Exploring the Text

1. What is the impact of the descriptive opening scene? What mood is established? Who are the “lanky boys” who appear “slimily as eels wakened by the crack of thunder” (par. 8)? How are they connected to the story that is unfolding?

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   Exploring the Text: - What is the impact of the descriptive opening scene? What mood is established? Who are the “lanky boys” who appear “slimily as eels wakened by the crack of thunder” (par. 8)? How are they connected to the story that is unfolding?
2. What physical details does Willa Cather provide of the Merricks’ home—both inside and outside—that characterize the psychological environment?

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   Exploring the Text: - What physical details does Willa Cather provide of the Merricks’ home—both inside and outside—that characterize the psychological environment?
3. Harvey Merrick’s mother is a key figure in the story, both past and present. How does Cather depict her appearance and her personality? Is her “orgy of grief” (par. 25) at her son’s death typical of her behavior? Are we led to believe it is genuine? Do you find her a three-dimensional or stereotyped character? Why?

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   Exploring the Text: - Harvey Merrick’s mother is a key figure in the story, both past and present. How does Cather depict her appearance and her personality? Is her “orgy of grief” (par. 25) at her son’s death typical of her behavior? Are we led to believe it is genuine? Do you find her a three-dimensional or stereotyped character? Why?
4. What purpose does Roxy, a minor character, play in developing the themes of this story? Consider Cather’s description of her, what others say of her, and her actions.

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   Exploring the Text: - What purpose does Roxy, a minor character, play in developing the themes of this story? Consider Cather’s description of her, what others say of her, and her actions.
5. When we first see Merrick in his coffin, Cather writes, “It was as though the strain of life had been so sharp and bitter that death could not at once wholly relax the tension and smooth the countenance into perfect peace—as though he were still guarding something precious and holy which might even yet be wrested from him” (par. 26). What does this sentence mean? From whose perspective is it written?

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   Exploring the Text: - When we first see Merrick in his coffin, Cather writes, “It was as though the strain of life had been so sharp and bitter that death could not at once wholly relax the tension and smooth the countenance into perfect peace—as though he were still guarding something precious and holy which might even yet be wrested from him” (par. 26). What does this sentence mean? From whose perspective is it written?
6. When the “same misty group” (par. 46) of men who were at the station are in the dining room of the Merrick home, they talk about Harvey Merrick. What values do they reveal about themselves, particularly those that Harvey did not share or validate? In what ways is Jim Laird’s speech a rebuke and rebuttal to this community?

   Question

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   Exploring the Text: - When the “same misty group” (par. 46) of men who were at the station are in the dining room of the Merrick home, they talk about Harvey Merrick. What values do they reveal about themselves, particularly those that Harvey did not share or validate? In what ways is Jim Laird’s speech a rebuke and rebuttal to this community?
7. Who is Jim Laird? This character, who is present in nearly every moment of the story from start to finish, parallels Harvey in some ways yet diverges from him in others. Why do you think Cather develops him as such a significant figure in the story?

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   Exploring the Text: - Who is Jim Laird? This character, who is present in nearly every moment of the story from start to finish, parallels Harvey in some ways yet diverges from him in others. Why do you think Cather develops him as such a significant figure in the story?
8. Although the story is told in the third person, the perspective of Henry Steavens trying to understand his friend and mentor Merrick is closest to the reader’s view. What “clues” and insights does Cather gradually reveal as Steavens tries to combine what he already knows of Merrick with the new knowledge he gained in Sand City? What, finally, does he determine was “the real tragedy of his master’s life” (par. 43)?

   Question

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   Exploring the Text: - Although the story is told in the third person, the perspective of Henry Steavens trying to understand his friend and mentor Merrick is closest to the reader’s view. What “clues” and insights does Cather gradually reveal as Steavens tries to combine what he already knows of Merrick with the new knowledge he gained in Sand City? What, finally, does he determine was “the real tragedy of his master’s life” (par. 43)?
9. Harvey Merrick’s dying wish was that his body be sent “home” to Sand City because “it rather seems as though we ought to go back to the place we came from in the end” (par. 59). Given the events of the story, do you think that Cather agrees with this view? Cite specific passages and actions to support your response.

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   Exploring the Text: - Harvey Merrick’s dying wish was that his body be sent “home” to Sand City because “it rather seems as though we ought to go back to the place we came from in the end” (par. 59). Given the events of the story, do you think that Cather agrees with this view? Cite specific passages and actions to support your response.
10. “The Sculptor’s Funeral” challenges a romantic view of “America’s heartland,” as a place of plainspoken people with a strong work ethic and moral compassion. Yet, do you think that Cather categorically indicts the Midwest for hypocrisy and small-mindedness? What evidence of ambivalence toward the Midwest, specifically small-town communities, do you find in the story?

    Question

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    Exploring the Text: - “The Sculptor’s Funeral” challenges a romantic view of “America’s heartland,” as a place of plainspoken people with a strong work ethic and moral compassion. Yet, do you think that Cather categorically indicts the Midwest for hypocrisy and small-mindedness? What evidence of ambivalence toward the Midwest, specifically small-town communities, do you find in the story?