Claudia Huck and Gabriella Cannavo Mrs. Astigarraga Honors English II - B 7 September 2021 Summary and Interpretive Statements - My Ántonia Summary Statement:My Ántonia, by Willa Cather, follows the story of Jim Burden as he grows up in Black Hawk, Nebraska in the late 19th century and his friendship with his neighbor, Ántonia Shimerda, and the conflicts between the Shimerdas and Burdens, as well as Ántonia’s own desires to keep her vibrant nightlife, that Jim fears will cause him to lose her forever. Interpretive Statement:In her novelMy Ántonia, Willa Cather uses Ántonia’s transformation from her vibrant juvenile self to her dimmer and diligent adult self to illustrate the sense of loss and maturity that comes with shifting from childhood into adulthood. ElementExplanationQuoteThematic Relevance Characterization: ●Ántonia ●Jim ●Mrs. Shermerda ●Mr. Shermerda Setting:●Black Hawk,Nebraska●Burden’s House ●Lincoln, Nebraska(1) The novelMy Ántonia takes place in Black Hawk, Nebraska during the late
