English 11
Fiction Book Study
A. Information about the author and novel Title
1. The title of the novel is Sister Carrie.
2. The title is appropriate for this book because the whole focus point throughout the entire point is based on the main character’s viewpoint, whom is Caroline Meeber, or Sister Carrie.
B. Author
1. The author of the novel is Theodore Herman Dreiser.
2. He was born in August 27, 1871 and died in December 28, 1945.
3. Theodore Dreiser was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters that succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of choice and agency. The novel Sister Carrie, written by Dreiser, is a story of a woman who flees country life for Chicago, Illinois and falls into a wayward life of sin. It ruthlessly exposes the hypocrisy and meanness of middle-class standards, and creates a new tradition in literary realism. In his life, Dreisor had also lived a harsh childhood with his family, living in five different towns, including a short time in Chicago. His youth was an emotionally unstable time for him, further worsened by the teachings of his German American catholic school. He was forced to stick to the strict teachings of his school, Roman Catholic religious denomination, which most likely lead to the deep criticisms of the Catholic religion shown in his later writings.
C. Publishing information
1. This novel was published in February 1982, New York City, Bantam Books, Inc.
2. Sister Carrie contains 400 pages.
I. Plot
A. Exposition
1. Setting
a. The location of the novel takes place in Chicago.
b. The time period was in 1889.
2. Background
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... my own selfishness and self concern. Often, I feel that society forgets the meaning behind their jobs or other duties, and focuses more on the rewarding outcome of it all, even though it is not fully guaranteed. In addition, I disliked, however, the title of the book itself and the length of the novel. I felt that the title did not have a significant relevance to the story, due to the fact that the title sounds like a church nun. It was confusing to me, and made it seem completely colorless and boring, even though the story proves otherwise, to me. I also found that the length of the book, consisting of 400 pages, was too long. However, the wait was worth it. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone because it is a “reality-check”, type of book. I was definitely intrigued and pleased with Dreiser’s style of writing and his meanings behind the text.
I can relate this book to my life in many ways; it was easier for me to relate to this book because were both 18 year old girls who want to live life the right way. Also I don’t want to live life trying to be like everyone else, so this was really encouraging to me. A part that helped me was the part about confidence and how important that is. Its important to have confidence in your faith because say you get in a situation you can protect your faith and stand up for what you believe. Another part that I can really apply to my life was how when people were talking about her she didn’t even beg to know. Personally whenever I hear that someone was talking about me, I really want to know what they said! This helped me to learn that why fill my brain with negativity sinful gossip, because that’s not what Jesus would do.
This book was brilliant. There were moments that made me laugh, moments that made me tremble in my chair, moments that made me cry, moments that melted my heart, and moments that made me want to rip my hair out at the roots. This book has it all, and it delivers it through a cold but much needed message.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and believe it to be one of the best books I have ever read. It was extremely well written and challenging for me to understand at times. It conveys that dark side of human ambition very well, and it has given me much to think about.
My overall opinion of this book is good I really liked it and recommend it to anyone. It is a good book to read and it keep you interested throughout the whole book.
This is my personal reflection about this book. First and foremost, I would like to say that this book is very thick and long to read. There are about nineteen chapters and 278 pages altogether. As a slow reader, it is a quite hard for me to finish reading it within time. It took me weeks to finish reading it as a whole. Furthermore, it is written in English version. My English is just in average so sometimes I need to refer to dictionary for certain words. Sometimes I use google translate and ask my friends to explain the meaning of certain terms.
This book really brings to light the neglect that some people are raised with. The thought that someone could come out of such a negligent past with compassion and understanding instead of bitterness is truly inspiring.... ... middle of paper ... ...
The theme of this novel is to look at the good you do in life and how it carries over after your death. The moral of the book is; "People can make changes in their lives whenever they really want to, even right up to the end."
*All in all I would say that this novel is definitely a good read. I found my self at times relating my own thoughts and experiences to that of the characters in the book. This is the very reason I would recommend that you give your class next semester the option of reading either this book or another. From my point of view, I think that most men can not relate to certain situations that occur, which lessens the overall significance of her writing.
The main character, Guy, has lived a life he did not feel was enough for him or for his family. He wants more for his son but at the same time cannot live with himself for not being about to provide for his family. So much of his life was run by the decisions of others, what work would come and when, that I feel that the title really has a significance when it comes to letting all...
I found the book to be easy, exciting reading because the story line was very realistic and easily relatable. This book flowed for me to a point when, at times, it was difficult to put down. Several scenes pleasantly caught me off guard and some were extremely hilarious, namely, the visit to Martha Oldcrow. I found myself really fond of the char...
Carrie Baker explains that, with the help of Catharine Mackinnon, the law on sexual harassment was created in the United states. Mackinnon helped push the idea of sexual harassment is the same as sexual discrimination and was going against the Title VII of the Civil Rights of Acts of 1994.
If my life had no purpose, no individuality, and no happiness, I would not want to live. This book teaches the importance of self expression and independence. If we did not have these necessities, then life would be like those in this novel. Empty, redundant, and fearful. The quotes above show how different life can be without our basic freedoms. This novel was very interesting and it shows, no matter how dismal a situation is, there is always a way out if you never give up, even if you have to do it alone.
It deals with obstacles in life and the ways they are over come. Even if you are different, there are ways for everyone to fit in. The injustices in this book are well written to inform a large audience at many age levels. The book is also a great choice for those people who cheers for the underdogs. It served to illustrate how the simple things in life can mean everything.
Overall I enjoyed reading this book, I read it a few years ago in high school, but I took more from it this time and was able to apply it more to my experiences and events I have witnessed. I’m glad the novel was assigned for me to read because it really made me think about the world today and how we interact in the world. It actually brought up questions and connections that I didn’t see when I read the book years ago. This novel will always be relevant and I’m sure will be read years from now.
In August of 1889, Carrie Meeber leaves her small town to find employment in the city of Chicago. Theodore Dreiser, the author of Sister Carrie, informs the reader that, "Self-interest with her was high, but not strong. It was nevertheless her guiding characteristic.". With her youth and innocence she hopes to seek employment so that she can get and buy all the nice things that she wants. Carrie does not have any idea how hard this is going to be.