His Final Battle Analysis
Advanced Placement English Language and Composition is one of the more demanding courses one could take in high school. Although there is no specific list of novels that all APLAC students must read, it is clear that some books are not “APLAC worthy”. A book read in such an advanced course must go beyond the walls of the classroom and have application in the real world. The text must spur deep thoughts and intricate questions instead of being forgotten as soon as you leave school. That being said, the perfect book to include in the APLAC curriculum would be His Final Battle: The Last Months of Franklin Roosevelt written by Joseph Lelyveld. Students have plenty to learn and express by reading up on the great life lived by Franklin Delano Roosevelt
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along with his tragic battle against illness and tyranny. The question that arises whenever exposed to a new novel is, what makes it worth reading? In the case of His Final Battle, there is something to be discovered on every page. The final months of Roosevelt’s life are surrounded by so much mystery because he shied away from the media and left the general public “out of the loop” regarding his health. By reading this esteemed book you get an inside ticket to the undisclosed discussions held in the White House that were not accessible to the public during that time period. Plus, Roosevelt one of the more highly regarded Presidents in United States History, shown by being elected to an unparalleled four terms, he also served in an environment to which the world had never seen before. One could argue that Woodrow Wilson had to endure the exact same misfortunes when he was President. I then ask was World War I really the same as World War II? During World War I the United States did not have to fight two major powers on different sides of the world as they did in World War II and not to mention the presence of Adolf Hitler who was threatening the security of the entire globe. Such a menacing figure was absent from World War I, thus making Roosevelt’s wartime presidency a truly unique occurrence. How many times do you have the opportunity to go inside the mind of the leader of the free world during such a historic time? It’s not just any book that gives you this perspective, His Final Battle is highly regarded among readers and renowned daily publishing companies. The Washington Post says, “Psychologically intense... Pinning down FDR’s innermost thoughts is always an elusive goal for a scholar, but Lelyveld... has the fortitude and skill to properly analyze FDR’s decision-making process.” What an opportunity it is for students to be shown the colossal shoes that FDR had to fill during the perils of war and his own personal battle against Polio. As mentioned earlier, an APLAC book must have application outside of the classroom. Although it may seem cliché, high school students reading His Final Battle can get a better understanding of how to cope with heavy amounts of stress. Reading how the weight of the world was on Roosevelt's shoulders can be relatable to students trying to balance school work, sports, and a social life. Albeit, Roosevelt had more to worry about than a math test or a football game, but there is a degree of familiarity that can make the read more engaging and enjoyable.
The books assigned in APLAC are completely up to the teacher.
There is not a set list of books that must be read in the class. That being said, The College Board does have preferences on what they would like to have discussed in APLAC, “The AP English Language and Composition course focuses on rhetorical analysis of non-fiction texts and the development and revision of well-reasoned, evidence centered analytic and argumentative writing” (College Board, APLAC Course Description). The College Board themselves prefers the course to be based more on nonfiction texts and that is exactly what His Final Battle is. Not only is the novel pure nonfiction, but so many angles of analysis could be taken on a novel set in World War II. A nonfiction novel with such a wide array of information causes there to be varying opinions on the subject at hand. Argumentative essays could very easily be constructed as students could align themselves in favor or against decisions that Roosevelt made such as speaking to the menacing Josef Stalin during the Tehran and Yalta Conferences. Who knows, if the wrong things were said during those conferences the Soviet Union could have very easily made the United States their number one target. There are plenty of other moments where students will be divided and could be given an opportunity to share their opinions through writing assignments. Another one of them is the whole year of preparation it took to plan the D-Day invasion of June 6th, 1944. Did the Allies take too long and could more lives have been saved if they invaded earlier? Was the long amount of time used to plan the invasion worth it in order to have a higher chance of success? There is a myriad of questions left to be answered if students are given the opportunity to read this
book.
Even though everyone knows the denouement to content within His Final Battle people still continue to read it. We all know that Roosevelt will pass away before the war's conclusion and the Allies will eventually come out victorious, yet people still turn each page yearning for more. That is a quality of an “APLAC worthy” book that hopefully does not go unseen. Lelyveld’s ability to keep the reader invested despite an inevitable outcome is why it deserves to be on the shelves of every APLAC classroom. His Final Battle will shed light on the murky final months of Franklin Roosevelt’s life as well as develop a new perspective on the man who captained America during arguable the most famous time period in human history.
along with his tragic battle against illness and tyranny. The question that arises whenever exposed to a new novel is, what makes it worth reading? In the case of His Final Battle, there is something to be discovered on every page. The final months of Roosevelt’s life are surrounded by so much mystery because he shied away from the media and left the general public “out of the loop” regarding his health. By reading this esteemed book you get an inside ticket to the undisclosed discussions held in the White House that were not accessible to the public during that time period. Plus, Roosevelt one of the more highly regarded Presidents in United States History, shown by being elected to an unparalleled four terms, he also served in an environment to which the world had never seen before. One could argue that Woodrow Wilson had to endure the exact same misfortunes when he was President. I then ask was World War I really the same as World War II? During World War I the United States did not have to fight two major powers on different sides of the world as they did in World War II and not to mention the presence of Adolf Hitler who was threatening the security of the entire globe. Such a menacing figure was absent from World War I, thus making Roosevelt’s wartime presidency a truly unique occurrence. How many times do you have the opportunity to go inside the mind of the leader of the free world during such a historic time? It’s not just any book that gives you this perspective, His Final Battle is highly regarded among readers and renowned daily publishing companies. The Washington Post says, “Psychologically intense... Pinning down FDR’s innermost thoughts is always an elusive goal for a scholar, but Lelyveld... has the fortitude and skill to properly analyze FDR’s decision-making process.” What an opportunity it is for students to be shown the colossal shoes that FDR had to fill during the perils of war and his own personal battle against Polio. As mentioned earlier, an APLAC book must have application outside of the classroom. Although it may seem cliché, high school students reading His Final Battle can get a better understanding of how to cope with heavy amounts of stress. Reading how the weight of the world was on Roosevelt's shoulders can be relatable to students trying to balance school work, sports, and a social life. Albeit, Roosevelt had more to worry about than a math test or a football game, but there is a degree of familiarity that can make the read more engaging and enjoyable.
The books assigned in APLAC are completely up to the teacher.
There is not a set list of books that must be read in the class. That being said, The College Board does have preferences on what they would like to have discussed in APLAC, “The AP English Language and Composition course focuses on rhetorical analysis of non-fiction texts and the development and revision of well-reasoned, evidence centered analytic and argumentative writing” (College Board, APLAC Course Description). The College Board themselves prefers the course to be based more on nonfiction texts and that is exactly what His Final Battle is. Not only is the novel pure nonfiction, but so many angles of analysis could be taken on a novel set in World War II. A nonfiction novel with such a wide array of information causes there to be varying opinions on the subject at hand. Argumentative essays could very easily be constructed as students could align themselves in favor or against decisions that Roosevelt made such as speaking to the menacing Josef Stalin during the Tehran and Yalta Conferences. Who knows, if the wrong things were said during those conferences the Soviet Union could have very easily made the United States their number one target. There are plenty of other moments where students will be divided and could be given an opportunity to share their opinions through writing assignments. Another one of them is the whole year of preparation it took to plan the D-Day invasion of June 6th, 1944. Did the Allies take too long and could more lives have been saved if they invaded earlier? Was the long amount of time used to plan the invasion worth it in order to have a higher chance of success? There is a myriad of questions left to be answered if students are given the opportunity to read this
book.
Even though everyone knows the denouement to content within His Final Battle people still continue to read it. We all know that Roosevelt will pass away before the war's conclusion and the Allies will eventually come out victorious, yet people still turn each page yearning for more. That is a quality of an “APLAC worthy” book that hopefully does not go unseen. Lelyveld’s ability to keep the reader invested despite an inevitable outcome is why it deserves to be on the shelves of every APLAC classroom. His Final Battle will shed light on the murky final months of Franklin Roosevelt’s life as well as develop a new perspective on the man who captained America during arguable the most famous time period in human history.