Think about:
 

The contrast (and parallels) between the city and the country

-appearance of each
-place of people
-depiction of work

The movie's different views of nature and the land

-as landscape
-as playground
-as wildlife habitat
-as economic resource
-as property
-as enemy
 

The movie's double vision:  mythic pastoral and realism

-How is this farm depicted as a place apart, a borderland, an idyllic place?
-What mars the idyll?
-machines?
-passion?
-deceit?
-class?
-money?
-pestilence?

Despite the period costumes and the "antique" machines, this is not a documentary about the way things were on the prairie in the early part of the century.  What is it, then?

How are the whole tone and meaning of the movie affected by the NARRATION and the FRAME STORY?  In a sense there are two stories here:  the love triangle and the orphan's tale.  How do they work together?

Compare the movie’s vision with other versions of farm life, especially Garland’s and Cather’s.