English Literature Assignment: Analyzing Four Literary Works

This document presents an analysis of four English literary works: "English Letter to my Mother" by Barbara Kingsolver, "Where I lived, and what I lived for" by Henry David Thoreau, "The one-eyed monster, and why I don't let him in" by Barbara Kingsolver, and "Waking up the Rake" by Linda Hogan. Each analysis includes a description of the work's content, its central theme, and a discussion of the author's ideas, often presented through imagined dialogues. The analyses explore themes such as the mother-daughter relationship, the life of a real estate owner, the importance of family time versus television, and the portrayal of Native American ethnicity and cultural values. The document provides a comprehensive overview of the texts, their contexts, and the authors' intentions, offering valuable insights for students studying English literature. The analyses also include references to the original sources to provide context to the student.

English

Letter to my Mother
Barbara Kingsolver (b. 1955), p. 397
Description
The topic of the article is about a person writing a ‘letter’ to her ‘mother’. She imagines how her
mother would be going through the contents of the letter. She would be ‘putting on glasses’ and
touching her ‘heart’ and wonder that trouble might have come over daughter. The daughter
stated that she loved her mother and discussed many things about her life with her. ‘Dear Mom’
is the happy feeling of the daughter in sharing the events of her life with the mother.
Theme
The author ‘Barbara Kingsolver’ lays emphasis upon the cordial relationship between the mother
and her daughter. The daughter writes ‘I love you’ to her mother. The purpose of the article is to
throw light on the ideal relationship between parents and their children. Discussing the problems
and happiness with each other should be the way in which the relations should work. ‘Happy and
uncomplicated things’ – these lines from the work indicate that both of them share a good
mother-daughter relationship.
Idea
Daughter: I have been writing to you a long letter regarding the events of my life.

Mother: Oh! What happened dear? Is everything okay at your end?
Daughter: yes absolutely mom! Just wanted to let you know that we are having a baby.
Mother: that’s such a heart-warming and delighting news dear! Congratulations!
Daughter: thank you so much, mother. I really hope to see you soon. I have so much to tell you.
Mother: very soon, my dear. I am eager to listen to you. (Wagner-Martin, 2014)

Where I lived, and what I lived for
Henry David Thoreau (1817- 1862) p. 1040
Description
The following work throws light upon the different kinds of properties ‘surveyed’ by the narrator
of the work. He has visited places of the ‘farmers and has tasted wild apples’ from their farms.
He analyzed the ‘prices’ of the lands visited by him. He completed the legal procedures in
relation to the transfer of the properties and ‘Mortgaged' some of them. He tried discovering the
house which is apt for him to live during ‘all seasons'.
Theme
Henry David Thoreau, the author of the work throws light upon the life and the works of a real
estate owner. The opinion of the author about the life of such a person is very interesting,
exciting as well as adventurous which can be understood from the sentence ‘I have enjoyed long
enough’. The purpose of the work is enlightening life of the wanderers who want to quench their
thirst by visiting and dealing with the lands. The narrator gets well accustomed to the people of
different backgrounds. ‘In imagination, I have bought all the farms' is his real dream.
Idea
Narrator: Good day sir! I am here to visit your beautiful piece of land.
Farmer: Hello. It is nice to meet you. This my apple garden which extends to the countryside
situated in the east.
Narrator: That’s lovely. Oh! These apples look delicious. You must have grown them with
utmost love and care.

Farmer: Yes. To add to this, I have used excellent fertilizers for the same. Would you like to
taste some?
Narrator: Sure. My pleasure.
Farmer: Here you go! (Thoreau, 2014)
The one-eyed monster, and why I don't let him in
Barbara Kingsolver (b. 1955) p. 1068
Description
‘Nobody ever gets killed at our house’ refers to the daily little fights between the children and
the parents of the house over issues of watching television more than spending quality time with
family. The feelings of parents and children are portrayed by the author in this work. After a
tight schedule, watching television can hamper the family time if practiced for a prolonged
period of time. Spending happy times with the family is desired and is considered as a better
recreation for all the members of the family. ‘My efforts to stall isn’t fooling anybody’ shows the
concern.
Theme
Barbara Kingsolver has, in this work laid emphasis that family time is more important than
watching television. ‘We believe in raising children who express themselves freely’ - Children
are immature and often get lured with the attractive lights, sounds, and programs in the
television. But that actually hampers their future as well as sours relationship with the family. ‘I
sit down and explain them to drop it’. This is the opinion of the author regarding the work. The
main purpose of the work is to shed light on the importance of spending quality time with family

for children. Watching of the television is considered a sheer wastage of valuable time. It’s just
‘boob tube’.
Idea
Father: Good evening son! How was your day? I see it’s been a long day for you.
Son: Good evening father. Yes, it was a long one. It was very tiring as I was working on multiple
issues at the same time.
Father: Is it? Then come join me and your mother for dinner. Let us have a discussion on it.
Son: No father. I just want to watch some shows on television and relax for some time.
Father: We can provide you with better recreation. Come over!
Son: Okay. (Kingsolver, 2011)
Waking up the Rake
Linda Hogan (b. 1947) p.1064
Description
The rationale behind this work is to emphasize Native American ethnicity to take within itself
the opinions of the people of the middle class. ‘The grief, sorrows, happiness of the daily lives’
are well portrayed in the work. Life and death of people, in general, is the central feeling in this
work. The author is the lifesaver here and the ‘work’ done by her provides a way of living to the
people who are ‘devastated’ in their personal ways. There are events where mental effort is much
more important than the ‘physical part’.

Theme
As opined by the author, ‘the braiding of the hair of the grandmother’ are important incidents of
the childhood which shapes the mental phenomena of the narrator from his childhood days. The
purpose of the work is the ‘cleaning of cages' and receiving important facts from the cycle of
growth and the death of human beings in general. Watching the grandmother beside the ‘juniper
wood fire’ was a strong childhood memory. ‘I would wake her up, stand behind her chair…’
explains the relationship between the two.
Idea
Narrator: Hello Grandma! Your hair is so long and beautiful.
Grandmother: Thank you, my child. It has been with me through the thick and thins of my life.
Narrator: It is so silky as well.
Grandmother: That’s because I take care of it.
Narrator: Why do you light the fire every day?
Grandmother: I want to feel the warmth in life (Hogan & Dillard).

Reference List
Hogan, L., & Dillard, A. and American Studies.
Kingsolver, B. (2011). Homeland. London: Faber & Faber.
Schwiebert, J. E. (1997). Reading and writing from literature. Houghton Mifflin.
Thoreau, H. D. (2014). The Correspondence of Henry D. Thoreau: Volume 1: 1834-1848 (Vol.
24). London: Princeton University Press.
Wagner-Martin, L. (2014). Barbara Kingsolver's world: nature, art, and the twenty-first century.
New York: Bloomsbury Publishing USA.