1. Discuss the significant of each of the following citations. Provide several examples that support each quote.
A. "The country girls were considered a menace to the social order. Their beauty shone out too boldly against a conventional background. But anxious mothers need have felt no harm. They mistook the mettle of their sons. The respect for respectability was stronger than any desire in Black Hawk Youth."
The above quotation is telling about how the elderly people of Black Hawk did not trust the younger girls. This brought about when the young girls: Antonia, Tiny, Lena, etc. and Jim would constantly go to the parties held in Black Hawk. Jim's grandmother especially did not approve of Jim going to parties. Although, Jim continued to go, but eventually felt that he should obey his grandmother. Antonia, whom was working for the Harlings, was forced to choose between going to parties or continue working for them. She chose to continue going to parties, but then started to work for the Cutters.
…show more content…
"This was the road over which Antonia and I came on that night when we got off the train at Black Hawk...For Antonia and for me, this had been the road of Destiny; had taken us to those early accidents of fortune which predetermined for us all that we can ever be. Now I understood that the same road was to bring us together again. Whatever we had missed, we possessed together the precious, and incommunicable
She is very close to her father so this impacts her deeply. She feels the need to step up and care for her family. This turns Antonia into a very hard worker. She begins working with Ambrosch, her brother, by plowing the fields. She takes on the responsibilities of a man. This makes her stop going to school. This worries Jim until he finds out that Antonia is actually very hurt by the event of her father dying. Antonia cries in secret and longs to go to school.
Antonia and Jim became very close friends and went through many childhood experiences together. Their friendship was soon torn apart when Ambrosch and Jake engaged in a quarrel which separated the two families for quite some time. But once again, the families resolve their differences and become close again. (Chapter 1)
Jim's first impression of the town is, " ... a curious social situation. All the young men felt the attraction of the fine, well-set-up country girls who had come to town to earn a living (1023). " There was a harsh segregation between the country or "hired" girls and the town girls. The girls of the town were considered to be "refined" whereas the country girls were perceived as "disreputable" (1023). The town's people looked down on these girls; "The country girls were considered a menace to the social order
She has about shoulder length dirty blond hair and is pretty average in height for her age. She is usually in a good mood, but sometimes she can get mad or sad. The last main character is Antonia's mom. She has pretty good attitudes depending on what she feels like. She is in her mid-30's.
In Willa Cather’s novel My Antonia a major theme that is addressed is the struggle with the land. In this essay, I will discuss this theme in relation to the text, the characters & the events they face, & the setting.
He is apprehensive about seeing Antonia, fearing that she will no longer be the idealized person who exists in his memory. Jim is not let down when they meet, as even though she is now a “battered woman … but she still had that something that fires the imagination, could stop one’s breath for a moment” (226). Age has not dampened the spirit that Jim was drawn to throughout his youth and now his adulthood. He speaks about her through a lens of true love and respect, telling her children that he “couldn’t stand it if you boys were inconsiderate [towards Antonia] … I was very much in love with your mother once, and I know there’s nobody like her” (222). Jim refers to Antonia as a “rich mine of life,” and it is clear that Antonia’s type of richness is more valuable in Jim’s eyes. Through her, he is able to realize that tangible fiscal wealth is far less precious than the impalpable beauty of emotional connection and
Slaves in the virtual protection of their accommodations can declare the disputes of rage, self-assertion, and revenge that they should usually hide when in the company of the slave master. The cadets keep this state of mind treasured for the boys of the Citadel. Since this haven that the boys have shaped is so treasured, a fear of people outside the walls sets in. If outsiders are permitted in, their persona has to switch and the shelter is disrupted. This is the reason why numerous cadets at the Citadel are misogynistic toward women. With the intimidation of female cadets being inserted into the school, several of the male cadets were confronted with the recognition that their refuge could be uncovered. This fear results in harassment, anger and rage, and violence. Faludi’s article recalls the harassment aimed towards Shannon Faulkner, the first female to be admitted into the Citadel. Cadets communicated their disapproval and fear by doing things such as vandalizing her home. In an effort to keep the position of the citadel the same the cadets stated; “Studies show, I can’t cite them but studies show that males learn better when females aren’t there. If a girl was here, I’d be concerned not to look foolish. If you’re a shy student, you wont be as inhibited.” Another cadet stated, “You don’t have to impress them here. Your free.” And a third cadet “She would be destroying a long and proud tradition.”
Mrs. Cather's carefully drawn parallels in the story that build up to Antonia and Jim's separation was a truly effective method of pointing out its tragedy. However she also used other tools, such as imagery and short anecdotes to further convey her message. All together these elements, plus a good story and plot make My Antonia an excellent all around book, worthy of being called a classic.
The landscape and the environment in Willa Cather's, My Ántonia, plays several roles. It creates both a character and protagonist, while it also reflects Cather's main characters, Jim and Ántonia, as well as forming the structure of the novel. Additionally, it evokes several themes that existed on the prairie during the time in which the story takes place. Some of these themes that directly relate to the novel, which are worth exploring, are endurance, hardship, and spirituality. Additionally, the symbolism of the "hot and cold" climate will be examined, revealing the significance it has on the novel in an overall manner. The analyses will further explain Cather's construction of the novel, which is based on three cycles: the cycle of the seasons, the cycle of life and physical development and lastly, the cultural cycle.
27. This passage of Little Women has significant context toward the text by relating how close of a bond that the March sisters shared.
While the first sentence is mostly objective description, the second sentence is full of the affectation of a subjective point of view. Aunt Amy is described as wearing a “white collar [that] rose from the neck of her tightly buttoned black basque, and round white cuffs set off lazy hands with dimples in them, lying at ease in the folds of her flounced skirt.” Words like “tightly,” “lazy,” and “ease” seem to describe what would be considered the traditional concept of the Southern woman. The wealthy Southern female is conservative, pure, fragile, peaceful, and delicate. These descriptive words could be viewed as an alignment with the traditional Southern view of women; therefore Amy is “beautiful and charming” in the eyes of the Grandmother and “every older person” and “everyone who had known her.” However, within those same words there appears the rather opposite yet still highly subjective view of the young girls who are attempting to reconcile the new values and ideas of the present with the old traditions of the past. The words “tightly,” “lazy,” and “ease” could be seen from the young girls perspective as negative descriptions suggesting boundaries, confinement, limitations, and exclusion.
...she describes the pompous women. The author uses the women's conversations to emphasize the reasons Scout remains a tomboy and refuses the traits of Maycomb females.
3. What is the thesis of this essay? Where do you find it? Do you have suggestions for clarifying it?
A. At the beginning the boy’s believe that if they have rules and follow them that they will be okay and get rescued.
Cather mends a special relationship between Jim and Antonia that is formed and broken throughout her novel My Antonia. The two characters meet at young age and begin to develop a ------- friendship. Jim teaches Antonia the language and culture of America while Antonia shares her culture and morals. Soon their respective friendship turns into a brother-sister relationship, an ardent love but not intimate.