I Need Help With This Book...fast!

Alright So Here's The Deal, I've Got An Exam Over This Book DUE REALLY SOON And I Really Really Need Someone Who Knows This Thing Very Well, Inside And Out, To Possibly Help Me Through This Exam. I'm Not Looking For An Easy Way Out Of Doing My Own Work...ok Here's The Story


I'm In Homeschool Right Now, I Was Supposed To Have Already Graduated But My School Is Extremely Slow On Sending Me My Work, And They Just Sent Me My Whole Senior Year Of English About A Week Ago...and Yet Im Supposed To Start College In Three Weeks. The College Has Agreed To Await My Transcript For A Later Date As Long As I Can Graduate B4 I Start My Classes. So Its Not That I Dont Want To Do My Work, Its The Fact That I Have 5 More Exams To Do (5 More Exams, An Exam With Each Book) And I Just Dont Have Time To Read Everything. So If There Is Anyone Out There That Is Willing To Help Me Out I Would Greatly Appreciat It, Im Not Asking For Someone To Give Me The Answers, Im Just Looking For Someone Who Can Point Me In The Right Direction For Them, So If You're That Someone Who Can Help Me Then Please Send Me A Message And Let Me Know Asap Please Please Please!!!! Im Desperate!!!

This is also a quick read. I think I spent most of one day on it, but my kids were demanding that day. All of Cather's work is wonderful but this or maybe Song of the Lark are my favorite by her. Again, I hate for you to have to rush through. If you have more specific questions I'm sure you will find all kinds of help here

It was only a few years ago that I was assigned to read this book in graduate school, but I can't imagine that what memories I have of the professor's ideas would be considered too complex for a high school student. That said, in terms of pointing you in the right direction of the answers (what answers?), here are some things to consider:

-Who is telling the story? What is his name? Could it have been any other name? Like Chip Rainbow? Or Tom Wingfree? Guy Smiley? Is he a guy telling you a story like you and he are friends or is he like a journalist or a detective who sticks to the facts? Besides, what difference does it make? Same story, right?

-America, like most countries, has a long history of making a distinction between groups of people who came here willingly, people who came here because they were escaping from somewhere else, people who snuck in, and people who were dragged here in chains. Land of the Free. Land of Opportunity. Does the author have an opinion on this issue? (Most do. But what?)

-People were not flying across the country in airplanes until long after this book was published. Getting around was no easy feat. We’re talkin’ buggies. And walkin’. And trains. You did not leave NYC in the morning and make it to LA for a dinner date the same day. America was a lot bigger. Forrest Gump runs across the country a few times and so in that movie we get to see a variety of scenery. When you read, make note of the landscape. How would it look if this were a movie? (If there’s a movie, don’t watch it. Like the Blair Witch, it’s much more effective if you use your imagination). Why would an author set the story here and not, say, Disneyland?

-The Western Canon is simply a list of the most important books written by those on our side of the world and their many ancestors. Of course, whether or not a book is "important," that's an opinion. So the Western Canon is not necessarily a strict, finished list that no one can add to or delete from (like the Ten Commandments, Seven Deadly Sin, or the Seven Dwarfs). As time goes on, it changes a little bit. Some books seem to fade away, not really as significant to us as they once were. Other books are found again, people read them, realize they're pretty good and so start teaching them in schools. Still, there are dismally few female authors who are widely accepted as having a place in the Western Canon. There are unfortunate reasons for this, and things are gradually changing, but for a female author to hold a place among “the greats” there must be something special about her work. How does the author represent women in her novel?

-This novel is the third in a trilogy. Consider looking at summaries of the previous two for clues as to what might be important themes for this author. (If you want to know what Jaws III is about, and you know that Jaws and Jaws II are about a shark…)

-I read a book this summer that takes place in a single day. Not even 24 hours, just from morning until late afternoon. And then another book that lasts as long as one guy riding up an escalator. Couldn’t be more than a minute or two. But a lot of stuff happens. How must time passes in the book you’re reading? Is it one long sprint or are there chapter breaks? Again, what difference does it make? (Authors are known to be perfectionists. It’s their artwork. They don’t just make mistakes.)

-Thanks to the Bible and Freud, a snake in literature is rarely just a snake. Cather may not have read Freud, but having converted from one Christian denomination to another she probably knew some Scripture (Most authors do). Regardless, someone with a little imagination doesn’t need Freud to tell her all the implications of a snake. Consider: does it have to be a snake? Why isn’t it a rabbit? Or a bear?