Question

Explain what you can infer about what the house represents to the characters in this story. Use at least *two* pieces of direct evidence from the story to support your answer. From "Maud Martha"

Answer 1

I can infer that the house represents comfort and unity to the characters because they could have lived in a fancier area but instead preferred their old home. According to the text, “Mama, Maud Martha, and Helen rocked slowly in their rocking chairs, and looked at the late afternoon light on the lawn and at the emphatic iron of the fence and at the poplar tree. These things might soon be theirs no longer… they would be leaving this house in which they had lived for more than fourteen years. There was little hope.”

Answer 2

The characters in this story love their house, they have been there for fourteen years and they don't want to lose it: "Mama, Maud Martha, and Helen rocked slowly in their rocking chairs, and looked at the late afternoon light on the lawn and at the emphatic iron of the fence and at the poplar tree. These things might soon be theirs no longer (...) they would be leaving this house in which they had lived for more than fourteen years. There was little hope".

Although one of the characters, Helen, says the house is old and that some of her friends have never been to her house because of how far it was, she ends up getting very happy when she realizes they didn't lose the house and that it was now theirs: "I think I'll give a party. I haven't given a party since I was eleven. I'd like some of my friends to just casually see that we're homeowners".

Step-by-step explanation:

To complete this exercise, you have to read the short story "Maud Martha". It's a story about a family that is about to lose their house and they talk about the other places they could live on, trying to convince themselves it would be better, but they have so many memories in that house and they are happy there.