Tanya Sloan
eNotes Educator
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About
Long-time reader and writer, first-time eNotes question answerer. I have been reading voluminously since my days ordering books from Scholastic in the third grade and I haven't stopped as I've bounced thru adulthood. Particular interests include fiction, poetry, travel writing, and essays, but I have read just about everything—and if you don't believe me ask my wife; she will be happy to share the financial details of my weakness for books.
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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...
Recent Activity
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Answered a Question in The Guide
What makes a novel qualify as “picaresque”? The word itself refers to a story about a “rough and dishonest but appealing hero” who proceeds on a series of adventures, only to learn nothing from the... -
Answered a Question in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
After Sirius and Lupin reveal Ron’s pet rat, Scabbers, to actually be a long-thought dead Animagus named Peter Pettigrew, Peter is able to procure a wand and turn back into a rat after the group... -
Answered a Question in US History (General)
There are many similarities between the 1960s and the present day. Perhaps a good way to look at these commonalities is to look at the aftermath of that turbulent decade, which partly explains how... -
Answered a Question in The Great Gatsby
When Nick tells Gatsby he “can’t repeat the past,” he is referring to Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy and the dreams they had when they were young. They are not words Gatsby wanted to hear. “Can’t... -
Answered a Question in Under the Volcano
The novel begins in Mexico in 1939, one year after the deaths of Yvonne and the Consul, who both died on the Day of the Dead the previous year. This framing puts death in the center of the novel,... -
Answered a Question in Literature
John Donne’s "Meditation 17" contains the line “no man is an island,” and Simon and Garfunkel’s song “I Am a Rock” says the opposite, “I am an island.” Donne refers to the idea that we are all... -
Answered a Question in The Convergence of the Twain
As Thomas Hardy himself alludes to in part of the poem's title ("Lines on the loss of the Titanic"), the poem is about the doomed and "unsinkable" cruise liner the Titanic. Hardy places the blame... -
Answered a Question in Candide
Voltaire was a satirist and has created Dr. Pangloss in that spirit. The doctor's touchstone phrase is “all is for the best in all possible worlds," but it is clear the good doctor is not to be... -
Answered a Question in The Great Gatsby
By the end of chapter seven in The Great Gatsby, there are few, if any, illusions left: most of the characters have been revealed for what they truly are. To take just one example, Gatsby has... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
When Romeo and Juliet meet near the Capulet's balcony in act 2, scene 2, there are numerous different ways in which love is expressed. There is, of course, lust. There is always an undercurrent of... -
Answered a Question in Derek Walcott
In Derek Walcott’s poem “Elsewhere,” it does not take long to find one of its themes. In the opening sentence, A white horse gallops with its mane plunging round a field whose sticks are ringed... -
Answered a Question in Politics and the English Language
In is seminal essay "Politics and the English Language," George Orwell informs the reader in the very first sentence that the English language is in a very bad way, but it is generally assumed that... -
Answered a Question in Heart of Darkness
On several occasions in Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad uses the word “darkness” to describe the vast Congo River and its environs. Even the forest surrounding the river is said to be “dark-faced... -
Answered a Question in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
In creating the magical world of Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling has followed a long line in literature of heroes forged from the furnace of the Everyman, and naturally in children’s literature, Joseph... -
Answered a Question in The Communist Manifesto
The main thesis of Karl Marx's The Communist Manifesto is that for too long, common workers of the world (the proletariat) have been exploited by manufacturers (the bourgeoisie), and the time has... -
Answered a Question in Preface to Lyrical Ballads
Like many of his contemporaries, William Wordsworth’s concerns for humanity included the loss of a love of nature, the inherent inequality of life in England, and the perceived failures of the... -
Answered a Question in The Great Gatsby
In chapter 4 of The Great Gatsby, Nick, while driving in a Victoria through Central Park with Jordan Baker, hears children singing the song "The Sheik of Araby": I’m the Sheik of Araby Your love... -
Answered a Question in Macbeth
That Macbeth and his wife “are yet but young in deed” is but a trifle. In the lines preceding this one, it is evident Macbeth has passed the point of no return, and this time, it’s not his wife who... -
Answered a Question in The Count of Monte Cristo
After he escapes from the Château d’If, Edmond Dantes will need to forge a new identity, and not content with one disguise, he chooses five different ones: Abbé Busoni, a clerk of the house of... -
Answered a Question in Postcolonialism
In Gabriel Okara's poem "The Mystic Drum," there are several references to post-colonialism and its aftermath. A Nigerian, Okara invested much of his creative energy in examining the tension... -
Answered a Question in Literature
In Susan Young's poem "Wordsmith" there are several possible themes. First and foremost is that of the love between a father and his daughter. Though Young titles the poem "Wordsmith," it's not the... -
Answered a Question in Literature
Despite the variety of literature available across the world, all literature has certain concepts in common. All forms of it strive, in their own way depending on their given medium, to shine light... -
Answered a Question in Heart of Darkness
If readers in Joseph Conrad’s time could have seen the earth from outer space, the phrase “the earth seemed unearthly” would have made perfect sense. From that view, our planet is a place of bright... -
Answered a Question in Normal People
Marianne’s growth in Sally Rooney’s second novel is a more-or-less standard character arc. When we meet her she is arrogant, unfeeling, and flippant, supporting the reputation she has at school,...