I always read any Library blog post written by Michelle Krowl, and this one is no exception. It is centered on a letter written by a Civil War soldier named Private William M. Phile to his sister, in which he describes the effect of "picket duty" on his clothing. Unlike so many handwritten letters from that or any period, this one is clear enough that even students who may be less adept at reading cursive should be able to decipher it. 

This letter could be used alone as a prompt for the Question Formulation Technique. Another prompt could be simply "Picket Duty," with student-generated questions to be followed by handing out the letter for students to analyze in small groups. 

My guess is that few students will know the definition of picket duty. Can they build a definition by searching on the term at loc.gov? I also found a fascinating article from the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies at Virginia Tech that explained the importance of picketing:

"The security of an army depended on its pickets – the sentinels who provided early warning of infiltration or enemy attack. Without them an army was in constant danger of being overrun without warning. So important was this that a negligent soldier, especially one who fell asleep, was severely punished and might even be executed."