Setting
Characters
Plot
Symbols
Potpourri
100

The Author of My Ántonia

Who is Willa Cather

100
An orphaned boy who migrated to Nebraska from Virginia to live with his grandparents on a farm.
Who is the main character, Jim Burden?
100

Jim sees the Shmierdas on the train for the first time, and takes note of them being immigrants.

What is inciting incident in the plot?

100

A mother figure for Ántonia, who has guided her through her time in Black Hawk.


Who is Mrs. Harling?

100

The musty, cave-like structure in which the Shimerda family first lived when they came to Nebraska from Europe.

What is the dugout?

200

The prairie of Nebraska

What is the first town where Jim and his grandparents lived

200

The homesick character who committed suicide.

Who is Mr. Shmierda?

200

The portion of the story where Jim meets a friend for the first time in a long while and gives him a journal recounting his adolescence with an old mutual friend.

What is the exposition?

200
The place in between where two crossroads meet where the original red prairie grass lies undisturbed, and is one of Jim's favorite places.
What is Mr. Shimerda's burial place?
200

The place where Jim ultimately ends up living in the end of the book.

What is New York?

300
The late 1800's to the early 1900"s
What is the time period of My Antonia
300

The character who can be quoted saying "Ain't it wonderful, Jim, how much people can mean to each other?"

Who is Ántonia Shimerda?

300

The place where Jim and his family move to in Book II

What is Black Hawk?

300
This item symbolizes the enormous opportunity that comes with starting a new life, the nostalgic past, and the fear of starting over.
What is the Nebraska prairie?
300

The young man who fought with Jake Marpole over a borrowed horse collar.

Who is Ambrosch Shmierda?

400
"There seemed to be nothing to see; no fences, no creeks or trees, no hills or fields. If there was a road, I could not make it out in the faint starlight. There was nothing but land: not a country at all, but the material out of which countries are made."
What is the Nebraska prairie?
400

The animal killed by Jim which gave him Antonia's respect and admiration.

What is a giant rattlesnake?

400

The events in the story that include: Jim and Antonia's moving to Black Hawk, Jim and Antonia's meeting and developing friendship, the killing of the gigantic rattlesnake, the suicide of Mr. Shimerda, and the migration of both Jim and Antonia into town.

What is the story's rising action?

400
One aspect of the story continually reflects major changes in Jim's attitude, like when he sees Antonia for the first time and he comments about her looks, or when he lights the candles on the Christmas tree and states that the decorations and their meaning stood out clearly.
What is light?
400
The jealous, ungrateful, complaining and miserable woman who covets everything that the Burden family owns and their way of life.
Who is Mrs. Shimerda?
500
"Our white frame house, with a story and a half story above the basement, stood at the east end of what I might call the farmyard, with the windmill close by the kitchen door."
What is the Burden family farmhouse?
500

"A long scar ran across one cheek and drew the corner of his mouth up in a sinister curl. The top of his left ear was gone, and his skin was brown as an Indian's."

Who is Otto Fuchs, the Burden's hired help?

500

A giant shadow on the horizon, magnified by the setting sun during the end of a particularly rich and enjoyable final get together between Jim and the his immigrant girls.

What is a plough?

500

The attractive immigrant girl whom everyone in Black Hawk believes will end up in trouble due to the way she acts. 

Who is Lena Lingard?

M
e
n
u