Mike Walter, M.A.
eNotes Educator
Achievements
15
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1487
Answers Posted
373
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About
Nationally certified English teacher in the Atlanta, Georgia area.
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Recent Activity
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Answered a Question in Native Son
In Richard Wright’s Native Son, the protagonist, Bigger Thomas, finds himself on the run after accidentally killing a young white woman. At one point, about halfway through the novel, he seeks... -
Answered a Question in Native Son
Richard Wright’s Native Son is about a young black man named Bigger who accidentally kills a white woman. Most of the story takes place as Bigger tries to evade capture. The first part of the novel... -
Answered a Question in The Cold Equations
Tom Godwin’s “The Cold Equations” is a futuristic story that presents a moral dilemma. In this futuristic setting, mankind has expanded to other worlds. Large ships called cruisers carry colonists... -
Answered a Question in Slavery
The justification for slavery in the southern United States was, at its core, primarily economic, although the South went to great lengths to conceal this true motivation for enslaving Africans.... -
Answered a Question in Literature
Unlike Everyman, the characters in “The Pardoner’s Tale” and the Pardoner himself do not come to any sort of internal revelation that results in a significant change in their perceptions and... -
Answered a Question in The Metamorphosis
Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis is relevant to any time period, ancient or modern, in which mankind has existed as a questioning, meaning-seeking creature. In the novel, we see a character, Gregor... -
Answered a Question in Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver’s Travels is a satirical novel published by Jonathan Swift in 1729. The purpose of the novel is to expose the weaknesses and problems of life in eighteenth-century England and Ireland. In... -
Answered a Question in The First Seven Years
Bernard Malamud’s short story "The First Seven Years" is about a father, Feld, who wants to ensure a secure future for his daughter, Miriam. To understand Feld’s motivation, it helps to understand... -
Answered a Question in Night
Elie Wiesel’s Night is an autobiographical story of his experience during the Holocaust. This small book is book is a favorite among high school teachers and students because of its honest,... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
Based on the assignment you’ve been given, you should think carefully about what character you want to focus on. Since you will be needing to give an opinion based on their point of view, it should... -
Answered a Question in If Beale Street Could Talk
If Beale Street Could Talk is James Baldwin’s 1974 novel of entrenched racism in the American judicial and law enforcement systems. The novel explores the struggle of a young couple, Tish and... -
Answered a Question in Research Starters
We see the attributes of Social Darwinism in the current debate about the role of government in creating a fair, just, and compassionate society. Although the term “Social Darwinism” is seldom... -
Answered a Question in Sherman Alexie
Sherman Alexie is a Native American writer from the Spokane, Washington area. He had some challenges as a child that kept him from taking part in some traditional kids' activities, like sports. One... -
Answered a Question in Hiroshima
John Hersey's Hiroshima was published first by New Yorker magazine in 1946, then shortly after in book form. It is an account of the effects of the first nuclear bomb used in warfare, in 1945.... -
Answered a Question in Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou’s “Caged Bird” is poem about the effects of slavery that echoes a famous poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar called “Sympathy.” Both poems juxtapose images of two birds, one free and one... -
Answered a Question in Everyday Use
Alice Walker's short story "Everyday Use" is about a rural African American family involved in a struggle over interpersonal roles. The narrator is the mother of the family. The two daughters... -
Answered a Question in Night
Elie Wiesel's novel Night tells the story of his Holocaust experience as a young teen. The novel, written in a darkly poetic style, leaves the reader wondering how the world could turn a blind eye... -
Answered a Question in Night
Elie Wiesel's Night is the semiautobiographical story of Wiesel's Holocaust experience in his early teens. The story is filled with haunting imagery and symbols and poetic diction. Wiesel refers... -
Answered a Question in The Most Dangerous Game
There are three types of irony: Dramatic: When the audience knows something important that the characters in the story do not. Situational: When an event occurs in contrast to the audience's... -
Answered a Question in World War II
The moral dilemma was probably the most frequently cited reason against dropping an atomic weapon on Japan. It is fairly well countered by the idea that if the United States had not used the bomb,... -
Answered a Question in The Scarlet Letter
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a novel written in the romantic tradition, telling a story of guilt, suffering, and redemption. The end of the story traces the development of the... -
Answered a Question in Night
Elie Wiesel’s short novel Night is a semiautobiographical account of his experiences as a teenaged boy in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. A motif is a recurring image or idea that helps... -
Answered a Question in Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness was published in 1899. At that time, England was still a colonial power in various parts of the world. To understand the novel and how Conrad uses the... -
Answered a Question in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas has become a very popular novel in recent years, partially due to its surprise ending. This ending, which combines situational and dramatic irony, is a particularly... -
Answered a Question in History
The Knights Templar, also known long ago as "The Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon," were a quasi-military group formed in the early twelfth century by European Christians early in... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming-of-age story, also known as a “bildungsroman.” In this kind of story, the protagonist, in this case Scout, is shown to grow and develop as a person.... -
Answered a Question in Beowulf
Most of the characters in Beowulf reflect the values of the time period. European culture during this time was warlike, and men had to be ready to go to war against rival clans and kingdoms. In... -
Answered a Question in It
Stephen King's It is a story about an evil supernatural being who manifests itself as a clown named Pennywise and victimizes the Maine town of Derry every twenty-seven years. King builds the... -
Answered a Question in Night
Elie Wiesel’s semi-autobiographical book Night tells the story of his survival of the Holocaust during World War II. Therefore, discrimination is pervasive throughout the entirety of the... -
Answered a Question in Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness tells the story of an Englishman named Marlowe who travels to the African continent and encounters a deeply troubling situation as he searches for another... -
Answered a Question in The Most Dangerous Game
Richard Connell’s short story "The Most Dangerous Game" is the story of a hunter whose favorite game is the hunting of humans. The word "game" is a pun. It can mean a "game" that people play, or it... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird can be read as a story about parenting. Lee draws the character of Atticus Finch in such an endearing manner as to make him as memorable as the first person... -
Answered a Question in The Scarlet Ibis
"The Scarlet Ibis" is a story by James Hurst. It is probably one of the saddest stories you will ever encounter. The story is filled with imagery that foreshadows the death of one of its... -
Answered a Question in Law and Politics
A nation’s political culture is formed over many years, and sometimes many generations. How this culture develops depends on many factors. In the United States, political culture is inextricably... -
Answered a Question in Teaching Community
A modern problem for science teachers, as with all teachers, is the proliferation of electronic devices in the classroom. Students have grown up with smart phones in their hands, and "Google.com"... -
Answered a Question in The Open Window
Saki’s short story “The Open Window” features a literary technique called dramatic irony. A writer creates dramatic irony when he/she reveals information to the reader that one or more of the... -
Answered a Question in The Scarlet Ibis
James Hurst's "The Scarlet Ibis" is probably one of the saddest stories you will ever read. Hurst tells the story of two brothers, one of whom (Doodle) is physically disabled. The older brother... -
Answered a Question in Gulliver's Travels
The first answer to this post thoroughly covered the allegorical connections in part I of Gulliver's Travels. Swift goes on to write three more parts to Gulliver's Travels. Each part takes... -
Answered a Question in The Interlopers
“The Interlopers” by Saki is often taught in schools because it is such a striking example of plot twist--the main characters, bent on killing each other for so long, come to an agreement to end... -
Answered a Question in The Seafarer
“The Seafarer” is an Old English poem by an anonymous author. Composed sometime in the Anglo-Saxon period or Early Middle Ages, it reflects the poetic style of its day in that it utilizes the sound... -
Answered a Question in Emily Dickinson
One way to identify and analyze tone is to look at the writer’s word choice, which we refer to as diction. Emily Dickinson’s poem “Success is Counted Sweetest” is, like most of her poems, very... -
Answered a Question in The Progressive Era
The American Progressive movement is generally considered to have originated in the late nineteenth century as a reaction to the abuses of big business and the problems that plagued the lower... -
Answered a Question in The Odyssey
The Odyssey, composed sometime around 900 BC, is notable for many reasons. It is full of memorable stories that writers and artists have alluded to in their works for about 3,000 years now. One of... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
The building of the snowman, which involved a lot of dirt and a little bit of snow, helped establish the evolving relationship of Jem and Scout to the town. Their intent was to mock a neighbor, Mr.... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird is told from the first person point-of-view of the character Scout. It is often mistakenly said that the story is told from her perspective as a... -
Answered a Question in The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant
W. D. Weatherell's short story "The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant" is about a fourteen-year-old boy who develops a crush on a seventeen-year-old girl named Sheila Mant. Sheila is clearly... -
Answered a Question in The First Seven Years
Bernard Malamud's short story "The First Seven Years," is about a middle-aged Jewish man named Feld who must come to grips with his daughter Miriam's independence. Feld wishes for his... -
Answered a Question in The Cold Equations
Characterization is one of a writer's most important jobs. Characters that act and sound like real people—like people we know or perhaps can identify with ourselves—make a story much more... -
Answered a Question in The Cold Equations
Tom Godwin's story "The Cold Equations" is a science fiction story about a girl who stows away on a supply ship bound for a planet called Woden. Like any good science fiction, the story derives its... -
Answered a Question in Grendel
Chapter 9 of John Gardner's Grendel includes an instance of dramatic irony. Dramatic irony occurs when the audience knows something that the character does not. When it is done well, dramatic irony...
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