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The Personal Correspondence of Hannah Brown and Sarah Smith
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Plot Summary of The Personal Correspondence of Hannah Brown and Sarah Smith
"Hannah Brown and Sarah Smith, two young teenaged Quaker girls, write letters to each other from 1857 to 1859. Both Hannah and Sarah come from strong abolitionist families, and became close friends while Sarah attended a Quaker school in Hannah's hometown of Goose Creek, Virginia. When Sarah returned to Philadelphia, the girls began a regular correspondence. Hannah's grandfather is an active abolitionist who has helped many slaves escape along the Underground Railroad, and now that Hannah is old enough, he wants her help. While Hannah believes slaves have the right to be free, she is at first reluctant to risk her safety and that of her family. However, her experiences and her faith lead her to become an active participant in the Underground Railroad, after she meets a young slave girl of her own age, Pearl, who is trying to reach freedom in Canada. Pearl has never known freedom, and after her brother was sold away and her mother died, she and her father escaped, but had to leave Pearl's little sister behind. Hannah becomes determined to help Pearl and her family reunite and reach freedom in Canada and must search for a way to do so, with the help of Sarah and her family."
Rebecca Herman, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of The Personal Correspondence of Hannah Brown and Sarah Smith
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book? - thoughtful
Time/era of story - 19th century
Political/social activism Yes
Plotlet: - slavery
Is this an adult or child's book? - Age 11-14

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - unemployed
Age: - a teen
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality - White (American)
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - physically sick

Main Adversary
Identity: - society
Age: - long-lived adults
Profession/status: - wealthy

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 5 (an average amount)
United States Yes
The US: - Northeast - Deep South

Style
Person - rotating 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
Unusual Style: - No single main character? - written like a journal/diary/letters
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Nancy LeSourd Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Rebecca Herman  

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