Art is a concrete and personal and rather childish thing after all—no matter what people do to graft it into science and make it sociological and psychological; it is no good at all unless it is let alone to be itself—a game of make-believe, or re-production, very exciting and delightful to people who have an ear for it or an eye for it.

PARAPHRASE THIS PLEASE

“A Wagner Matinee”

By Willa Cather

Willa Cather 1873-1947

• From Nebraska• stories based upon the hard lives of immigrant

families around her…true heroes• American writer, one of the country's foremost

novelists, whose carefully crafted prose conveys vivid pictures of the American landscape and the people it molded.

• Journalist , teacher, fiction writer• Loved music

“A Wagner Matinee”• Theme: dreams and sacrifice…

Sometimes circumstances in life force people to give up things they truly love and enjoy.

• Point of View: 1st Person Narration• Characters: Aunt Georgiana, Uncle Howard,

Clark nephew (narrator)• Setting: rural Nebraska and Boston… • Tone:• Mood:

Characterization

Make a table much like this one and scan the short story for evidence of characterization, list it in the correct area, labeling the pg. number and

assigning a personality trait or a physical feature.

Direct

Clark

Aunt Georgiana

Uncle Howard

Indirectpg. 5 “I owed to this woman most of the good that ever

came my way in my boyhood, and had a reverential affection for her.” GRATEFUL

Plot

• Exposition

• Rising Action

– Conflict

• Climax

• Falling Action

• Resolution

Imagery Excellent examples of Cather’s vivid descriptions only please

Boston

Pg.

Nebraska

Pg.