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SparkNotes: Ethan Frome: Context
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Criticized as an immoral radical in her early years and
as a moralizing conservative in her later years, Wharton has been
difficult to pin down in her shadowy, shifting beliefs. She was
undoubtedly concerned with the moral universe, but, in her fiction,
conforming to social norms is constantly at odds with a rejection
of conformity. -
Ethan Frome, a curious and slender volume
first published in 1911, is one of the few
pieces of Wharton's fiction that does not take place in an urban,
upper-class setting. The novel is all the more remarkable for its
austere and penetrating impressions of rural working-class New England,
especially given that its author was a woman of leisure, living
in the comfort of her Paris salon. Wharton based the narrative of Ethan
Frome on an accident that had occurred in Lenox, Massachusetts,
where she had traveled extensively and had come into contact with
one of the victims of the accident. Wharton found the notion of
the tragic sledding crash to be irresistible as a potential extended
metaphor for the wrongdoings of a secret love affair.
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SparkNotes: The Gilded Age & the Progressive Era (1877–1917)
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The Gilded Age & the Progressive Era (1877–1917)
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already reviewed
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Edith Wharton (1862-1937)
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Major themes in Wharton's work include the effects of class on both
behavior and consciousness (divorce, for example, often horrifies the established
upper class as much for its offense against taste as for its violation
of moral standards); the American belief in progress as actual and good
(many "advances" Wharton welcomed; others she was contemptuous
of); the contrast between European and American customs, morality, and
sensibility; the confinement of marriage, especially for women; women's
desire for and right to freedom in general, and particularly sexual and
economic freedom, and the reality that, usually, the desire and right are
thwarted; the preference of powerful, white, usually upper-class men for
childish dependent women; the complexity and pain of relationships between
women within patriarchal culture, including (and especially) rivalry and
animosity among women. -
Historically, Wharton was both the product and the beneficiary of a
highly developed, even if recent, high-culture tradition of brilliant,
educated women able to write and publish fiction for a living. - 1 more annotations...
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Edith Wharton @Web English Teacher
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Edith Wharton: Classroom Issues and Strategies
This site is designed for teachers of more advanced students. It contains some insights and discussion questions. -
Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome
Chapter summaries, a wealth of teaching ideas and lesson plans, chapter reading questions and answers, quotations and interpretations, activities/projects. Access to this 17-page document requires Adobe Reader or compatible application. - 1 more annotations...
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Vocabulary from Ethan Frome written by Edith Wharton for VOCAB U.
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How can you, as a teacher, student and/or life-long learner use the V.U. classic texts vocabulary lists?
(Tip 1) Individually or as a group, choose words that are unknown to you from the list. To help memorize, look up and write down the definition, part of speech and use the new word in a sentence of more than 6 words.
(Tip 2) Write a story, postcard, letter or journal entry using 15-25 words in context.
(Tip 3) Working individually or in a group, pair synonyms and/or antonyms. Determine how many words are adjectives, nouns and verbs. -
- Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton In order of appearance, as indicated:
- Introduction:
dialectical, enumeration, vernacular, inarticulateness, imponderable, grizzled, trolley, reminiscent, sardonically, garrison, beleaguered, innocuous, incarnation, inertia, plaintive, wraith, diffusion, querulous, querulously - Chapters 1-7
iron monger, curlicue, doohingies, solder, droll, mountebank, catapult, perambulate, elixir, slither, hordes, serpentine, incongruous, effulgence, calligraphy, voluptuous, flourish, calliope - Chapter I
throng, vex, effrontery, reverberations, stubble, poignancy, dormant - Chapter II
incredulous, pantomime, hemlock, threshold - Chapter III
indentured, tangible, imperceptible, calico, sedentary, plaintively, draught - Chapter IV
indolent, gaunt, countenance, supersede, obliterate, perceptible - Chapter VI
sorrel, trudge, perfunctory, ministration, squalid, stoicism - Chapter VII
felicitous, incredulity, recrimination, rouse, vehemence, sinews, listless, compunction, stammer, animosity, ingratiate, regal, affability, sallow - Chapter VIII
untenanted, protuberance, incessant, inexorable, unperturbed, eaves, fidgety, revelers, avow, woo, contemptuously, audacity, glee, exaltation, embodied, excruciating, querulous, drone, slatternly - Afterward:
bungle, hardscrabble, vexation, commodious, luminaries, illicit, sporadic, disparage, claustrophobia, impasse, transgress, submissive, timorous
- Introduction:
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ClassZone.com ethan frome activities
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Concept Web.
Ask students to work independently or in small groups to create a
word web or other graphic organizer that explores one or more of the
following concepts: duty, isolation, personal happiness, economic
hardship. You might encourage students who are having trouble
getting started to 1) define the concept, perhaps using a dictionary
or a thesaurus; 2) give specific examples from their own experience
or from their reading that illustrate the concept; and 3) list their
personal reactions to and associations with the concept. -
Agree/Disagree.
In her 1922 introduction to Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton refers
to the novel as a tragedy. Ask students whether they agree with this
statement or not. Have them evaluate whether the tragedy results from
circumstances which the characters have no control over or from avoidable
errors in judgment.
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Ethan Frome Study Guide
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- Love- Ethan and Zeena never had true love
for each other.
- Betrayal- Ethan wanted to have an affair with
Mattie despite the fact that he was married to her cousin.
- Communication- lack of communication was the problem between
Ethan and Zeena
Themes:
- Love- Ethan and Zeena never had true love
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Does Ethan have a
responsibility toward Zeena? - 2 more annotations...
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to be reviewed
places where teaching materials may be found
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http://www.help4teachers.com/EthanFrome.htm
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reading check quizzes
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Write a comparison contrast essay to examine similarities and differences between Zeena and
Mattie. You may want to consider the following points of comparison:a. Zeena's and Mattie's attitudes toward life
b. Their roles as woman of the late 19th century
c. Their age, appearance, and dress
d. Their treatment of Ethan and each other
Of course, you won't be able to focus your essay on all these points; therefore, after considering
them, narrow your focus. Be sure to provide details, quotes, and examples in your comparison. - 1 more annotations...
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Edith Wharton: Biographical Information from the Edith Wharton Society
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Edith Wharton: A Life in Pictures and Text.
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