Michael Del Muro
eNotes Educator
Achievements
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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 Imagism
Imagism is an early 20th Century poetry movement started by Ezra Pound and a few other contemporaries in Europe. The poets involved actually met and wrote papers about this movement and came up... -
Answered a Question in The Lottery
The main irony in Shirley Jackson's story "The Lottery" is the title of the story itself, which relates to the story's main tension, and the events that occur at the end. In order to answer... -
Answered a Question in Rules of the Game
At six years old, Meimei's mother taught her the rule of "invisible strength," or to "Bite back your tongue ... Wise guy, he not go against wind. In Chinese we say, Come from South, blow with... -
Answered a Question in The Veldt
The story begins with George Hadley and his wife discussing sending a psychologist, not a technician, to look at the Happylife Home system. So right away, Ray Bradbury sets up the idea that this... -
Answered a Question in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
(Note: I'm not sure what is meant by "past life," so this answer will deal with Prufrock's nature, which is probably what is being asked.) The line that sums up J. Alfred Prufrock's nature is... -
Answered a Question in The Lottery
First off, let's start by noting that there is no clear moment in the text in which the purpose of the lottery is noted. However, we can speculate a few possible reasons why the lottery was set in... -
Answered a Question in A Perfect Day for Bananafish
In "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," Seymour's only positive relationship is with the four-to-five-year old Sybil Carpenter, who sits on the beach with the war veteran. It's important that... -
Answered a Question in The Catcher in the Rye
Note: The literal meaning of something means that the reader is looking at exactly how this thing is being used in the plot. While the figurative meaning of something is looking at deeper meanings... -
Answered a Question in The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby after World War II, a war in which he attempted to participate in, but it ended before he was deployed. The effects of this war Fitzgerald wanted to... -
Answered a Question in Lamb to the Slaughter
At the end of Roald Dahl's "Lamb to the Slaughter," there seems to be no regret from Mary for killing her husband with a frozen leg of lamb and then cooking for and feeding his police... -
Answered a Question in The Interlopers
In the first two paragraphs of "The Interlopers," Saki emphasizes the idea of isolation, in order to foreshadow how man is truly alone when facing nature. Everything, from the facts given... -
Answered a Question in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place
Insomnia in "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" is indicative of the feeling of hopelessness or disillusion that the older waiter is feeling about life. He dismisses this disillusion as "insomnia," but... -
Answered a Question in The Handmaid's Tale
The three most important settings in The Handmaid's Tale are the Commander's home, the school where the handmaids are re-educated, and the changing times that are recounted in the narrator's... -
Answered a Question in Of Mice and Men
In Of Mice and Men, Curley is short, angry and cruel. These characteristics describe everything this character contributes to the novel. Curley is short and has a bit of what is known as the... -
Answered a Question in The Crucible
In Act III of The Crucible, John Proctor loses control of his ability to try to please the mob and stops feeding into the hysteria in Salem by refusing to lie about his affair with Abigail... -
Answered a Question in The Lottery
When Shirley Jackson published "The Lottery," only two or three years had passed since the end of World War II and the liberation of the German concentration camps. While this story doesn't... -
Answered a Question in The Lottery
The reason "The Lottery" has lasted so many years and is often anthologized and placed in lists of "greatest American short stories," and the like, is that it is a beautifully organized work with... -
Answered a Question in The Catcher in the Rye
Two chapters that are definitely relevant to Catcher in the Rye are "It's More Than Just Rain or Snow" and "Is that a Symbol?" The argument in "It's More Than Just Rain or Snow" is this: weather... -
Answered a Question in Robert Frost
Three of the many features that are often present in Robert Frost's poems are a) a simple rhyme scheme, b) everyday language, c) multiple symbolic meanings. For example, take the opening stanza... -
Answered a Question in Harrison Bergeron
Generally, handicapping in sports is used to ensure that those who are of lesser ability can compete with someone who is better. For example, in golf, par for a good player might be three strokes,... -
Answered a Question in Rules of the Game
The extended metaphor of life being compared to chess is evident throughout the story, "Rules of the Game." While Waverly is on one side of this metaphorical chessboard, her mother is on the other... -
Answered a Question in Alice Munro
The town and the era in which "An Ounce of Cure" occurs contributes to the narrator's grievances in that she's never really able to forget two youthful mistakes, which were all centered around a... -
Answered a Question in The Great Gatsby
The title of the novel The Great Gatsby indicates the dual nature of Jay Gatsby's characteristics. The name "The Great ______" calls to mind an illusionist, whose sole purpose is keep... -
Answered a Question in The Great Gatsby
The easy answer to this question is that Jay Gatsby is the one who tried to recapture his past romance with Daisy, but the answer to this is not so simple. One of the most famous quotes from the... -
Answered a Question in Harrison Bergeron
If Harrison Bergeron wanted to make a political statement, he would have made his point and then attempted to escape. But his decision to dance with the ballerina until he was shot and killed makes... -
Answered a Question in The Interlopers
The mood generated in the first few paragraphs of "The Interlopers" is one of isolation and even a sense of antagonism. Remember that "mood" is is the feeling generated within a work,... -
Answered a Question in The Veldt
The Peter Pan archetype is obviously used and it's made obvious by the use of the children's names Peter and Wendy. In fact, the use of the term "nursery" recalls the nursery in the J.M. Barrie... -
Answered a Question in The Lottery
Entertainment and self-expression are limited reasons for writing fiction. One of the larger, more important reasons for writing fiction is to express human emotions that are often inexpressible. I... -
Answered a Question in The Lottery
While the dialogue of the story is interesting because it is so vague, the use of certain pronunciations and words suggests that language is being used in "The Lottery" to create an Old-World... -
Answered a Question in Of Mice and Men
The best place to look for quotes about loneliness occurs in Chapters 2 and 3 of the novel when George and Lennie end up hanging out with Crooks, the black stable buck, and then with Curley's... -
Answered a Question in Still I Rise
From the diction to the images created, the poem "Still I Rise" is full of "sassiness" as Maya Angelou calls it. The word "sassy" itself has different meanings. It can mean "rude and insolent" or... -
Answered a Question in The Catcher in the Rye
Here are some quotations from Chapter 6 about Holden's fight with Stradlater: After asking if Stradlater gave Jane "the time" in Ed Banksy's car, this is what Holden says: "The next part I don't... -
Answered a Question in The Fault in Our Stars
Well, in the book, Hazel Grace describes her features as thus: “I was wearing old jeans, which had once been tight but now sagged in weird places, and a yellow T-shirt advertising a band I didn’t... -
Answered a Question in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck and Tom, while both mischievous and both full of a desire for adventure, are different in that Huck has a more mature sense of the world, while Tom... -
Answered a Question in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
The chicken in the story suggests the idea that hunger, while difficult to deal with, is temporary and can be satisfied with food. The satisfaction with KFC chicken is, to Junior, a sort-of... -
Answered a Question in History
In Selma, there were two groups competing for influence: The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC - pronounced "snick") - John Lewis (who is currently a U.S. congressman) was the leader... -
Answered a Question in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
In America, we often think of poverty as people lacking something—a car, a job, cable television. But the most basic type of poverty is the inability to eat. But for Junior, the worst part of being... -
Answered a Question in The Great Gatsby
The easiest way to answer this question is by going to the text. Nick says Gatsby "surprisingly" asks Nick, "what's your opinion of me anyhow?" Then he admits, "A little overwhelmed, I began the... -
Answered a Question in Rules of the Game
The basic answer is this: in "Rules of the Game," Waverly is attracted to the chess set because of its unique rules and how she relates these unique rules to her role as a first-generation American... -
Answered a Question in A Small, Good Thing
I don't know if I'd classify this story as pessimistic or optimistic. I'd say this story says something about one of the overwhelming human desires—the desire to be understood and experience... -
Answered a Question in The Catcher in the Rye
I have a different take on Catcher in the Rye than most people do. My take is this: Catcher in the Rye is about a disturbed teenager who people can sympathize with, but ultimately reject,... -
Answered a Question in Haruki Murakami
The beauty of Haruki Murakami stories is that there are generally several ways to interpret them. My favorite way of looking at this story is by analyzing one of its primary themes: the idea of... -
Answered a Question in The Road Not Taken
It's always important to understand the difference between tone and mood. I like to say that tone is how the author feels about the work. You can tell how the author feels by the word choices...
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