Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.Ĭ.5. Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.Ĭ.4. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development summarize the key supporting details and ideas.Ĭ.3. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.Ĭ.2. Subsequent activities ask students to work together to analyze how our perception of these historical and social contexts is shaped by the style and form of My Antonia. How does literary form affect the ways readers perceive and interpret these values? How does literary form shape our perception of history? To help students explore these questions in some detail, this lesson begins with a brief review of key historical topics. Cather fuses the fictional life story of Antonia Shimerda, a Bohemian immigrant who symbolizes the grit and optimism of those coming to America to make a new start, with aspects of her own emotionally-rich life story to produce an archetypal tale that fully illustrates the struggle of American pioneers, the rewards of hard work, and the emotional price the pioneers sometimes paid for their modest successes.Ĭombining the study of history and literature, the goal of these activities is to guide students in a self-directed exploration of how Cather's novel interprets and represents the values of fortitude, hard work, and faithfulness that we associate with pioneer life. Willa Cather's classic pioneer novel My Antonia fuses two stories to produce a powerful literary work that details nineteenth-century pioneer life in Nebraska, with all its hardships and beauties, and explores traditional American pioneer values, such as hard work, self-reliance, and the refusal to submit to adversity.

Willa cather pioneers