Pharos History Through Fiction · Course 3

Winter’s
Ghosts

The frontier in 1776, in a novel and in the record. Read the novel, then test it against reports, letters, church records, legends, resolutions and memoirs.

For grades 9–12 · the Virginia frontier, 1776 · 12 weeks

Coming soonStart with Lessons 1–2
Pharos History Through Fiction
The Winter’s Ghosts course cover.
The Pharos History Through Fiction lantern emblem.

The course cover and the Pharos History Through Fiction lantern. The novel is sold separately.

1776, from
the frontier.

  • 12 weeksOne lesson a week, about 3–4 hours.
  • 12 lessonsFour sessions in each, 45 to 60 minutes.
  • 7 unitsFrom the long winter to American prisoners at Quebec.
  • History and ELAWith Civics, Geography and Science.
  • A capstoneA final assessment, about two weeks. It can overlap Weeks 11 and 12 or follow them.

Two ways to work

Online or on paper.
Or both.

Every purchase includes all 12 lessons as PDFs. Pharos Terminal subscribers can also open the course online.

The Winter’s Ghosts course in Pharos Terminal.

Online · For Pharos Terminal subscribers

In Pharos Terminal

The course inside Pharos Terminal, alongside the rest of your student’s week.

  • Lessons 1–2 included with an active Pharos Terminal subscription.
  • Buy the course, and all 12 lessons open online while your subscription is active.
  • Students see the student part only. The part for the parent or teacher stays with you.
  • The 10 Nexus Points for this course come in the regular Pharos Terminal feed.
Page 1 of Lesson 1 of the Winter’s Ghosts course PDF.

PDF · Included with every purchase

The lesson PDFs

All 12 lessons, the capstone and the course guide, yours to keep. No subscription needed.

  • Print them, or read them on any device.
  • Four sessions in each lesson, 45 to 60 minutes each.
  • A “For the parent or teacher” section in every lesson: answer keys, discussion guidance and a rubric.
  • Reading assignments keyed to the current edition of the novel.
  • The PDFs stay yours if a subscription ends.

Left: the course in Pharos Terminal. Right: Lesson 1, page 1, as it appears in the PDF.

The course

Seven units. Twelve weeks.

Each week pairs chapters of the novel with primary sources.

  1. Weeks 1–2Lessons 1–2The long winter. Ghosts of 1774 · Connolly in jail
  2. Weeks 3–4Lessons 3–4Conscience and war. The Moravians and the oath · Common Sense
  3. Weeks 5–6Lessons 5–6The war belt. The war belt at Chota · Rumor and forgery
  4. Week 7Lesson 7Story and the sacred. Tsul’kalu and the Judaculla story
  5. Weeks 8–9Lessons 8–9Independence. Virginia leads: May 15, June 7, June 12 · The Declaration’s charges
  6. Week 10Lesson 10The frontier. Frontier forts, 1776–77
  7. Weeks 11–12Lessons 11–12Quebec. Prisoners of Quebec · Smallpox and inoculation
The week-by-week schedule in the Winter’s Ghosts course guide.

Every lesson

Twelve lessons.

Each lesson is one PDF with four sessions: read, then background; primary-source work; discussion and writing; a short assessment.

Lesson 1 · includedGhosts of 1774Why a novel of 1776 opens with the killings of 1774
Lesson 2 · includedConnolly in jailThe novel’s biggest “what if,” tested against the record
Lesson 3The Moravians and the oathA peace church meets the Revolution, in North Carolina in 1776
Lesson 4Common SenseThe pamphlet of January 1776 and the promise it broke
Lesson 5The war belt at ChotaWhat really happened when northern deputies came to the Cherokee in 1776
Lesson 6Rumor and forgeryHow false news moved on the frontier in 1776
Lesson 7Tsul’kalu and the Judaculla storyA Cherokee sacred story, an invented cult, and how to tell them apart
Lesson 8Virginia leads: May 15, June 7, June 12Three Virginia documents on the road to independence
Lesson 9The Declaration’s chargesFear of insurrection in 1776: the Declaration, the Proclamation and a scene in Staunton
Lesson 10Frontier forts, 1776–77Point Pleasant after Dunmore’s War: what stood there, and when
Lesson 11Prisoners of QuebecMorgan’s riflemen in captivity, winter 1776
Lesson 12Smallpox and inoculationFrom the prisons of Quebec to Washington’s order of February 1777

Real or invented?

Test the story
against the record.

The novel never mentions the Continental Congress, Common Sense or independence. The course supplies that wider story, and asks why a frontier novel might leave it out.

Read the novelRead the assigned chapters in the current edition before Session 1.
Into the sourcesReports, letters, church records, legends, resolutions and memoirs.
Sort fact from fictionWeigh conflicting accounts. Where the novel invents a person or a group, the lessons label it fiction.
Write it upDiscussion and a writing task every week, then a short assessment.

Included with an active Pharos Terminal subscription

Start with Lessons 1–2.

An active Pharos Terminal subscription includes the first two lessons. Buy the full course for Lessons 3–12, the capstone and the course guide.

Lesson 1Ghosts of 1774. Why a novel of 1776 opens with the killings of 1774.
Lesson 2Connolly in jail. The novel’s biggest “what if,” tested against the record.
Lessons 3–12The rest of the course, the capstone and the course guide are part of the full course.
See Pharos TerminalComing soon
The cover of the novel Winter’s Ghosts, by Zac Northup.

The novel

Winter’s Ghosts

The third book of the Fading Darkness series begins with a family massacred in August 1774, follows January to June 1776, and ends with American prisoners at Quebec.

The course uses the novel as a doorway, not as the record. Its Historical Notes explain many of its choices; the course tests those notes too, and points out where the novel and the record part ways.

Sold separately, on Amazon in paperback and Kindle. The course uses the current paperback and Kindle edition.

About the novel
Zac Northup.

Your guide

Zac Northup

Zac has written and published under his own name since 1996. From 2016 to 2021, he ran an educational nonprofit that taught rural high school students to launch their own small businesses. He holds an M.A. in History from the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

Pricing

The whole course.
One payment.

Winter’s Ghosts$249One payment. One family license.
No subscription needed.

Included

  • All 12 lessons as PDFs
  • The capstone final assessment
  • The course guide with the 12-week schedule
  • A “For the parent or teacher” section in every lesson

Not included

  • The novel, Winter’s Ghosts (sold separately)
  • The 10 Nexus Points (included with an active Pharos Terminal subscription)

Pharos Terminal subscribers: $179 — includes all 12 lessons online while your subscription is active, plus the PDFs.

Coming soon

Pharos Terminal is $399 a year for one student ($299 for each additional student) and includes Lessons 1 and 2. Refund policy

Questions? Answers.

Who is it for?

Students in grades 9–12. The material is dark: the novel includes torture, massacres and ritual killing.

Do we need a Pharos Terminal subscription?

No. On its own, the full course will be $249 for every lesson, the capstone and the course guide as PDFs. Active Pharos Terminal subscribers will pay $179 and can also open the lessons online. Lessons 1–2 are included with an active subscription.

Do we need the novel?

Yes. Each lesson assigns chapters in the current edition of the novel, which is sold separately on Amazon in paperback and Kindle.

Do we need to take the first two courses first?

Winter’s Ghosts is the third book in the series, after Through the Fading Darkness and Beyond the Fading Darkness. Taken in order, its twelve weeks follow those two courses.

How long does it take?

Twelve weeks, one lesson a week. Four sessions a week, 45 to 60 minutes each, is the default pace, or about 3–4 hours a week. The capstone takes about two weeks; it can overlap Weeks 11 and 12 or follow them.

Is any of it hard to read?

Yes. The novel includes torture, massacres and ritual killing, especially in Chapters 1, 2, 10, 16, 17, 20, 22, 25, 34 and 36. The course guide lists them; preview those chapters before assigning them.

How does it connect to state standards?

Each lesson’s part for the parent or teacher lists the West Virginia standards it addresses, for planning and records. Citation is not an endorsement by the West Virginia Board of Education or the WV Department of Education.

Real or invented?

Winter’s Ghosts · $249 · For grades 9–12 · Coming soon

Coming soon

Standards are cited for planning and record-keeping; citation is not an endorsement by the West Virginia Board of Education or the WV Department of Education. Amazon and Kindle are trademarks of their owners.