Question

Read the passage from My Antonia. Those girls had grown up in the first bitter-hard times, and had got little schooling themselves. But the younger brothers and sisters, for whom they made such sacrifices and who have had "advantages,” never seem to me, when I meet them now, half as interesting or as well educated. The older girls, who helped to break up the wild sod, learned so much from life, from poverty, from their mothers and grandmothers; they had all, like Antonia, been early awakened and made observant by coming at a tender age from an old country to a new. Which theme is best supported by the comparison in this passage?

Answer 1

My Antonia is a novel written by the Author Willa Cather in 1918. The novel tells the story of the pioneers of Nebraska and their life in the Old West, The story makes emphasis on the role of the women during that time. There are two other novels which are the thematic preceding of My Antonia: O Pioneers! and The Song of the Lark.

The theme presented in the comparison of the older siblings with the younger ones is that when it comes to character or education, there is not better school than life. This is actually the main content of the whole passage presented here.

Life experiences and hard work represent a better school and teachings than the ones you can get in the formal schooling system.