Putting the History in Historical Fiction

A key focus of the Social Studies curriculum at Dana Hall, from grades 5-12, is student-directed research. As 9th graders in the Western Civilization course explore the world of the ancient Greeks, from social values revealed in Homer’s epic myths to political developments that emerged through class conflict, they spend some time focusing on the competing city-states of Athens and Sparta. Their first research assignment of the year takes them into the Helen Temple Cooke Library subscription databases and bookshelves (no websites allowed). Each student must imagine that they are an Athenian or a Spartan who is, for a reason that they invent, in the other city-state. They may decide to be a soldier, a merchant, an elder, a military general, a mother, the wife or daughter of a politician or any other historically credible person from the time. What would be familiar to their character? What would surprise or seem strange to them? Students design and write a piece of historical fiction, a creative, research-based story in which they describe their character’s experience. Their descriptions of the city, comparing it to and contrasting it with their own city, must be based on evidence about life in Athens and Sparta that they collect from books and databases. In order to visualize their use of source material, students must color in blue all sentences that incorporate historical evidence, and they must include in-text citations plus a bibliography with a minimum of three sources. 

Last fall, A. Sung ’27 wrote as a “proud Athenian archon” visiting Sparta to negotiate military cooperation “against the Persian Empire’s attempted attacks upon the Greek mainland…As we sauntered down the street, I stumbled into a sturdy young woman. I immediately 
asked myself why such a girl would be venturing about the polis on her own. Women in Athens
 would never dare to go out of the house, never mind unaccompanied. Unafraid and infuriatingly confident, the girl informed me that her name was Helice, and she was on her way to a Spartan festival, which resolved my confusion. I immediately was intrigued, as festivities play such an important role in our Athenian lives.” 

The year before, R. Leahy ’26 wrote as an Athenian woman who had escaped to Sparta in men’s clothing: “For all that I love about Sparta, its one drawback is its disinclination towards architecture as well as art. Spartan society is solely concerned with militaristic innovation, rather than artistic, so there is little production of extravagant items. I don’t see how one can be faced with the masterpieces of the modern world and still see art as insignificant.” 

The combination of research and creative writing in this first major assignment entices students into the world of the ancient Greeks and challenges them to communicate a historical understanding rooted in reliable evidence. Color-coding reveals to them the centrality of reliance on credible sources.