Abstract This paper analyzes Willa Cather's novel "My Antonia" with an emphasis on gender roles and the novel's autobiographical relationship to its author. The paper also focuses on Cather's immigrant experience as reflected in this work. Also discussed are the different cultures existing in the American West at the time and how they interacted with one another. The paper concludes by citing Antonia's character as an example of both immigrant and female endurance who was able to ultimately achieve the "American Dream".
From the Paper " Antonia's struggle and eventual triumph over her early circumstances also vividly underscores the American truth of immigrant hardship; endurance; and (in some cases though not others, e.g., Antonia's own father) eventual success in America. In addition, while Jim moves away in order to pursue the "American Dream", Antonia, in her seemingly more circuitous journey toward it, stays in Nebraska. Jim first loses himself in New York in order to find himself again in Nebraska, Antonia in Nebraska alone: through endurance; hard work, and struggle to make a life. Further, Antonia and Jim, despite coming from different backgrounds and places in the American social hierarchy become friends. But subsequently they grow apart, meeting again in Nebraska only 20 years later. Jim becomes a lawyer and pursues the "American Dream" of big city life and financial success. Yet ultimately he finds it hollow. Antonia, on the other hand, marries a Czech farmer and together they make their farm and family life flourish."
Abstract The paper analyzes the nature of the main character in the book, a young Bohemian girl named Antonia who migrates from the United States to settle down in Nebraska, and focuses on her strong personality and honest character. The paper claims that Antonia is a symbol for the fulfillment of the American Dream, in her desire to accomplish success in terms of wealth.
From the Paper "This marvelous account addressing various issues has been narrated by one of the characters named Jim Burden who is portrayed as the childhood playmate of the protagonist of the novel named Antonia. According to Jim Burden, Antonia was the eldest daughter of the Shimerda's and a healthy as well as a happy girl with the most beautiful eyes that were "big and warm and full of light, like the sun shining on brown pools in the wood" (Book 1, Chapter 3, pg. 17). The Shimerda's were the Burden's neighbors, as a result, Jim and Antonia came to know each other and eventually became childhood friends and they remained friends for the rest of their lives. According to Jim, Antonia radiated happiness and portrayed a healthy and a flourishing picture of the plains and the people of Nebraska even though the plains were like a piece of barren land. She always brought out and admired the hidden qualities of others around. She was a cheerful, sympathetic and a loving person who was not only concerned and cared for the inconsiderate members of her family but also showed sorrow for the dying insects."
Abstract This paper discusses the novel "My Antonia" written by Willa Cather. The paper focuses on the central character of Jim and how he comes of age through his experiences with Antonia. The paper explains that he learns from her life how one can not only make the best out of almost every situation but also be happy and make positive contributions to society. The paper states that Antonia's life becomes an inspiration to Jim because she did not compromise.
From the Paper "In Willa Cather's novel, My Antonia, we see how the character of Jim comes of age through his experiences with Antonia. While Jim serves as a teacher figure for Antonia in the beginning of the novel, he becomes the student as the novel progresses. He learns from Antonia that which can never be taught from a textbook, which is a sense of identity and belonging. He learns from her life how one can not only make the best out of almost every situation but also be happy and make positive contributions to society. In short, her life becomes an inspiration to him because she did not compromise."
Abstract Analysis of the varying roles of the women in "My Antonia" by Willa Cather. By understanding how the females in the text of "My Antonia" deal with marriage, we can see how the characters take both sides of being single and deciding to get married.
Abstract This paper discusses the significance of the final paragraph in Willa Cather's "My Antonia". The essay contends that the narrator, Jim Burden, attempts to describe Antonia as a creator of life and possessing of more vibrancy than any other woman he has known. It concludes that she is symbolic of life itself and its capability of renewal.
This paper offers several examples of the narrator's changing viewpoints and his breaks between actual memory and his perceived ideas and idealized memories of people and events in 'My Antonia'.
Abstract The following paper compares and contrasts the fictional narrator's life and the life of the author. It moves into how the book begins and evolves into a story. From there, we are given various examples from the author's youth regarding how his memories affected his development later in life, then on to a series of major events in the book and how he perceived these events. From here, the essay begins to explain how and why he idealized so much of his life and cites many external sources to strengthen the thesis.
From the Paper "The book, My Antonia, by Willa Cather is a wonderful work that readers identify with on many personal levels. When one finishes the story, there is a feeling of longing and understanding for all that has occurred through the pages. One feels as though the narrator is someone they can definitely identify with based on all that he has said and experienced. Cather uses Jim's remembrances to create an intimate narrative style that at times seems more like an idealized version of his youth rather than a true record of events."
Abstract The paper discusses the centrality of the Nebraska prairie to the novel and how the setting is the background that informs the rest of the action in the story. The paper explores the symbolic nature of Antonia as the embodiment of the prairie to the narrator of the book, Jim Burden. The paper also analyzes the agricultural ties to the land felt by the prairie dwellers.
From the Paper "Willa Cather's My Antonia is primarily a novel about place. The setting of the novel in the Nebraska prairie is the same setting in which Cather grew up and was very important to her as well. Cather uses the character of Antonia as a symbol for the prairie and its importance to Jim Burden. Cather equates the vital and dynamic Antonia with the prairie's fertility, and in this comparison, she suggests that Jim Burden's life is comparatively stagnant and infertile. In this novel, Cather paints a stunning and lyrical portrait of the American plains region, treats us to a cast of memorable characters, and offers intriguing insights into the manner in which we construct our own past, even as she reminds us that our own experiences are ultimately inexplicable to anyone else."
Abstract Analyzing Matthew Lewis's novel, "The Monk", this paper argues that the character, Antonia, functions as a secondary text onto whom the Gothic tensions of the novel are projected by means of dreams, reading, desire, and violence. The paper establishes a theory of the roles of female heroines, villains, and victims within the Gothic novel.
From the Paper "Antonia Dalfa, though one of the main female characters in the novel, is strangely absent from the busy production of texts going on around her. She writes no poetry or letters, sings no songs, and never narrates her personal history. Nor is she allowed to be actively involved in the production of plot. Besides falling in a very superficial sort of love with Lorenzo and becoming fascinated by Ambrosio, she makes few decision and takes fewer actions. Despite her silence and her lack of agency, however, Antonia is absolutely crucial to the workings of the novel: both its plot and its themes converge around her, and its climactic moment is the moment of her rape and murder at the hands of Ambrosio. Antonia is not a producer of narrative (meaning both the main plot of The Monk as a novel and the various narratives it encases); she is instead an absorber of narrative and an inspirer of narrative. Antonia reads, and Antonia is read. Her own unknowledgeable reading practices work to enforce her necessary innocence, and she functions in the novel as a sort of empty vessel or (to use a more apt metaphor) a blank page onto which the desires of the other characters are projected, or written. With her lack of agency and lack of self-awareness, she is not a Gothic reader and she cannot become a Gothic heroine. Instead, she is constructed as a Gothic victim: a sort of secondary text herself, a repository in which the tensions and desires running through the novel converge. Antonia must die"she must be censored and erased"at the end of the novel, because when she is purged from it, all of the ugliness contained within her has been purged from it, and the lives of the story of the young heroes can be contentedly resolved into a conventional, non-Gothic marriage plot."
Abstract This paper presents a brief biographical sketch of the life and career of Antonia Novell, describing her childhood, her medical training, her career accomplishments and honors and awards she has received.
From the Paper "Antonia Novello was the first female and first Hispanic to be appointed surgeon general of the United States. As a former pediatrician, her focus was on the health concerns of children and youth. As leader of the 6,500 employees of the Public Health Service, she directed the nation's attention to AIDS-infected children, the perils of smoking and teenage drinking, and women's health issues."
Abstract The author discusses the novel "My Antonia", and concentrates on why Jim Burden, the narrator, moves East but still retains a strong connection to the West. The author explains how the East represents the success and future of Jim, while the West represents his past. The powerful urge Jim has to visit his hometown and return, not only to the peace of his home, but ultimately to himself, is emphasized.
From the Paper "The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the novel My Antonia by Willa Cather. Specifically it will discuss the question, "In a novel where everyone else moves West, what significance is there in Jim Burden's moving East for schooling, marriage, a career? Why does he return to the West so often? Discuss what the West represents for Jim, and what it is that he's trying to recapture there." The West is more than a setting for My Antonia. It is almost a mystical place that draws Jim Burden back again and again. Jim is attempting to recapture his youth and his happy times with Antonia as he returns to his old home. However, Jim also has a deep love for the land and for the place where he grew up. He many have left the West to make his fortune, but he can never truly leave his past or his love of the land behind him, and that is why he continually returns home to the land and people he loves so much."
Abstract This paper contends that it is the undertones of Willa Cather's lesbian sexuality, her use of the second person narrative technique
and her portrayal of Jim that form the basis of friendship and memory in her novel "My Antonia".
From the Paper "Antonia has become the central figure she always was meant to
be, enduring the constant toil and the oppressive sod cave and then
as the vivacious town teenager. "It's no wonder that her sons stood
tall and straight. She was a rich mine of life, like the founders of
early races" (167). Antonia lived her whole life in action as opposed
to Jim's pensive reflection. She milked, broke sod, shocked wheat,
harvested, sacrificed schooling to help on the farm, learned a new
language, fell in love, got jilted and a baby to raise on her own,
and then started all over again to build a life and a new family. "
Abstract This paper discusses how to teach students the critical impact that a setting holds within a story. The paper does this by analyzing two traditional picks for the high school classroom, Tennessee William's "The Glass Menagerie" and Willa Cather's "My Antonia". Both of these works require an in-depth understanding of the setting in order for students to grasp the full situations within the story.
This paper analyzes two aspects for each work. The first is looking at the eminent connection the setting has to the plot for each creation. The second is constructing a basic plan as to how to help students visualize the setting and how it effects the character's action within the piece.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Story Setting
Tennessee William's "The Glass Menagerie"
"My Antonia" by Willa Cather
Conclusion
Appendix: Website to Aide Setting Comprehension in "The Glass Menagerie"
From the Paper "The third layer of the setting for students to consider is the fact that "The Glass Menagerie" is a play meant to be performed on the stage. Drama invites a creative collaboration with the playwright as the student enters imaginative worlds created by scenery, lighting, costumes, make-up, gestures, and dialogue. In this play student not only come in contact with traditional dramatic aspects, but also with Williams creative play writing touches. For example, throughout the play reference is frequently given to the screen that is meant "to give accent to certain values in each scene.""
Tags: frontier, dramatic references memory, time period, mind-set
Abstract This paper suggests that Salieri's genius lay in his work for theater and not in instrumental pieces for according to the author of this paper he tended to become emotionally repetitive in the composing of concertos
Table of Contents
Early Years
Style and Period
Contemporaries
Musical Literature
Role in Music History
What I Listened To
From the Paper "He showed musical ability even as a young child, and was studying music by the age of ten. Only a few years later he was orphaned. His talent, however, won him the attentions of Florian Gassman, the court Kapellmeister in Vienna, who took it upon himself to nurture the boy's potential. Salieri became quite popular at court and developed a personal friendship with the emperor himself, which led to regular invitations to attend the many musical and social gatherings of the city."
Abstract This paper compares and contrasts these two novels which deal with the struggles that women have had to endure to reach their relative level of equality today. Each author relates personal experiences through the main character of her novel. The paper shows how "My Antonia" and "Their Eyes Were Watching God" classically depict women's struggles in society to obtain a balance within oneself as well as in one's environment and community.
From the Paper "Two of the greatest novels to illustrate female identity are Willa Cather's My Antonia and Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. These classic characters, though not exactly modern, portray many of the same identity and personal conflict situations still active in the lives of many women today. Cather and Hurston question women's social scripts and societal structure through their literature. They ask the main question: Where do women belong? They ask this not only in a sense of community, but also sexually, economically, socially, and domestically among others."
Abstract This paper compares the nostalgia of love in "My Antonia" by Willa Cather and the nostalgia created by living in the desert in "Desert Solitaire" by Edward Abbey. The author believes that in both books, the authors not only talk about the past and long lost times but also show a deep desire to recapture the days. The paper discusses that the main purpose of the authors is to urge their readers to cultivate love for things in their original form.
From the Paper "Edward Abbey, on the other hand, is not exactly reminiscing about his own past but the past of his country and the world in general. He feels that life was better in its simpler form and coming to a desert reminds him of the beauty of the world in its unadorned shape. The author feels closer to earth and to everything the desert represents, even death. He maintains that man is able to think about the true purpose of his existence when he is close to something as vast and primitive as a desert. It is here that man finds himself drawn to the core of the things on which this world is based. In other world, the true realities of universe surface when man is engulfed by a world, which has not kept pace with modern advancements. "
