Moon Over Manifest contains rich historical detail, spanning two decades of history through its parallel stories. A good way to enhance students’ reading experiences is to supplement the novel with historical background information. Students can then use storyboards to make connections between the novel and historical accounts. Suggested historical topics include the Great Depression, the home-front during WWI, and the immigrant experience in America.
The sample storyboard above shows text connections with the history of the Great Depression. Have students create a T-Chart storyboard to present historical facts on one side and Moon Over Manifest on the other. Historical facts can be presented in the form of photos, direct quotations from primary documents, or summarized research. To connect to the novel, students should use the storyboard graphics to depict a scene from the story that addresses the same historical topic.
| American History | Moon Over Manifest | |
|---|---|---|
| Little Food | During the Great Depression, many Americans struggled to get enough to eat. Children often had to work long days just to earn enough money to survive. Soup kitchens cropped up across the country. Lines for bread and other food handouts could stretch for blocks. | Abilene and her friends are constantly hungry. Most days, Abilene gets pork and beans to eat, but she is happy to eat anything, including frog legs! Abilene, Lettie, and Ruthanne eagerly accept any food that is offered to them by others. |
| Migrants | Americans migrated far and wide during the Great Depression. When they couldn't make a living where they were, they packed up and moved to a new region. Some people moved every few months when the seasonal jobs changed. Others joined the thousands of hobos who had no home at all and slept in forests, boxcars, and kind strangers' homes. | Abilene and Gideon are migrants. They move from town to down, jumping off the next train in search of a new place to find work and something to eat. Abilene has never known a real home until she comes to Manifest. |
| Prohibition | From 1920-1933, the United States federal government enforced prohibition, which meant that citizens could not buy or sell alcohol. Some individual states passed laws that extended prohibition even longer. In Kansas, the sale and manufacture of alcohol was prohibited from 1881-1948. To get around the law, Americans made alcohol in illegal stills and sold it in secret bars, called speakeasies. | When Abilene meets him in 1936, Shady runs a speakeasy from his home/church. Miss Sadie reveals that even in 1917, Shady was making his own alcohol and selling it illegally. When Jinx suggests that the townspeople make an alcoholic elixir to raise money, they fake the Spanish Flu in order to keep the sheriff out of town. |
| Hopelessness | The Great Depression lasted so long that many Americans began to lose hope. Lack of jobs and opportunity left many desperate just to survive the week. Dreams of a better future came crashing down. | A sense of hopelessness pervades Manifest when Abilene arrives. Even the welcome sign seems to suggest that hope is lost. Although it used to read "Manifest: a town with a rich past and a bright future," the words "and a bright future" have been shot through with bullets. |
(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)
Student Instructions
Empower students to explore by assigning each group a different historical event or theme related to the novel, like immigration or Prohibition. Encourage the use of primary sources, images, and short articles to gather facts, then have them share their findings with the class in a creative format, such as posters or digital slides. This approach builds research skills and deepens historical understanding.
Demonstrate your thinking process by reading a passage aloud and pausing to explain how it relates to a historical fact. For example, after reading about Abilene’s hunger, say, "This reminds me of how real children lined up at soup kitchens during the Great Depression." Think-alouds help students see connections in context and encourage them to make their own links.
Suggest incorporating historical images and direct quotes from primary sources to make T-Charts more engaging. For instance, students might add a photograph of a bread line or a quote from someone who lived through the era. Visuals and authentic voices make history feel real and relatable.
Lead a classroom dialogue by asking how events like the Great Depression or Prohibition change the lives of characters in Moon Over Manifest. Prompt students with questions like, "How might Abilene’s choices differ if she lived in another time?" Discussions foster empathy and critical thinking.
Invite students to write a diary entry or draw a comic strip from the perspective of a character experiencing a key historical event. This creative synthesis lets students demonstrate what they've learned while practicing writing and artistic skills.
To teach historical connections with Moon Over Manifest, have students research key events like the Great Depression and World War I, then use a T-Chart storyboard to compare real historical facts with examples from the novel. This approach builds critical thinking and helps students visualize the past through literature.
A T-Chart storyboard is a graphic organizer with two columns. Students put historical facts (like the Great Depression or Prohibition) on one side and show how those facts appear in Moon Over Manifest on the other. Illustrations and direct references help deepen understanding and engagement.
Moon Over Manifest includes major historical events such as the Great Depression, the home-front during World War I, Prohibition, and the immigrant experience in America. These topics provide context for characters’ struggles and the setting of the story.
Connecting literature to real history helps students understand historical context, see how past events influence characters, and develop empathy. It makes abstract events more relatable and supports deeper reading comprehension.
Students can pair facts about food shortages during the Great Depression with scenes where Abilene and friends are hungry, or match migration trends with the characters’ travels. Other examples include Prohibition and the operation of speakeasies in the story.