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Part 1.<\/p>\n
1. Based on the info in READ THIS FIRST and your own research\/thinking, explain how Daisy Miller<\/em> might be an allegory<\/strong> about the U.S., even though not a single scene takes place in this country. You will need to research and explain the term “allegory,” and cite your source(s).<\/p>\n 2. Using II.A.3 as a starting point, analyze how gender plays a role in this story. What are the gender dynamics among the characters, and how significant is Daisy’s gender to how she lives and how others see\/treat her? Do you think anything portrayed in this story is still an issue today for men and women? <\/p>\n II. A. 3.) – Pay attention to gender as you read the story. Think of repeated warnings to Daisy that she must conform or face danger. Notice these moments:<\/p>\n a.Mrs. Costello to Winterbourne at the start of Part II: \u201cOf course a man may know everyone. Men are welcome to the privilege!”<\/p>\n b.Pretty Americans are \u201cat once the most exacting in the world and the least endowed with a sense of indebtedness.\u201d Indebtedness for what?!<\/p>\n c.Daisy\u2019s declaration at the Pincio: “I have never allowed a gentleman to dictate to me, or to interfere with anything I do.”<\/p>\n d.Symbolism in, of all things, mustaches. What might they represent here?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n PART 2.<\/p>\n 1)You know how I love titles. This original title is Daisy Miller: A Study<\/i>.<\/p>\n a.If realist literature is character-driven, and our central character is Daisy, then this essentially is a study of this woman. As you read, think of allllll the ways she is described, and Winterbourne\u2019s repeated, fundamental question: Is she innocent or vulgar? Fresh or crude? In other words, virgin or whore<\/a>? Just like a scientific study, a conclusion must be derived.<\/p>\n b.Remember, Winterbourne wonders when first meeting her: \u201cMiss Daisy Miller looked extremely innocent. Some people had told him that, after all, American girls were exceedingly innocent; and others had told him that, after all, they were not.\u201d Is Daisy gilded, i.e. pretty on the outside and rotten underneath, or is she truly golden inside and out?<\/p>\n 2)Please analyze the names of characters.<\/p>\n a.Daisy Miller: What\u2019s a daisy? Why would \u201cMiller\u201d be significant?<\/p>\n b.Randolph, who speaks with \u201chard r\u2019s,\u201d has a name with a hard \u201cr.\u201d<\/p>\n 1)Why would this matter?<\/p>\n c.Winterbourne: American but ensconced in stiff, Calvinist, proper Geneva, perhaps \u201ctoo long,\u201d he fears.<\/p>\n d.Mrs. Walker, urges Daisy NOT to walk and \u201cbe exposed.\u201d Ironic name, no?<\/p>\n