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Modern Prose And Poetry; For Secondary Schools: Edited With Notes, Study Helps, And Reading Lists

General

Modern Prose And Poetry; For Secondary Schools: Edited With Notes, Study Helps, And Reading Lists

American literature

All three children carried themselves rather better than the common run
of "green" pupils that were brought to Miss Nixon. But the figure that
challenged attention to the group was the tall, straight father, with
his earnest face and fine forehead, nervous hands eloquent in gesture,
and a voice full of feeling. This foreigner, who brought his children to
school as if it were an act of consecration, who regarded the teacher of
the primer class with reverence, who spoke of visions, like a man
inspired, in a common schoolroom, was not like other aliens, who
brought their children in dull obedience to the law; was not like the
native fathers, who brought their unmanageable boys, glad to be relieved
of their care. I think Miss Nixon guessed what my father's best English
could not convey. I think she divined that by the simple act of
delivering our school certificates to her he took possession of America.


NOTES

=The Promised Land=:--The land of freedom and peace which the Jews have
hoped to attain. See Exodus, 3:8; 6:8; Genesis, 12:5-7; Deuteronomy,
8:7-10; Hebrews, 11:9.

=his three years of probation=:--Mary Antin's father had spent three
years in America before sending back to Russia for his family.

=Polotzk=:--Pronounced P[=o]'lotsk; a town in Russia on the Dwina River.

=seven lean years=:--A reference to the famine in Egypt predicted by
Joseph, Pharaoh's Hebrew favorite. See Genesis, 40.

=Dvina=:--The Düna or Dwina River, in Russia.

=originally destined=:--Mr. Antin's parents had intended him to be a
scholar and teacher.

=Yiddish=:--From the German word _jüdisch_, meaning Jewish; a mixed
language made up of German, Hebrew, and Russian words. It is generally
spoken by Jews.

=Chelsea=:--A suburb of Boston.

=Nemesis=:--In Greek mythology, a goddess of vengeance or punishment for
sins and errors.

=the sins of his fathers=:--See Exodus, 20:5; Numbers, 14:18;
Deuteronomy, 5:9.

=Elysian fields=:--In Greek thought, the home of the happy dead.

=Semitic=:--Jewish; from the name of Shem, the son of Noah.


SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

General

Modern Prose And Poetry; For Secondary Schools: Edited With Notes, Study Helps, And Reading Lists

American literature

All three children carried themselves rather better than the common run
of "green" pupils that were brought to Miss Nixon. But the figure that
challenged attention to the group was the tall, straight father, with
his earnest face and fine forehead, nervous hands eloquent in gesture,
and a voice full of feeling. This foreigner, who brought his children to
school as if it were an act of consecration, who regarded the teacher of
the primer class with reverence, who spoke of visions, like a man
inspired, in a common schoolroom, was not like other aliens, who
brought their children in dull obedience to the law; was not like the
native fathers, who brought their unmanageable boys, glad to be relieved
of their care. I think Miss Nixon guessed what my father's best English
could not convey. I think she divined that by the simple act of
delivering our school certificates to her he took possession of America.


NOTES

=The Promised Land=:--The land of freedom and peace which the Jews have
hoped to attain. See Exodus, 3:8; 6:8; Genesis, 12:5-7; Deuteronomy,
8:7-10; Hebrews, 11:9.

=his three years of probation=:--Mary Antin's father had spent three
years in America before sending back to Russia for his family.

=Polotzk=:--Pronounced P[=o]'lotsk; a town in Russia on the Dwina River.

=seven lean years=:--A reference to the famine in Egypt predicted by
Joseph, Pharaoh's Hebrew favorite. See Genesis, 40.

=Dvina=:--The Düna or Dwina River, in Russia.

=originally destined=:--Mr. Antin's parents had intended him to be a
scholar and teacher.

=Yiddish=:--From the German word _jüdisch_, meaning Jewish; a mixed
language made up of German, Hebrew, and Russian words. It is generally
spoken by Jews.

=Chelsea=:--A suburb of Boston.

=Nemesis=:--In Greek mythology, a goddess of vengeance or punishment for
sins and errors.

=the sins of his fathers=:--See Exodus, 20:5; Numbers, 14:18;
Deuteronomy, 5:9.

=Elysian fields=:--In Greek thought, the home of the happy dead.

=Semitic=:--Jewish; from the name of Shem, the son of Noah.


SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Modern Prose And Poetry; For Secondary Schools: Edited With Notes, Study Helps, And Reading Lists

Modern Prose And Poetry; For Secondary Schools: Edited With Notes, Study Helps, And Reading Lists

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