This free printable makes for the perfect conversation starter and to keep at least part of the discussion focused on your latest read. My antonia upsets many traditional gender exceptions, but one in particular is the expectation that men be active, decisive characters. Keep the mood of the club in mind when selecting the book. The narrator tells you about a friend of hers named jim burden, a lawyer for one of the transcontinental railroads. The novel creates sharp contrasts between moments of great happiness and moments. In book ii, jim moves from the country into the town of black hawk.
About four years ago i was a member of our hoa board. Successful groups select good books, have interesting discussions, and foster community. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class. Decipher this wellknown saying and you could win the book of your choice. The classics book club meets the second wednesday of every month at kings books. My antonia by willa cather summer 2010 mfah book club selection. Do some research on cathers own experiences in the american west. Now that everything everywhere happens over the internet all the time, says zach zook, an coordinator for the small indie shop bookcourt in brooklyn, were seeing a real desire from customers for faceto face interactions. Juliet grames goodreads author shelved 1 time as employee bookclub avg rating 3. Whether your book club is a few close friends or a larger group, hosting a book club party still takes some amount of planning. This stepbystep guide will help you start a book club that can last for years. Shimerda, has a profound and lasting influence upon both antonia and jim.
Iv on the afternoon of that same sunday i took my first long ride on my pony, under ottos direction. Enhance understanding with discussion questions for willa cathers my antonia. Discussion questions for my antonia by willa cather. This speaker disappears from the novel as soon as the introduction is over. Heres where youll find analysis about the book as a whole. If youre looking for some creative ways to make your book club discussion of this book fun and interesting, i have gathered some ideas to make it festive. Discussion questions my antonia by willa cather next meeting. My antonia discussion questions why do you think willa cather chose to open the novel with the simultaneous arrival of jim and the shimerda family in nebraska. Litcharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in my antonia, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. My antonia begins with a short fictional introduction told by a nameless narrator, who may or may not be the author herself. Set during the great migration west to settle the plains of the north american continent, the narrative follows antonia shimerda, a pioneer who comes to nebraska as a child and grows with the country, inspiring a childhood friend, jim burden, to write her life story.
Book club parties are a good way to get friends together and have great discussion over appetizers, drinks, or brunch. Each month, the selected book is available for purchase at kings bookstore. My antonia gives readers the opportunity to reflect on values that cannot be easily. I served on the social committee, welcome committee and created our quarterly newsletter the fun stuff. Cather explores characteristically american questions of identity through the. Our reading guide for my antonia by willa cather includes a book club. Told to us from the perspective of jim burden, an orphan who comes to live at his grandparents neighboring farm, this is an enduring american classic rich with the beautiful imagery of the midwestern plains. Mar 06, 2017 in my monthly book club, we often have a hard time selecting our next book because there are so many to choose from. Why might cather have chosen to start the book in this way. See more ideas about spring branch, discussion group and my antonia. A gracefully written book that still provides insights into cathers writings, this work is penetrating in its discussion of cathers use of feelings and nostalgic memories in my antonia.
Cather is at her most passionate describing this immense landscape with its acres of waving grass. The novel creates sharp contrasts between moments of great happiness and moments of. Start a club based on something that takes only 45 minutes to readthe oldfashioned indepth magazine article. Book club questions book club discussion questions. We have been meeting in tacoma since 1994 and at kings books since may 2011. Content includes books from bestselling, midlist and debut authors. For book clubs that like to pair refreshments with the text, for readers who love to cook as well as read, and for those of us who love to be immersed in faraway cultures and lands, my mother s kitchen. See a complete list of the characters in my antonia and indepth analyses of jim burden, antonia shimerda, and lena lingard. Read a plot overview of the entire book or a chapter by chapter summary and analysis. A family, 20292047 by lionel shriver npr best books 2016. Popular employee book club books showing 150 of 120 the seven or eight deaths of stella fortuna paperback by. Well look at immigrant life on the american prairie in the 19th century as we discuss this classic piece of literature. While many have argued that antonia is the protagonist of the novel, she always remains at arms length from the reader, accessible only through jims imagination and memory of her.
Dec 27, 20 this group meets the 2nd tuesday of each month at shady spring branch library 6pm. One book, one community ever since seattle started the trend in 1998, the phenomenon of one book, one community reading programs has been growing steadily across the country. But if you actually physically partake in book club ideas that turn the stories in your head into physical reality on earth, life can leap into greater richness. The discussion and writing section of this guide divides my antonia into reading. One of christian science monitors best fiction reads of 2018.
This is absolutely the best teacher resource i have ever purchased. This reading guide also contains a synopsis of the book and information about the author to share with students. Essay ideas, study questions and discussion topics based on important themes running throughout my antonia by willa cather. My antonia reading guide for class discussion teachervision. Apr 02, 2014 book club aka read between the wines were coming up on the last meeting of the year and i wanted to share some ideas that have kept our book club thriving. My antonia by willa cather summer 2010 mfah book club. New introductions commissioned from todays top writers and scholars. Discussion questions my antonia by willa cather next meeting date. Willa cather wrote a groundbreaking piece in 1918her novel my antonia. Willa cathers classic my antonia is the story of the daughter of an immigrant family that sets out to farm the untamed prairie land of nebraska in the late 19th century. A book discussion group is a forum where readers can come together and talk about books and the reading experience there are adult groups, studentled groups, motherdaughter groups, fatherson groups, and parentchild groups, to name just a few. Relativity book by antonia hayes official publisher page. Questions to facilitation discussion on my antonia.
My antonia by willa cather book club discussion questions. My antonia is a novel by willa cather that was first published in 1918. Read this in high school and just re read for a book club. Wordplays are open to bookbrowse visitors worldwide visitors outside the usa win a 6month membership to bookbrowse. The narrator of the prologue in my antonia is an unnamed speaker who knew jim burden in. One problem many book clubs run into is that discussions always seem to get off track, just like they did in the reality tv show tuesday night book club. She was one of the first female authors to write in firstperson in a. The novels narrator and arguable protagonist, jim burden, is fairly passive, weak, and indecisive on several levels.
A novel with recipes by meera ekkanath klein homebound publications, november 17, 2014 266 pages. See more ideas about book club books, book club parties and books. Book club discussion questions the book club guide. But in the cookbook club you should read the whole book, including the intro and all the stories that are. Learn more if you would like more tips on holding a book club discussion, check out our book club discussion guide. The first narrator in my antonia is an unnamed speaker who grew up with jim burden and meets him years later on a train. And theyre reallife, which makes them easier to relate to. This is jim burdens story, emphasized by his title my antonia. A site dedicated to book lovers providing a forum to discover and share commentary about the books and authors they enjoy. How to start a book discussion group get together a core group it is much easier to start a book club with two or three people who already have some connection. Jim tells his story in response to this mysterious figure, who disappears from the novel as soon as the introduction is over. Well also unveil our next book club selection when. It is the final book of her great plains trilogy of novels, preceded by o pioneers. On november 19 the willa cather book club will meet to discuss cathers most beloved novel my.
Make a guess at who it might be and support your idea with evidence from the story. Listed here are discussion questions for the books the galesburg public library adult book clubs have read recently. My antonia gives readers the opportunity to reflect on values that cannot be. Is the group on a roll and ready to tackle that long thick book youve been talking about for months. Another bonus is that the ideas discussed in those pieces tend to be controversial, which leads to lots of fun, even heated debate. What relevance does the novel have today, and what does it reveal to us about our collective. My antonia reading guide for class discussion page 2. When most of us buy a cookbook, we browse through and use a few recipes from time to time. Sure, they come for the joy of talking about the tigers. We also have at least 1 person, but usually 2 people, read the book before its officially on the table as an option to build a sort of fan base. My antonia reading guide for class discussion enhance understanding with discussion questions for willa cathers my antonia. Nothing daunted book by dorothy wickenden official.
Book club ideas kid through adult great group activities. This option is so obvious, you just might just overlook it. Having established rules can be especially important if you are starting a book club thats open to the general public. Kathleen norris writes in her foreword that in many ways the world of my antonia is still with us, a neglected but significant part of america.
For discussion questions for the harry potter books, click here. Further study study questions who is the protagonist of my antonia, antonia or jim. Here are 11 books that every book club should read even including several that didnt make oprahs list but totally should have. My antonia by willa cather big read 2010 the middle of everywhere by mary pipher. Great supplemental information for school essays and homework projects. My antonia discussion questions chicago public library.
See more ideas about book club books, book worms and books. How to pick books for a book club10 tips for choosing the. Or, have a handout with up to five questions that everyone will keep in mind throughout the discussion. Youll find two sets of questions belowthe first from penguin classics, the second. Willa cathers my antonia is considered one of the most significant american novels. There is a great deal of symbolism at work in this novel. In each contest one winner will be selected at random from the correct entries.
Book club discussion questions of course you have the gossip and the wine to look forward to, but you might want an excuse to ensure you get some discussion time in. The discussion leader could ask one question at a time to the group. The spirited daughter of bohemian immigrants, antonia must adapt to a hard existence on the desolate prairies of the midwest. I thought narrowing the field might help so i brainstormed some monthly book club theme ideas. In my book club, the person who suggests the book is on the hook for leading the discussion, so that is a builtin censor. You could either create a book club entirely around a single theme, or use themes to narrow your focus for each month. If you are starting a book club yourself, you may need some ideas for creating a fun group that people will come back to time after time. Thatcher settles finally on seeing mary treat as a giant redwood. He placed this book in my grandmothers hands, looked at her entreatingly, and said, with an earnestness which i shall never forget, teeach, teeach my antonia. Or, is the team struggling with the last few books youve read.
Its as though a veil lifts and you see more of the world everywhere you go. Its the book club discussion on midday connection and well be delving into willa cathers my antonia. Finding the right book club book is easy when you follow these helpful tips. Suggested book and reading club discussion questions for unsheltered. Alternatively, the discussion leader could write down a different question on multiple cards and give each member a card. As a member of a book club that has been meeting for 15 years, i know that sometimes finding a good book for discussion can be a challenge.
Joining a book club can seem impossible, if you dont know where to look. When youre starting a book club it helps to set some ground rules to help ensure that all of your attendees feel welcome and want to return. Discussion questions written and adapted from various sources 1. Vintage and anchor books are proud supporters of these communitybased reading initiatives, and whether youre already established or just getting started, were. Written in 1918, my antonia by willa cather is a novel of americas great. The first narrator in my antonia is an unnamed speaker who grew up. Click on the title of a book to see the discussion questions.
1071 214 430 1246 230 233 611 290 39 802 212 103 743 781 1399 794 313 1076 629 85 640 1097 146 1342 789 403 193 320 617 351 1009 83 306 473 776 343 165 124 744 927 563 604 113 279 521