Behind Rebel Lines: The Incredible Story of Emma Edmonds, Civil War Spy

Analyze Emma’s motivations, plans, methods, and choices in the narrative. What personality traits can be evidenced in Emma based on her actions and decisions before, during, and after the Civil War?

Teaching Suggestion: Emma’s desire to make a difference is so strong that she defies traditional gender roles and challenges the expectations of What Women Can Really Do in her era. In her espionage work for the Union army, she is courageous, determined, clever, and quick-thinking. She is also proud of her contributions, as demonstrated by her desire to expunge the label of “deserter” from Franklin Thompson’s war record. Emma’s Need to Make a Difference, which stems from patriotic ideals and selflessness, motivates her work. Students might brainstorm in small groups to list 6-8 personality attributes for Emma and work together to find and cite passages in which she demonstrates or reveals each trait. Then students might respond to the prompt independently, choosing the 3 traits they feel are strongest to address in writing or discussion.

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Women in History Who Defied Traditional Gender Roles”