Matthew Purdy, Ph.D.
eNotes Educator
Achievements
2
Educator Level
40
Answers Posted
4
Answers Bonused
About
I am a Boston-based writer and educator with nearly 20 years' experience at the college level. I have taught numerous classes in literature, composition, and creative writing at various levels. Additionally, I have also taught English as a Second Language for nearly 10 years.
Earned Badges
-
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... -
Year One Badge
This badge is awarded once an Educator has been in the eNotes Educator Program for over one year.
Recent Activity
-
Answered a Question in To the Lighthouse
In the first section of To the Lighthouse, "The Window," Mrs. Ramsay is the focal point, the nucleus around which all the characters orbit. When she dies in the second section, "Time Passes," the... -
Answered a Question in A Good Man Is Hard to Find
When discussing a piece of fiction, it is always tricky to speculate about an author's point of view. We generally want to maintain some distance between the author and the narrator, even if the... -
Answered a Question in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
One of the distinguishing characteristics of J. Alfred Prufrock is his indecisiveness. He is constantly unsure of what to do, in large part because he worries about what others will think of him.... -
Answered a Question in Everyday Use
In "Everyday Use," Dee's frustration with her poor, rural upbringing is clear. When she has no choice but to live at home, she chafes at what she feels are the limitations of her family. The... -
Answered a Question in Going to Meet the Man
In James Baldwin's short story "Going to Meet the Man," Jesse's father never tells him what the Black man did to deserve such a horrific punishment. The question occurs to him, though: What did he... -
Answered a Question in Literature
Unlike other critical schools, New Criticism does not take into account the author's individual background or the historical context in which they were writing. Rather, New Criticism says that the... -
Answered a Question in Literature
Poetry can be challenging to non-native speakers of English, but in the English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom, it can offer some benefits unavailable in other kinds of writing. The greatest... -
Answered a Question in Claribel Alegría
Claribel Alegría's short story "Granny and the Golden Bridge" depicts a conversation between an unnamed narrator and her friend Manuel. The tone of the conversation is light and nostalgic, which... -
Answered a Question in Sonnet 18
Throughout Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, the speaker focuses on how comparing his beloved to a summer's day would not do his beloved justice. In the fourth line, the speaker says, "summer’s lease hath... -
Answered a Question in Sonnet 18
The speaker of Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 poses a question in the first line: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" This would seem to be an enormous compliment to the beloved figure here—the... -
Answered a Question in Dead Men's Path
As with much of his work, Chinua Achebe's short story "Dead Men's Path" depicts the friction between Africans and colonizing Europeans. The story concerns Michael Obi, who is made the headmaster of... -
Answered a Question in Araby
James Joyce's short story "Araby" portrays a boy in early adolescence trying to break away from childhood and fumbling toward adulthood. This desire to move away from childhood is articulated in... -
Answered a Question in Happy Endings
Margaret Atwood's short story "Happy Endings" is a classic example of metafiction. Metafiction is a form of storytelling that comments on narrative convention—a story that knows it's a story.... -
Answered a Question in This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen
Tadeusz Borowski's short story "This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen," taken from a story collection of the same name, concerns life in a Nazi concentration camp. The narrator is in a portion... -
Answered a Question in James Gould Cozzens
A major tension James Gould Cozzens's short story "Success Story" exists in the title. What comes to mind when you hear the phrase "success story?" One might think of someone working hard, going to... -
Answered a Question in The Grapes of Wrath
The above quote, taken from John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath, uses two different kinds of figures of speech. A phrase at the end of the quotation, "the wheel screamed" is an example of... -
Answered a Question in Tobias Wolff
Tobias Wolff's short story "That Room" employs the literary technique of defamiliarization, in which familiar things are rendered in such a way as to make them seem new and strange. The narrator of... -
Answered a Question in Sonny's Blues
In James Baldwin's short story "Sonny's Blues," we see a great deal of friction between the narrator and his younger brother, Sonny. Despite the promise he made to his mother to be there for his... -
Answered a Question in Alice Walker
Alice Walker's short prose sketch "My Mother's Blue Bowl" and Teresa Palomo Acosta's poem "My Mother Pieced Quilts" both address their authors' mothers and the legacies they left their daughters.... -
Answered a Question in A Defence of Poetry
Poetry, like any art form, can change the way people think and feel. It does this not by presenting an argument but by creating a strong emotion within the reader. In the terminology of classical... -
Answered a Question in Poetry
Derek Power's poem "The Student" portrays the inner monologue of a college student putting off the work he needs to do. There are a variety of temptations that draw him away: a party with friends,... -
Answered a Question in Ted Hughes
The most notable figure of speech in Ted Hughes's poem "Hawk Roosting" is personification. Personification is when something non-human is given human qualities; it is personification to say that... -
Answered a Question in Charlotte Smith
Charlotte Smith's "Thirty-Eight. To Mrs. ___y" and Maxine Kumin's "Skinnydipping with William Wordsworth" concern the tension between youth and middle age. Smith speaks in general terms, whereas... -
Answered a Question in Dorothy Allison
When discussing the use of humor in Dorothy Allison's work, we ought to consider her famous short story "River of Names," which appeared in her first short story collection, Trash. The...