Symbolism, Setting, and Objects from Manhattan Transfer

Object Descriptions

This section provides a short description of all the major objects in the book. This can be printed out as a study guide for students, used as a "key" for leading a class discussion, or you can jump to the quiz/homework section to find worksheets that incorporate these descriptions into a variety of question formats.

Objects

New York City - This sparkles, punishes, builds, threatens, distracts, comforts and grinds like a massive skyscraper mill.

Ellis Island - This demonstrates that immigration is an ongoing process.

Broadway - This is referred to by the actors often and is a goal of theirs.

Wall Street - This can be a harsh environment with big winners or losers on a single day, or it can be a tide that raises all ships.

Skyscrapers - Office workers flow in and out of here in streams that defy resistance, and going with the flow...
(read more)