INTERPRETING POETRY

WHAT IS POETRY?

Poetry is often considered mystical or spiritual.  It has been called “the most intimate and volatile form of literary discourse” that can deepen “our capacity for personhood, our achievement of humanity.”  Poetry also “conveys heightened forms of perception, experience, meaning, or consciousness in heightened language” (Brogan 938). As a “heightened mode of discourse,” poetry exhibits “intensified speech” by using conventions that are considered defining characteristics (Hirsch 27).

ELEMENTS OF POETRY

DICTION

Diction refers to the poet’s choice of words.  Poets often choose words that contribute to the poem’s meaning on both a denotational and a connotation level.

·         Denotation:  the object or idea that the word represents; the dictionary meaning

·         Connotation:  the subjective, emotional association that a word has for one person or a group of people.

·         Wordplay:  double meanings and puns.

SYNTAX

Syntax is sentence structure, the way words go together to make sentences. Poets often invert the normal word order so that they can make a sentence rhyme, to fit a metrical pattern, or to emphasize an idea.  Further difficulties arise because sentences are so long that we forget how they begin. 

CHARACTERIZATION, POINT OF VIEW, PLOT, SETTING AND THEME

Poems do not always offer a “story” in a conventional sense, but action may be implied, a place or time may be important, and characters may dramatize the key issues of the poem.

POINT OF VIEW

According to T.S. Eliot, in any poem there is always a speaker, “I” of the poem.  The first voice is the voice of the poet talking to himself (or to nobody).  The second voice is the voice of the poet addressing an audience, whether large or small.  The third is the voice of the poet when he is saying, not what he would say in his own person, but only what he can say within the limits of one imaginary character addressing another imaginary character.  (Eliot, 96)

IMAGERY

Descriptive Language:  The poet often uses descriptive imagery to underscore other elements in a poem, such as tone, meaning, and characterization.  All of the senses can be engaged (touch, visual, motion, sound, thermal/temperature)

Figurative Language:  A second consideration about imagery refers to a conscious departure from normal or conventional ways of saying things. 

·         Tropes (literally “turns”) extend the meaning of words beyond their literal meaning.

·         Similes:  Using comparative words (like or as), a simile makes an analogous connection between two items.

·         Metaphors:  Generally, a metaphor is any analogy which shows similarity between things that are basically different.  Specifically, a metaphor is a type of figurative language that assumes a connection or comparison without using like or as.

·         Personification:  A more indirect analogy, personification bestows human characteristics to any inanimate object, animal, or abstract quality.

·         Extended Metaphor:  When a poet carries out a singular analogy throughout an entire poem, he has written an extended metaphor.

·         Symbolism:  Symbolism appeals to poets because symbols are highly suggestive.  A symbol is an object that represents an abstract idea or ideas.  The most powerful symbols are those that do not exactly specify the ideas they represent and carry meaning on multiple levels.

THE SOUND OF POETRY:  MUSICAL ELEMENTS

Rhythm:  One of the most naturally pleasing elements of poetry, rhythm, is related to the pulse, the heartbeat, the way we breathe. 

Meter:  All human speech has rhythm, but poetry regularizes that rhythm into recognizable patterns.  These are called meters.  Metrical patterns vary depending on the sequence in which the poets arrange the accented (á) and unaccented (ă) syllables.  The unit that determines that arrangement is the foot; a foot is one unit of rhythm.

Word Sounds

·         Devices using word sounds:

·         Onomatopoeia:  the use of words that sound like what they mean (“buzz,” “boom,” “hiss,” “pop,” etc.)

·         Alliteration:  the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words or at the beginning of accented syllables.

·         Assonance:  the repetition of vowel sounds followed by the different consonant sounds.

·         Consonance:  the repetition of final consonant sounds that are preceded by different vowel sounds.  Consonance is the opposite of alliteration which features initial consonance sounds.

·         Rhyme:  the repetition of accented vowels and the sounds that follow.  There are subcategories of rhyme:

STRUCTURE

Structure is the way the whole poem is organized and put together.  Poets give structure to their poems in two overlapping ways:  by organizing ideas according to a logical plan and by establishing a pattern of units. 

Lines:  Poetry is organized in lines while prose is divided into paragraphs. They use various criteria for choosing line lengths.  The best known criterion is meter – the number of feet per line.

Enjambment:  Enjambment is the continuance of a phrase from one line to the next so that there is no pause at the end of the line.  An end-stopped line has a definite pause at the end.  Enjambed and end-stopped lines create different effects. 

Blank Verse:  A line form that is always enjambed is blank verse.  The sentences run from line to line as if the lines don’t exist.

Stanza:  Stanzas in a poem typically resemble one another structurally.  The have the same number of lines, length of lines, metrical patterns, and rhyme schemes.  They are physically separated by a space.

Rhyme scheme:  Any pattern of end rhyme is a traditional method of organizing stanzas.  Rhyme scheme refers to that pattern. 

TYPES OF STRUCTURES

The Sonnet:  The most famous fixed form in English, sonnets consist of fourteen lines of iambic pentameter. A Shakespearean sonnet rhymes abab/cdcd/efef/gg and has a structural division of three quatrains and a couplet.  A Petrarchan sonnet rhymes abbaabba in the octave and cdecde in the sestet.  Each kind of sonnet has a turn, a point in the poem at which the poet shifts from one meaning or mood to another.  The turn in the Shakespearean sonnet occurs between lines 12 and 13.  In the Petrarchan sonnet the turn occurs between the octave and the sestet.

The Ballad:  Defined as “a song, transmitted orally, which tells a story,” (Abrams, 18), ballads feature intense conflicts, emotional and melodramatic narratives, and are condensed retelling of portions of the whole story.

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Abrams, M.H.  A Glossary of Literary Terms.  7^th ed.  Fort Worth, TX:  Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1999.

Brogan, T.V. F. “Poetry.” The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics.  Ed. Alex

Hirsch, Edward.  How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry.  San Diego:  Harcourt, 1999.

Preminger and T.V.F. Brogan.  Princeton, NJ:  Princeton UP, 1993.

Eliot, T. S. “The Three Voices of Poetry.”  On Poetry and Poets.  New York: Octagon Books, 1975, 96 – 112.

Literature Circle Guidelines

            When the class divides into small groups to discuss an assigned portion from our literature selection, having specific roles and responsibilities in the groups helps each person engage more actively in the discussion and think more deeply about the book.  Below is a list of roles that will either be assigned or chosen when we break into small groups.

Roles & Responsibilities

Discussion Director

·         Clarifies the assigned question or topic

·         Facilitates group discussion; helps everyone stay on task

·         Asks questions not only about plot, characters, and setting but also deeper critical thinking ones

·         Makes sure that everyone has a chance to speak

Illustrator

·         Draws a sketch to represent a scene from the assigned portion

·         Ties the sketch into the specific discussion points

·         Uses the drawing to further discussion

Luminary

·         Looks in the book for specific quotes that pertain to the assigned question or topic

·         Finds quotes from the book that are powerful, funny, important, puzzling, or worth hearing

Word Nerd

·         Selects words from the text that are unusual or difficult

·         Asks the rest of the group for definitions or finds definitions from dictionary or phone app

Connector

·         Points out relationships between the text and real world situations

·         Compares characters, setting, or plot to similar situations or events

Summarizer

·         At the end of the discussion, summarizes the main points and provides a big picture perspective

·         If applicable, shares the gist of the discussion with the rest of the class

Introduction to My Antonia

About Willa Cather

Since childhood, Willa Cather had the ability to see her own brand of art in the people, situations, and emotions of everyday life. Her unique perspective on ordinary life can be found in her celebrated novels, short stories, and essays. Cather is best known as the voice of frontier life on the American plains, where she spent the years of her youth and young adulthood. According to Cather, these were the years during which she unconsciously gathered the rich material that would inspire her to write when she was an adult. She says:

Every story I have written since then has been the recollection of some childhood experience, of something that touched me while a youngster. You must know a subject as a child, before you ever had any idea of writing, to instill into it . . . the true feeling.

Cather was born on December 7, 1873, the eldest child of Charles and Mary Virginia Cather. When she was ten years old, her family moved from Virginia to a small settlement west of Red Cloud, Nebraska. Cather was at first homesick and had difficulty adjusting to the rough, open landscape of the Nebraska prairie. However, she found that her diverse collection of neighbors was a striking and welcome contrast to the flat, drab countryside. At that time, immigrants came from all over Europe to farm in Nebraska. Young Cather was befriended by some of the older immigrant women, and their unique experiences made a strong impression on her. Later, Cather relates:

I have never found any intellectual excitement any more intense than I used to feel when spent a morning with one of these old women at her baking or butter making. . . . I always felt . . . as if I had actually got inside another person’s skin.

About My Ántonia

            Willa Cather’s My Ántonia is written as a young man’s reflections on the people and places of his youth. The narrator, Jim Burden, is a New York City lawyer who grew up on the Nebraska frontier. His memories show his affection for the past and his connection to his childhood friend, and paint a vivid portrait of life in Nebraska in the late 1800s and early 1900s. From its first pages, My Ántonia depicts the ethnically diverse, hardworking people who came to the American plains. The novel also powerfully depicts the open landscape of the prairie and the rugged lifestyle of its settlers. In 1920, H. L. Mencken, a famous literary critic and essayist, wrote:

I know of no novel that makes the remote folk of the western farmlands more real than My Ántonia makes them, and I know of none that makes them seem better worth knowing. The primary focus of the novel is Ántonia.

            The novel is set mainly in the Nebraska Divide, a rural farming area in southern Nebraska, and in Black Hawk, a town just east of the Divide.  Cather grew up in this area and based the fictional town of Black Hawk on the real town of Red Cloud, which sits on the Republican River. Another setting described in the novel is Lincoln, Nebraska, where narrator Jim Burden attends school for a brief period. 

The Homestead Act

            The novel begins in the late 1880s and covers a period of about thirty years of the narrator’s life.  This was an eventful time in the actual history of Nebraska. In 1862 Congress passed the first Homestead Act, which granted 160 acres of free land in the West to anyone at least twenty-one years old who promised to settle it. The concept of providing free land to hardworking settlers was first suggested by western pioneers who were struggling to build farms on undeveloped land. They argued that, because the land was worthless until developed, Congress should give them parcels of land as a reward for helping to improve the country. Close to a million people requested homestead applications between 1863 and 1890. More farms were created in this time period than any other in U.S. history. The Homestead Act was also a key factor in the United States’ expansion westward.

            The Homestead Act created opportunities for many struggling American citizens and immigrants to the United States. Between 1881 and 1920, southern and eastern Europeans, including Bohemians, were part of a major immigration movement to the United States. Many of these immigrants, like the Shimerdas in My Ántonia, came to the United States to take advantage of available prairie land.

            In 1865 the Union Pacific Railroad began building its line farther into Nebraska territory. They advertised Nebraska farmland in the East as well as in Europe. From 1869 to 1879 Kansas and Nebraska attracted a large number of settlers. Between 1874 and 1877, however, swarms of grasshoppers invaded the area and damaged much of the crops. Many settlers left their farms and returned east. Drought, bad credit policies, and low prices on agricultural products caused further distress to Nebraska farmers. In My Ántonia, Cather captures the hardships facing pioneers as they tried to build new lives to in unfamiliar territory.

Immigrant Families

            In the settling of frontier land, immigrant families often faced greater challenges than U.S.-born settlers. Because many immigrants left their countries under difficult circumstances, they often did not have a great deal of money with which to begin their new lives. Once in the United States, some struggled with a language barrier that made meeting people and conducting business difficult. Many immigrants also experienced prejudice against their customs and religious practices. Some U.S.-born settlers were resentful of having to compete with immigrants for land or work.

Rural Nebraska

            Setting, particularly the landscape surrounding Jim’s grandparents’ farm, plays a crucial role in the development of My Ántonia. Cather takes great care in detailing the natural environment that surrounds her characters. For example, to illustrate the movement of prairie grass, she writes, “I felt motion in the landscape; in the fresh, easy-blowing morning wind, and in the earth itself, as if the shaggy grass were a sort of loose hide, and underneath it herds of wild buffalo were  galloping, galloping. . . .” As you read, notice how the setting reflects the characters and influences their moods.

My Ántonia and Latin

            In Book II, Sections I – VII (p. 70 – 94), Jim’s Latin homework introduces him to the work of Virgil, a poet who lived in ancient Rome. Virgil wrote pastoral poems that idealize and celebrate rural environments. Literary works that are pastoral often contrast the innocence and simplicity of country life with the corruption of urban environments. Jim is reading Georgics, a work that deals with issues of farming and rural life in Italy. He finds two quotations from the selection particularly moving. As you read, think about why Jim finds these ideas moving and why the work of Virgil is thematically fitting for this novel.

Repetition

            Though My Ántonia is a collection of memories that do not follow a conventional plotline, Cather ties the events of the novel together in a variety of ways. One method is her use of repetition. For example, in this section, images of nature and farming move the narrator and Ántonia to reflect on their pasts and repeat stories about what happened. There is also repetition of characters that are important to the theme. As you read this section, pay attention to how Cather reintroduces Mr. Shimerda to the story through the characters of Jim and Ántonia. Then think about why Cather brings Ántonia’s father back into the story.

Elegiac or Nostalgic?

            My Ántonia has been labeled by critics as both elegiac and nostalgic. An elegy is a sad poem that laments death or loss. Nostalgia is a longing for one’s home or past. Characters throughout the novel refer to their pasts, both to celebrate and to express regret or resentment. Their pasts either draw them back or make them want to move forward. For example, Jim and Ántonia are continually looking back at their happy childhood experiences and wondering if they can ever find that happiness again, while Lena Lingard’s unhappy memories of farming motivate her to change her way of life completely. Ántonia clings to her Bohemian heritage, while other immigrant workers try to adopt the language and customs of the United States. After finishing the novel, think about whether the novel is more an elegiac or a nostalgic literary work.

Characterization

            Writers use specific techniques to create characters. These include direct description, showing characters’ behavior, showing how others react to characters, and showing characters’ thoughts. Writers use these methods not only to give readers insight into individuals, but sometimes to characterize groups of people.  As you read, notice Cather’s techniques of characterization, and draw conclusions about the family.

Characteristics of a Detective Story

C. Hugh Holman’s A Handbook to Literature defines a detective story as “a novel or

short story in which a crime, usually a murder – the identity of the perpetrator unknown –

is solved by a detective through a logical assembling and interpretation of palpable

evidence, known as clues.”

            The first detective stories were written by Edgar Allan Poe, and Conan Doyle acknowledged their influence on his writing.  A good detective story generally follows six “unwritten rules.”  

First, the crime must be significant, worthy of the attention it receives.  Most stories involve murder, though Conan Doyle tied the majority of his crimes to greed and theft. 

Second, the detective must be in some way a memorable character.  He or she must be very intelligent, of course, unusually clever and observant, but also quirky, possessing perhaps some odd idiosyncrasies that distinguish him or her.  Kojak’s lollipop, Columbo’s crumpled raincoat, James Bond’s unruffled cool and high-tech gadgets, all of these things make the hero somehow distinct.  

Third, along with an exceptional detective, there must be an outstanding opponent, a criminal clever enough to be a match for the hero.  Solving the crime can’t be too easy. 

Fourth, because a large part of the attraction of a detective story is the opportunity for the reader to try to figure out the solution along with the detective, all suspects of the crime must be introduced early in the story, and

Fifth, all clues the detective discovers must be made available to the reader also. 

Finally, at the end of the story, the solution must seem obvious, logical, possible.  The crime must not have resulted from accident or supernatural intervention, and the detective must be able to explain all aspects of the case in a reasonable way.  A fine detective story should meet each one of these standards. 

Giants in the Earth

Book 1

THE LAND-TAKING

Toward the Sunset

I

Bright, clear sky over a plain so wide that the rim of the heavens cut down on it around the entire horizon. . . . Bright, clear sky, to-day, to-morrow, and for all time to come.

. . . And sun! And still more sun! It set the heavens afire every morning; it grew with the day to quivering golden light--then softened into all the shades of red and purple as evening fell. . . . Pure colour everywhere. A gust of wind, sweeping across the plain, threw into life waves of yellow and blue and green. Now and then a dead black wave would race over the scene . . . a cloud's gliding shadow . . . now and then. . . .

It was late afternoon. A small caravan was pushing its way through the tall grass. The track that it left behind was like the wake of a boat--except that instead of widening out astern it closed in again.

"Tish-ah!" said the grass. . . . "Tish-ah, tish-ah!" . . . Never had it said anything else--never would it say anything else. It bent resiliently under the trampling feet; it did not break, but it complained aloud every time--for nothing like this had ever happened to it before. . . . "Tish-ah, tish-ah!" it cried, and rose up in surprise to look at this rough, hard thing that had crushed it to the ground so rudely, and then moved on.

A stocky, broad-shouldered man walked at the head of the caravan. He seemed shorter than he really was, because of the tall grass around him and the broad-brimmed hat of coarse straw which he wore. A few steps behind him followed a boy of about nine years of age. The boy's blond hair was clearly marked against his brown, sunburnt neck; but the man's hair and neck were of exactly the same shade of brown. From the looks of these two, and still more from their gait, it was easy to guess that here walked father and son.

Behind them a team of oxen jogged along; the oxen were drawing a vehicle which once upon a time might have been a wagon, but which now, on account of its many and grave infirmities, ought long since to have been consigned to the scrap heap--exactly the place, in point of fact, where the man had picked it up. Over the wagon box long willow saplings had been bent, in the form of arches in a church chancel--six of them in all. On these arches, and tied down to the body on each side, were spread first of all two handwoven blankets, that might well have adorned the walls of some manor house in the olden times; on top of the blankets were thrown two sheepskin robes, with the wool side down, which were used for bed-coverings at night. The rear of the wagon was stowed full of numberless articles, all the way up to the top. A large immigrant chest at the bottom of the pile, very long and high, devoured a big share of the space; around and above it were piled household utensils, tools, implements, and all their clothing.

Hitched to this wagon and trailing behind was another vehicle, homemade and very curious-looking, so solidly and quaintly constructed that it might easily have won a place in any museum. Indeed, it appeared strong enough to stand all the jolting from the Atlantic to the Pacific. . . . It, too, was a wagon, after a fashion; at least, it had been intended for such. The wheels were made from pieces of plank fitting roughly together; the box, considerably wider than that of the first wagon, was also loaded full of provisions and household gear, covered over with canvas and lashed down securely. Both wagons creaked and groaned loudly every time they bounced over a tussock or hove out of a hollow. . . . "Squeak, squeak!" said the one. . . . "Squeak, squeak!" answered the other. . . . The strident sound broke the silence of centuries.

A short distance behind the wagons followed a brindle cow. The caravan moved so slowly that she occasionally had time to stop and snatch a few mouthfuls, though there was never a chance for many at a time. But what little she got in this way she sorely needed. She had been jogging along all day, swinging and switching her tail, the rudder of the caravan. Soon it would be night, and then her part of the work would come--to furnish milk for the evening porridge, for all the company up ahead.

Across the front end of the box of the first wagon lay a rough piece of plank. On the right side of this plank sat a woman with a white kerchief over her head, driving the oxen. Against her thigh rested the blond head of a little girl, who was stretched out on the plank and sleeping sweetly. Now and then the hand of the mother moved across the child's face to chase away the mosquitoes, which had begun to gather as the sun lowered. On the left side of the plank, beyond the girl, sat a boy about seven years old--a well-grown lad, his skin deeply tanned, a certain clever, watchful gleam in his eyes. With hands folded over one knee, he looked straight ahead.

This was the caravan of Per Hansa, who with his family and all his earthly possessions was moving west from Fillmore County, Minnesota, to Dakota Territory. There he intended to take up land and build himself a home; he was going to do something remarkable out there, which should become known far and wide. No lack of opportunity in that country, he had been told! . . . Per Hansa himself strode ahead and laid out the course; the boy Ole, or Olamand, followed closely after, and explored it. Beret, the wife, drove the oxen and took care of little Anna Marie, pet-named And-Ongen (which means "The Duckling"), who was usually bubbling over with happiness. Hans Kristian, whose everyday name was Store-Hans (meaning "Big Hans," to distinguish him from his godfather, who was also named Hans, but who, of course, was three times his size), sat there on the wagon, and saw to it that everyone attended to business. . . . The cow Rosie trailed behind, swinging and switching her tail, following the caravan farther and farther yet into the endless vista of the plain.

"Tish-ah, tish-ah!" cried the grass. . . . "Tish-ah, tish-ah!" . . .

II

The caravan seemed a miserably frail and Lilliputian thing as it crept over the boundless prairie toward the sky line. Of road or trail there lay not a trace ahead; as soon as the grass had straightened up again behind, no one could have told the direction from which it had come or whither it was bound. The whole train--Per Hansa with his wife and children, the oxen, the wagons, the cow, and all--might just as well have dropped down out of the sky. Nor was it at all impossible to imagine that they were trying to get back there again; their course was always the same--straight toward the west, straight toward the sky line. . . .

Poverty-stricken, unspeakably forlorn, the caravan creaked along, advancing at a snail's pace, deeper and deeper into a bluish-green infinity--on and on, and always farther on. . . . It steered for Sunset Land! . . .

For more than three weeks now, and well into the fourth, this caravan had been crawling across the plain. . . . Early in the journey it had passed through Blue Earth; it had left Chain Lakes behind; and one fine day it had crept into Jackson, on the Des Moines River. But that seemed ages ago. . . . From Jackson, after a short lay-up, it had pushed on westward--always westward--to Worthington, then to Rock River. . . . A little west of Rock River, Per Hansa had lost the trail completely. Since then he had not been able to find it again; at this moment he literally did not know where he was, nor how to get to the place he had to reach. But Split Rock Creek must lie out there somewhere in the sun; if he could only find that landmark, he could pick his way still farther without much trouble. . . . Strange that he hadn't reached Split Rock Creek before this time! According to his directions, he should have been there two or three days ago; but he hadn't seen anything that even looked like the place. . . . Oh, my God! If something didn't turn up soon! . . . My God! . . .

The wagons creaked and groaned. Per Hansa's eyes wandered over the plain. His bearded face swung constantly from side to side as he examined every inch of ground from the northeast to the southwest. At times he gave his whole attention to that part of the plain lying between him and the western sky line; with head bent forward and eyes fixed and searching, he would sniff the air, like an animal trying to find the scent. Every now and then he glanced at an old silver watch which he carried in his left hand; but his gaze would quickly wander off again, to take up its fruitless search of the empty horizon.

It was now nearing six o'clock. Since three in the afternoon he had been certain of his course; at that time he had taken his bearings by means of his watch and the sun. . . . Out here one had to get one's cross-bearings from the very day itself--then trust to luck. . . .

For a long while the little company had been silent. Per Hansa turned halfway around, and without slackening his pace spoke to the boy walking behind.

"Go back and drive for a while now, Ola.¹ . . . You must talk to mother, too, so that it won't be so lonesome for her. And be sure to keep as sharp a lookout as you can."

"I'm not tired yet!" said the boy, loath to leave the van.

"Go back, anyway! Maybe you're not, but I can feel it beginning to tell on me. We'll have to start cooking the porridge pretty soon. . . . You go back, and hold her on the sun for a while longer."

"Do you think we'll catch up with them to-night, Dad?" The boy was still undecided.

"Good Lord, no! They've got too long a start on us. . . . Look sharp, now! If you happen to see anything suspicious, sing out!" . . . Per Hansa glanced again at his watch, turned forward, and strode steadily onward.

Ole said no more; he stepped out of the track and stood there waiting till the train came up. Then Store-Hans jumped down nimbly, while the other climbed up and took his seat.

"Have you seen anything?" the mother asked in an anxious voice.

"Why, no . . . not yet," answered the boy, evasively.

"I wonder if we shall ever see them again," she said, as if speaking to herself, and looked down at the ground. "This seems to be taking us to the end of the world . . . beyond the end of the world!"

Store-Hans, who was still walking beside the wagon, heard what she said and looked up at her. The buoyancy of childhood shone in his brown face. . . . Too bad that mother should be so scared! . . .

"Yes, Mother, but when we're both steering for the sun, we'll both land in the same place, won't we? . . . The sun is a sure guide, you know!"

These were the very words which he had heard his father use the night before; now he repeated them. To Store-Hans the truth of them seemed as clear as the sun itself; in the first place, because dad had said it, and then because it sounded so reasonable.

He hurried up alongside his father and laid his hand in his--he always felt safer thus.

The two walked on side by side. Now and then the boy stole a glance at the face beside him, which was as stern and fixed as the prairie on which they were walking. He was anxious to talk, but couldn't find anything to say that sounded grown-up enough; and so he kept quiet. At last, however, the silence grew too heavy for him to bear. He tried to say indifferently, just like his father:

"When I'm a man and have horses, I'm going to make a road over these plains, and . . . and put up some posts for people to follow. Don't you think that'll be a good idea?"

A slight chuckle came from the bearded face set toward the sun.

"Sure thing, Store-Hans--you'll manage that all right. . . . I might find time to help you an hour or two, now and then."

The boy knew by his father's voice that he was in a talkative mood. This made him so glad, that he forgot himself and did something that his mother always objected to; he began to whistle, and tried to take just as long strides as his father. But he could only make the grass say: "Swish-sh, swish-sh!"

On and on they went, farther out toward Sunset Land--farther into the deep glow of the evening.

The mother had taken little Anna up in her lap and was now leaning backward as much as she could; it gave such relief to her tired muscles. The caresses of the child and her lively chatter made her forget for a moment care and anxiety, and that vague sense of the unknown which bore in on them so strongly from all directions. . . . Ole sat there and drove like a full-grown man; by some means or other he managed to get more speed out of the oxen than the mother had done--she noticed this herself. His eyes were searching the prairie far and near.

Out on the sky line the huge plain now began to swell and rise, almost as if an abscess were forming under the skin of the earth. Although this elevation lay somewhat out of his course, Per Hansa swung over and held straight toward the highest part of it.

The afternoon breeze lulled, and finally dropped off altogether. The sun, whose golden lustre had faded imperceptibly into a reddish hue, shone now with a dull light, yet strong and clear; in a short while, deeper tones of violet began to creep across the red. The great ball grew enormous; it retreated farther and farther into the empty reaches of the western sky; then it sank suddenly. . . . The spell of evening quickly crowded in and laid hold of them all; the oxen wagged their ears; Rosie lifted her voice in a long moo, which died out slowly in the great stillness. At the moment when the sun closed his eye, the vastness of the plain seemed to rise up on every hand--and suddenly the landscape had grown desolate; something bleak and cold had come into the silence, filling it with terror. . . . Behind them, along the way they had come, the plain lay dark green and lifeless, under the gathering shadow of the dim, purple sky.

Ole sat motionless at his mother's side. The falling of evening had made such a deep impression on him that his throat felt dry; he wanted to express some of the emotions that overwhelmed him, but only choked when he tried.

"Did you ever see anything so beautiful!" he whispered at last, and gave a heavy sigh. . . . Low down in the northwest, above the little hill, a few fleecy clouds hovered, betokening fair weather; now they were fringed with shining gold, which glowed with a mellow light. As if they had no weight, they floated lightly there. . . .

Literature Circle Guidelines

            When the class divides into small groups to discuss an assigned portion from our literature selection, having specific roles and responsibilities in the groups helps each person engage more actively in the discussion and think more deeply about the book.  Below is a list of roles that will either be assigned or chosen when we break into small groups.

Roles & Responsibilities

Discussion Director

·         Clarifies the assigned question or topic

·         Facilitates group discussion; helps everyone stay on task

·         Asks questions not only about plot, characters, and setting but also deeper critical thinking ones

·         Makes sure that everyone has a chance to speak

Illustrator

·         Draws a sketch to represent a scene from the assigned portion

·         Ties the sketch into the specific discussion points

·         Uses the drawing to further discussion

Luminary

·         Looks in the book for specific quotes that pertain to the assigned question or topic

·         Finds quotes from the book that are powerful, funny, important, puzzling, or worth hearing

Word Nerd

·         Selects words from the text that are unusual or difficult

·         Asks the rest of the group for definitions or finds definitions from dictionary or phone app

Connector

·         Points out relationships between the text and real world situations

·         Compares characters, setting, or plot to similar situations or events

Summarizer

·         At the end of the discussion, summarizes the main points and provides a big picture perspective

·         If applicable, shares the gist of the discussion with the rest of the class

Study Questions for Sherlock Holmes Stories

“A Scandal in Bohemia”

1.       What does Sherlock Holmes think of Irene Adler?

2.       Describe Holmes’ and Watson’s situation in the beginning of the story.

3.       How does Holmes prove his intelligence?

4.       Who is the client? How does Holmes know who he is and how does he treat the client?

5.       What was Watson’s job for when they get Irene Adler’s house?

6.       How did Irene Adler outsmart Holmes?

“The Red-Headed League”

1.       Holmes lists the “obvious facts” that he deduces from Mr. Wilson’s appearance. What are they and how did Homes know?

2.       What is the only requirement needed to apply for a vacancy in the Red-Headed League? What are the benefits?

3.       Describe the work Mr. Wilson must do for the League. What exactly is it? When must he do it? What is supposedly the purpose? What happens if he leaves the office during working hours?

4.       Holmes begins to question Mr. Wilson about his assistant. List here some of the things that he learns.

5.       What detail suggests that Holmes already knows who this man is? Why does Holmes pretend to be lost and ask the way of Mr. Wilson’s assistant? What other odd thing does he do in front of Mr. Wilson’s place of business?

6.       Who are Mr. Jones and Mr. Merryweather? Who is John Clay?

“The Adventure of the Speckled Band”

1.    Why has Helen Stoner decided to visit to Sherlock Holmes at that particular time?

2.    Why is Helen Stoner afraid when she comes to see Holmes in “The Adventure of the Speckled Band”?

3.    Why does Holmes quickly suspect that Dr. Roylott is the criminal?

4.    What, if any, significance does Dr. Roylott’s interest in Indian animals have as evidence

5.    Explain which relevant clues you were able to identify in “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” and which false clues may have led you astray.

6.    Which of the five senses are used by Sherlock Holmes to solve the mystery of the speckled band?

“The Engineer’s Thumb”

1.    What details make the mood of the story spooky?  Find five details that contribute to the mood.  

2.    Do you think that the engineer in this story should have known something illegal was going on at Colonel Stark’s home?  What clues might have led him to this conclusion?

3.    If you had been the engineer at the beginning of the story, needing a job desperately but offered such unusual conditions, what would you have done?

“The Final Problem”

1.       What is the significance of the title?

2.       Describe Prof. Moriarty’s criminal activity.  How is he the “Napoleon of crime?”

3.       How do Watson and Holmes outwit Moriarty on the train?

4.       Why does Watson refuse to let Holmes travel alone?

5.       Describe the scene between Holmes and Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls.

“The Adventure of the Empty House”

1.       How does Sherlock Holmes reveal himself to Watson?

2.       How did Sherlock Holmes fill his time while he was “dead?”

3.       Describe the new mystery that Holmes and Watson are go solve?

4.       What previous knowledge of the situation does Holmes have?

5.       What clues are given?

6.       What unusual twist occurs and foils the murderer’s plot to kill Holmes?