Modern Prose And Poetry; For Secondary Schools eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 342 pages of information about Modern Prose And Poetry; For Secondary Schools.

Modern Prose And Poetry; For Secondary Schools eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 342 pages of information about Modern Prose And Poetry; For Secondary Schools.

=his three years of probation=:—­Mary Antin’s father had spent three years in America before sending back to Russia for his family.

=Polotzk=:—­Pronounced P[=o]’lotsk; a town in Russia on the Dwina River.

=seven lean years=:—­A reference to the famine in Egypt predicted by Joseph, Pharaoh’s Hebrew favorite.  See Genesis, 40.

=Dvina=:—­The Duena or Dwina River, in Russia.

=originally destined=:—­Mr. Antin’s parents had intended him to be a scholar and teacher.

=Yiddish=:—­From the German word juedisch, meaning Jewish; a mixed language made up of German, Hebrew, and Russian words.  It is generally spoken by Jews.

=Chelsea=:—­A suburb of Boston.

=Nemesis=:—­In Greek mythology, a goddess of vengeance or punishment for sins and errors.

=the sins of his fathers=:—­See Exodus, 20:5; Numbers, 14:18; Deuteronomy, 5:9.

=Elysian fields=:—­In Greek thought, the home of the happy dead.

=Semitic=:—­Jewish; from the name of Shem, the son of Noah.

SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY

This selection gives the experience of a Jewish girl who came from Polotzk, Russia, to Boston.  Read rather slowly, with the help of these questions:  What is meant by “centuries of repression”?  Is there no such repression in America?  How is it true that the Jew peddler “was born thousands of years before the oldest native American”?  What are the educational advantages of a thickly populated neighborhood?  What is your idea of the slums?  Why did the children expect every comfort to be supplied?  How much is really free in America?  Is education free?  How does one secure an education in Russia?  How are American machine-made garments superior to those made by hand in Russia?  Was it a good thing to change the children’s names?  What effect does the sea have upon those who live near it?  What effect has a great change of environment on a growing young person?  What kind of person was Mrs. Wilner?  What does Mr. Antin mean when he says, “America is not Polotzk”?  Are all men equal in America?  Read carefully the description of Mr. Wilner:  How does the author make it vivid and lively?  Why was Mary Antin’s first day in school so important to her?  Was it fair that Frieda should not go to school?  Should an older child be sacrificed for a younger?  Should a slow child always give way to a bright one?  What do you think of the way in which Mary accepted the situation when Frieda had to go to work?  Read carefully what Mary says about it.  Is it easy to make a living in America?  Why did Mr. Antin not succeed in business?  What is meant by “the compensation of intellectual freedom”?  What did Mr. Antin gain from his life in America?  What sort of man was he?  In reading the selection, what idea do you get of the Russian immigrant?  Of what America means to the poor foreigner?

THEME SUBJECTS

Copyrights
Project Gutenberg
Modern Prose And Poetry; For Secondary Schools from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.