rations of food to Lee’s army. go to 7

supply of food, esp. for military troops or, for that matter

(usually plural) food given to a soldier


B T L EW


Here the final act of healing that runs through the whole Appomattox story took place, set in motion by another remarkable figure… (11)

What happened in Appomattox is described as the final scene of the Civil War, and it is an act of healing of the national wound, the reconciliation of brothers, and the reunion of the family.

go to 8

to make something start to happen, esp. by means of an official order


B T L EW


A Bowdoin College professor who left to enlist in the army, Chamberlain won a battlefield commission for repeated acts of bravery … (11)

go to 9

a subject complementplaced at the beginning of the sentence denoting the capacity in which the subject does something

modifying


B T L EW


My main reason, however, was one for which I sought no authority nor asked forgiveness. (13)

obtained no permission

My main reason, however, was something for which I did not need to get permission nor ask for forgiveness. I did it out of my own moral principle. I followed my own heart.

go to 10


B T L EW


Before us in proud humiliation stood the embodiment of manhood: men whom neither toils and sufferings, nor the fact of death, nor disaster, nor hopelessness could bend from their resolve; standing there before us, thin, worn and famished, but erect, and with eyes looking level into ours, waking memories that bound us together as no other bond. (13)

the basic sentence structure

go to 11

in apposition

oxymoron


B T L EW


… standing there before us, thin, worn and famished, but erect, and with eyes looking level into ours, waking memories that bound us together as no other bond. (13)

… standing there before us, they seemed thin, shabby and extremely hungry, but they stood straight and upright proudly. They looked at us in the eyes in a proud way as equals. All of these reminded us that the conflict was resolved. We should be reconciled as brothers as before.

go to 12

reminding us that we were bound as brothers before the conflict started

looking us in the eyes proudly as equals


B T L EW


Was not such manhood to be welcomed back into a Union so tested and assured? (13)

Of course, all the men of our nation with such qualities as strength and courage would be welcomed back into a Union that had stood the test of fire of the Civil War.

go to 13

a Union that had stood the test of fire of the Civil War

all the men of a particular nation


B T L EW


… from the ‘order arms’ to the old ‘carry’—the marching salute. (14)

go to 14

The soldiers show respect for somebody who is marching.

a military command to hold rifles to a position in which they are held at the right side with butts on the ground

“ 举枪！”


B T L EW


Gordon, at the head of the column, riding with heavy spirit and downcast face, caught the sound of shifting arms, looked up and, taking the meaning, wheeled superbly, making with himself and with his horse one uplifted figure, with profound salutation as he dropped the point of his sword to the boot toe;… (14)

with a heavy heart, feeling very sad, and with his face turned downwards go to 15

changing the positions of their rifles as a solute

turned round suddenly and beautifully

raised, elevated, improved


B T L EW


… then facing to his own command, he gave word for his successive brigades to pass us with the same position…, honor answering honor. (14)

go to 16

facing to the group of soldiers in his control

gave orders


B T L EW


Counting the Union troops, … (15)

Including the Union troops, …

go to 17

including

More examples



B T L EW


back to 16

1. There are eight people in my family, counting my grandparents.

2. Fifty people, not counting the children.


B T L EW


After the surrender the village went right back into its cocoon, … (16)

After the surrender the village immediately went back to its quiet and secluded life, …

go to 18


B T L EW


We were looking across a vista of overwhelming stillness. (16)

We were looking across a far view of powerful and awesome quietness.

go to 19

a long, narrow view


B T L EW


He didn’t play the conquering hero. (17)

He didn’t act like the hero who had conquered the enemy.

go to 20

act like

More examples



B T L EW


back to 19

1. play the fool

act foolishly

2. play the man

act like a man; be manly

3. play the great lady

behave in a very grand way


B T L EW


The third person was the inescapable Lincoln. Appomattox was, finally, his show. (20)

The third person we must mention of course was Lincoln. Appomattox was after all his performance.

The end of Sentence Paraphrase.


B T L EW

Part ThreePart Three

This is the end of Part Three. Please click HOME to visit other parts.


lesson 14 – mercy at appomattox

Documents