Explore the various options young people have today for getting an education and making their own way in the world, and explain how the lives of the characters in Ethan Frome might have been different if these opnions had been open to them.

Investigate the trend to urbanization of the 1920s and explain how it would have affected towns like Starkfield.

How has the worldwide lumber industry changed since the late 19th century, and is there any role in it for small operators like Ethan Frome?

Research the technology available to today's amateur astronomers for exploring the night sky, and describe the kinds of things Ethan would have been able to show Mathe if he had had access to that same technology.