Dolly Doyle, M.A.
eNotes Educator
Achievements
12
Educator Level
2009
Answers Posted
57
Answers Bonused
About
College instructor, writing tutor, and journalist with a M.A. in English. I currently work at a library, and write fiction, poetry, and criticism. My big passions are literature, cinema, and history.
Earned Badges
-
eNotes Educator
This badge is awarded to all eNotes Educators. Only official Educators can answer students' questions on our site. Educators are teachers, professional researchers, and scholars who apply to our... -
Hall of Fame
Educators can earn this badge by contributing over 1,000 answers on eNotes. -
Year One Badge
This badge is awarded once an Educator has been in the eNotes Educator Program for over one year. -
Year Two Badge
This badge is awarded once an Educator has been in the eNotes Educator Program for over two years. -
Year Three Badge
This badge is awarded once an Educator has been in the eNotes Educator Program for over three years. -
10K Points Earner
Educators earn points for every question they answer. This Educator has earned over 10,000 points. -
25K Points Earner
Educators earn points for every question they answer. This Educator has earned over 25,000 points. -
Expert
An expert badge distinguishes Educators who demonstrate strong knowledge in a particular topic, such as Hamlet or Math. It is awarded when an Educator has posted more than 25 answers on a given topic. -
Scholar
The scholar badge recognizes Educators who are especially knowledgeable about a particular author. This badge is awarded once an Educator has posted more than 50 answers on works by a specific author. -
Literature Whiz
Bonuses are awarded when an Educator has gone above and beyond and impressed the editorial team by offering an especially lengthy, nuanced, or insightful answer. This badge is given to an Educator...
Recent Activity
-
Answered a Question in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Since its original publication in 2007, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian has appeared several times on the list of the top ten most challenged books put out by the American Library... -
Answered a Question in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Junior mainly struggles with his racial/cultural identity. He is a Spokane Indian living on a reservation where poverty and alcoholism are major problems. Both his parents and his older sister,... -
Answered a Question in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
In the first part of the book, Junior is bullied for his physical disabilities. He was born with a birth defect that impairs his vision (forcing him to wear glasses) and causes seizures and a... -
Answered a Question in Politics and the English Language
In "Politics and the English Language," George Orwell argues that modern English writing lacks precision above all. It is plagued by clichés and vagueness, obscuring meaning. As to why authors are... -
Answered a Question in Politics and the English Language
When discussing the decline of language, Orwell is talking about the needless complication of modern English. Orwell feels that a great many modern writers use foreign words and complicated prose... -
Answered a Question in Tuesdays With Morrie
One of the main lessons of Tuesdays With Morrie is to appreciate life and to accept that death is inevitable. Tuesdays With Morrie is ultimately about affirming life in spite of the reality of... -
Answered a Question in Journey to the Center of the Earth
Journey to the Center of the Earth is not at all based on real events. In its day, the book was considered a "voyage extraordinaire," something quite close to a fantasy adventure. (It must be... -
Answered a Question in As You Like It
In As You Like It, the court refers to the royal court of Duke Frederick. It is the civilized setting from which the main characters flee after Duke Frederick's tyrannical behavior causes... -
Answered a Question in Journey to the Center of the Earth
Journey to the Center of the Earth is a classic adventure story by Jules Verne. It follows three men—Professor Lidenbrock, Axel, and Hans—as they use a manuscript as their guide to travel to the... -
Answered a Question in The Miracle Worker
Both of the Kellers are heartbroken over their daughter Helen's disability and the way it cuts her off from communicating with others. However, the two have varying levels of optimism regarding her... -
Answered a Question in Socrates
Socrates is often considered the wisest man because of his willingness to question everything. The inventor of the Socratic method, Socrates believed in examining ideas or thoughts through... -
Answered a Question in The White Stag
The White Stag is a mythical retelling of the founding of Hungary. It blends fantastical, mythical, and historical figures together to create a larger-than-life account more akin to legend than... -
Answered a Question in The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book fits several genres. Firstly, it fits into the adventure tradition. Adventure stories feature characters who embark on dangerous quests and face physical threats. Adventure stories... -
Answered a Question in The Jungle Book
Kaa is the name of the snake character in Rudyard Kipling's 1894 anthology collection The Jungle Book. He is a thirty-foot-long python most distinguished by his mystical powers of hypnosis (to... -
Answered a Question in The Jungle Book
Without a doubt, Shere Khan is a villainous character. He is motivated by his desire for ultimate power over the jungle, and he desires to kill Mowgli at any cost because of his intense hatred for... -
Answered a Question in The Jungle Book
To put it simply, Shere Khan is angry that the wolves have adopted Mowgli, as he hates humans and feels that Mowgli is his to kill. This rage all stems from an inferiority complex. Shere Khan was... -
Answered a Question in The Jungle Book
The question of Mowgli's identity and place in the world serve as one of the major problems in The Jungle Book. Mowgli is a human child who was adopted by wolves when he was little more than an... -
Answered a Question in The Handmaid's Tale
The most specific source of dystopian horror in The Handmaid's Tale is the reduction of female identity to procreation. Offred's personality and selfhood are disregarded as irrelevant by the Gilead... -
Answered a Question in Treasure Island
From the beginning, Captain Smollett is suspicious the crew hired for the adventure. He appears perpetually angry to Jim Hawkins, and both Jim and the reader quickly learn this is due to the man's... -
Answered a Question in The Merchant of Venice
During act 5, scene 1, Lorenzo waxes poetic about the power of beautiful music to his new wife, Jessica. In a moment that could be interpreted any number of ways, Jessica replies, "I am never merry... -
Answered a Question in The Tempest
Miranda and Caliban's relationship is a negative one, to say the least. Caliban is resentful of the presence of Prospero and Miranda on the island, especially of Prospero's imposed sovereignty over... -
Answered a Question in My Last Duchess
The Duke of Ferrara describes the duchess's habit of riding her white mule "round the terrace." He describes her as smiling and speaking to the mule with great sweetness. The duchess's excessive... -
Answered a Question in My Last Duchess
While the portrait of the titular duchess is beautiful but tragic, the picture the poem paints of the Duke of Ferrara is far less flattering. The duke's monologue emphasizes his arrogance and... -
Answered a Question in My Last Duchess
The duke keeps the painting of the duchess behind a curtain as a means of postmortem control. That is, he wants control over who gets to see her image. As the reader comes to realize, the duke did... -
Answered a Question in Look Back in Anger
Jimmy Porter hates newspapers in general, finding them representative of the comfortable, aimless, and posh upper classes he so despises and envies. Several sections in the newspapers appear to set... -
Answered a Question in Doctor Faustus
Morality plays were common in medieval Europe. They tended to focus on how the individual is tempted by sin, sustained by virtue, and saved through religious faith in the Roman Catholic Church.... -
Answered a Question in As You Like It
While the majority of the characters in As You Like It come from privileged court life, they tend to prefer the dangerous world of the wilderness to civilization. The reason for this is that while... -
Answered a Question in The Pilgrim's Progress
The Pilgrim's Progress is an allegorical narrative, and all of its characters are explicit representations of thematic ideas. The major theme of the work is how to go through life in the proper... -
Answered a Question in The Tale of Genji
Epic stories often have a heroic figure at their center. Regardless of culture, these characters tend to embody the traits seen as most desirable in their respective societies. For example, in the... -
Answered a Question in The Taming of the Shrew
Animal imagery is pervasive in The Taming of the Shrew, especially in regards to Kate. The very title associates her with a shrew, a small mammal, and Kate compares herself with a wasp, claiming... -
Answered a Question in London
William Blake is playing with words with the term mark. He is using the word both as a verb and as a noun. To mark is to notice, but it can also refer to a physical mark, like a birthmark or the... -
Answered a Question in London
William Blake props up the state and the church as symbols of power in his poem "London." The poem depicts misery in many forms in the city of London, from orphaned children crying out to... -
Answered a Question in The Freedom Writers Diary
The book is called The Freedom Writers Diary because it is about the Freedom Writers, a group of disadvantaged students who found their agency and voice through the act of writing. So the title... -
Answered a Question in William Shakespeare
Shakespeare wrote during the Elizabethan Renaissance, a period of artistic flourishing during Queen Elizabeth I's reign. Elizabeth's reign marked a period of prosperity and relative stability... -
Answered a Question in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the color green takes on several symbolic meanings. Firstly, green is associated with the natural world. The Green Knight lives in a castle in the forest, far... -
Answered a Question in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
The Green Knight symbolizes several things within the poem. Firstly, the Green Knight represents the natural world. The color green evokes nature. The Green Knight also lives away from the... -
Answered a Question in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Sir Gawain proves himself to be an imperfect knight, though he is not a total failure and is overall good. To give credit where it is due, Gawain is an exceptional knight in some ways. When the... -
Answered a Question in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
The first agreement occurs between the Green Knight and Sir Gawain with neither character disguised. At the start of the poem, the Green Knight bursts into Camelot's court during Christmastime. He... -
Answered a Question in Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
The Lightning Thief is essentially a classic Greek hero's quest set in the modern United States. This in itself is humorous, but it also allows author Rick Riordan to show how these old myths and... -
Answered a Question in Rappaccini's Daughter
The purple flower serves as a reflection of Beatrice herself. Both are beautiful yet ultimately deadly, preventing any contact with other beings. During the scene where she tends the purple flower,... -
Answered a Question in Rappaccini's Daughter
Over the course of "Rappaccini's Daughter," both the protagonist Giovanni and the audience learn that Rappaccini's lovely daughter Beatrice has been brought up on poisons. Rappaccini did this so... -
Answered a Question in Great Expectations
The atmosphere in chapter 4 is suspenseful and gothic. Many of the opening chapters in Great Expectations fit this description, but unlike chapter 1, which could rely on the inherent spookiness of... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
Act 2, scene 5, sees Juliet eagerly awaiting the return of the Nurse with news of Romeo's response. When the Nurse arrives, Juliet wants to hear what she has to say as soon as possible, but the... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
Despite the heavy presence of chance and bad luck, much of the tragedy in Romeo and Juliet comes from the blind devotion the characters exhibit in their relationships. The feud between the... -
Answered a Question in The Lady of Shalott
In the second stanza of "The Lady of Shalott," Tennyson creates a mood of contrasts concerning the island where the lady lives. Initially, the island appears to be a place of beauty and quiet:... -
Answered a Question in Treasure Island
Mr. Dance is a minor character in Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. He is a tax collector who makes an appearance on horseback when the blind Pew is trying to catch up with his fellow... -
Answered a Question in Great Expectations
Great Expectations is written in Charles Dickens's typical style, which was heavily influenced by the picaresque novels of the eighteenth century. The picaresque novel tends to follow the... -
Answered a Question in A Midsummer Night's Dream
The mechanicals' hilariously botched retelling of the love tragedy of Pyramus and Thisbe is packed with garbled language and botched pathos. It is clear that these characters, as passionate as they... -
Answered a Question in The Duchess of Malfi
The word decadence tends to denote a sense of decline or decay, specifically in regard to moral standards. Critics of The Duchess of Malfi often characterize it as a decadent play due to the... -
Answered a Question in Hamlet
After lashing out at Gertrude in her chamber and then killing Polonius (erroneously believing him to be Claudius), Hamlet assures his mother that he takes no pleasure in causing her pain. He is...
Showing 151-200 of 1145