A Northern Light- Week 3, Post A

VOCAB

Wan (84): showing or suggesting ill health, fatigue, unhappiness, etc.
Rheumatism (105): any disorder of the extremities or back, characterized by pain and stiffness.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

1.) “Charred tree stumps stuck up in the front yard, as black and as random as an old man’s teeth” (85). This is a simile because it uses ‘as’ to compare the stumps in the yard to an old man’s teeth.
2.) “Everything changed as I spoke. Aunt Josie’s smile slid of her face like ice off a tin roof” (113). This is a simile because it uses ‘like’ to describe how fast her smile slid off her face.
3.) “‘You’re on a very high horse, Mathilda. I don’t know who put you there, but you’d best get down off it. And fast’” (113). This is a metaphor describing how Mattie, according to her aunt, has gotten herself into a lot of trouble, and she doesn’t know how she is going to get out of it.

QUOTE

“Wilcox had books but no family. Minnie had a family now, but those babies would keep her from reading for a good long time. Some people, like my aunt Josie and Alvah Dunning the hermit, had neither love nor books. Nobody I knew had both.”(97). This quote shows how the people of this time period felt about reading. It seems that people like Mattie’s teacher Miss Wilcox, are excluded from many parts of society because they want to learn. This quote makes me wonder why Mattie still wants to keep reading. I think Mattie will convince the people of her town that learning isn’t such a bad thing.

THEME

A theme in this section of the book is choices. Mattie’s aunt and her father both put pressure on Mattie, forcing her to make choices. Mattie usually ends up doing what the other person wants, rather that reading or doing what she pleases. I feel bad for Mattie, but in her situation sometimes she has to give up reading to support and work for her family.