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    A Study Guide for Anthony Doerr's "The Shell Collector"
    A Study Guide for Anthony Doerr's "The Shell Collector"
    A Study Guide for Anthony Doerr's "The Shell Collector"
    Ebook34 pages24 minutes

    A Study Guide for Anthony Doerr's "The Shell Collector"

    By Gale and Cengage

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    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for Anthony Doerr's "The Shell Collector," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Short Stories for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Short Stories for Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateJul 15, 2016
    ISBN9781535839525
    A Study Guide for Anthony Doerr's "The Shell Collector"

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      Book preview

      A Study Guide for Anthony Doerr's "The Shell Collector" - Gale

      1

      The Shell Collector

      Anthony Doerr

      2002

      Introduction

      Anthony Doerr's The Shell Collector is the first story in his collection by this title, which appeared in 2002. The eight stories included depict unusual characters, often in exotic places. In The Shell Collector, which is set near Lamu, Kenya, the blind protagonist, a man of sixty-three, gains international notoriety after two people dangerously sick with malaria are suddenly healed by being exposed to the poisonous venom of a certain snail in a cone shell. Doerr explores man's relationship to nature and the complications that arise when a reclusive person living a simple life in a remote place is suddenly bombarded by the news media and urban dwellers. Doerr is knowledgeable about nature and the environment, and his scientific interest informs his creative writing. Foreign and scientific terms occur frequently in this story; when they appear in this chapter, they are explained parenthetically.

      Author Biography

      Anthony Doerr, also known as Tony Doerr, was born October 27, 1973, in Cleveland, Ohio. In high school, he developed an interest in writing, and by the time he was in his mid-twenties, Doerr was submitting his work to magazines for publication. Although his mother was a high school science teacher who encouraged family interest in science, Doerr, who writes a lot about science and the environment, did not pursue formal education in science. He obtained a B.A. in history at Bowdoin College in 1995 and an M.F.A. in writing at Bowling Green State University in 1999. After that, he taught at various institutions, including the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Boise State University, and Princeton University.

      Doerr's essays and short stories have appeared in various magazines and journals, including the Paris Review, the Atlantic Monthly, and Zoetrope: All Story. In addition, some of his stories have been anthologized: for example, The Shell Collector was included in Best American Short Stories 2003; The Caretaker appeared in The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories (2004); and The Demilitarized Zone was included in The Best Underground

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