Written in 1918, My Antonia by Willa Cather is a novel of America’s great expansion westward, the immigrants’ journey, and
the ideal of Manifest Destiny
. This teacher’s guide uses the various literary and historical themes of the book to help develop critical thinking in the classroom.
What is the main theme of the passage My Antonia?
Willa Cather’s My Ántonia is a coming of age story told from the perspective of Jim Burden. Cather uses Jim’s narration to relate themes such as
female inequality and triumph
, the reminiscence of one’s life, and farming/agriculture.
What is the point of my Antonia?
Jim’s motive for writing his story is to try to reestablish some
connection
between his present as a high-powered New York lawyer and his vanished past on the Nebraska prairie; in re-creating that past, the novel represents both Jim’s memories and his feelings about his memories.
Why Is My Antonia a classic?
Few books pack so much vibrantly genuine life into their pages as this classic novel of the American immigrant experience. My Ántonia teems with romance, violence, tenderness, cruelty, comedy, and
tragedy
—all bustling side by side in a narrative at once compassionate and gripping.
Why is Antonia so important to Jim?
Ántonia as a Symbol
Indeed, Ántonia is the symbol of many of these things to Jim. She
symbolizes the freedom and beauty of the natural landscape in Nebraska
. … If Ántonia represents natural beauty to the young Jim, then she represents the grandeur of the past to the older, narrator Jim.
How was My Antonia received?
My Ántonia was
enthusiastically received in 1918 when it was first published
. It was considered a masterpiece and placed Cather in the forefront of novelists. Today, it is considered her first masterpiece. Cather was praised for bringing the American West to life and making it personally interesting.
How Does My Antonia end?
Book 4 ends with Jim promising to come back and visit Ántonia soon. Then
twenty years
pass without him doing so. He justifies this by explaining that he was scared: “I did not want to find her aged and broken; I really dreaded it. In the course of twenty crowded years one parts with many illusions.
Is My Antonia a true story?
MY ÀNTONIA, by Willa Cather, is a story about friendship, love, and immigration. In this early-20th-century novel, Cather provides a biographical
narrative
of Antonia Shimerda, a character based upon Annie Pavelka, a real-life childhood friend of Cather’s.
Does My Antonia have any form?
The novel begins with an introduction by an unnamed narrator, a woman who grew up in Nebraska with Jim and Ántonia. … At the narrator’s suggestion, Jim agrees to write a portrait of Ántonia. As he describes it, Jim’s portrait is impulsive, written without notes and
without “any form
” (p. 6).
Is My Antonia a romantic novel?
“No romantic novel ever written in America, by man or woman, is one half so beautiful as My Antonia.”
What is the time period of My Ántonia?
First published in 1918, and
set in Nebraska in the late 19th century
, this tale of the spirited daughter of a Bohemian immigrant family planning to farm on the untamed land (“not a country at all but the material out of which countries are made”) comes to us through the romantic eyes of Jim Burden.
Who is Tony in My Ántonia?
Tony is the nickname
that Antonia Shimerda
goes by in the novel My Antonia. Tony is generous, optimistic, and cheerful despite the difficulty of her…
What age should you read Antonia?
| Interest Level Reading Level Word Count | Grades 9 – 12 Grade 7 79947 |
|---|
Is Jim in love with Antonia?
Jim has a romanticized affection for Ántonia but not quite a romantic affection
. He is unable to imagine her in the same light as Lena Lingard, for whom he feels a coarser but perhaps more practical passion. Still, the idealized love that Jim feels for Ántonia eclipses the strength of Ántonia’s feeling for him.
What does Antonia represent to Jim?
In the novel, Antonia is important to Jim because she is
the personification of all the things that he holds dear
. In his mind, she is a connection to his new home in Nebraska and his early teen years; she could even be considered his first love interest.
Who is the antagonist in My Antonia?
Jim Burden
, a boy who comes from Virginia to live with his grandparents on their farm in Nebraska. The antagonist of the novel is Antonia, especially as she comes to represent all the beauties and contradictions of the Midwest as it was settled in the late nineteenth century.
