Valentine England
eNotes Educator
Achievements
13
Educator Level
824
Answers Posted
135
Answers Bonused
About
University-Level English Composition/Rhetoric and Poetry Instructor // B.A. in English Literature // MFA in Creative Writing, emphasis in Poetry
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Recent Activity
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Answered a Question in Tuck Everlasting
This is ultimately a matter of personal opinion, but I will reflect on the text and provide you with my thoughts on the matter. After Winnie meets Jesse in the woods outside Treegap and watches... -
Answered a Question in Speak
After Melinda endures almost an entire school year of suffering in silence, she finally manages to slowly resume communication when she discovers that her former best friend, Rachel, has a crush on... -
Answered a Question in The Diary of a Young Girl
Mouschi is a "spritely" male cat that belongs to Peter van Daan, one of the occupants of the secret annex in Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. Mouschi often serves as both a nuisance and... -
Answered a Question in Tuck Everlasting
Mae Tuck goes into the woods in Treegap in order to meet her sons, Jesse and Miles. Mae makes this journey once every ten years in the first week of August, which is the time of the year with... -
Answered a Question in The Gift of the Magi
The Magi are not literal figures within O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi." Rather, the title is the reference to the presentation of gifts by the three wise men (or magi) to the infant Jesus. In... -
Answered a Question in The Diary of a Young Girl
Albert Dussel, a dentist who joins the van Daans and Franks in hiding in the annex, is the person who uses the lavatory the most. This is an issue because his frequent bathroom usage seems to be a... -
Answered a Question in A Midsummer Night's Dream
Demetrius is the only character to have been left permanently changed by the magic within Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. At the beginning of the play, Demetrius is in love with Hermia,... -
Answered a Question in Hamlet
The ghost that appears in Act One of William Shakespeare's Hamlet is the critical catalyst to the action of the remainder of the play. The ghost--which first appears to Bernardo, Marcellus, and... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
To preface my answer, I'd like to say that this is ultimately a question only you can answer for yourself; that being said, I will give you insight into my opinion of the situation. I agree with... -
Answered a Question in Hamlet
Let's first get some context as to when and why this moment happens in the play. As you have mentioned in your question, Hamlet speaks these words in Act III, scene ii. By this time, Hamlet has met... -
Answered a Question in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
A huge theme within Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is that of the power of choice and its impact on our wellbeing, on our lives, and on the lives of others. We are repeatedly given examples... -
Answered a Question in A Streetcar Named Desire
Stanley first starts to express suspicion over Blanche's character when he learns that Belle Rive has been "sold" but that Blanche has not shown Stella any papers to prove this--not even the deed... -
Answered a Question in The Cask of Amontillado
The narrator of "The Cask of Amontillado" wants revenge against his friend and fellow nobleman, Fortunato, because Fortunato has insulted him in some fashion. The exact details of this... -
Answered a Question in The Cask of Amontillado
To answer this question, we must first consider the relationship between the narrator, Montresor, and Fortunato. Although Monstresor is careful to give Fortunato no "cause to doubt [his] good... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
The prologue in Romeo and Juliet provides important exposition for the audience or reader. Because the play begins in media res—or, "in the middle of things"—it is necessary to provide some... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
Friar Laurence shows his concern for the wellbeing of Romeo (and for the potential opportunity for peace between the Montagues and Capulets that his union with Juliet could bring) in Act Two, Scene... -
Answered a Question in The Witch of Blackbird Pond
When Kit arrives in Wethersfield, Connecticut, to live with her Puritan family (Uncle Matthew, Aunt Rachel, Mercy, and Judith), she only has the clothes she brought with her from her previous... -
Answered a Question in The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Katharine Tyler, or "Kit," is the sixteen year-old heroine of Elizabeth George Speare's The Witch of Blackbird Pond. She is best described as fiercely independent, intelligent, and curious...... -
Answered a Question in Bud, Not Buddy
Despite the fact that Bud believes him to be so for almost the entire duration of the book Bud, Not Buddy, Herman Calloway is not Bud's father. Rather, he is his grandfather. Bud is under the... -
Answered a Question in Eclipse
There is BOTH internal and external conflict in Stephenie Meyer's Eclipse. The external conflict revolves around Victoria, a vampire seeking revenge for the killing of her romantic partner, James... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
Every reader might have a different response to this question based upon their own personal compass and assessment of the text, so I can only answer for myself. Personally, I would have anticipated... -
Answered a Question in The Witch of Blackbird Pond
"Stocks" were a type of device used in colonial America (although they were created far earlier in history, used often in Medieval times and even appearing in the Bible) to punish criminals.... -
Answered a Question in Speak
Mr. Freeman says that quotes on page 122 of Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak. Mr. Freeman is Melinda's art teacher and the one adult who seems to register that something significant and traumatic has... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
Time affects the progression of the feud in Romeo and Juliet in two major ways. First, the passage of time renders the feud almost mythological in proportion; although the Capulets and Montagues... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
Let's first get a better understanding of where this quote occurs within the play's narrative. Romeo and Juliet have just met for the first time at the Capulet ball, and, although they did not have... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
First, let's get some context for this quote, which is spoken by Romeo in Act Two, Scene Four of Romeo and Juliet. Prior to this scene, Romeo and Juliet have locked eyes at the Capulet's ball,... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
First, let's examine what a generation gap means. Our contemporary definition of a generation gap refers to the differences in opinions or outlooks between people of different generations or the... -
Answered a Question in A Doll's House
Nora considers attempting suicide at the conclusion of Act Two in A Doll's House as a two-fold measure to protect her husband, Torvald. To understand this choice, we must first take a look at the... -
Answered a Question in Bud, Not Buddy
Unfortunately, Bud never finds out who his father is. While Bud spends the majority of the book believing that Herman E. Calloway is his father, it is revealed in Chapter Eighteen that Calloway is... -
Answered a Question in Bud, Not Buddy
A good title for Chapter Eleven of Bud, Not Buddy could be "Lefty Lewis, the Vampire of Grand Rapids." This title would humorously represent the contents of this chapter, in which Bud tries to... -
Answered a Question in Bud, Not Buddy
A good title for Chapter Six of Bud, Not Buddy could be "The Kindness of Strangers." In this chapter, Bud shows up at the mission late after oversleeping, only to end up at the end of the food line... -
Answered a Question in History
In the scope of human history, there have been countless world leaders driving war, profiting off poverty, slaughtering innocent civilians, and poisoning minds with racism, homophobia, sexism,... -
Answered a Question in Bud, Not Buddy
In Chapter Six of Bud, Not Buddy, Bud accidentally oversleeps and is late to line up at the mission for his breakfast. By the time that he arrives, the line is already two blocks long. As Bud waits... -
Answered a Question in Nathan the Wise
The play Nathan the Wise, written by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, uses the encounters of the text's four primary characters--Saladin (a Sultan and descendant of a Saracen ruler), Nathan (a Jewish... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
In Act Five, Scene Three of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare presents Romeo's love as undying, even in the face of death. At the beginning of this scene, Romeo has returned to Verona with a vial of... -
Answered a Question in William Shakespeare
I would argue that the characters who are most similar to each other in Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream are actually Romeo and Juliet themselves and Hermia and Lysander. If we take a... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet is fraught with metaphors! A metaphor is a form of figurative language which applies non-literal descriptions in order to draw comparisons... -
Answered a Question in Pygmalion
In Act Four of Pygmalion, Eliza, Colonel Pickering, and Professor Higgins have just returned from successfully passing Eliza off as a duchess at a series of socially significant events (a garden... -
Answered a Question in Pygmalion
The major difference between the play Pygmalion and the musical film (dubbed My Fair Lady) that it was later made into is also one of the most controversial aspects of its adaptation. This... -
Answered a Question in Pygmalion
Act Two of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion opens on Colonel Pickering and Professor Henry Higgins reviewing the vowel sounds they both can pronounce in Higgin's home laboratory on Wimpole Street.... -
Answered a Question in A Doll's House
Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House is classified as both a naturalistic problem play and a modern tragedy. In the realm of theatre, naturalism is a movement which chooses to reject the outdated and... -
Answered a Question in Shakespeare
Although there are many thoughts on this topic, one might argue that the tone of Shakespeare's "Sonnet One" (which is, to be more specific, the first of a series of seventeen sonnets themed around... -
Answered a Question in The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Kit Tyler's relationship to William Ashby is a complex one that initially operates around the social and socioeconomic customs of the time. Before we dive into this relationship, it's important to... -
Answered a Question in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn begins with a reference to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in order to acknowledge that the character of Huck (as well as the characters of Aunty Polly, Mary, and... -
Answered a Question in A Christmas Carol
When the Ghost reveals the two children hiding underneath his robes to Scrooge, Scrooge reacts with (quite understandably!) deep revulsion. These children are described by Dickens as "[y]ellow,... -
Answered a Question in Harrison Bergeron
Beyond Harrison's personal isolation, the ordinary members of society were isolated (via governmental techniques of physical, mental, and aesthetic equalizers) from any sense of humanity. By...
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