My Antonia Lesson Plan

Why is this section of the book called "The Pioneer Woman's Story"?

Students should note that "the pioneer woman" could refer either to the Widow Steavens, telling Ántonia's story, or to Ántonia herself. Consider the meaning of the word "pioneer"—someone at the forefront of a change, an adventurer—and consider to whom the term might apply, and why this, rather than anything Jimmy has said about Ántonia in the past, is "the pioneer woman's story." Widow Steavens is telling a story that has not yet been told; Ántonia, in being an unmarried mother with a child, is living in a way that none of her family members or friends has lived.

Why do you think Jimmy has decided to...