The Historical Accuracy of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Fever 1793 By Brynn Cigna, Prasanna Varadhan, and Paula Atanacio

Hook What if you found someone with yellow eyes and yellow skin? What’s wrong with them? They have yellow fever and thousands of people died from it in Laurie Halse Anderson’s Fever 1793.

Thesis Statement with 3 because reasons Laurie Halse Anderson accurately used history in her historical fiction novel, Fever 1793. She used real Yellow Fever symptoms, true Yellow Fever treatment during Fever’s time period, the 1790s, and real ways Americans helped the fever victims and the poor during the 1790s.

Symptoms of Yellow Fever- Fever 1793 “…vomiting blood…” (page 68) “…eyes poisoned with…yellow and red.” (page 67) “She was breathing as fast and heavy as a runaway horse.” (page 69) “…she leaned over the bed and retched a foul-smelling black fluid…” (page 69)

An American Plague symptoms facts that prove that yellow fever symptoms in Fever 1793 are true “…vomit…” (page 11) “…eyes grew bloodshot…” (page 12) “…agonized gasps and groans…” (page 12)

Treatment of Yellow Fever- Fever 1793 “…bathe her every four hours and keep her clean and cool.” (page 68) “…bleeding is the only way to save a patient…” (page 72) “…ten grains of jalap and ten grains of calomel…” (page 72)

An American Plague Treatment of Yellow Fever facts that prove Treatment of The Fever in Fever 1793 is True. “Bloodletting, or phlebotomy…” (page 59) “…urge patient to…take cold baths…” (page 59)

Helping the Sick and Poor- Fever 1793 “We must supply a hospital for the poor…” (page 58) “Sick people should be placed in the center of large airy rooms without curtains and should be kept clean.” (page 58) “They’ve taken over Ricketts’ Circus building on Twelfth Street to house the poor.” (page 59)

An American Plague Helping the Sick and Poor Facts that prove that Fever 1793’s Helping the Sick and Poor facts are true “…sick persons were scooped up from the streets and deposited at Ricketts’…” (page 39) “Those still alive at Ricketts’ were moved to Bush Hill and other desperately ill people followed” (Page 40)

Conclusion Thanks to the An American Plague facts, the information in Fever 1793 is historical accurate, so Laurie Halse Anderson accurately used history in her historical friction novel, Fever 1793