1. Create a Web site to introduce Death Comes for the Archbishop to other readers. Design pages to intrigue and inform your audience, and invite other readers to post their thoughts and responses to their reading of the novel. 2. Write your own short-story sequel to Death Comes for the […]
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1. Do you think Cather was more sympathetic to the Indians’ way of blending with the natural landscape of the Southwest or Latour’s accomplishments to build the diocese? 2. Compare Father Latour and Father Vaillant. Whom do you believe is the better man? Who is the better priest? Is there […]
Read more Study Help Essay QuestionsStudy Help Full Glossary for Death Comes for the Archbishop
Angelus the bell rung to announce the time for prayer. anomalous deviating from the general rule or usual method; abnormal. antediluvian of the time before the Biblical Flood. antiphon a hymn, psalm, and so on, chanted or sung in responsive, alternating parts. breviary a book containing the Psalms, readings, prayers, […]
Read more Study Help Full Glossary for Death Comes for the ArchbishopCritical Essays Death Comes for the Archbishop as a Catholic Novel
By depicting the mysteries of the Catholic faith as well as the everyday evidence of divine order and the order imposed by the hierarchical presence of the Catholic Church in Death Comes for the Archbishop, Cather seems to be advocating for Catholicism. Although she admitted that she “felt that the […]
Read more Critical Essays Death Comes for the Archbishop as a Catholic NovelCritical Essays Major Themes in Death Comes for the Archbishop
Much like the twentieth-century poets David Jones and T. S. Eliot@ — the former a Catholic and the latter an Anglican@ — Cather uses her art to convey the themes of preserving the religious traditions of the past in order to restore order to the present and thereby ensure the […]
Read more Critical Essays Major Themes in Death Comes for the ArchbishopWilla Cather Biography
Early Years Willa Cather was born in Back Creek Valley near Winchester, Virginia, on December 7, 1873. She was the first of seven children born to Charles F. and Mary Virginia Boak Cather. Her family had emigrated to the United States shortly after the Revolutionary War from Ireland by way […]
Read more Willa Cather BiographyCharacter Analysis Jacinto, Eusabio, Benito, and Manuelito
Jacinto, Eusabio, Benito, and Manuelito are four men who represent the Indian and Mexican population of the American Southwest as more than a simplified rendering of French philosopher Rousseau’s “noble savages.” Jacinto is distrustful of Latour at first but recognizes that the priest treats every person in the same manner […]
Read more Character Analysis Jacinto, Eusabio, Benito, and ManuelitoCharacter Analysis Philomene, Magdalena, and Inez Olivares
Philomene, Magdalena, and Inez Olivares are three women who dedicate their lives to the Church. Philomene is Vaillant’s sister; she becomes Mother Superior of her convent in France. She and her sisters in the Convent make ornate vestments for Vaillant. Magdalena is a beautiful woman who dedicates her life to […]
Read more Character Analysis Philomene, Magdalena, and Inez OlivaresCharacter Analysis Don Antonio and Dona Isabella Olivares
Don Antonio and Dona Isabella Olivares are wealthy landowners and generous patrons of the Santa Fe parish. At a supper party, Don Antonio promises to give Latour enough money to build his cathedral, but Don Antonio dies before he can fulfill his promise. His second wife, Dona Isabella is a […]
Read more Character Analysis Don Antonio and Dona Isabella OlivaresCharacter Analysis Padre Gallegos, Fray Baltazar Montoya, Padre Marino Lucero, and Antonio Joseph Martinez
Although the Roman Catholic faith is inspired by divine will, it is administered by humans who are inherently fallen from divine grace. Some fulfill their church duties with dignity, while others@ — such as these four men@ — succumb to temptations of personal glory and hedonism. Gallegos is a gambler […]
Read more Character Analysis Padre Gallegos, Fray Baltazar Montoya, Padre Marino Lucero, and Antonio Joseph Martinez