SYMBOLISM / MOTIFS / METAPHORS / IMAGERY / SYMBOLS

Adam's name itself is symbolic, as it immediately brings to mind the Biblical Adam. This focuses the primacy of his experience: he may not be the first young man to mature at a time of war, but for each person there is an immediacy to such an event which feels unique. In contrast, the name of his father Moses ends up having its own allusions: like the Biblical figure, Moses Cooper seeks to lead his people - the citizens of Lexington, and indeed of all the English colonies - to a promised land free from oppression by the British crown. (However, that did not mean breaking off from the Empire, as his statements clearly made.) And like the Biblical Moses, Moses Cooper dies before reaching this goal.

One motif in the book is the elasticity of time: the way events mold and distort the way time is perceived, sometimes slowing it down.......

KEY FACTS

Title: April Morning

Author: Howard Fast

Date Published: 1961

Meaning of Title: April 19, 1775, the day of The Battle at Lexington and Concord, which is considered the start of the American Revolutionary War.

Setting: The Massachusetts towns of Lexington and Concord, and the environs surrounding them.

Genre: Historical fiction.

Protagonist: Adam Cooper.

Antagonist: The British army.........

The complete study guide is currently available as a downloadable PDF, RTF, or MS Word DOC file from the PinkMonkey MonkeyNotes download store. The complete study guide contains summaries and notes for all of the chapters; detailed analysis of the themes, plot structure, and characters; important quotations and analysis; detailed analysis of symbolism, motifs, and imagery; a key facts summary; a multiple-choice quiz, and suggested book report ideas and essay topics.