Susan Hurn
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About
I have a Master of Arts degree in English and taught college-prep high school English literature and composition.
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Recent Activity
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Answered a Question in A Separate Peace
From a literary perspective, Finny's death is the natural and realistic culmination of the plot. Throughout the novel, Finny has been under assault, physically and emotionally. He struggles to heal... -
Answered a Question in A Separate Peace
The novel can be interpreted as an allegory in which Gene and Finny both play significant roles. As they move through their final year at Devon, knowing that the awful realities of World War II... -
Answered a Question in Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
If you are presenting the poem to a group, your purpose most likely will be to introduce the poem and help the audience understand and appreciate it. In making your presentation, consider including... -
Answered a Question in Hamlet
These scenes in Act I are emotionally intense, first as Hamlet and Horatio wait and watch for the appearance of the ghost and then as Hamlet follows the ghost and finally speaks with him. They are... -
Answered a Question in Hamlet
Considering the mysterious appearance of the ghost in the first scene of Act I, a ghost who looks like Hamlet's dead father, one can think of many questions after reading the scene that follows and... -
Answered a Question in EPICAC
In this science fiction short story, EPICAC is a super computer that begins to exhibit human qualities; at first an "it," the computer becomes "he," as the narrator begins to interact personally... -
Answered a Question in Heart of Darkness
This complex novel is indeed rich in symbolism. Some of the major symbols include these: The Congo River: It is the river that takes Marlow deep into the African continent, carrying him away from... -
Answered a Question in The Great Gatsby
After recounting the events of the party in the New York apartment with Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson and the events of Gatsby's wild party at his estate in West Egg, Nick tells the reader that... -
Answered a Question in The Great Gatsby
Thg circumstances and the setting of Gatsby's death are entirely consistent with his personality and the manner in which he has lived his life. Shot to death in the pool at his magnificent mansion,... -
Answered a Question in Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness develops a journey motif, and one of the journeys Marlow undertakes is a "night journey" into what has been called the primal self. He leaves London seeking knowledge of himself,... -
Answered a Question in Macbeth
The questions Macbeth asks Banquo in Act III, scene i appear to be casual, as if Macbeth is only concerned that Banquo not miss that night's banquet. In fact, they are very pointed questions. He... -
Answered a Question in Twilight
You are right! There are many "facts" and events in the novel that certainly do not exist or could happen in real life. Most importantly, vampires themselves do not exist. So why would an author... -
Answered a Question in By the Waters of Babylon
When John returns from his journey, he tells his father what he has seen and learned. John wants to tell everyone else, as well, but his father dissuades him. John's father explains why the... -
Answered a Question in Macbeth
In Act III, Macbeth invites the members of his court to a banquet. As he enters, he sees the bloody ghost of Banquo seated at the table. He is shocked and terrorized by the sight. Knowing he... -
Answered a Question in Heart of Darkness
Besides condemning imperialism as a political system fueled by greed and characterized by unbelievable cruelty, the novel also shows it to be an exercise in stupidity and inefficiency. As Marlow... -
Answered a Question in Segregation and the Civil Rights Movement
The events in the 1960s that resulted from the civil rights movement to secure equality for black Americans affected many white Americans deeply. I remember vividly the images on TV at the... -
Answered a Question in Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802
The poem does change in tone, but the shift occurs earlier than in the line you cite here. Consider it in context: Ne'er saw I, never felt a calm so deep! The river glideth at his own sweet will:... -
Answered a Question in Winter Dreams
From the time he first meets Judy Jones, Dexter's life is determined by what she represents to him--the romance of wealth, beauty, glamour, and excitement. He first meets her when she is a spoiled... -
Answered a Question in A Rose for Emily
"A Rose for Emily" is certainly one of those stories that is hard to forget. The shocking conclusion, when the decaying body of Homer is found, is horrible indeed, making the story an American... -
Answered a Question in The Scarlet Letter
There are some similarities. First and most important is the presence of the narrator. It is his voice rather than his identity that is significant. He is established in the introduction as a man... -
Answered a Question in History
Is it your premise that the population exploded in Florida because of the availability of air conditioning? Did the same population explosion, for instance, occur in Arizona or Nevada, also very... -
Answered a Question in The Devil and Tom Walker
Tom's wife certainly does get more than she bargained for when she goes into the forest to do business with Old Scratch. All that Tom finds left of her is her heart and liver tied up in her apron,... -
Answered a Question in Sailing to Byzantium
Since rhyme scheme is developed primarily through end rhyme, there is no obvious pattern of rhyme in these lines as they are taken out of context from the poem. The end words (desire, animal, me,... -
Answered a Question in Hamlet
Hamlet's hesitation to act is rooted in two different aspects of the drama: Shakespeare's development of Hamlet's very complex character and the conventions of the revenge play, a popular dramatic... -
Answered a Question in Iliad
The theme of man's mortality is introduced immediately into the poem in its opening lines: Rage--Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus son Achilles, murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaceans' countless... -
Answered a Question in The Great Gatsby
Gatsby's attitude toward money contributes strongly to Nick's perception of him as a romantic personality, a man who lives only to achieve a "colossal" romantic dream. When Gatsby was a boy living... -
Answered a Question in Death of a Salesman
Miller names this female character "The Woman," suggesting she has played an important role in Willy's past. His conversation with her is both revealing and significant. It shows that Willy is... -
Answered a Question in The Great Gatsby
Daisy and Myrtle live in a time in American society when women generally did not live independent lives, and their relationships with men were of primary importance. Marriage was their most common... -
Answered a Question in The Great Gatsby
Through Nick Carraway as the novel's narrator, Fitzgerald achieves numerous literary purposes. Here are a few of the most important ones: 1. In structuring the novel in Nick's retrospective point... -
Answered a Question in The Lottery
Good responses all, but there is also something really dark in why the lottery continues in the village. It is revealed in the behavior of these friends and neighbors when they stone the helpless... -
Answered a Question in Hamlet
To understand the quotation, it must be considered in context. Hamlet is sickened by his mother's marriage to Claudius, viewing their relationship as incestuous. His rage has grown, and he plans to... -
Answered a Question in A Farewell to Arms
Numerous themes are developed in the novel, each contributing to Hemingway's examination of man's essential condition, one of profound spiritual loneliness. Through Frederic, and to a lesser degree... -
Answered a Question in A Farewell to Arms
When he appears in the novel, Rinaldi functions as a literary foil, his characteristics contrasting and emphasizing Frederic's identity and personal traits. This is seen clearly in Chapter XXV when... -
Answered a Question in Hamlet
Gertrude and Ophelia are presented as weak women subject to the various actions of men. Throughout the drama they react, rather than act with resolve or firm moral determination. Ophelia's suicide... -
Answered a Question in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage in 1812 established Lord Byron as the leading poet in England, and the work is a beautiful expression of English Romanticism in its explorations of antiquity and... -
Answered a Question in Literature
When teaching A Separate Peace, I would use audio excerpts from old radio shows with their music and commercials, along with pop music from the war years to ground students in the era. The lyrics... -
Answered a Question in A Doll's House
It is Krogstad's blackmail that drives the play to its dramatic climax and conclusion; therefore, it is certainly an important element in the play. In considering a thesis, think of the irony in... -
Answered a Question in Macbeth
Macbeth's famous soliloquy should not be interpreted as an expression of Shakespeare's personal view of life and death; it expresses the character's feelings as he nears the end of his own life.... -
Answered a Question in The Canterbury Tales
Numerous characters among Chaucer's pilgrims represent the Church, but only two represent the military, the knight and his son, the young squire. Chaucer's knight is a man of courage, honor, and... -
Answered a Question in The Great Gatsby
The novel is an initiation story rather than a classic coming-of-age narrative, since Nick Carraway is clearly an adult at the beginning of the novel. He has graduated from college, served in... -
Answered a Question in The Great Gatsby
Nick's distant family relationship with Daisy (second cousin once removed) does not come up between Nick and Gatsby when they meet or later. Nick meets Gatsby for the first time when he is with... -
Answered a Question in The Great Gatsby
Daisy and Gatsby first met in Louisville when he was a young officer stationed at nearby Camp Taylor, and Daisy lived in her family's home. The novel does not specify exactly when Gatsby first... -
Answered a Question in Life on the Mississippi
When it becomes clear to Mr. Bixby that Twain is not "learning the river," he gives his cub pilot some good advice: My boy, you must get a little memorandum book, and every time I tell you a... -
Answered a Question in The Kite Runner
The Kite Runner is indeed a novel about journeys—external and internal, literal and abstract, physical and spiritual. Amir's physical journey in returning to Afghanistan to save Hassan's son is... -
Answered a Question in A Separate Peace
The differences between Leper and Brinker are more obvious, but studying their characters reveals several very important similarities. Both boys are afraid of going to World War II, and they... -
Answered a Question in Picnic
Since the play's setting, a small Kansas town in the 1950s, is essential in the development of the characters and conflicts, consider it as a possible subject for study. Does the setting affect the... -
Answered a Question in The Great Gatsby
The novel begins with Nick Carraway introducing himself to the reader, commenting upon the concept of romanticism, and then turning his memories to a mysterious someone named Gatsby. Nick recalls... -
Answered a Question in Macbeth
The appearance vs. reality motif in the drama is expressed in these words of Lady Macbeth in Act I as she speaks to Macbeth about King Duncan's imminent arrival at Inverness, their castle. Because... -
Answered a Question in A Farewell to Arms
A Farewell to Arms is viewed primarily as a war novel or as a love story, Hemingway's Romeo and Juliet, but religion plays a very significant role in it. A good thesis, and one that would be easily... -
Answered a Question in The Hairy Ape
The encounter between Paddy and Yank in the very beginning of the play serves several purposes. It establishes the time period of the drama, the early years of the Twentieth Century. America has...
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