Homework 4/1

Shiloh
1. What is the historical context for the themes? What is the cultural background? Are they familiar to you?
The setting of the story is in a small town in Tennessee and could take place in the late 1900s to the present. Throughout the story, the Battle of Shiloh is mentioned as a place where the mother-in-law has visited and suggested as a place for the couple to visit. The couple's background is that of the average American. They are not immigrants. They and their parents were born and raised in the United States. This background is very familiar to me and quite similar to my own as my parents and I were born and raised in the United States.

2. What cultural/historical clues do you have in the story? Why are they significant?
The repeated references of the Battle of Shiloh and Shiloh, Tenn. as a place to visit are big clues in the story. They are significant because it could be metaphor for Leroy and Norma Jean's marriage and how they have drifted apart over the years.

3. What other important cultural/historical knowledge would you like to get and what keywords will you use to search for it?
I would like to learn a bit more, in depth, about the Battle of Shiloh and how that could relate to the story and the metaphor previously mentioned.