by Robin Moore
2. October’s Harvest Festival was a very important holiday for the Seneca. Why? Describe your favorite holiday and some of the customs surrounding it.
3.Why was Frenchgirl so important to Maggie? What does a translator do? Do we have such people today? How important are they to our nation?
4.Maggie was called “Redwing” by her Seneca relations. Seneca names are chosen with care and told something about that person. Choose a nickname for yourself. What names would you choose for other members of your family? For your friends? Why was Maggie called Redwing?
5. What was the work that the Seneca women had to do? Do the women in your neighborhood do the same work today? How does it differ from what the Seneca women used to do?
6.What job did Firefly have in the village along with Cornstalk? Why is it important? Who does that type of work in your neighborhood today?
7. Where you as surprised as Maggie to learn she was married? Describe the Seneca Marriage ceremony again and compare it to weddings you have seen.
8. What is an arranged marriage? What do you think about arranged marriages? Is it better to love or learn to love in a marriage, or is it better to not worry about love at all?
Chapter Eight:
1.What does your father or mother do when they work? What item is of great importance to them in doing their work? Talk with someone older and have them tell you about their job and the work that they do.
2. Describe a magical moment in your life, when something very special happened to you, as it did to Maggie.
Chapter Nine:
Take note of how much of the elk the Senecas used to make things that they used in their daily lives. Name ten things you use in your daily life and find out what materials these ten things are made from. Chart your answer Compare the Seneca use of the elk. How important were the elk to the Seneca?
Draw a picture of an elk. List the things the Senweca made from the parts of the elk. Connect each item with the part of the elk used to make it. Why was it so important not to waste any part of the elk?
Did Maggie and Firefly have other ways to keep warm besides wrapping in the elk hide? What would you have done? How did their plan go wrong? How was Maggie saved? What happened to Firefly?
Were the wolves to blame for what happened to Maggie and Firefly? Explain your answer.
Do you think Frenchgirl knew what Maggie had planned when the four had first gone on the elk hunt? Why did Maggie stay in the end?
Chapter Ten:
1. What did the Seneca believe about the death of a person? How did they bury their dead and why? What are the differences and similarities between the Seneca burial and a burial in your culture?
2. Draw a picture of the Ragpicker. Who do you think she was? Where did she come from? How did she live in the village? What strange things did she do? Can you explain them?
Chapter Eleven:
The Seneca named their months after special events that took place each month in their society Use this method to name the twelve months. Make a new calendar using your new monthly names.
How did Maggie's baby get his name?
General John Sullivan was sent by General Washington to attack the Seneca in their villages. Do research on Sullivan's March and describe what the American Soldiers were trying to accomplish by invading the land of the Seneca. What did the American troops do to Little Beard's village?
What do you think Ragpicker will do with Maggie's child? Make up an ending to the story. What will happen to Maggie, Frenchgirl and their children, along with Ragpicker?
Did Maggie have any qualities you admire? List some of them. What about you? What qualities do you see in yourself? Give some examples of things you have done that show your qualities.
If you were Maggie, would you have gone north with the Seneca or taken the trail south and back to Aunt Franny? Why? Where does Maggie really belong?
Chapter Twelve:
Make up a story that tells what happened to Jake Logan from the time he escaped from the Seneca to the time Maggie saw him at Aunt Franny's tavern.
What do you think will happen next in Maggie's life? What do you think she should do now?
In the Afterword portion of the book, the author tells us some important things about Maggie's life among the Seneca. What did you learn from reading the Afterword that interested you most?
Suggested Activities for
Up The Frozen River
The Introduction:
Authors usually provide interesting and special material in their introductions.
2.What does "live the dream" mean to you? Explain. Write a brief account of a special dream that you have now that you would like to see come true in the future.
3.The author discusses coincidences. What is a coincidence? What do you think of the coincidences mentioned by the author? Have you ever had a coincidence happen in your life? Tell someone about this coincidence. How do you explain it?
4. While each of the three books describing Maggie's life on the Frontier are written so they can stand on their own and be enjoyed without reading the other two, it would help if you knew of Maggie’s earlier adventures. Make a brief outline of the key events leading up to this book.
5.Before reading this book, what do you think will happen in this story? Make a list of predictions and keep a list until you have finished reading the book. Compare what happened in the story with what you thought would happen. How close were you?
6.This is a fictional book, based upon history. Research General John Sullivan’s expedition into the Seneca country. What was the importance of this military campaign? This account will serve as a foundation and background as the story of Maggie unfolds.
7. Draw a picture of The Ragpicker before you read the story. See how you would change this picture once you have completed the book. Has your opinion of The Ragpicker changed? Why.'
Chapter One:
1.Maggie knew that it was crazy to travel in the dead of winter. She also knew that it was crazy to stay at the tavern. When you are caught between two difficult choice, this is called a dilemma. According to the book, why was it crazy to stay behind and why was it crazy to go ahead? Which choice would you have made? What should Maggi.e have done? Why?
Drinking mulled cider in front of the fire was a popular way of spending time in a colonial tavern . make some mulled cider. Tell Maggie’s story in front of the fire.
Maggie carried her "possibles" on a wide belt at her waist. List what she carried in this bag and what it was used for. What five things would you need to survive in the woods today and carry in your "possibles" bag. Explain how you would use your five items.
Nearly every article Jake wore or had with him was taken directly from the woods. What are the origins of the pieces of clothes and things you carry on you right now? What did Jake and Maggie carry with them to eat? What would you carry to eat? How would you store it? How heavy would it be? Could you really carry enough food to survive such a trip? How would you find more food? How did they?
Draw a picture of what you think Little Beard's village looked like as Maggie and Jake made their journey there. Keep your drawing and compare. Were you right?
Maggie and Jake encounter wolves. Get a book on wolves and do some research on these animals. What are some myths about wolves? What does Maggie's book say about wolves? Do you think Maggie and Jake are right about wolves?
Chapter Two:
The porcupine is an animal who defends itself with long, pointed quills. Draw a picture of a porcupine. Draw a picture of the poor dog who was stuck with so many quills.
Tell about a time when you helped an animal who needed it. Would you have done what Maggie did to help the dog? Why or why not?
Do you agree with Jake on page 28 when he says that "adventure is nothing but a romantic name for trouble"? Why? What does the word "romantic" mean in Jake's statement?
Maggie had never eaten porcupine before. Describe the last time you ate a new food you had never eaten before. How was it
cooked? How was it served? What other foods if any was it served with? Do you think you would eat porcupine? Why?
Maggie and Jake did a lot of hiking, often over twenty miles a day, for days on end. Take a break in the story and prepare for a hike. What do you need to take along? Where will you go and how far? Take a short hike around your neighborhood with someone else. Keep a journal of what you saw along the way and what experiences took place. Draw some pictures of what you saw. Keep directions for others to follow your path. Draw a map of your route.
Chapter Three:
What were the rules that Jake set for traveling across ice? Why were such rules important? What are some rules that your parents or school has? Why are those rules important?
What is frostbite? How did Jake treat it with Maggie? How do we treat it today? Find a first aid book and read about frostbite. Make a chart of the steps one should take to help someone with frostbite.
Describe the mistakes that Maggie made that led to her falling into the ice of the Allegheny River.
Recount the steps that Jake had to take to make the fire to try to save Maggie's life after she fell into the cold river.
What brave thing did Jake do to save Maggie's feet? Why was this so brave and so effective?
Explain the statement "Things seldom go wrong singly in the woods. When something goes wrong, it leads to a second misfortune and then to another and another." What were the things that went wrong in the scene on the ice and afterwards?
Draw a picture of Poordevil. Do you have a dog at home? Do the dogs that you know act like Poordevil? Why was the dog named Poordevil?
Describe how a person dies in the cold and snow. What can one do to prevent this? What could Maggie and Jake have done to keep Maggie alive in the cold?
Chapter Four :
How do you explain Maggie's dream? What did it mean? Do you always mean something? Do you think this dream will relate to some other part of the story? What? What was the last dream you had that you remember? Describe it or draw a picture of it.
2. What have you learned about The Ragpicker so far in the stories? Tell her story as far as you know it. Is she a bad person or a good one? Why?
Chapter Five:
Why would a blind man fire a weapon at Jake?
What is snow blindness? Look it up in your first aid book. How is it treated now? How did Maggie treat Rory's case then? Did Maggie's treatment work right away or later?
Our vision is one of our most important senses. Place a blindfold over your eyes and try to move about the room with the aid of a friend. What were your feelings when you could not see? How do you think Rory felt? How did he become snowblind?
Why did they use smokehouses in colonial times? How did the smokehouse work? Draw a picture of a smokehouse from the outside and another picture from the inside.
Rory, Maggie and Jake all had special talents that helped them survive on the frontier. Do you have a special talent that helps you in your daily life in our modern world? Describe it and show how it helps you.
What were Jake's opinions about how the Europeans have changed the frontier and the land. How did the French differ in their actions from the English/Americans? Are there people today who feel the same as Jake about the land and what has been done to it over the years? Who are these people? See if you can contact a group that feels as Jake does about preserving the land and ask them for some information. Share this with your friends. Make a chart that illustrates their position on issues.
Chapter Six and Chapter Seven:
According to the book , what were considered bad manners on the frontier? What are some things considered to be bad manners today?
Retell the story of Hank the Dog in your own words. What is the most important part of the story in your opinion?
Chapter Eight:
Jake and Maggie had walked for twenty-one days. How far do you think you could hike in that time? Determine the distance. Take a map of your hometown and plot out the distance from your home as far as you think you could walk in twenty-one days. Where did you land on the map? Make up a story of actually going to that place and an adventure that befell you when you were there.
What were some of the customs used by Maggie and the Seneca to bury their dead? Why did they use the customs they did? What are some of the customs you have for the burial of dead today?
The Seneca named Maggie "Redwing" after she had been adopted by their tribe. What name would you like to have if you had been adopted by the Seneca? Why? Draw a symbolic picture of your name.
Chapter Nine:
1.Maggie and Frenchgirl were the best of friends. Who is your beast friend? How would you describe them? How do you think they would describe you? If you could, what Indian name would you give your best friend? Why?
What did Frenchgirl mean when she said she would not like the brutal world where women were treated as cattle? Are things still the same for women in our society today? How did the Seneca treat their women? How should women be treated?
Could Maggie have done anything else to survive? Have you ever lost a best friend? Did that friend move away? How did you feel? What is your fondest memory of that person?
Chapter Ten:
1. Stop reading at the beginning of this chapter! What will Maggie find? Write out what you think she will do. Then continue reading and compare what you predicted with what the story reveals.
2.What is a Lenape? What does this tell you about The Ragpicker? Does it change your image of her? What was her life like on the edge of the Seneca village?
Chapter Eleven:
Describe how The Ragpicker kept Hoot Owl alive in the winter. Why do you think The Ragpicker grabbed the baby from Maggie when the village was being attacked? What happened to all the women and children from the village after the attack? How was Hoot Owl brought back to life? Do you believe these events could have happened? Why?
Chapter Twelve:
On the hillside overlooking the Allegheny River, Maggie looks out in all directions and imagines events from her past and future. What does she see in each direction? Draw a chart illustrating her vision.
What was Maggie’s vision for the future? What is your vision for your future?
3. Take each of the major characters in the book and tell a little bit about what you thuink will happen in their lives after the end of the story. Include Maggie, Hoot Owl, Rory, Aunt Franny and Jake. And don’t forget Poordevil!
4.Does the book have a happy ending? Is a happy ending important to you? Why? What made you the happiest about the ending of this story?
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