She repeatedly draws distinctions between the French, Swedish, Bohemian and American personalities and sensibilities, among others. I originally intended to focus and discuss this distinction as a way of moving into the importance of regionalism/nationality for Cather.

NW into my lesson-planning as a way to talk about character, particularly women in the text whose personhood and identity are defined by where they’re from originally and where they live in the text’s present (Mrs.

NW throws big, broad ideas that may lack clear form or definition into sharp relief. And it’s an inclusive kind of umbrella that branches out and draws in other, perhaps more subtle, ideas and questions. But I do see it as a kind of backlight, one that once considered is hard to ignore. Maybe it’s a theme, or perhaps theme isn’t the right word: I think teaching or reading for theme may no longer be en vogue, or is perhaps too rudimentary. I’ve consistently taught OP! in American lit survey sections, and because of these limitations, I like to draw out, discuss and have students consider in great detail primarily the idea of Old World vs. There is no looking for the central theme or subject there are too many! Of course, this broadness can be overwhelming, at least for me, specifically with time constraints. I love this about it it bites off a chunk of humanity and presents it in all of its intertwined complication. It’s also a text that grapples with a number of large ideas in a relatively short space: identity, personhood, sexuality, gender, labor, and religion, to name a few. It’s not that American literature lacks good novels – quite the opposite– but the form often reads long before the turn of the 20 th century, and when considering squeezing Moby Dick into three, 50-minute periods, O Pioneers! distinctly titled parts are a welcome alternative. With that in mind, Cather’s slim, easily segmented novels are a strong compliment to the short stories, poems, essays and speeches that probably make up the majority of the semester’s reading. If you are still on the fence, though, let me give you a few other reasons, particularly in a survey-style classroom, when a rather large span of time/genre/diversity of author often must be covered.

I’m assuming that most recognize her skill and the usefulness of her perspective, and maybe even simply want to teach her out of enjoyment. I guess I should come clean and admit that my daughter may share a name with Cather, and I’m an unabashed fan. This is not meant to be a case for why Cather’s work, and O Pioneers! in particular, should be taught, though it easily could be.

O pioneers