The Bent Twig

Fisher, Dorothy Canfield, 1879-1958Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.8

Word count: 924K words
Chapters: 93

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Bent Twig by Dorothy Canfield FisherAuthor: Fisher, Dorothy Canfield, 1879-1958,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Feb 1, 2004

Editor's review

The Bent Twig is a novel by Dorothy Canfield Fisher, available in the Project Gutenberg public-domain library. It works well as an English-language source text for understanding American women's coming-of-age and family upbringing in the early twentieth century. The book follows a girl's growth between family and society; the prose is delicate, the pacing slow, and the emphasis falls on character psychology and the texture of daily life rather than strong plot momentum. Its value lies in offering a window onto middle-class family values, women's education, and the awakening of self-awareness at the time. It suits readers interested in women's literature, the coming-of-age novel, and American social history. As you read, notice how the author shapes character through domestic detail and how the protagonist wavers between tradition and independence. Because it is a public-domain ebook, readers can obtain it free and read it closely on an e-reader or in print; it also works as supplementary reading for English literature courses. Overall, this is a classic coming-of-age novel that rewards patience and is not suited to readers seeking fast-paced plot.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English-language readers interested in American women's coming-of-age fiction of the early twentieth century
Undergraduate and graduate students studying the coming-of-age novel or women's literature
Learners who want to practice close reading in English with a public-domain original
Readers who enjoy delicate psychological portraiture and slow-paced narrative
Readers curious about American middle-class family values and social history

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking strong plot and fast pacing
Readers with weak English reading skills who would struggle to finish a long original text
Readers looking for a modern coming-of-age guide or practical advice

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the main line of growth, then return to the domestic scenes and their foreshadowing
Keep a notebook and record the protagonist's several key choices between tradition and independence
Read alongside background material on American women's education in the early twentieth century
For long passages in the English original, set a fixed number of pages per day and keep a steady reading rhythm

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book in Chinese or English?

This is an English-language original published by Project Gutenberg, in English, under the American and Canadian literature classification. Readers need some English reading ability; it works well as close-reading material for English literature.

Is it suitable as English-learning material?

It can serve as close-reading material, but the pacing is slow and psychological description is dense, with vocabulary and syntax carrying an early twentieth-century literary style. It is best for learners with some English foundation, used with dictionary work and paragraph summaries; it is not suitable as a beginner-level text.

Do I need to know American historical background?

Not strictly, but knowing something about early twentieth-century American middle-class family values and women's education will help you better understand the characters' situations and choices. General readers can also read the story first and add background material as needed.

Is this book suitable for classroom discussion?

Yes. The book touches on themes of family upbringing, women's growth, and self-awareness, and can serve as a discussion text in courses on the coming-of-age novel or women's literature. Teachers can design discussion questions around the protagonist's several key choices and guide students to analyze character motivation.

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About the author

Fisher, Dorothy Canfield, 1879-1958 Author

Dorothy Canfield Fisher (1879–1958) was an American writer. Public information about her is limited, yet the nine works held in this collection show considerable variety in subject and genre. They include Understood Betsy, The Bent Twig, The Brimming Cup, Hillsboro People, Home Fires in France, The Squirrel-Cage, Rough-Hewn, and What Shall We Do Now?: Five Hundred Games and Pastimes. Judging from these titles, she wrote children's literature and coming-of-age stories as well as adult fiction, local character sketches, and domestic life, and also compiled practical books on games and pastimes. Her works often concern childhood education, family relationships, and everyday ethics, with a gentle, delicate style that attends to character psychology and the details of daily life; her children's fiction is especially natural and warm. Spanning both fiction and practical writing, she holds a place in early twentieth-century American popular literature and children's reading.