Jonathan Ryan
eNotes Educator
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175
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About
I am a high school English Language Arts and social studies teacher who enjoys exploring literature from a historical perspective. I am a curious person and interested in learning about practically anything regarding literature and history!
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Recent Activity
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Answered a Question in Macbeth
Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth is not itself a true story, but many of the figures and events in the play are rooted in real history. The historical Macbeth was a Scottish warlord who lived from... -
Answered a Question in The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” presents a forking road in a forest as a metaphor for the choices one makes in life, but the poem's inspiration was quite literal. The idea behind “The Road... -
Answered a Question in The Giver
The ending of Lois Lowry’s novel The Giver is intentionally ambiguous, so whether or not Jonas dies is up for interpretation. In the final pages of The Giver, Jonas wholly rejects the values of the... -
Answered a Question in John Stuart Mill
The Greatest Happiness Principle is the central idea of 19th century English philosopher John Stuart Mill’s brand of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is a branch of philosophy that determines the... -
Answered a Question in Dead Men's Path
Chinua Achebe’s short story “Dead Man’s Path” tells the story of Michael Obi, a zealous missionary determined to impress his superiors in the Mission Authority. Obi prides himself in his “modern... -
Answered a Question in In a Station of the Metro
Before diving into a discussion of Ezra Pound’s poem “In a Station of the Metro” it is worth taking a minute to outline Pound’s style so we can understand his goals. Ezra Pound was the founder of a... -
Answered a Question in Paradise Lost
There are literally hundreds of allusions to the Bible peppered throughout John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost, particularly to Genesis. Genesis is the first book in the Christian Bible and... -
Answered a Question in Fahrenheit 451
The opening paragraphs of Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 explain Guy Montag’s profession as a fireman, who destroys banned books. The famous introductory line, “It was a pleasure to... -
Answered a Question in Night
Thanks for the question! In the third chapter of Elie Wiesel’s Holocaust memoir Night, the author claims that his first night in the concentration camp “murdered my God and murdered my soul.” This... -
Answered a Question in The Cask of Amontillado
In Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado,” Montresor’s coat of arms and family motto accurately reflect his violent character and foreshadow his cruel actions. The coat of arms is... -
Answered a Question in Fahrenheit 451
In Part II of Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag recklessly reads banned poetry to his wife’s friends. While Faber listens to the conversation through an earpiece, Montag spiritedly... -
Answered a Question in The Tell-Tale Heart
In Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Tell-Tale Heart," a mentally unhinged narrator reveals how he cruelly murdered an old man. The narrator spends several nights slowly opening the bedroom door... -
Answered a Question in Things Fall Apart
In Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart, hints of the white man's arrival in Umuofia begin in part 1 with details that reveal a trading network of European technologies. For example, Okonkwo... -
Answered a Question in Night
Thanks for the question! The connotation of a word is the emotional weight a word carries for the reader. The connotation of a word is different than the denotation, or the dictionary definition of... -
Answered a Question in History
Thanks for the question! The most commonly discussed diseases of the Colombian Exchange were the ones brought to the New World by early European colonizers and conquerors. The transmission of... -
Answered a Question in Jacobean Drama
Thanks for the question! The Jacobean era refers to England under the reign of King James I, from 1603 to his death in 1625. This time frame is relatively short, clocking in at a mere 22 years of... -
Answered a Question in Gulliver's Travels
Jonathan Swift's satirical novel Gulliver's Travels opens with a letter. The letter is fictional but purports to be from a real person named Richard Sympson, a man who claims to be an "ancient and... -
Answered a Question in Apartheid
Thanks for the question! The Group Areas Act was a trio of acts passed by the South African Parliament in 1950 during the Apartheid era. The laws strengthened the segregation of blacks and whites... -
Answered a Question in The Swiss Family Robinson
Thanks for the question! Johan Wyss' novel Swiss Family Robinson has a clear happy ending! After spending over ten years on the isolated island, the Robinson family has settled in and are... -
Answered a Question in All Summer in a Day
The rising action of a story is the series of plot events that lead to a climax. In the rising action of a story, tension builds, characters are developed, and the setting is explored. By... -
Answered a Question in The Other Side of Truth
Beverly Naidoo's novel The Other Side of Truth begins in Nigeria during the mid-1990s. This period in Nigerian history was marked by the savage dictatorship of General Sani Abacha. General Abacha... -
Answered a Question in Dover Beach
In literature, a dramatic monologue refers to a character presenting their inner thoughts and motivations aloud. In poetry, the definition is much the same, except the speaker is generally an... -
Answered a Question in The Duchess and the Jeweller
Thanks for the question! The relationship between the duchess and the jeweler in Virginia Woolf's short story is complex. Before we place this relationship under the microscope, it might be helpful... -
Answered a Question in Things Fall Apart
Thanks for the question! It is easy to argue that miscommunication led to some of the conflicts between the citizens of Umuofia and the British colonizers in Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall... -
Answered a Question in The Epic of Gilgamesh
This passage from the Epic of Gilgamesh explores the universal human fear of death. In the passage, Gilgamesh tells his story to an alewife—essentially an ancient version of a bartender—who... -
Answered a Question in Casey at the Bat
Thanks for the question! Ernest Lawrence Thayer’s playful poem “Casey at the Bat” tells the story of a baseball game where the Mudville home-team is losing with a score of “four to two” with a... -
Answered a Question in Beowulf
Beowulf faces many challenges in his battle with Grendel’s mother. The first and most obvious challenge Beowulf faces is finding and reaching the lair of Grendel’s mother. After the bloody attack... -
Answered a Question in Ray Bradbury
The mood of a story is the feeling a reader gets as they read it. An author creates the mood of a story by including certain details, selecting words with powerful or interesting connotations, and... -
Answered a Question in O Captain! My Captain!
Thanks for the question! Walt Whitman was inspired to compose his famous poem "O Captain! My Captain!" after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in April of 1865. While living in DC during the... -
Answered a Question in Beowulf
Thanks for the question! When Beowulf arrives in Heorot with his band of followers, he boldly announces his intention to kill Grendel, the monster that has destroyed King Hrothgar's fortunes. After... -
Answered a Question in Lord of the Flies
In the final chapters of William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, the island descends into savagery after Piggy’s death. When the wounded Ralph makes contact with the twins Samneric in the final... -
Answered a Question in The Vendor of Sweets
The choice of point of view is an important decision for any author as they craft a story, because it influences the reader's perception of the characters and interpretation of the plot. In his... -
Answered a Question in 20,000 Leagues under the Sea
Thanks for the question! There are numerous differences between Jules Verne’s novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and the 1954 Disney film version. While the original plot of Verne’s story is... -
Answered a Question in Literature
The primary difference between the genres of biography and historical fiction is the factual accuracy of each story. A biographer attempts to craft a complete picture of a single persons’ life by... -
Answered a Question in Lord of the Flies
Chapter 8 of William Golding’s novel The Lord of the Flies offers the most direct exploration of the central role of evil in human nature. Until Simon’s terrifying encounter with the Lord of the... -
Answered a Question in Things Fall Apart
Thanks for the question! Ultimately, the response to this prompt on Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart is a matter of opinion. It is important to consider the arguments on both sides as you... -
Answered a Question in Great Expectations
The Convict in Charles Dickens’ novel Great Expectations is one of the more colorful characters in the story. His relationship with Pip forms one of the core plot-lines of the Great Expectations.... -
Answered a Question in When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
Walt Whitman’s poem “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” contrasts the technical expertise of an astronomer with the sense of wonder experienced by the poem’s speaker. The speaker of the poem... -
Answered a Question in The Bear
The two primary sources of humor in Anton Checkov’s one-act play The Bear are situational irony and hyperbolic wordplay. Situational irony is when an audience has the reasonable expectation that... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
There are dozens of oxymorons in William Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet. An oxymoron is a rhetorical device that combines two words that appear contradictory. In his plays, William... -
Answered a Question in A Midsummer Night's Dream
The Mechanicals’ performance of Pyramus and Thisbe in William Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream serves two primary functions. The first function of the play within a play is comedic.... -
Answered a Question in The Progress of Poesy
Thomas Gray’s 1757 poem “The Progress of Poesy: A Pindaric Ode” is an allusion-packed description of different poets and poetic styles from the ancient Greeks to the Enlightenment. The title,... -
Answered a Question in Literature
Beowulf’s heroism is rooted in physical violence and feats of strength. When Beowulf introduces himself to Hrothgar, he boasts of an impressive resume! Before the plot of the poem even begins,... -
Answered a Question in The Glass Menagerie
Great question! Although it features a melancholy love story and tragic elements, The Glass Menagerie is best described as a memory play. In fact, Tennessee Williams invented the term in the stage... -
Answered a Question in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
While I obviously cannot write your essay for you, I can provide some ideas to get you started and provide some direction as you organize your response. “The Danger of a Single Story” is a TED Talk... -
Answered a Question in The Soldier
The speaker of Rupert Brooke's poem "The Soldier" presents dying for England during the First World War in bittersweet terms. The poem does not glorify death in patriotic terms but does lament that... -
Answered a Question in Poetry
Dan Schneider's trisonnet "Triceratops Herd Running" begins with an epigraph that dedicates the poem to the late rock-star Chris Cornell, who died in 2017. The dedication is critical to bear in... -
Answered a Question in The Things They Carried
The opening chapter of Tim O'Brien's novel The Things They Carried is an exhaustive list of the items carried by a small group of American soldiers in Vietnam. Amidst a litany of weapons and... -
Answered a Question in 20,000 Leagues under the Sea
In chapter 20 of Jules Verne’s adventure 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Captain Nemo permits his captives to visit the coast of Papua New Guinea after a lengthy period at sea. Professor Aronnax, Ned... -
Answered a Question in Old Man at the Bridge
Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Old Man at the Bridge” tells of the narrator’s encounter with an elderly man near a pontoon bridge over the Ebro River during the Spanish Civil War. The man appears...
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