Fever 1793 Book Report

Words: 462
Pages: 2

Book Title: Fever 1793
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
I have finished the book
Prompt: Discuss the images that appear in your mind as you read. How does the author help create these images?

The historical fiction book Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson is about a young girl named Matilda and her journeys during the Yellow Fever. Anderson uses contrast and repetition to show an image of what the scene looks like. For example, she does this incredibly well after Matilda and Grandfather get thrown out of the cart. A good depiction of this is on page 90. “My stomach rumbled. If only that blasted farmer had left our food hamper!...I reached the stream hungry, hot, and tired… I climbed out of the water to pick berries. It was hard not to think of our kitchen table with bowls of oyster stew, or corn soup, a platter of duck, sweet potatoes and buttered beans, Indian pudding with molasses-or better yet, apple brown better with extra sugar on top…” (Anderson 90).
Before describing what is in Matilda’s head, Anderson repeatedly states that Matilda is hungry and has no food. Writing all of these different foods after hunger and weariness makes the food on the kitchen table seem that much better. In addition, having many foods being imagined by Matilda and the actual thoughts
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This means that the fever is over. Anderson uses a variety of techniques to show a scene. For instance, she uses personification to describe and early winter quill etching an icy pattern. Using descriptions that we can picture, like a white veil over the weeds or dying plants, Anderson describes the scene with precise detail. Adding on, sparkling diamonds that melt into water with a gentle kiss of the Sun, is something described with realistic word choice. All in all, Anderson does a spectacular job of describing scenes to the reader. She also uses vivid imagery throughout her writing, and guides the reader so they can see the