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Examining an author’s life can inform and expand the reader’s understanding of a novel. Biographical criticism is the practice of analyzing a literary work through the lens of an author’s experience. In this lesson, explore the author’s life to understand the novel more fully. 1 Ernest Hemingway grew up in Oak Park, Illinois, one of six children. In Lesson One 1917, the year President Wilson declared war on Germany, Hemingway graduated from high school. Instead of going to college, he became a FOCUS: reporter for a small newspaper. As a journalist, Hemingway learned to write concisely, using active verbs and brief, clear paragraphs. Many young Biography men were entering the military, but Hemingway’s vision did not meet military standards. Instead, he applied to the Red Cross as an ambulance driver and, in 1918, found himself in France and then in Italy. A Farewell to Arms, published in 1929, draws on the details of his wartime injury, his friendships, and his love affairs. ?? Discussion Activities Listen to The Big Read Audio Guide. Students should take notes as they listen. Ask them to present the three most important points they learned from the Audio Guide. Distribute Reader’s Guide essays, “Introduction to the Novel,” “Ernest Hemingway, 1899- 1961,” and “Hemingway and World War I.” Divide the class into groups. Assign one essay to each group. After reading and discussing the essays, groups will present what they have learned to the class. Ask students to add creative twists to make their presentations memorable. ?? Writing Exercise Have students read Chapter I. Ask students to write a two-page second chapter using this reading. Students can further explore the landscape, or begin to develop the main character. Use this as an opportunity to talk about creative writing. ?? Homework Prepare students to read roughly 30 pages per night, so as to complete the novel in ten lessons. Readers first meet a group of soldiers and a priest debating how the narrator should spend his holiday. Why might Hemingway have drawn out this debate at the beginning of the novel? Is the narrator choosing between the soldier’s life and a more religious one? Read Chapters I–VII. THE BIG READ • NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Cultural and historical contexts give birth to the dilemmas and themes at the center of the novel. Studying these contexts and appreciating intricate details of the time and place help readers understand the motivations of the characters. 2 During and after the war, artists, writers, poets, philosophers, and Lesson Two musicians gathered in Paris. Hemingway’s Europe hosted American expatriates pursuing inventive forms of expression, challenging traditions, FOCUS: and idealistically embracing a new century. Inevitably, these young thinkers would influence one another through friendship, collaboration, or Culture and antagonism. History The American poet Ezra Pound changed Irish writer James Joyce’s life by inviting him to come to Paris. Pound, as well as the American writer Gertrude Stein, would also become a mentor to Hemingway. Pound’s work, like Hemingway’s, would be characterized by concise, clear language that rejected ornament. Extending such minimalism, the Surrealist Movement came to life in Paris. Visual artists such as Marcel Duchamp, Salvador Dali, and René Magritte sought to free the human voice by disposing with ideas crafted, revised, and carefully shaped through reason. In 1924, “The Surrealist Manifesto” claimed that automatic responses may hold more truth than statements filtered through layers of reason and revision. A culture, or the collective unconscious, might be revealed, so they thought, through “automatic responses.” ?? Discussion Activities Read and discuss the Reader’s Guide essay “Hemingway and the Lost Generation” and Handout One: World War I—The Great War and Handout Two: Modernism. Play the Surrealist game “exquisite corpse.” Google “exquisite corpse” to see samples and learn to play. ?? Writing Exercise Henry experiences remorse at neglecting to visit Abruzzi, the priest’s hometown. He feels guilty about ignoring the priest’s advice. This guilt reflects an internal conflict between following a religious path and following the path where “we did not do the things we wanted to do; we never did such things.” Could Hemingway be foreshadowing the outcome of the novel? In which direction might Henry’s life unfold? Write a few paragraphs about what you think might happen, based on this fork in the road. ?? Homework Read Chapters VIII–XII. How does the main character’s point of view emerge in Book One? At this point, is the narrator a hero? Why or why not? NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS • THE BIG READ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. The narrator tells the story with a specific perspective informed by his or her beliefs and experiences. Narrators can be major or minor characters, or exist outside the story altogether. The narrator weaves her or his point of view, including ignorance and bias, into telling the tale. A first-person 3 narrator participates in the events of the novel, using “I.” A distanced Lesson Three narrator, often not a character, is removed from the action of the story and uses the third person (he, she, and they). The distanced narrator may FOCUS: be omniscient, able to read the minds of all the characters, or limited, describing only certain characters’ thoughts and feelings. Ultimately, the Narrative and type of narrator determines the point of view from which the story is told. Point of View American volunteer Frederic Henry tells the story in A Farewell to Arms. While Frederic narrates this account, he does not refer to himself until the second chapter of the novel. First, he must orient us to the landscape, the changing seasons, and the shifting war. Similarly, Hemingway waits to reveal Henry’s name until Chapter V, when a nurse bids him goodnight. Note also that this novel takes place before America enters the war. When Henry says, “I believe we should get the war over,” he is referring to his comrades and the Italian forces. ?? Discussion Activities In Chapter IX, a heated debate takes place regarding the nature of war, foreshadowing the conflagration that will injure Frederic. There are many views reflected in the heated debate: “nothing worse than war,” “defeat is worse [than war],” “war is not won by victory,” “the ruling class caused and runs the war,” and “war is fought for money.” What position, or point of view, does Henry take regarding war? Does this inform how he tells the story? If so, in what way? If not, why not? In addition, why might Hemingway introduce this debate just before men are injured and killed? ?? Writing Exercise Rewrite the novel’s beginning from the point of view of Catherine Barkley, Rinaldi, or the priest. Before writing, decide whether you will write in first-person or third-person narration. If you write in the third person, will the narration be omniscient? Before you begin writing, decide what view of war (see above) informs your character. ?? Homework Have students read Chapters XIII–XVIII. This reading concludes with the statement “You’re my religion.” What are Catherine Barkley’s and Frederic Henry’s primary motivations? Come to class with a list of their top three motivations. THE BIG READ • NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. The central character in a work of literature is called the protagonist. The protagonist usually initiates the main action of the story and often overcomes a flaw, such as weakness or ignorance, to achieve a new understanding by the work’s end. A protagonist who acts with great 4 honor or courage may be called a hero. An antihero is a protagonist Lesson Four lacking these qualities. Instead of being dignified, brave, idealistic, or purposeful, the antihero may be cowardly, self-interested, or weak. The FOCUS: protagonist’s journey is enriched by encounters with characters who hold differing beliefs. One such character type, a foil, has traits that contrast Characters with the protagonist’s and highlight important features of the main character’s personality. The most important foil, the antagonist, opposes the protagonist, barring or complicating his or her success. We encounter the secondary characters through Henry’s point of view. Hemingway does not profile Henry’s comrades in great detail. As Henry’s lover, Miss Barkley provides the foil for Henry’s character, leading him in unexpected directions: “God knows … I had not wanted to fall in love with any one. But God knows I had and I lay on the bed in the room of the hospital in Milan and all sorts of things went through my head but I felt wonderful.” ?? Discussion Activities Divide the class into groups. Assign each group a secondary character: Rinaldi, the priest, Miss Gage, or Miss Ferguson. Ask students to review the chapters they have read, selecting the chapter that best captures this character. Have them present the key attributes of that character, citing quotes from the text. Conclude by discussing moments when these characters draw reactions from Henry. Do these characters deepen our understanding of Henry? ?? Writing Exercise Who is the antagonist in the novel? Does the antagonist require Henry to look at himself in profound new ways? Write a brief essay answering these questions, supporting your argument with quotes from the text. ?? Homework Have students read Chapters XIX–XXIV, concluding Book Two. Hemingway alludes to a poem by Andrew Marvell, when Henry recites: “But at my back I always hear, time’s winged chariot hurrying near.” Why does Henry recite this poem at this moment in the novel? Why is “time’s winged chariot hurrying near?” NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS • THE BIG READ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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