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Dancing at the Rascal Fair
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Plot Summary of Dancing at the Rascal Fair
"This book can be considered historical fiction in that it offers a view into the beginnings of the US national forests, World War I, and the Great Influenza Epidemic. It is, however, generally thought of as a book written in the Western genre.

The story is that of two 19 year-old Scottish boys, Angus McCaskill and Rob Barclay, who emigrate to the US in the late 19th century. They move to Montana and become homesteaders, deciding to raise sheep for a living. When the price of sheep begins to fall in the market Angus becomes a school teacher. He meets a neighboring teacher, Anna, and falls in love with her, but this is to be an unrequited love.

Angus marries Rob's sister instead, but his unrequited love for Anna drives a rift between himself and Rob. Rob attempts to confront Angus about this problem but his attempt bring great changes to Angus's life: Angus's wife leaves him for a time, and his son becomes estranged from him. Anna, Angus's true love, dies in the Influenza Epidemic, but as the novel comes to a close Angus's son marries Anna's daughter; and Rob drowns in an accident, leaving Angus to write his remembrance of his longtime friend and enemy.

"

Billy Pashaie, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Dancing at the Rascal Fair
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book? - thoughtful
Time/era of story - American wild west period
Romance/Romance Problems Yes
Kind of romance: - love triangle/polygon
Poverty, surviving Yes
Kind of living: - farm poverty
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Lover is - totally uninterested

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - teacher
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - natural phenomena
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - throughout most of the book.

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 10 ()
United States Yes
The US: - Midwest
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK
Prairie? Yes
Farm/Ranch? Yes
Farm/Ranch: - lot of descript of animal care

Style
Person - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
Sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - vague references - actual description of hetero sex
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Ivan Doig Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Billy Pashaie  

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