Michael Del Muro
eNotes Educator
Achievements
8
Educator Level
321
Answers Posted
118
Answers Bonused
About
I've been teaching high school English since 2005. I've taught nearly all levels of literature - freshman, juniors and seniors. I currently teach IB English to both juniors and seniors.
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Recent Activity
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Answered a Question in The Catcher in the Rye
In The Catcher in the Rye, Jane's one trait that Holden continually talks about is her habit of keeping all of her kings in the back row while playing checkers. This is just symbolic of the... -
Answered a Question in All Summer in a Day
Ray Bradbury's "All Summer in a Day" focuses on the cruelty of a bunch of schoolchildren who have moved to Venus and are excited about the clouds clearing for about an hour, which will allow most... -
Answered a Question in Harrison Bergeron
In Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron," everyone is equal because the United States government has instituted several amendments to the Constitution that prohibits anyone from being better than... -
Answered a Question in Araby
There are two direct references to religion in James Joyce's "Araby." The first reference is to a priest who used to live in the unnamed narrator's house. The second way the unnamed narrator... -
Answered a Question in Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes's poem "Life is Fine" focuses on the struggles of a man who is dealing with heartbreak. In this poem, the man contemplates suicide by both jumping into a river and then jumping from... -
Answered a Question in Araby
The most obvious character who is not named in James Joyce's "Araby" is Mangan's sister. Throughout the story, she is known as "Mangan's sister," not as a named character despite the fact that the... -
Answered a Question in This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona
Sherman Alexie's story "This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona" centers around the idea of escaping the reservation. Victor, the primary character in the story, is forced to confront this... -
Answered a Question in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
In the story "Every Little Hurricane" from Sherman Alexie's The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, brothers Adolph and Arnold ("High-pressure and low-pressure fronts") fight in... -
Answered a Question in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
The story "Crazy Horse Dreams" revolves around a sort-of romance between Victor, a Native American man, and an unnamed Native American woman, who meet at a powwow. The woman approaches Victor early... -
Answered a Question in Sherman Alexie
When discussing style, I find the most useful literary elements you must look at are the following: point-of-view, narrative presence, diction, and figurative language. In "Every Little Hurricane,"... -
Answered a Question in Harrison Bergeron
Before discussing the idea of "equality" in Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron," I think it's important to establish what type of "equality" he is writing about. Although the story was published in... -
Answered a Question in Harrison Bergeron
In Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron," when Harrison takes over the studio where the ballerinas and musicians are performing, the narrator describes several "superhuman" qualities about him. Here... -
Answered a Question in Harrison Bergeron
When looking at the opening line of Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron," I think there are two words to focus on: "finally" and "equal." The story was published in 1961, a time in America in... -
Answered a Question in Harrison Bergeron
"Harrison Bergeron" uses the word "equality" ironically. Many political groups over the years have attempted to use this story as a way to criticize the implementation of policies that attempted to... -
Answered a Question in Harrison Bergeron
In the short story "Harrison Bergeron," everything that exceeds the lowest common denominator set by Handicapper General Diana Moon Glampers is considered abnormal or illegal. Arts, in particular,... -
Answered a Question in The Catcher in the Rye
Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, Holden rejects the consumerism that makes up much of the post-World War II "American dream." He makes several comments throughout the novel in which he... -
Answered a Question in The Catcher in the Rye
In Chapter 2, Mr. Spencer tells Holden that "Life is a game that one plays according to the rules." Holden immediately rejects this advice, arguing, If you get on the side where all the hot-shots... -
Answered a Question in Neil Gaiman
Throughout the story "How to Talk to Girls at Parties," there's a hint that the women at the party are not exactly women—or even human. This idea is foreshadowed early in the story and then the... -
Answered a Question in The Catcher in the Rye
Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, Holden mentions his desire to give Jane Gallagher a call. In fact, his fight with Stradlater occurs because he's afraid that his roommate gave Jane "the... -
Answered a Question in The Catcher in the Rye
The pond in Central Park is one of the novel's major symbols. Throughout the novel, Holden obsesses about these ducks because he, like the ducks, feels like he has no place to go. After leaving... -
Answered a Question in Sherman Alexie
Throughout the story "Indian Education," there is only one mention of the narrator's cousin, Steven Ford, but the idea of this character is present throughout the narrative. When in fifth... -
Answered a Question in The Catcher in the Rye
In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden admits on page one that he's telling the story from some type of mental hospital after "this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas just... -
Answered a Question in Neil Gaiman
Throughout the story "How to Talk to Girls at Parties," there's a hint that the women at the party are not exactly women— or even human. This idea is foreshadowed early in the story and then the... -
Answered a Question in Ballad of the Landlord
Langston Hughes's poem "The Ballad of the Landlord" is a poem told in song form about a tenant (or tenants) complaining about the unfair housing practices suffered at the hands of the tenant's... -
Answered a Question in Harrison Bergeron
In nearly every dystopian society, the ultimate goal of the leaders isn't the stated goal, "equality" in this instance. For the most part, the ultimate goal in these worlds is control. Handicapper... -
Answered a Question in Ernest Hemingway
This is a very broad question and I'll answer it using the short story "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place." While this isn't the most obvious story to examine how Hemingway examines masculinity in his... -
Answered a Question in The Martian Chronicles
One of the characteristics of good science fiction writing is the ability to talk about our world in a world that doesn't look much like it. For example, most dystopian movies today, while science... -
Answered a Question in The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby has some of the richest language in all of American literature. He wrote the novel at a time when rich language was frowned upon by the most popular... -
Answered a Question in Eveline
In James Joyce's "Eveline," the title character notices the dust in her home. This dust is one of the major symbolic elements of this story. Throughout the opening pages of the story, including the... -
Answered a Question in Harrison Bergeron
Whenever you read speculative fiction, it's important to look at the story's themes and see how they are related to our world. Although Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron" was written about 50... -
Answered a Question in Sherman Alexie
In the conclusion to his essay "Superman and Me," Sherman Alexie states that through teaching reading and writing he hopes to save Native American lives. Throughout the essay, Alexie discusses the... -
Answered a Question in Sherman Alexie
Generally, it's not a bad idea to go into every piece of literature, especially those written in first-person point-of-view, with the belief that the narrator is unreliable. Since Sherman Alexie's... -
Answered a Question in Soldier's Home
First of all, it's important to remember that mood is the feelings created within the reader. Since mood is a response to the work—and every reader responds differently to a piece—the... -
Answered a Question in Macbeth
There are many ideas that run through Macbeth that reveal ideas about the human condition. I'll give you a couple of ideas: 1. The desire for more. Macbeth is a play about a man who to be... -
Answered a Question in Harrison Bergeron
The end of "Harrison Bergeron," when Harrison shouts on TV that "I am the Emperor! Everybody must do what I say at once!" he shows that he is a danger to American society in the year 2081. While we... -
Answered a Question in There Will Come Soft Rains
Throughout the story "There Will Come Soft Rains," Ray Bradbury includes certain details that create a desolate, sad setting, including a description of what happens to Allendale, California after... -
Answered a Question in The Secret Life of Bees
In Chapter 3 of The Secret Life of Bees, Lily and Rosaleen are fleeing and looking for a place to stay for the night. After Lily suggests they rent a room at a motel, Rosaleen looks at Lily... -
Answered a Question in Langston Hughes
A claim is what you would use to support a larger argument, or thesis. When it comes to poetry, there are many ways in which you can create an argument and support it with claims. The... -
Answered a Question in Eveline
Although "Eveline" is written in third-person, James Joyce employs a technique known as free-indirect discourse, which allows the narrator to channel the title character's thoughts and... -
Answered a Question in There Will Come Soft Rains
In "There Will Come Soft Rains," the house is an unthinking, emotionless machine, so the story's mood stays, for the most part, as being matter-of-fact. However, in the moments leading up to the... -
Answered a Question in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
In the chapter "In Like a Lion," Junior explains his improvement in basketball is due to increased confidence from not being the "lowest Indian on the reservation totem pole" and from people... -
Answered a Question in There Will Come Soft Rains
In Ray Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains," the one house remaining in Allendale, Calif. after a nuclear blast goes from something that served a family to something that serves no purpose and... -
Answered a Question in Harrison Bergeron
Simply put, I believe the abilities to overcome impediments and learn from failure are absolutely essential when it comes to reaching greater heights. That said, while impediments are present in... -
Answered a Question in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place
This is a dangerous question in that it assumes that the action taking place in the story is autobiographical to the author. That said, you can argue that Ernest Hemingway draws on his experiences... -
Answered a Question in Literature
When you write "the elements of fiction," I'm led to believe you're talking about these: plot, conflict, characters, setting, and point of view. So I'll give a brief overview of each.... -
Answered a Question in Harrison Bergeron
For the most part, when we talk about equality, we really mean equal opportunity. There's this idea, particularly by those who have never had to fight for equality, that any discussion of making... -
Answered a Question in Me Talk Pretty One Day
In his "Me Talk Pretty One Day" essay, David Sedaris explores his feelings of alienation that come from his attempt to learn a foreign language while living in a foreign land. He explains this... -
Answered a Question in Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
In Persepolis, Marjane's father tells the neighbor boy, Hossein, that Mehri, the girl he's been exchanging letters with, is not his daughter, but the maid. As a result of her true... -
Answered a Question in The Great Gatsby
The movie that comes most instantly to my mind is (500) Days of Summer. This movie, which is told in a nonlinear narrative style, explores the relationship between Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt),... -
Answered a Question in The Catcher in the Rye
One way you may want to approach your character analysis of Holden is to actually conduct a psychoanalysis of him. (Here's a quick summary of this theory.) The reason why this type of character...
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