Matt Copeland, M.S.
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About
I'm a two time graduate of The University of Kansas—go Jayhawks!—and am interested professionally in contemporary literature and rhetoric. I live with my wife and four young daughters on the edge of the beautiful Flint Hills in Kansas.
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Recent Activity
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Answered a Question in Native Son
From a psychological perspective, this is a complex question to answer but the answer sheds a great deal of light and insight into the character of Bigger Thomas! In short, Bigger pulls the knife... -
Answered a Question in Their Eyes Were Watching God
Each of Janie's marriages fail for very different reasons. However, what is far more important than understanding why they fail is understanding the lessons Janie learns from each and how those... -
Answered a Question in Their Eyes Were Watching God
Throughout the novel, the horizon symbolizes dreams and aspirations. In the story's opening lines, we learn that "ships at a distance have every man's wish on board." In this instance the "ship" is... -
Answered a Question in Their Eyes Were Watching God
No single answer will ever adequately address this question. However, I would argue that any answer would need to include one of the central themes of the novel: that human dreams are attainable if... -
Answered a Question in Their Eyes Were Watching God
Although some readers find the ending of Their Eyes Were Watching God to be sad because of Tea Cake's death, the story can also be seen as very uplifting if we focus on the outlook of the main... -
Answered a Question in Their Eyes Were Watching God
No, I don't think Zora Neale Hurston avoided the race issue in Their Eyes Were Watching God. Although the novel does not explicitly address race relations, there are many scenes that present the... -
Answered a Question in Their Eyes Were Watching God
The town of Eatonville could be seen as a kind of heaven in multiple ways. As you suggest, the all black town is a kind of haven for African Americans where they can live and thrive is a place... -
Answered a Question in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
Many of the inter-related stories in Sherman Alexie's collection involve characters searching for a sense of self-identity both within their indigenous culture and also within the larger... -
Answered a Question in This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona
Sherman Alexie suggests through his short story that all of us--in one context or situation or another--face being the "other," the person often left out or denigrated in some way or another. As... -
Answered a Question in This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona
In addition to the symbolism of the phoenix mentioned above, I would add the importance of the title's suggestion that the meaning of "Phoenix, Arizona" is different than what one might assume. We... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
I would choose a red rose, just past its prime and beginning to wilt. Friar Lawrence serves many roles within the plot and themes of the play. First, a red rose often symbolizes love and Friar... -
Answered a Question in Their Eyes Were Watching God
Huston's use of dialect is important in helping us to understand and these characters and the novel as a whole. Because so much of the novel is concerned with Janie "finding her voice," it is... -
Answered a Question in Their Eyes Were Watching God
Much of the first half of Zora Neale Hurtson's Their Eyes Were Watching God is about Janie's quest to discover her own voice. In Janie's relationships with her grandmother, Logan Killicks, and Joe... -
Answered a Question in Their Eyes Were Watching God
An interesting question. All of the characters in Zora Neale Hurston's novel suffer from some kind of restriction of their vision. It is Janie, at the novel's end who seems to come closest to... -
Answered a Question in Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
It's impossible to know precisely where the speaker is heading. We gather from his reference to "promises to keep" that he is running some kind of errand. We cannot even be sure if he is heading... -
Answered a Question in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
This is one of the great mysteries and frequent topics of debate among critics of T.S. Eliot's poem. Some people believe Profrock is speaking directly to the reader here, literally involving the... -
Answered a Question in Through the Tunnel
The resolution of Doris Lessing's "Through the Tunnel" occurs after Jerry makes it through the tunnel alive and resurfaces above the water on the other side of the huge rock. At this point, the... -
Answered a Question in Death of a Salesman
I think this is one of the essential questions the play begs readers to ask of themselves. Are these characters innocent bystanders playing out a part that fate has already written for them? Or,... -
Answered a Question in The Sniper
The physical setting and the point of view certainly enhance the suspense and tension of the story. The rooftop setting and the feelings that the sniper is basically trapped upon that rooftop with... -
Answered a Question in The Sniper
I agree with all the posts above but also find the story to be incredibly thought-provoking. I can't help but imagining that if in such a situation my entire world-view toward war and disagreement... -
Answered a Question in The Sniper
It's difficult to imagine being in such a horrific situation; however, I think this is one of the elements that makes this short story so powerful. I can only imagine that if I had been the sniper... -
Answered a Question in Cathedral
"Cathedral" was my first experience reading Raymond Carver and one that turned me on to his intense, yet minimalistic style. One of the reasons I like the story so much is that it exemplifies a... -
Answered a Question in Cathedral
The ending of "Cathedral" is a kind of epiphany and catharsis for the narrator. From the opening lines, we see him as an aloof, jealous, self-involved, and ego-centric. The drawing of the cathedral... -
Answered a Question in Cathedral
The role of the narrator's wife in Cathedral is interesting in many ways. Primarily, she serves as kind of a sounding board for the narrator to comment about himself. True to his self-absorbed,... -
Answered a Question in Cathedral
To get started, I would suggest that you focus on one of the three characters of the story: the narrator, his wife, or Robert. Begin to do some brainstorming on the characteristics of this... -
Answered a Question in Literary Terms
Another work of literature with which you might be more familiar is Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. Near the end of the novel, when Scout stands on Boo Radley's front porch and looks out over... -
Answered a Question in The Sniper
I'm not sure I would be so quick to characterize the sniper's killing of the woman as a cold-blooded act. He is a soldier engaged in war and the old woman has (likely) just revealed his location to... -
Answered a Question in Heart of Darkness
In short, the Europeans exploit the African landscape and its people in the pursuit of material wealth and progress. The Imperialists show little concern or respect for the people or the physical... -
Answered a Question in Cathedral
The narrator's attitude in "Cathedral" can be described as jealous, aloof, self-absorbed, and even condescending. The first-person point of view used in the story amplifies these qualities as we... -
Answered a Question in Cathedral
The narrator's epiphany near the end of "Cathedral" is one seeing the world from a new perspective. Throughout the short story, Robert is characterized as a self-obsessed, ego-centric... -
Answered a Question in Birches
I do think you have a solid start on a thesis statement here. You clearly identify author and title of the work you are analyzing and preview for your reader the major topics you will discuss: the... -
Answered a Question in The Sniper
We see the emotions of guilt and remorse the sniper feels when he kills the old woman and the soldier in the street below his rooftop perch and again when the kills the sniper on the rooftop across... -
Answered a Question in The Sniper
Liam O'Flaherty's "The Sniper" is a classic action and suspense story set during the Irish Civil War with a surprise ending. A sniper sits on the rooftop of a building pinned down by an enemy... -
Answered a Question in Heart of Darkness
To throw out another possibility... Many have suggested that the central question of the novella is exactly what lies at the core of the human soul. Are we all just waiting for the... -
Answered a Question in Essays
I think the ideas you express here are all very solid and I see easily how the details of your thesis statement preview the content on your body paragraphs--the discussion of tone, the use of... -
Answered a Question in The Storm
You are correct in suggesting that the plot structure of the story is essential. But the climax of the story is really only important as it allows for the denouement, the resolution of the... -
Answered a Question in Essays
Pre-writing involves shaping and organizing the ideas that have been generated during the brainstorming (or invention) stage. Pre-writing is largely an element of process because it is typically... -
Answered a Question in The Storm
Calixta and Bobinot's house sits in open field with a "low shingled roof" and "many tall trees standing about." At the edges of the open field are more trees and scattered about are other buildings... -
Answered a Question in The Necklace
The tone of Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace" is one of suspense and irony, largely because of the surprise twist ending in which Mathilde and the reader learn that the necklace was of such little... -
Answered a Question in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Any number of scenes could provide a variety of answers to your question, but I'll offer one. Junior's first day at Reardon is certainly an important event and transformation in the novel. In this... -
Answered a Question in Their Eyes Were Watching God
The scenes that reveal Janie's sympathetic nature the most are the ones that involve her interaction with many of the minor characters and minor events of the novel. Unlike many of the residents of... -
Answered a Question in Literature
One novel that might the bill from both a historical and cultural perspective the The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Throughout the novel, Huck seems to desire to break away from society and gain... -
Answered a Question in Their Eyes Were Watching God
In order to support such a statement, we would need to examine the motives of the various characters who do hurt Janie: her grandmother, Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Tea Cake. In all four of... -
Answered a Question in Into the Wild
Contrary to the previous posts, John Krakauer's Into the Wild is NOT a novel; it is a journalistic work of non-fiction. If you wanted to pin it down to a particular genre, it is classified as a... -
Answered a Question in Heart of Darkness
Impressionistic literature can be defined as a work created by an author that centers on the thinking and feelings of the characters and allows the reader to draw his or her own interpretations and... -
Answered a Question in Traveling Through the Dark
The speaker of this poem is driving late at night along a winding mountain road above a river. As he comes around a curve, he encounters a doe dead in the middle of the road. He pulls his car over... -
Answered a Question in Traveling Through the Dark
The title of Stafford's poem operates on multiple levels. "Traveling through the Dark" could simply be a reference to the fact that the speaker of this poem is barreling down a winding mountain... -
Answered a Question in Into the Wild
The relative emotional-void Chris felt in his relationship with his parents certainly shaped his interactions with the world and the people in it he met. I'm not sure that I would say... -
Answered a Question in Young Goodman Brown
Adding to the answer above, I would also point out the irony of Faith's questions and Goodman Brown's reply given the context of the entire story. Depending upon how literally or how allegorically... -
Answered a Question in Speak
Mr. Freeman, Melinda's art teacher, understands that Melinda's inability to speak is likely the result of some kind of emotional trauma of one kind or another. Mr. Freeman cannot be sure of this...
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