1. Jim Burden begins his study of Virgil during his sophomore year of college. What is the significance of the novel’s epigraph, and what is the connection between it and his view of Ántonia? Is it important that Lena reenters his life while he reflects on his lesson from Gaston Cleric? Explain.
2. Why does Mr. Shimerda commit suicide? Take into account as many different factors as possible. How does his death change his family’s fate, especially Ántonia? Why does it affect Jim so deeply?
3. What double standard do the immigrant women in Black Hawk face? What unexpected results occur because of this standard? How does Jim Burden feel about the “hired girls”?
4. Lena and Ántonia take different paths as adults. How do their personalities and choices in Black Hawk foreshadow their future destinies? By the end of the novel, are they both content? Have they both succeeded? Explain.
5. When Jim finally tries to kiss Ántonia, she pushes him away and tells him never to succumb to Lena’s temptations.Why do Jim and Ántonia never have a romantic relationship? Why does Jim pursue one with Lena?
6. How important is figurative language to Willa Cather’s writing style? How does Cather’s use of imagery communicate the themes of her novel? Focus your essay on one chosen theme.
7. As an adult, Jim tells Ántonia,“I’d have liked to have you for a sweetheart, or a wife, or my mother or my sister—anything that a woman can be to a man,” and he tells her sons,“I was very much in love with your mother once.” Do you believe him? Why does Jim never try to marry her?
