Getting Started
Overview
As a girl, Joan saw visions and heard voices which told
her to help the dauphin become the King of France. She was told to end
the siege at Orleans so the dauphin could cross the river and enter the French
city of Rheims, which was occupied by the English. The coronation of Charles
VII did happen there, as Joan believed. Many people, including Charles VII,
were convinced that Joan was influenced by God, and was the fulfilment of the
legends which foretold that a maid would lead France to victory over the
English. It seems that when the voices stopped telling Joan to attack but she did
anyway, the French started losing battles. Joan lost her popularity once she
stopped winning.
Joan was caught and sold to the English, who tried to
prove that she was lying about the voices and was evil. She was framed after
being kept in terrible living conditions, and after months of her intelligent
replies to cross-examinations Joan was burned to death at the stake at the age
of nineteen.
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Author profile
Lili Wilkinson remembers the day in Beijing when she learned
how to read 'in her head'. She was six and has been immersed in the world of
books ever since. It is an obsession she shares with her mother, Carole
Wilkinson (the China trip was her inspiration for the award-winning Dragonkeeper).
Lili's first book, Joan of Arc, combines her
interest in fiction, history and research. Lili lives in inner-city Melbourne, and loves reading, movies, shoes, the work of Jim Henson and Japanese food.
Source: Black Dog Books (used with permission)
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Useful websites
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Focus questions
Before reading the book
- How is Joan represented in the cover illustration?
- Why might the cover illustration be drawn in silver?
- Why might 'Joan of Arc' also be subtitled and written as
'Jehanne Darc'?
- What might the background pattern on the cover be? Why?
- How might a 16-year-old girl lead an army to victory?
- Why do you think Joan was burned at the stake?
During and after reading the book
- How did a 16-year-old girl lead an army to victory?
- Why was Joan burned at the stake? How could this have been
avoided?
- Who do you think Joan of Arc was? Witch, saint, puppet,
madwoman, warrior, messenger from God or someone else?
- Why is Joan often described as a saint, 'St Joan'?
- How has Joan of Arc changed history?
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Activities
Responding to text
Trial
Class
Read the account of Joan's trial in Chapter 8 and
elsewhere using the internet links. Record the class findings as a Y Chart.
Character profile of Joan
Individuals
Write a Character Profile of Joan to help determine
who she was: an angel or witch; saint or heretic; prophet or puppet; messenger
from God, or someone else? Write a conclusion showing your opinion.
Joan's voices and visions
Small groups
Voices and visions seem to have greatly influenced Joan.
Find references to these in the book. Select some examples to create a Storyboard
or animation.
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Responding to images
Fleur-de-lis
Small groups
Fleur-de-lis is the symbol of France. Discuss: what does it represent? Find it on the cover and elsewhere in the book.
Class
Use the Fleur-de-Lis Template
to decorate something related to Joan, such as a standard or a model
'stained glass' window (using transparent paper such as cellophane with a
cardboard frame).
Paintings
Individuals
There are photos of the paintings throughout the book.
Compare the subject matter and styles of the paintings from different eras,
such as the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries. Find other art from these
periods. Also find the only surviving image of Joan made during her lifetime.
Record your findings as a Retrieval Chart, including samples of
artwork.
Font
Small groups
Look quickly through the book, keeping a record of the
different fonts used. Try to identify these fonts. Why have these particular
fonts been used? Show the fonts, their names and why you think they have been
selected, as a pictorial and written Fact File.
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Research skills
Cast of characters calendar
Small groups
The true characters are listed at the start of the book.
Giving yourselves a time limit of 10–15 minutes per character, research 12 of
these. Then compare your findings with how that character is portrayed in the
book. Present your findings as a Calendar of the Year. Give each character a
month. Put them in monthly order according to how you rated the reliability of
their depiction in the book, Joan of Arc, compared to other
sources. The character with the highest accuracy rating is January, and so on.
Include:
- a picture of each character – from research or your
imagination – based on your findings
- snippets of interesting information about the character in
blank spaces on the calendar
How should history be written?
Small groups
The author whose blurb is on the front cover, James
Moloney, is quoted as saying 'History as it should be written'. How should
history be written? How does the author achieve this? Jot down your
findings, then share them on a school blog. Establish a school or class
blog if there isn't one already.
A free Australian blog-hosting service without advertising
is available at www.blognow.com.au.
Safety considerations can be viewed at www.netalert.net.au/02582-How-can-children-stay-safe-using-blogs.asp.
Primary and secondary sources
Small groups
Read the two Acknowledgements pages at the end of the
book. Classify the sources listed into primary and secondary sources. Some of
these sources are dated. Look at the timeline on pp 157–159. See where the
dated sources fit into the timeline. Complete an Evidence Chart to rate
the primary and secondary sources in terms of reliability. Consider if those
created close to the events are more reliable.
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Language of history
Words with conflicting views
Small groups
On p 1 there are two quotes. One is from the
French poet, Alain Chartier. The other is from the placard at Joan's
execution. Even though the quotes are both about Joan, they express different
viewpoints. Identify and expand on these conflicting views on a T Chart.
Which view is right and true - one, neither or both? Explain your opinions.
Consider the author (or assumed author of the placard), purpose, genre
and date of the writing.
Class
Throughout the book there are words which are
opposites (or almost opposites) about Joan. For example, was she a witch or a
saint? Find other examples of these. Make a billboard. On one side, write
negative beliefs about Joan (such as 'witch') and on the other side, write
positive beliefs (such as 'saint'). On each side of the billboard, write a
slogan about Joan in line with the beliefs. Also paint a picture of Joan on
each side.
Old language
Small groups
Find words (and ways of expressing them) from
the book that are not used much now, such as 'apostate' (p 1). In particular,
search for quotes from the small sections in italics, such as p 83.
'And finally, by great
prowess and valance in arms, we won the said bastion and of it were all the
English therein killed or taken.' (Charles' letter)
Read some of these quotes aloud to each other. Use some of
the old words in your own sentences and declaim them to each other.
Class
Is the above quote from p 83 a primary source or
secondary source? How true was it? Why or why not?
Laws of chivalry
Individuals
Read how Charles made no attempt to help Joan when she was
in prison. He did not offer to ransom her even though 'the laws of chivalry
stated that any noble or captain could be ransomed' (p 119). Read the laws of
chivalry from books and websites such as:
Which of these laws of chivalry are followed today, and which
are not? Why? How has the language changed? Why?
Survey
Beyond the classroom
Survey family or community members. Using a list of old
words and expressions from the book, ask if they have heard of them and if they
can explain what they mean. Report your findings to the class orally.
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