How does this passage support the theme "following social
rules leads people to avoid risk"?
read this excerpt from my antonia.
the country girls were considered a menace to the
social order. their beauty shone out too boldly against
a conventional background. but anxious mothers need
have felt no alarm. they mistook the mettle of their
sons. the respect for respectability was stronger than
any desire in black hawk youth.
the country girls learn the american ways of life through
their contacts with the black hawk men and their
the country girls are portrayed as vibrant and beautiful,
while the black hawk men are portrayed as conventional
and afraid of risks
and afraid of risks.
the country girls are portrayed as dangerous, which is
why the men and their mothers are afraid of them.
the black hawk men learn to take risks and go against
convention by meeting the country girls.

moon-letters were a method of writing invented by the dwarves. moon-letters were ordinary runes, but written in such a way that they could only be read when the light of the moon shone behind the writing. some moon-letters could be read by any moonlight, but it was possible to make the writing even more secret. more sophisticated moon-letters could only be read by the light of the same shape of moon, or at the same time of year, as when they were written. hope this !

she swerves to avoid the turtle.

boccaccio employs the voice of his narrator dioneo to represent his ideas on the tension between masculinity and femininity.  while dioneo excites the members of the brigata and recognizes women for their unique skills and independent ideas, he concludes the decameron with a story reminiscent of the society from which these young aristocrats escaped, revealing misogynistic overtones.  dioneo boccaccio is able to explore the gender disparity which is inherent in 14th century florentine society.