The word “nostalgia” describes a feeling of longing for the past. The feeling is both bitter, because the past cannot be retrieved, and sweet, because the feeling is triggered by warm, affectionate memories. Despite changes in its meaning over time, from a disease to something…
My Antonia Essay Examples and Topics
by Willa Cather
Willa Cather
United States
English
Historical fiction
1918
Emmaline Burden, Ántonia Shimerda, Jimmy Burden, Josiah Burden, Lena Lingard
Black Hawk, Nebraska
The novel is centered on the stories of an orphaned boy from Virginia, Jim Burden, and the elder daughter in a family of Bohemian immigrants, Ántonia Shimerda. They are each brought as children to be pioneers in Nebraska towards the end of the 19th century.
The character of Antonia Shimerda is based upon Annie Pavelka, a real-life childhood friend of Cather's.