Summary and Analysis of Introduction (text 1)Summary:
The first-person introduction is written in the voice of a childhood friend of Jim Burden, who is the narrator for the remainder of the novel. The anonymous speaker in this introduction tells us that last summer, he unexpectedly met his friend on a train and that they spent the journey reminiscing about their childhood in Nebraska. It is hot and dusty on the train, and it reminds them of the weather growing up on the frontier.
According to the speaker, Jim Burden now works for the railroad in New York and is unhappily married to a dull woman who is a patroness to a number of mediocre artists and writers. A quiet man, Jim loves the American West that he grew up in and is able to pursue his passion through his work with the railroad.
That day on the train, they talk about a Bohemian girl that they both knew named Ántonia. For both of them, she symbolizes their childhood on the frontier, and Jim mentions that he thinks about her quite a bit. He tells the speaker that he has been recording his memories of the girl, and a few months later, he brings a folder containing his writing to the speaker. He had just finished it the night before and says that it was written haphazardly, just as he remembered it. Jim gives the folder to the speaker, but not before writing "My Ántonia" on the front of it.

Analysis:
The introduction of My Ántonia is called a frame, or framing device. It is a preface for the novel, and it is written in a voice other than the one that narrates the body of the text. It is called a frame because it provides a very specific context for the novel itself, and it forces the reader to see the novel from a certain perspective. Because it is written in the voice of an anonymous, relatively insignificant character, it creates a distance between the reader and what he is about to read. In creating the folder labeled "My Ántonia," Jim was writing primarily to himself, not to a larger audience. My