Reuben Lindsey
eNotes Educator
Achievements
16
Educator Level
1804
Answers Posted
595
Answers Bonused
About
17 years as Literature and Writing teacher.
Earned Badges
-
eNotes Educator
This badge is awarded to all eNotes Educators. Only official Educators can answer students' questions on our site. Educators are teachers, professional researchers, and scholars who apply to our... -
Hall of Fame
Educators can earn this badge by contributing over 1,000 answers on eNotes. -
Quiz Taker
This badge is awarded when an Educator has completed 10 quizzes. -
10K Points Earner
Educators earn points for every question they answer. This Educator has earned over 10,000 points. -
25K Points Earner
Educators earn points for every question they answer. This Educator has earned over 25,000 points. -
50K Points Earner
Educators earn points for every question they answer. This Educator has earned over 50,000 points. -
Expert
An expert badge distinguishes Educators who demonstrate strong knowledge in a particular topic, such as Hamlet or Math. It is awarded when an Educator has posted more than 25 answers on a given topic. -
Scholar
The scholar badge recognizes Educators who are especially knowledgeable about a particular author. This badge is awarded once an Educator has posted more than 50 answers on works by a specific author. -
Poetry Whiz
Bonuses are awarded when an Educator has gone above and beyond and impressed the editorial team by offering an especially lengthy, nuanced, or insightful answer. This badge is given to an Educator... -
Literature Whiz
Bonuses are awarded when an Educator has gone above and beyond and impressed the editorial team by offering an especially lengthy, nuanced, or insightful answer. This badge is given to an Educator...
Recent Activity
-
Answered a Question in "I Have a Dream" Speech
Dr. King returns repeatedly to the word "justice" in his speech. He begins by referencing the Emancipation Proclamation, stating that it was the "joyous daybreak to end the long night of... -
Answered a Question in American Imperialism
In 1845, newspaper editor John O'Sullivan coined the term "Manifest Destiny." This philosophy claimed that it was the moral responsibility of the United States to spread its culture and bring... -
Answered a Question in Anthills of the Savannah
Achebe's work deals very directly with the issues of post-colonial Africa. Countries that had their own cultures and systems of government found themselves occupied, with new cultures and languages... -
Answered a Question in Hedda Gabler
I would argue that Hedda experiences both a modern and a classical tragedy. A classical tragic hero is a man or woman of high status who experiences a downfall because of a tragic flaw in his/her... -
Answered a Question in Robinson Crusoe
First, let us consider these quotes from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy regarding the "Enlightenment" movement in history. [Immanuel] Kant identifies enlightenment with the process of... -
Answered a Question in Rappaccini's Daughter
It is important to remember that the theme of man versus society is an external conflict in which the protagonist struggles against the rules or conventions of the society in which he or she lives.... -
Answered a Question in The Freedom Writers Diary
Beyond the historical significance of their name choice, the Freedom Writers are metaphorically associating their diaries with the personal freedom the act of writing brought them. In many ways,... -
Answered a Question in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
I have heard the mermaids singing each to each I do not think they will sing to me. Prufrock is an intelligent and well-educated man, but he suffers from a paralyzing lack of self-esteem. His... -
Answered a Question in Moral Disorder
All that anxiety and anger, those dubious good intentions, those tangled lives, that blood. I can tell about it or I can bury it. In the end, we’ll all become stories. (Moral Disorder) Atwood... -
Answered a Question in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Characterization—telling the audience about a character's personality—can be built in a few specific ways: through the narrator's words, through the character's words, through the character's... -
Answered a Question in Night
Ironically, the first words of perseverance that Eliezer hears in the camp is from the "welcoming" SS officer: There's a long road of suffering ahead of you. But don't lose courage. You've already... -
Answered a Question in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
While a fun and entertaining story, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" has many layers and many interpretations. This story is part of a larger book entitled The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon,... -
Answered a Question in The Open Boat
The answer by rdb919 looks at how Crane's story reinforces and highlights society's treatment of the social classes. Another approach would be to examine Crane's attitude towards social hierarchy.... -
Answered a Question in The Crucible
In Act 4, Reverend Hale argues with Elizabeth Proctor. He pushes her to influence her husband in order to get him to sign a confession: “Life, woman, life is God's most precious gift; no... -
Answered a Question in The Pit and the Pendulum
Consider this—if you knew that the narrator was, for example, a murderer would you have any sympathy for him? It could be that this is a person who stole bread because he was starving. Perhaps he... -
Answered a Question in Animal Farm
In his novel 1984, Orwell focuses on the power of language and how language can control behavior. In Animal Farm, we see the use of language as the biggest distinguisher between the pigs and... -
Answered a Question in Hugh Selwyn Mauberley
The speaker of this poem is disappointed and defeated. The titular figure—Hugh Selwyn Mauberly—is a persona that Pound created, a character that is a poet himself. It could be that Hugh represents... -
Answered a Question in Empire of the Sun
Like the swimming pools he encounters Jim is slowly being drained. Young and naive, he has been filled with a sense of hope. However, having left the hospital, Jim is now alone and everywhere he... -
Answered a Question in The Passion
There are two first person narrators of this book, Henri and Villanelle. Henri is the Emperor Napoleon's cook. He comes from a simple and religious (Catholic) background, which makes him... -
Answered a Question in Death of a Salesman
Dave Singleman convinced Willy to follow his path in life. Willy had two choices - follow Ben into the Alaskan wilderness or follow Dave into a world of selling. He chose Dave. He... -
Answered a Question in Death of a Salesman
Charley is Willy's foil, his opposite number. Where Willy believes that good looks and charm are the keys to success, Charley prizes hard work and a good education. Willy fails; Charley succeeds.... -
Answered a Question in Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)
Badly, is the short answer. This section of the book really details where the author and narrator, Jerome K. Jerome, flexes his comic chops. What was supposed to be a serious guidebook is... -
Answered a Question in The Story of My Life
To understand this book, you have to consider it in context. Helen Keller is not telling the "story of her life"--how could she? She was only 22 when she wrote it. She is telling the "story of my... -
Answered a Question in Flowers for Algernon
Charlie's desire to have the surgery stems from his desire to have friends. Consider this quote from the book: I dont care so much about beeing famus. I just want to be smart like other pepul so I... -
Answered a Question in The Great Gatsby
Perhaps the best evidence to show that Daisy is only acting a part comes at the end of the chapter, when she is alone with Nick and allows some of her true feelings to show. This is after she has... -
Answered a Question in The Death of Ivan Ilyich
Tolstoy's story sets up a conflict between material desires and human compassion. He uses Ivan's life and death as a way to show the truth that comes with mortality—what we earned in life is not as... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
What's interesting about this conversation is that Jem displays the institutional racism of the town while at the same time showing how he has not internalized what racism really is. He equates... -
Answered a Question in American History
Elena—or "Skinny Bones" as the bullies at school call her—feels a kinship with Eugene because he reads, as she does. Elena is a straight A student, but is held back by the prejudice of the school... -
Answered a Question in 1776
History books often portray the American Revolution as a simple fight between right and wrong. Colonists were "right," and the British were "wrong." Setting up the war in this way makes it easy to... -
Answered a Question in Secession and Civil War
21 states vs. 11 states. 21 million people vs. 9 million people. In the game of numbers, it would appear at the outset that the North had the singular advantage. However, despite this deficit, the... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
Atticus uses the term "disease" deliberately. A disease infects and spreads, which is what happens in Maycomb. Good people, kind people, are infected by the disease. The disease spreads throughout... -
Answered a Question in Macbeth
In Act III, Banquo has lost faith in Macbeth. As Macbeth's best friend and fellow general, Banquo should be his biggest supporter. However, when Macbeth asks him to provide loyalty, Banquo's... -
Answered a Question in The Odyssey
Odysseus's choice to not only remain on the Cyclops island but also to angrily proclaim his identity to the Cyclops is an example of hubris or pride. Despite the entreaties of his shipmates to... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
Calpurnia is as key as Atticus is to teaching Scout and Jem one of the most important lessons of their childhood—and therefore to letting the audience know the book's most essential theme: respect... -
Answered a Question in Life of Pi
"The smell of blood filled my nose. Something in me died then that has never come back to life" (Chapter 90). Pi says this in the moment when he fully loses his innocence, when the Frenchman... -
Answered a Question in A Modest Proposal
Satire is an important political tool, and an essential component of any free nation. Citizens must be allowed to criticize, mock, and even make fun of their leaders if we are to retain a... -
Answered a Question in Song of Myself
The two texts are similar in the use of pronouns, the celebration of the individual, the celebration of diversity, and the theme of spirituality. Whitman asks the big questions of life: Who am I?... -
Answered a Question in Journey to the Center of the Earth
As both the narrator and protagonist, Axel Lidenbrock is our passageway into this adventure story. Verne uses Axel to shift the tale into a bildungsroman, a coming of age story, and not just... -
Answered a Question in The Merchant of Venice
In Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare employs the Aristotelian comedic form, in which the young lovers must face an obstacle to their union. The caskets are the obstacle placed in Bassanio and... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
Miss Caroline, Scout's teacher, is new to the town of Maycomb. She does not understand the people of the town, their backgrounds, or their culture. She is also new to teaching. ... -
Answered a Question in The Most Dangerous Game
The title of "The Most Dangerous Game" refers to the "game" that General Zaroff has created. I put the game in quotations because it really isn't a game - it is a savage hunting of a... -
Answered a Question in Song of Myself
"Song of Myself" in total is a poem in which Whitman examines what it is to both be an individual and to be part of a larger world. Ultimately, he reveals that while everyone is an... -
Answered a Question in The Road Not Taken
A connotative meaning is an applied or secondary meaning. A denotative meaning is the literal or surface meaning. In this poem, the denotative "plot" is that there was a yellow wood (an... -
Answered a Question in Much Ado About Nothing
The biggest contrast is in demeanor. Claudio is an emotional character, but Benedick is a rational one. Claudio is caught up by the idea of love, swept away by his attraction to... -
Answered a Question in The Sea-Wolf
The story takes place at sea, starting specifically in the Pacific Ocean, where our somewhat weak protagonist Humphrey van Weyden is aboard a San Francisco ferry. When the ferry crashes, van... -
Answered a Question in The Last Leaf
Exposition refers to the "set up" of information in a story. This includes the setting, the introduction of the characters, and the establishment of the conflict. In "The Last Leaf", we learn... -
Answered a Question in The Monkey's Paw
What we are meant to understand in this scene is that Mr. White has realized the curse of the paw. He understands finally that the wishes that are made do not come out as planned. As... -
Answered a Question in Waiting for Godot
The boots are an element of Estragon, while the hat is an element of Vladimir. Just as the hat is representative of Vladimir's role as a thinker and philosopher, the boots show us that... -
Answered a Question in Lord of the Flies
Jack plays emotion in order to manipulate the boys. Ralph and Piggy represent reason in the story, and try to reason with the boys by explaining the "truths", as they see them - the... -
Answered a Question in Julius Caesar
The best answer is unequal. Cassius and Brutus struggle with one another, and Brutus clearly dominates the decision making, but they are friends. Cassius calls Brutus his "brother" at...
Showing 1-50 of 732