
Jennifer Cannaday
eNotes Educator
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114
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About
I've taught English for twelve years at a National Blue Ribbon school. I'm certified to teach language arts and history, although I've never gotten around to teaching history. In my English department, I'm a curriculum team leader and the SAT prep teacher. I'm also Nationally Board Certified to teach English. I've published a number of flash fiction stories and some poetry just because I adore the English language, which is why I've never taken a job teaching history classes (although I adore history, too). There is nothing quite as much fun as teaching kids the real court politics of Edward II/Edward III right before going into the Canterbury Tales. ;)
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Recent Activity
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Answered a Question in The Wife of Bath's Tale
Satire involves an author taking a serious tone toward a subject, but then exaggerating some element until it's clear that the real purpose is to make fun of some aspect of society. Chaucer's work... -
Answered a Question in Their Eyes Were Watching God
The townspeople were very critical of her choice to see Teacake. From an external point of view, the marriage of Janie and Joe Starks has everything required for success: wealth, respect, a... -
Answered a Question in Of Mice and Men
We actually see quite a few references to this. Lennie clearly has troubles with his memory, yet after George gets angry and tries to console Lennie, Lennie quickly demands, "Tell me--like... -
Answered a Question in The Crucible
John Proctor and others have a conflict with the new minister. In Puritan times, the belief was that God would not allow an impious man to become a minister. Hale references this in Act... -
Answered a Question in The Lottery
There are many examples of the town's unwillingness to change. During the lottery itself, Mr. Adams makes the comment that some towns have given up the lottery. The oldest member of the... -
Answered a Question in Literature
One of my favorite characters out for revenge is Iago from Othello. He believes that Othello had humiliated him as a man by sleeping with his wife. Maybe if everyone hated Othello, Iago... -
Answered a Question in Twilight
There was a large conflict in various posting boards. From the rumors I read in places like Fandom Wank, Stephenie Meyer was very upset by some of the reviews of Breaking Dawn and was even... -
Answered a Question in Of Mice and Men
He has Lennie imagine the farm that they are going to get together. That farm has become a symbol of all that is good in life, and George adds one additional part to this familiar... -
Answered a Question in The Most Dangerous Game
You have a lot of examples for Zoroff's lack of respect for human beings. 1. He allows Ivan to torture men if they refuse to participate in his game. 2. He gleefully tells Rainsford, "I had to... -
Answered a Question in The Most Dangerous Game
There are a number of quotes that you could use, depending on how you see the story. The nice thing about literature is that there's rarely just one answer. Rainsford: Be a realist. The world... -
Answered a Question in Medea
They are definitely not happy, but they're also slow to take action against Medea. They cry out, "wretched, evil woman! and "hard and wretched woman," so they clearly reject the argument that... -
Answered a Question in Oedipus Rex
The internet is great for line searches. Once you find an electronic version of the play, use the "Edit" menu on your toolbar and locate the command "Find" or "Find In." Type into the... -
Answered a Question in The Odyssey
Your biggest example comes from Calypso in book five of the Odyssey. When Hermes come to inform her that the gods have ordered her to release Odysseus, she makes a long an impassioned plea... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
A quote is any line from the book. The words spoken by a character is dialogue. The description is actually in chapter 10, but we have to keep in mind that he is described by Scout who... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
I'm not sure I would call the battle unwinable at all. Mrs. Dubose did win her battle to be free of morphine. However, she knew that winning the battle would mean nothing in the big... -
Answered a Question in The Lottery
This story really does have a lot to sayabout how mobs do not react the same as individuals. "group behavior tends to be more extreme than the typical behavior of its individual members"... -
Answered a Question in The Cask of Amontillado
This really is an ambiguous line. The obvious answer is that he is hoping that Fortunato has rested in peace. Literally, the answer is that Fortuanto has rested in peace without anyone disturbing... -
Answered a Question in Death of a Salesman
I would have to say no. A tragic hero is tragic because he has all the elements of greatness. He could be something great and grand and memorable, but through his own failings, all that... -
Answered a Question in Othello
My students always love Iago... although many love to hate him rather than actually loving him. I think part of the charm is that Iago is just so familiar. We'd all met someone who feels... -
Answered a Question in Much Ado About Nothing
I've always seen Claudio and Hero as nothing more than a foil for Beatrice and Benedick. Beatrice and Benedick were once dating, and several lines imply they had a spectacular break up. ... -
Answered a Question in Twilight
I agree that the Mormon concept of "agency" or choice is foremost in the first three books. Does Edward choose temptation or protecting Bella. Does Bella choose her vampire or her... -
Answered a Question in Twilight
I think the answer is found in the author's religion. Mormons beleive very strongly in "agency"--the concept that the world is full of evil and a person has the right and ability to choose... -
Answered a Question in The Canterbury Tales
Taken as a whole, I think the Tales reveal how very different people can be, even when they appear similar on the outside. You certainly see examples of both moral and immoral individuals,... -
Answered a Question in The Rocking-Horse Winner
Both stories certainly show the dangers of conformity. In "The Rocking-Horse Winner," the mother feels that "she felt she must cover up some fault," and even though there's never any particular... -
Answered a Question in The Cask of Amontillado
The easy answer to this is that Fortunato as a character is just there to function as a part of a metaphor. Some people say that this story really is a metaphor for Montressor performing a... -
Answered a Question in Things Fall Apart
Okonkwo, like all great tragic heroes, is largely responsible for his own death. He was out of the area when the missionaries came in because he'd been exiled for killing a man. That... -
Answered a Question in The Cask of Amontillado
Major points as in major plot points? That's really best discussed in the notes on the first link below, although the highlights would include Montressor tricking Fortunato by claiming to... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
I would say the most important way they are alike is that they both have to deal with people who clearly hate them. In Atticus' case, many people in Maycomb think he's a "nigger-lover" and... -
Answered a Question in Things Fall Apart
The third person point of view keeps the reader from every totally identifying with Okonkwo. When he does something truly reprehensible (like killing Ikemafuna), we don't see his justifications and... -
Answered a Question in Othello
Not very well. You have to look at what a leader is expected to do. A leader should inspire confidence, and Othello clearly does this because the Duke and the others insist on sending him.... -
Answered a Question in Othello
For the most part, characters have a very high opinion of Iago, reinforcing the idea that deception is, in fact, very powerful. Cassio turns to Iago for advice on how to get back into Othello's... -
Answered a Question in The Catcher in the Rye
I teach this book as part of a unit with my juniors. They have the choice of Bean Trees, Catcher in the Rye or Brave New World. For my students, this works even with the prostitution and profanity... -
Answered a Question in Othello
I absolutely agree with kwoo1312, but I would add that Lodovico is also critical to the plot because he is a representative of the Duke. Earlier in the play, the Duke of Venice sided with... -
Answered a Question in The Odyssey
Odysseus doesn't necessarily want to visit the land of the cyclops or Polyphemus (the specific cyclops in whose cave he ended up trapped). However, he does stop to explore because he sees a fertile... -
Answered a Question in Othello
I agree this should be a discussion board item because I would make an argument for Othello himself. He is clearly insecure given his comments about not having "those soft parts of... -
Answered a Question in The Canterbury Tales
Okay, writing some questions for my class, I stumbled across this, and I really have to say that the idea that the pardoner is trying to get people to address their sins is an incomplete... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
I don't think they did what they could... especially Romeo. The prince was very vocal about wanting to end the feud, and given that he had the ultimate power, Romeo could have appealed to him for... -
Answered a Question in The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
If you look at the images in the poem, they are very reminiscent of a pastorial painting. He describes "hills and valleys" and "dale and field" in a way that brings to mind the pastoral art... -
Answered a Question in Othello
Typically, a revenge play in the classic sense of Seneca is a play where a leader, nobleman, or family member is murdered and the play is centered on avenging that death. Classic revenge plays tend... -
Answered a Question in Realism
Modern artists challenge realism. I went over to the MoMA and just randomly pulled their current exhibitions, and I came up with Alexander Calder and Sigalit Landau, but I think you could use most... -
Answered a Question in The Rocking-Horse Winner
I'm going to assume you mean the literary sense of sentimental as in the 18th century writing where female protagonists are "guardians of spirituality and virtue." In this story, the mother, rather... -
Answered a Question in The Odyssey
There are any number of reasons why the story continues to resonate with readers. First, Odysseus is a classic hero in the tradition of Beowulf or Luke Skywalker. He had a great quest to undertake,... -
Answered a Question in Othello
Certainly, Iago and not Othello is the master of the bedroom, which is why the death scene in which Othello ultimately fails as a general and a husband takes place in the bedroom. However, I would... -
Answered a Question in The Lottery
So many insights that it's difficult to catalogue them all. I'm going to quote one of the first in the field: Le Bon's The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind from the 1800's. "The... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
jeff-hauge definitely gave the best answer, but there are smaller things as well. Her father mentioned things being "all slung about" but Mayella never mentions things in the room being... -
Answered a Question in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
There's a lot of irony in the story. Irony is traditionally defined in modern literature as "the technique of indicating an intention or attitude opposed to what is actually stated." ...