Jonathan Ryan
eNotes Educator
Achievements
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Educator Level
175
Answers Posted
18
Answers Bonused
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 The Duchess and the Jeweller
Virginia Woolf's short story "The Duchess and the Jeweller" focuses on a wealthy London jeweler and his purchase of ten false pearls from the Duchess of Lambourne. The Duchess is described as "very... -
Answered a Question in Lord of the Flies
This is a fun question! There are thousands of songs that Ralph may have related to at different parts of William Golding’s novel The Lord of the Flies. My suggestions are listed chronologically... -
Answered a Question in The Negro Speaks of Rivers
Langston Hughes’ poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” names four rivers: The Euphrates, The Congo, The Nile, and The Mississippi. In the poem, rivers are used to convey racial memory across millennia... -
Answered a Question in The Alchemist
Great question! To fully answer your query about the Englishman in Paulo Coelho’s novel The Alchemist, it is important to fully understand the concept of a foil. In literature, a foil is a... -
Answered a Question in Dead Men's Path
When tasked with analyzing the language of any story, you should pay attention to several literary elements simultaneously as you read. I teach my students an acronym to help them structure their... -
Answered a Question in Kaleidoscope
"Kaleidoscope" is the second story in Ray Bradbury's science fiction anthology The Illustrated Man. The story narrates the fate of a group of men who narrowly escape an explosion on their rocket... -
Answered a Question in Things Fall Apart
Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart describes the political, social, and religious equilibrium of the Igbo people before the arrival of the British. Achebe uses Okonkwo, the protagonist of the... -
Answered a Question in The Hobbit
The key to which you refer is a small, “long-barrelled” silver key that Gandalf gives to Thorin at the meeting in Bilbo’s home, along with the map to the secret entrance to the Lonely Mountain.... -
Answered a Question in Heart of Darkness
Before answering your inquiry about Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness directly, it is important to establish two things. First, the narrator of the story is not Marlow; it is an unnamed man... -
Answered a Question in Notes From Underground
Fyodor Dostoevsky’s 1864 novel Notes From the Underground can easily be viewed through an existentialist lens. A clear definition of existentialism is difficult to pin down. Such a diverse variety... -
Answered a Question in The Signal-Man
"The Signal-Man" by Charles Dickens is a tale in the tradition of the Christmas ghost-story that was popular in the Victorian era. The narrative chronicles the haunting of a railway signal-man, who... -
Answered a Question in History
Thanks for the question! Hercules is the Latin name for Herakles, a hero and demigod from Greek mythology. No reliable evidence suggests that Herakles ever lived. It is highly improbable that he is... -
Answered a Question in The Taming of the Shrew
In William Shakespeare's comedy The Taming of the Shrew, Hortensio is Petruchio's best friend and sidekick. Like almost every other man in Padua, Hortensio adores the gorgeous Bianca and fantasizes... -
Answered a Question in Hamlet
You ask two questions about William Shakespeare’s tragedy of Hamlet, so I will address each query separately. Hamlet’s interaction with the actors in act 2, scene 2 is driven by his desire to... -
Answered a Question in The Jew of Malta
Interesting question! Technically, Christopher Marlowe wrote his play The Jew of Malta in what linguists consider Modern English. Without going into too much detail, Modern English as we know it... -
Answered a Question in Animal Farm
One major theme of George Orwell’s 1945 novel, Animal Farm, is that an uneducated populace is easily manipulated. Orwell believed the widespread ability to read, write, think, and speak was... -
Answered a Question in A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is a novella or short novel. Although A Christmas Carol is divided into five Staves that might be confused with a five-act play at first glance, Dickens’s story... -
Answered a Question in Heart of Darkness
Ivory is central to the plot and symbolism of Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness. The protagonist, Marlow, is hired as a steamship captain on the Congo River to transport ivory. The... -
Answered a Question in The Merchant of Venice
One of the themes that modern readers enjoy exploring in William Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice is racial identity and racism. Shylock, the Jewish moneylender, is the most common... -
Answered a Question in Carl Sandburg
“Fog” by Carl Sandburg is a brief metaphor comparing the fog rolling off Lake Michigan into the city of Chicago with the movements of a cat. Sandburg adheres to the poetic style of imagism in this... -
Answered a Question in Gulliver's Travels
Conveniently, Jonathan Swift himself provides miniature summaries at the beginning of each chapter of his 1726 satire Gulliver’s Travels. Let’s begin with Swift’s summary for chapter 1 and then... -
Answered a Question in Lord of the Flies
The ninth chapter of William Golding’s novel The Lord of the Flies is entitled “A View to a Death.” In many respects, this chapter is the climax of the action up to this moment in the novel, as two... -
Answered a Question in 1984
In the final lines of 1984 by George Orwell, Winston sits in the Chestnut Tree Café watching endless streams of propaganda on the telescreen as he ponders his predicament. After rebelling against... -
Answered a Question in Americanah
The African Diaspora refers to the roughly 150 million people of African descent who reside outside of the African continent, primarily in the Americas and Western Europe. The term was initially... -
Answered a Question in Notes From Underground
Great question! Ultimately, the answer to your query is rooted in opinion but here are some thoughts that might help guide you answer this prompt. Psychological realism is a literary style that... -
Answered a Question in Macbeth
William Shakespeare’s bloody play Macbeth fits the classical model of Tragedy as outlined by Aristotle in his treatise on drama Poetics. Essentially, a classical tragedy tracks the life of a tragic... -
Answered a Question in Animal Farm
George Orwell warns of the power of propaganda in his novel Animal Farm. After ousting Mr. Jones from and renaming their home Animal Farm, the ruling class of pigs turns their attention to... -
Answered a Question in Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
In Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel memoir Persepolis, Marjane’s identity is closely linked to her homeland of Iran. In Part I, which documents her childhood, Marjane names her Persian heritage as... -
Answered a Question in Animal Farm
To best answer your question, it is important to note that George Orwell very intentionally wrote the “fairy story” Animal Farm as an allegory. An allegory is a story that has two meanings: the... -
Answered a Question in Macbeth
In Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the Scottish King Duncan is murdered between scenes 1 and 2 of act 2. Duncan’s murder occurs off-stage because portraying regicide on-stage was a serious crime... -
Answered a Question in Macbeth
It is difficult to provide an exact body count to attribute to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. We know that Macbeth was no stranger to violence based on his prowess on the battlefield. For example, in... -
Answered a Question in Dulce et Decorum Est
In Wilfred Owen’s poem “Dulce et Decorum Est,” war is portrayed as a hellish experience devoid of traditional notions of glory and honor. Owen, himself a soldier on the Western Front when he was... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
Ascertaining an author’s exact intent in writing a book, poem, or play is tricky business. Let’s look at your question from both a pragmatic and figurative perspectives. The pragmatic response to... -
Answered a Question in The Canterbury Tales
In a section of Geoffrey Chaucer’s lengthy poem, The Canterbury Tales, the Wife of Bath digresses from her primary tale for a small anecdote. She claims that she obtained her story from the Roman... -
Answered a Question in The Metamorphosis
Interesting question! Each of the four characters of Franz Kafka’s novella The Metamorphosis experience dramatic changes in the story. Perhaps it will be most helpful to isolate each character to... -
Answered a Question in The Stranger
In Albert Camus’s novel The Stranger, Meursault’s relationships mirror the author’s absurdist view of human existence. Albert Camus models the philosophy of absurdism through his protagonist's... -
Answered a Question in Native Americans and the Colonists
British attitudes to Native Americans shifted over the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and varied dramatically by exact location. However, historical patterns and trends do emerge regarding... -
Answered a Question in A Midsummer Night's Dream
Nick Bottom is an Athenian weaver and part of the cast of “Mechanicals” planning a theatrical performance for the royal wedding. Bottom first appears in act 1, scene 2, of William Shakespeare’s... -
Answered a Question in Hamlet
In the opening scene of William Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet, the soldiers on the ramparts of the castle are on edge because they have seen a “dreaded sight” for two consecutive nights. The jittery... -
Answered a Question in Literature
Your teacher is correct. I tell my students that the most important step they can take to ensure a good essay is to refine their topic to a manageable size. With comparative essays, this is... -
Answered a Question in The Importance of Being Earnest
The excerpt you mention in your query is an ironic postscript to an exchange between Algernon and his understated butler, Lane, in the opening scene of Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being... -
Answered a Question in The Sniper
A dominant theme of Liam O’Flaherty’s short story “The Sniper” is the futility of violence. While the story does not comment directly on the conditions required to justify violence, it does show... -
Answered a Question in The Divine Comedy
Great question! It is important to define the term "allegory" before answering your query. An allegory is a story that can be read on two levels: the literal and the symbolic. The literal level of... -
Answered a Question in Things Fall Apart
In part 3 of Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, Christianity has gained a strong foothold in Umuofia and is beginning to supplant local religious traditions. When Mr. Smith, a new missionary,... -
Answered a Question in All Quiet on the Western Front
This is an opinion question, so it is difficult to reply to your question in full. The first part of your question is the most easily addressed in the ENotes format. The German-language novel “All... -
Answered a Question in William Shakespeare
The passage you remember is from act 1, scene 4, of Romeo and Juliet. The exact lines you refer to are spoken by Romeo to his good friend Benvolio as they are about to enter the Capulet feast.... -
Answered a Question in Harrison Bergeron
Kurt Vonnegut’s 1961 short story “Harrison Bergeron” centers on a society dedicated to absurd levels of equality. The opening lines of Vonnegut’s story provide the setting and an introduction to... -
Answered a Question in A Farewell to Arms
Earnest Hemingway trained as a reporter in his early life and the sparse prose required for journalism transferred to his novels. Hemingway’s 1929 novel “Farewell to Arms,” as in his other writing,... -
Answered a Question in The Pilgrim's Progress
John Bunyan’s 1678 book “The Pilgrim’s Progress” is the best-known example of a religious allegory in the entire English literary canon. An allegory is a story that can be read on two levels: the... -
Answered a Question in Fahrenheit 451
The final section of Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 shows us that Beatty is a full-hearted believer in the vapid, heavily-censored society that Montag has increasingly learned to detest. Prior...
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