Today we will be using our iPads to undertake some contextual research to deepen our understanding of The Squatter and the Don.

Your group should spend approximately equal time on all three questions.  Groups will report their findings to the rest of the class at 1 p.m.

1. Read about 19th-century sentimental novels.  Pay special attention on that webpage to “Context and Controversy” and to Jane Tompkins’s assertions about the usefulness of sentimental novels.  In what way does The Squatter and the Don follow the conventions of sentimental novels? In what ways does it depart from it?

2. Read about the Gilded Age.  What are the major political and economic concerns of the American people during the Gilded Age?  How did these concerns play out in the American West?  Does The Squatter and the Don accurately capture the concerns of average Americans during this era, or does it have a skewed perspective?  Explain.

3. What is going on with all the death, illness, and disability in the last quarter of the book? Who or what is causing all of this mayhem, and why is Ruiz de Burton so eager to kill off or maim so many characters?  What’s her point?  (Hint: Questions 1 and 2 may provide some context.)