My Antonia

Knowing from her childhood the difficulty of being unable to speak English, why doesn’t Antonia teach her children English from an from an early?

book 5

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I think Antonia was more about nature, the land, and hard work than learning English. In this chapter Jim sees Ántonia in her ultimate incarnation as an earth mother, the bringer of new life. Everywhere life surrounds her: in her innumerable children, in the plethora of fruits and trees surrounding the house, in the myriad of farm animals running around, and in the playful interactions of her and her children. Expecting to see a tired, worn-out woman, Jim is surprised at how energetic and full of life Ántonia is among her brood of children. Instead of draining her energies, her children seem to feed it, and their enthusiasm is contagious as Jim discovers firsthand.