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The Problem
Noah Pruitt wants to go off to war and fight for the Union during the Civil War, but his Mama disagrees. -
Rising Action #1
Dr. Hutchings comes from St. Louis, Missouri, to Grand Tower, Illinois. -
Rising Action #2
Cass sees a ghost of someone going into the river, which is one of her visions that she happens to have on occasions. -
Rising Action #3
Delphine and Calinda come from New Orleans to live with the Pruitts. Delphine is white and Calinda is black. -
Rising Action #4
Cass thinks that Calinda is killing Delphine, when really, Calinda is just putting corsets on Delphine. Mama, Noah, and Tilly don't believe her beause they think that it's just one of Cass's visions. -
Rising Action #5
Mama knows that Noah is going to go off to war. She is terrified and cannot let it happen. Noah is going to fight for the Union Army. -
Rising Action #6
Tilly gets a letter from Curry Marshall, telling her that they will unite if the Confederates win the war, because he is fighting for the Confederacy. Tilly is excited at first, but then realizes that Noah is going to fight for the North, so that would mean that if she wanted to be with Curry, then her brother would lose the war. If she wanted her brother, then she could not unite with Curry. -
Rising Action #7
People start to suspect that Delphine is a spy. It was just gossip at first, but then some people, like Mama and Tilly, think that she actually is a spy. -
Rising Action #8
The Pruitts go to the showboat in Grand Tower. Delphine, Cass, Calinda, and Tilly get very dressed up to go there. -
Rising Action #9
Noah and Delphine dance together. It is discovered that Delphine is 15 years old. Tilly dances with Dr. Hutchings. Calinda, or CoinCoin, dances with a black man on the boat. -
Rising Action #10
Noah left for war on the eve of his and Tilly's 16th birthday. Mama said that Noah left her like a theif in the night. She was heart broken, because Papa left her, so Noah was the only man in the house that she had. -
Rising Action #11
Mama tells Tilly to go get Noah when she says, "I can spare you, but I can't spare Noah." That basically just told Tilly that Mama loves Noah and not her. -
Rising Action #12
It's reavealed that Calinda and Delphine are sisters, and that Delphine is half black. Because of this, she cannot marry Noah. -
Climax
The casket of Papa is sent to the Pruitt's house. Papa, who fought for the South, left the Pruitts, so everyone thought that it was Noah's casket and that he died in the war. -
Falling Action #1
Mama goes crazy thinking that Noah died and so she kills herself by going into the river. She is killed when she is thrown into a rock. -
Falling Action #2
Tilly gets married to Dr. Hutchings and Noah has a baby with Delphine, but they are not married -
Falling Action #3
Cass dies of diphtheria when Delphine leaves the Pruitt's home -
Resolution
In the end, the whole family tree is revealed, to find out that the father is not Dr. Hutchings, but Noah. -
Lincoln's Inaguration
On Monday, March 4th, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was inagurated as the 16th President of th United States. -
The Attack of Fort Sumter
The Battle of Fort Sumter was the battle that started the Civil War when the Confederates bombarded Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. -
The Battle of Bull Run
This Civil War battle took place in Prince William County, Virginia. It ended up with a Confederate Victory. -
The Battle of Belmont
This Civil War battle took place in Mississippi County, Missouri. It ended up with a Confederate Victory.