Andrew Silverman
eNotes Educator
Achievements
2
Educator Level
17
Answers Posted
13
Answers Bonused
About
I studied English literature in college and later got a master's degree in English as well. I taught English to high school students at one of the three famous "specialized high schools" in New York City for 25 years. While there, I taught classes focused upon mythology, American lit, British lit, world lit, and gothic lit. I can be particularly helpful with writing essays (especially about literature or poetry) or analyzing novels, short stories, plays, and poems. I'm also good at teaching how to solve grammar questions or writing questions. I am strongest on classic literature: The Odyssey, Beowulf, Chaucer, Dickens, Hawthorne, Twain, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Richard Wright, and so on. I pride myself on explaining "difficult" books like Mann's Death in Venice, Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Melville's "Bartleby," and Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.
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Recent Activity
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Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
I would have to argue that there is actually very little connection here, and that the question's implication that there is one reflects a romantic attitude that makes such a misapprehension... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
Shakespeare uses multiple writing techniques and naturally makes important decisions (choices) about how to begin his story. First, he chooses to begin with a street fight, an illustration of... -
Answered a Question in Hamlet
In addition to, or perhaps as enrichment of, cybil's answer above, we might add that Hamlet is filled to the brim with sons avenging the murder of their fathers. The play begins with discussion in... -
Answered a Question in The Little Prince
In French denouement (don't forget that middle e!) means unknotting or untying. This is a bit strange considering that as an English literary term, it basically has a meaning... -
Answered a Question in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Fifteen chapters of Huckleberry Finn is a lot of novel and many "conflicts" so I will only add a few to supplement the excellent answers already provided. One important conflict is... -
Answered a Question in Edith Hamilton's Mythology
Greetings! I have only two things to add to the previous answers. Well, make that three! First, that the myth is an example of the "Rash Promise" theme, that is making a promise before you know... -
Answered a Question in Of Mice and Men
The answer already provided is excellent on the specifics of the novel, so I am choosing to answer only to add something Noelle Thompson did not mention: the source of the novel's title.... -
Answered a Question in The Judgment of Paris
You would need to be more specific as to what you mean by "two meanings" for one to answer fully. That is to say, there is only one "Judgement of Paris"--a myth about events that led to the start... -
Answered a Question in The Nun's Priest's Tale
Many of the most famous Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer deal with the dynamics of marriage, and here we have a hen-pecked husband. When he tells his beloved Pertelote that he dreamed he... -
Answered a Question in Great Expectations
This is among my favorite novels and is the novel I think best serves as an introduction to reading Dickens. Just to add a few ideas to the excellent answer above, here's a few things to... -
Answered a Question in The Lady, or the Tiger?
When I was a lad, my brother read me this story (or perhaps directed me to read it). What we found so fascinating was the idea that the story has no ending; you never find out what was behind the... -
Answered a Question in The Odyssey
Another powerful example of Odysseus's cunning is his outwitting of the suitors who have invaded his home and pestered his wife and plotted to kill his son. Odysseus decides to enter his home... -
Answered a Question in Frankenstein
The goal in writing a conclusion to an essay, if that is what you seek, is to attempt to revisit the main points made in the essay briefly without merely repeating the Introduction or sounding... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
Romeo does indeed mature throughout Romeo and Juliet. When we first meet him, Romeo is a callow, shallow seeming youth who thinks he is in love with Rosaline, but knows nothing of real love....