Kathryn Tyson
eNotes Educator
Achievements
10
Educator Level
578
Answers Posted
98
Answers Bonused
About
I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but lived most of my young years in Los Angeles, California. After graduating from the University of California in Santa Barbara, I moved to Oregon where I started my teaching career and completed my Masters in Literary Criticism. Six years later, I decided to add a little adventure to my life and traveled to Anaco, Venezuela, to teach grades 6-9 in an oil field school. It was a great experience and allowed me to indulge in my favorite pastime, travel. Returning to the United States, I taught middle school in Houston, Texas. I also taught English and writing on the Texas A&M ship, the Clipper II, during its maiden voyage. Careers and writing were two areas that interested me, and I presented inservices on both in Maryland, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Texas. It finally came to an end after 38 years when I decided to retire last year. I am totally enjoying my retirement, but I enjoy working with enotes and keeping in touch with students. I am, unfortunately, a widow. My husband, Tony, who was from England, died of heart disease. In England, I have two stepchildren, Jay and Lisa, and two grandchildren, Emily and Charlotte. If you haven’t guessed, they were named after the Bronte sisters. I still live in Houston, Texas, but love to travel and have visited every continent except Africa. A frequent visitor to the Caribbean islands, I am definitely a beach person – a part of California that will never leave me.
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Recent Activity
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Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
It must be remembered that Scout is between six and eight years old when she tells this story. Atticus is an older father, older than the fathers of her friends and classmates, and she feels... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
The first one was concerning Mr. Cunningham when the mob attacked the jail in hopes of hanging Tom Robinson. Scout talks them out of it, and, later, when Scout and Jem talk to... -
Answered a Question in After Twenty Years
It tells you a couple of things about Bob. 1. He really considered Jimmy Wells a good friend. He describes Jimmy as "my best chum and the finest chap in the world." He treasured their... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
Uncle Jack and Miss Maudie had known each other since childhood. In other words, they had a history together. They knew how to push each other's buttons and tease each other. When Uncle Jack... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
First of all, a mockingbird is a symbol of something that brings nothing but pleasure and joy into our society and does us no harm. They are not necessarily harmed by society. It is a... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
There are a number of quotes after the trial when the children are talking with Miss Maudie and Atticus. Miss Maudie tells the children, "I thought Atticus Finch won't win, he can't win, but he's... -
Answered a Question in Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
When Percy is assigned his quest by Chiron, he is told that Zeus thinks that Poseidon stole his thunder bolt. Chiron tells him, "Your father and Zeus are having their worst quarrel in... -
Answered a Question in Fahrenheit 451
Faber is cautious. He shows this trait when... 1. Montag calls him to enlist his help. Montag asks how many copies of the Bible are still out there. Faber says "This is some sort of... -
Answered a Question in The Pearl
In the beginning of chapter three it tells of the news spreading throughout the town. Steinbeck compares it to an animal. He says "News seems to move faster than small boys can... -
Answered a Question in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Bruno denies knowing Shmuel when they are caught in the kitchen. Bruno had given Shmuel some food and Lt. Kotler had caught them. Shmuel tells the truth and says that Bruno gave him the... -
Answered a Question in The Pearl
The town Steinbeck is referring to is La Paz, Mexico. It is the capital of Baja, California Sur and is located at the southern tip of the Baja Pennisula. It is part of Mexico. Although... -
Answered a Question in The Adventure of the Speckled Band
The setting initially is in London. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson live on Baker Street in London. Helen Stoner traveled into London to see them. The actual crime was in... -
Answered a Question in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
On page 162-163 Bruno, himself, makes a list of reasons why he doesn't like Lt. Kotler. 1. The lieutenant never smiled. When Bruno asks him for the tyre to make a swing, the... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
Atticus is talking to Jem and Scout about Mrs. Dubose. Mrs. Dubose would always sit on her porch and comment as the children passed her house. One day she said, "Your father's no... -
Answered a Question in After Twenty Years
The irony is that after twenty years one man is now a criminal and the other is a police officer; the exact police officer who is going to take him down and be the cause of his arrest. It is... -
Answered a Question in If—
It is easier to give stanza by stanza,but you can separate the sentences and match them to the lines of the poem. The poem is a father defining for his son the qualities of a good man.. He is... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
Mr. Underwood ran the newspaper. Scout explains it on page 150. She says, "Mr. Underwood not only ran The Maycomb Tribune office, he lived in it. That is, above it. He... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
Chapter 14 has a lot to do with relationships, and what the characters think of each other. It deals with Calpurnia's relationship with the family, Scout's relationship with Jem, Scout's... -
Answered a Question in Fahrenheit 451
A metaphor is a comparison of two unlike objects NOT using the words like or as. Although they are frequent, they are not on every page. Here are some. 1. Pg 3: " With the brass... -
Answered a Question in Wuthering Heights
Heathcliff embarrasses Hareton most by continuing to raise him in the fashion of his revenge. He is determined to treat Hareton, the son of Hindley, worse then he was treated by... -
Answered a Question in Fahrenheit 451
In Part III Montag has already visited Faber and has his little earpiece in his ear. He returns to the fire station and hands a book to Beatty. Beatty makes references to stray sheep... -
Answered a Question in William Makepeace Thackeray
We are told that he " ....had reigned for years a score" (line 1) A score is 20, so he ruled for 20 years. It was a hard period of time for the country. There was "Battling, struggling,... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
The Ewells are a generationally poor family. Atticus explains to Scout, "Atticus said that Ewells had been a disgrace to Maycomb for three generations. None of them had done an honest... -
Answered a Question in Fahrenheit 451
The quote you want is in the second book, "The Sieve and the Sand", when Montag visits Faber at his home and asks him to help him understand what he reads. Beatty has confused him by telling... -
Answered a Question in The Adventure of the Speckled Band
Helen told Holmes that 1. They all had their own room, and they locked the doors each night because the doctor had a cheetah and baboon on the property. Julia's door had been locked... -
Answered a Question in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Bruno is young and misunderstands his parents when they tell him where they will be living. He thinks that they say Out-With, but they are really saying Auschwitz. It is part of the... -
Answered a Question in The Adventure of the Speckled Band
A physical description of Helen Stoner is in paragraph 10 at the beginning of the story. It says, ".....her face all drawn and grey, with restless frightened eyes, like those of some hunted... -
Answered a Question in And Then There Were None
There are many examples of figurative language in this book. Idioms: an idiom is an expression that has a different meaning than one would expect from just the meaning of the words. For... -
Answered a Question in Jamaica Kincaid
There are four kinds of sentences: declarative, interrogative, exclamatory, and imperative. An imperative sentence is a command. It has its own sentence structure in English. Generally... -
Answered a Question in Just Lather, That's All
Torres was never ignorant of his situation. He lets you know that at the end of the story when he says, "They told me you'd kill me. I came to find out. But killing isn't... -
Answered a Question in Fahrenheit 451
An external conflict is a problem outside yourself. The most obvious external conflict is between society --run by the government - and the book lovers. Books have been deemed dangerous... -
Answered a Question in And Then There Were None
Dr. Armstrong came from London and was a tired doctor who needed a vacation. He had been in trouble for drinking, which he says he has successfully overcome, and he knew his competition... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
A metaphor is a comparison of two UNLIKE objects without using the words "like" or "as". For example: That lady is a picture of beauty. In this sentence a lady is being compared to a... -
Answered a Question in Fahrenheit 451
Montag has killed Beatty, and he is now on the run. The only place that he can run is to Faber's house. He has destroyed the Mechanical Hound, but the government is bringing in another... -
Answered a Question in The Call of the Wild
Buck has developed into a primitive beast with strong instincts during his time in Alaska. Under the conditions of trail life and living as a sled dog, this instinct grew stronger.... -
Answered a Question in A Christmas Carol
An allusion is a reference to an event, literary work, work of art or something that is well-known by the general populace to clarify an idea. At the beginning of A Christmas Carol, Dickens needs... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
Aunt Alexandra is Atticus's sister, but Scout does not have a warm feeling about her. She says, "Aunt Alexandra would have been analogous to Mount Everest; throughout my early... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
Miss Stephanie is the town gossip. Early in the chapter she approaches the children with the rumors that were circulating around town about their presence in the balcony with the colored... -
Answered a Question in Great Expectations
Pip is new at this. He has never had to buy furniture or rent his own place. Mr. Pocket relates to Pip Mr. Jaggers instructions. "He knew more of my intended career than I knew myself,... -
Answered a Question in Among the Hidden
The Govenment passed a Population Law forbidding anyone from having more than two children. Luke and Jen are third children and therefore they are Among the Hidden. If they are found... -
Answered a Question in Tears of a Tiger
The three boys, Andy, Tyrone, and B.J., were in the car with Robbie and have the most intense reactions. Andy, obviously, is devastated and overcome with guilt. He cannot... -
Answered a Question in Fahrenheit 451
When Montag goes to Faber and asks him to help him understand books, Faber tells him "It's not books you need, it's some of the things that once were in books." (pg 82) He tells Montag that books... -
Answered a Question in The Most Dangerous Game
These two men are professional hunters. It is in the hunt that they take pride. When Zaroff first tells Rainsford that he is to be hunted, Zaroff says, "Your brain against mine. Your... -
Answered a Question in Great Expectations
Miss Havisham has raised Estella to wreak revenge with the men she meets. She is beautiful but unattainable. Pip says, "Sending her out to attract and torment and do mischief, Miss... -
Answered a Question in Just Lather, That's All
This story takes place in a barbershop in Columbia, a country that has had many military revolutions. The narrator is the owner, and he is shaving a man well known for his violence and... -
Answered a Question in Great Expectations
Pip has spent most of his life in a passionate love for Estella. At the end of the book, he sees her again after an eleven year absence. Dickens brings their relationship full... -
Answered a Question in The Adventure of the Speckled Band
Sherlock himself says in the last paragraph, last line of the story, "....I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. Grimesby Roylett's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to weigh... -
Answered a Question in Lord of the Flies
A simile is a figure of speech that uses the words "like" or "as" to form a comparison between two unlike objects. When Ralph, Jack, and Simon start to explore the territory around them to see if... -
Answered a Question in Fahrenheit 451
The night before, Montag saw a woman die with her books. She burned with them. This started Montag thinking that you just don't kill yourself and burn yourself for nothing. He wants to... -
Answered a Question in The Adventure of the Speckled Band
No, the gypsies had nothing to do with the death of the girl. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle put the gypsies in the story to lead the reader astray. In fact, it led Sherlock Holmes astray...
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