"My Antonia" Annotations

Hicks, Granville. "The Case Against Willa Cather." English Journal 22.9 (1933): 703-710. JSTOR. Web. 29 Nov 2012.

Hicks argues that Willa Cather is unable to write beyond nostalgic romanticism or progress successfully as a contemporary author. He presents Cather’s romantic Prairie Trilogy, “The Song of the Lark,” O Pioneers!,” and “My Antonia,” and compares them to her later works stating that her attempt to study the current more modern frontier life left her novels with uninspiring examples and representing her own aversion and dislike of nonromantic themes. He allows the beauty of her Nebraskan descriptions in "My Antonia" and her use of heroism with the piety of pioneers. She does not ignore conflict and hardship when painting her romantic tales which he concedes makes this trilogy an American classic. But she could not continue writing of the Nebraska of her past while the frontier moves forward. Hicks allows that she is not the only contemporary author to not succeed in a more modernism movement and fall back upon romanticism ideals. When one cannot move forward, flight is the only option left. He concludes, though, that this move is the ending of most authors, Cather included. "Flight is destructive of artistic virtues" and by not being able to move forward, she was left behind. This will deprive generations of her literary potential found in her Prairie Trilogy and overtime could push even them to the sidelines.

 

 

Rosowski, Susan J. "Discovering Symbolic Meaning: Teaching with Willa Cather." English Journal 71.8 (1982): 14-17. JSTOR. Web. 26 Nov 2012.

Willa Cather's novel "My Antonia" was written to teach. Through her use of universal themes, her passion and attention to detail Rosowski writes how Cather is able to gather an audience and teach her readers about perceiving depth and enticing the mind for continued discussion and literature advancement. Rosowski details how Cather’s own background gives her incite and an ability to show small wonders in new territory. Her story is not only about a young boy and girl growing up together but about the progression of life and maturity. Antonia begins to take on the role of the life and fertility of the frontier. She is desire and accomplishment. Readers can associate her to people and ideas in their own lives until she is no longer just Jim's Antonia. Rosowski concludes that Willa Cather's "My Antonia" is not simply a novel. Her tale teaches generations about great literature and entices future reading. The reader is required to think deeply and read past the simple episodic tale of a boy and a girl. She allows "the teaching of universal symbols" and depth of character for her own novels as well as other authors.