Ethan Frome

Grade Levels

Excerpt

• As the novel begins, an unnamed narrator says that he heard the story of Ethan Frome “bit by bit from various people” and that “each time it was a different story.” Assuming the people he talked with were not lying, why do you think their stories were different?
• The narrator says, “If you know Starkfield, you know the post office.” What does this statement suggest to you about Starkfield? How do you visualize the town from this one detail?
• The narrator describes Ethan Frome in detail—how he looks, how he walks, the expression on his face, the mail he picks up at the post office, and how he reacts to it. Based on these details, what is your response to Ethan? What words would you use to describe him? What do you imagine his life is like?

About

These eNotes Reading Response Prompts are designed to encourage your students to read more effectively and with more pleasure by giving them interesting subjects to write about after they have read. Many of the prompts will take them directly into the text, while others will give them an opportunity to express their thoughts and feelings and to reflect on their own experiences.

A second purpose of the eNotes Reading Response Prompts is to facilitate instruction in ways that work for you in the classroom. The organization of the prompts makes them easy to use, and the content and construction of the prompts are designed to develop students’ knowledge and academic skills.