Jamie Wheeler
eNotes Educator
Achievements
21
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2089
Answers Posted
372
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About
I hold a M.A. and B.A. in literature, currently writing my Ph.D in American Literature, specifically John Steinbeck's female characters. I have been teaching both Freshman and Sophomore literature at the college level for about ten years.
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Recent Activity
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Answered a Question in In the Time of the Butterflies
Through the story of the Mirabal sisters (also known as "Las Mariaposas"), Alvarez is able to show how brutal the regime of Trujillo had been, not just for the poor of the Dominican Republic, but... -
Answered a Question in The House on Mango Street
This quote comes from the chapter, "Those Who Don't." The meaning of Esperanza's statement, "All brown, all around, we are safe," bespeaks the reality of racial division and prejudice that exists... -
Answered a Question in Dulce et Decorum Est
The tone of Wilfred Owen's poem is ironic and horrific. "Dulce et Decorum est pro para mia" is a Latin quotation by Horace, the great Roman poet. It means, "It is sweet and... -
Answered a Question in Schindler's List
The primary themes of Kenneally's novel are the triumph of good over evil and the change that one person can accomplish against seemingly insurmountable odds. One of the most famous lines of the... -
Answered a Question in Like Water for Chocolate
Laura Esquivel's novel is an exercise in magical realism. In this genre of fiction, everyday objects can be fantastical or fantastical objects can be found in the every day world. The recipes... -
Answered a Question in The Alchemist
Near the beginning of Santiago's quest for his Personal Legend, his father tries to dissuade his son from travel. He throws up impediments that might have changed Santiago's mind;... -
Answered a Question in William Carlos Williams
In these two examples, Williams writes in the sparse style of the Modernist, conveying an image and leaving the interpretation open to his readers. In "The Red Wheelbarrow," point out to your... -
Answered a Question in The Lovely Bones
Sebold's novel takes place in 1973, in upstate, rural New York's Stofulz County. The protagonist, Susie Salmon, was killed on December 6. Susie alternates between... -
Answered a Question in Pride and Prejudice
Mr. Bennet anticipates Collins visit because of the letter he has received from his cousin. Having no male heirs, the law of England ("entailment") decreed that the estate of the patriarch... -
Answered a Question in The Pearl
As a parable, the story has a moral lesson embedded within its narrative. The lesson is fairly simple but seemingly a difficult one for human beings to master: money cannot buy... -
Answered a Question in The Pearl
Steinbeck, perhaps more than any other author of his time, provided detailed descriptions of the natural world that makes the reader "see" exactly what his characters see or what his omniscient... -
Answered a Question in The Man to Send Rain Clouds
Silko's story uses the natural world to depict the life of the residents of the resevation and their uneasy relationship with the whites who have forced them to live on the margins. The... -
Answered a Question in Northanger Abbey
Gothic literature is comprised of several recognizable features: the dark and horrific combined with romance and mystery. Many gothic tales also involve a strange dwelling, often set in an... -
Answered a Question in The Pearl
The first turning point is the finding of the pearl, and the subsequent invigoration in Kinos' mind of a different life for his family. He predicts, "My son will read and open the books, and my... -
Answered a Question in Hamlet
Hamlet's lack of self-confidence is a topic scholars have long debated. Hamlet is a different man that his father, an intellectual rather than a warrior. He struggles with coming to... -
Answered a Question in The Giver
In a word, books. In Chapter 10, Jonas is finally allowed into the dwelling area of The Receiver. At first, he finds nothing terribly remarkable: It was not unlike his family unit's dwelling.... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
There are a number of ways Romeo and Juliet might have made their path to happiness more smooth. First of all, both could have acted more maturely and told their parents of their love for one... -
Answered a Question in Colonialism
Colonialism is the act of occupation by a foreign country. England, for example, colonized the States (hence the first thirteen "colonies.") Anti-colonialism is the act of trying to... -
Answered a Question in Hamlet
Based upon Hamlet's behavior, in my estimation, Hamlet could not possibly have truly loved Ophelia and treated her as he did. His vitriolic speech in Act III, scene i, is certainly more than... -
Answered a Question in The Crucible
Miller's play diverges from traditional expository material in that we get a great deal of information on how to interpret the text before a line is ever uttered. For example, Miller flat out... -
Answered a Question in Winter Dreams
Dexter's first meetings with Judy Jones are the impetus for his "Winter Dreams." A lowly caddy, Dexter meets the haughty little girl, all of eleven years old, on the golf course. Her derision of... -
Answered a Question in "Atlanta Compromise" Speech
Dubois was reacting to Booker T. Washington's famous speech (1895) in which Washington proferred a "compromise" to a county torn by the political situation of the post-emancipatory era. In an... -
Answered a Question in Death of a Salesman
Biff can be considered the protagonist because it is he alone who grows as a character. In the beginning of the play, he exists under the same delusions of grandeur that he father Willy has taught... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
"Irony" is a literary element which describes a discrepancy between what a character says or does and what he or she means. There are numerous instances of irony in Lee's novel. For example, the... -
Answered a Question in The Great Gatsby
The owl-eyed, bespectacled man whom Nick and Jordan encounter in Gatsby's library gives us one of the first hints that Gatsby is a fraud. Owls, of course, have keen vision in the dark. Like the... -
Answered a Question in Death of the Hired Man
Frost's poem contains one of the most quoted lines in all of poetry; "Home is the place where, when you go there, they have to take you in" (lines 118-119). The idea is that "home" is... -
Answered a Question in A&P
There are a number of ways that Sammy differs from his manager, Lengel: in age, in position, in sexual drive, in experience versus naivete. First of all, Lengel seems immune to the... -
Answered a Question in Aspects of the Novel
A theme is a central idea of a work of literature. Themes usually involve some sort of moral, lesson, or message that the author wishes you to come away with after reading the work. ... -
Answered a Question in Of Mice and Men
Candy only has one real friend in life: his dog. Beyond the companionship his dog offers him, Candy has vested interest in keeping the dog around, for like himself, the dog is old and no longer... -
Answered a Question in The Lottery
If it were me, I would go with the second choice, the dangers of ritualized behavior. Rituals can be brutal and senseless, as is the case here. No one really knows why the town... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
Capulet never changed his mind about the marriage. From the start, he was approving of the match and encouraging of Juliet's suitor. In Act 1.2.16-22, Capulet says: But woo her, gentle... -
Answered a Question in Edgar Allan Poe
I agree that there is no diagnosis of insanity, but I think a case could be made for bipolar disorder (aka manic depression). It seems that Poe had periods of enormous creativity followed by... -
Answered a Question in As I Lay Dying
One of the main allusions to the Greek literary tradition comes when Darl burns down the barn to honor his mother's death. The Greeks believed in a quick and dignified burial. For... -
Answered a Question in In the Time of the Butterflies
Dede is at first very suspicious of the American interviewer. She has been enduring the questions about her sisters, "Las Mariposas" (the butterflies) for over fifty years (1943-1994,... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
In part, the answer is because arranged marriages between the elite classes were the norm. In arranged marriages, the thinking was to create political and social allegiances. Lands... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
Scout does call Atticus "my father" when she is recounting her childhood experiences from an adult perspective. However, as a child, both she and her brother indeed did call him... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
Both Romeo and Juliet learn the horrible news about each other's familial relationship sin Act 1, Scene 5. The nurse must be the bearer of bad news to each of them. She first warns Romeo by telling... -
Answered a Question in The Grapes of Wrath
Ma has worked very hard to keep the family together. She fears that when Tom leaves, the last vestige of the clan will be severed forever. Already they have lost Grandma and Grandpa;... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
Miss Caroline is definitely not a good teacher. Although she purports to know the latest techinques taught her in college, there is more to being a good teacher than just rote knowledge. Miss... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
In Act II, Juliet is unaccepting of her family's history of animosity towards one another. Her father knows nothing of Romeo personally; his grudge is against the family in general. Juliet thinks... -
Answered a Question in Charlotte's Web
Mr. Zuckerman pays six dollars for Wilbur. Fern desperately wants to keep the little pig close by and begs her father to sell the pig to her Uncle Homer, who lives down the road. "Your Uncle Homer... -
Answered a Question in Indian Camp
Hemingway's story represents a clash of cultures. For example, as the natives lead Nick, his father, and uncle back to the encampment, the Objiwa and their white visitors walk "into the woods and... -
Answered a Question in A&P
Yes, it probably will be hard for Sammy. He has reached a point of maturity from which there is no turning back. His world inside the supermarket was dull but safe. He has made a... -
Answered a Question in Of Mice and Men
It is not the case that Steinbeck did not sympatize with women. In fact, he cared about them a great deal. Don't fall into the trap of confusing the writer with his work. In... -
Answered a Question in The Bells
Broadly, the genre is poetry. Subcategorized, the genre is an "ode." An ode is something akin to a song; odes have a lyrical meter that can almost be sung. (Without too much... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
Romeo did not want to go to the party. In Act 1, Scene 1, he is bemoaning the loss of his last love, Rosalind. Benvolio is tired of seeing his friend mope. Romeo asks how he... -
Answered a Question in A Rose for Emily
Gray hair, of course, is correlative with age. Emily's hair plays a symbolic role throughout. First, in Section II, the anonymous narrator notes: "She was sick for a long... -
Answered a Question in A Good Man Is Hard to Find
The climax, or the highest point of action, comes when Bailey, the grandmother's son, wrecks the car. At the grandmother's urging, and despite Bailey's reluctance, Bailey turns the car around... -
Answered a Question in Barn Burning
Faulkner meant to create an unlikable, irredeemable character in Abner Snopes. Snopes is cruel and remorseless. Despite a life of poverty and hard-knocks, it is impossible to have... -
Answered a Question in Hamlet
If one assumes that Hamlet is indeed mad, the reasons are many: his father has been murdered by his uncle; his mother has married the killer less than two months after her first husband's...
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