Hills Like White Elephants Ernest Hemingway Lets read

Hills Like White Elephants Ernest Hemingway

Let’s read it together! • Volunteers for reading: • The Narrator : You will read anything that is not dialogue. • Jig (the girl) • The American • A woman (the waitress)

Multiple Meanings for White Elephant? A few possibilities… • White Elephant: The game where people pass around gifts that nobody wants. • White Elephant: revered and worshipped in India as sacred and something to be cherished. • The expression, “The Elephant in the Room” Based on these three ideas…what is the major conflict between the couple? What “procedure” is Jig going to possibly have? What’s the impact of Hemingway’s choice to not tell the reader this info directly?

What is absinthe? • Green colored drink with very high level of alcohol by volume that originated in Europe. • Banned in the US, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and Austria-Hungary by 1915 for “psychoactive properties. ” Revival in 1990 s in Europe. Legalized in the USA again in 2007. • Known for being mysterious, addictive, and “mind altering. ” Reportedly, these cases of psychosis were over exaggerated. • Sweet taste with a bitter aftertaste…how does this represent the relationship we see in the short story?

Hemingway’s Writing Style

Hemingway’s Style: Iceberg Theory • The Iceberg Theory (Theory of Omission) is the characteristic writing style of Ernest Hemingway. • Hemingway chooses to give very little context or interpretation in his stories. His style is minimalistic. • Hemingway believed the deeper meaning of a story should not be evident on the surface, but should shine through implicitly. • Critics argue that this iceberg writing style functioned to distance Hemingway from his characters.

Discuss 1. How does this short story exemplify characteristics of Modernist writing? 2. Out of the American and Jig, who is the better communicator? Or are they both terrible? Explain. 3. Why the heck is her name Jig? Why doesn’t the American have a name? How do these choices by Hemingway impact the reader? 4. How is alcohol used in this story? What is its purpose? 5. How do the railroad tracks symbolize the couple?

• At the end of the story, Jig says there’s nothing wrong with her. How else can we interpret that line? What do you think Hemingway meant? • Would you feel differently about the story if the roles of Jig and the man were reversed, that is, if Jig wanted the abortion and the man wanted her to marry him and keep the baby? • How can we think about this story in relation to women at the time, like Jordan and Daisy? Are these modern women really getting what they want? Or are their rights still being stifled?

Where do we see these ideas & conventions & what role do they play in the story? Ideas • Lack of Communication • Choices • Identity • Foreignness • Alcohol • Abortion Conventions • • Iceberg theory POV Setting Characterization Dialogue Repetition Irony Symbolism

Three Shots • What is this story about? How does Hemingway’s “Iceberg Theory” apply here? • What does this story tell us about Hemingway’s approach to masculinity? (Think about the way he portrays Jig. Does he seems to have different feelings about men and women? ) • What differences and similarities do you see between Hemingway and Fitzgerald (think about their writing styles)?

Style Contributing Factors: • Types of adjectives and adverbs (simple or complex) • Clause length • Sentence length • Paragraph length • Use of dialogue • Use of vernacular • Choice of punctuation • Why does style matter?

Modernism & The Lost Generation

“The Lost Generation” • The years immediately after WWI brought a highly vocal rebellion against established social, sexual, and aesthetic conventions and a vigorous attempt to establish new values • In general this generation was disillusioned by the huge number of deaths brought about by the war and rejected many of the previous generations’ ideas about appropriate behavior, morality, and gender roles Where would you go today to attempt a career as an artist or writer? Why?

Key Figures A group of American writers who moved across the ocean to write and work • Bohemian lifestyle, connection to reality, religion • “Both within and without” • Gertrude Stein • Coined the term • Ernest Hemingway • Popularized it • Referred to the group of men and women who came of age during WWI and felt disillusioned in the unfamiliar post-war world • Fitzgerald

Let’s go to Paris! • Ex-patriots • Self-exiles who chose to leave a homeland they felt artistically, intellectually, politically, racially, or sexually limiting • Greenwich Village • Chicago • San Francisco

• Focuses on Gil (a struggling writer) and his dream-like journey back to 1920 s Paris • Much of the film takes place in and around Gertrude Stein’s salon (basically a meeting of the literary & artistic minds, in which new artistic pursuits are discovered

Hemingway • Served in WWI • Moved to Paris • Known for his style of writing: a break in traditional narrative • Sparse, deliberate choices to break from flowery language of the past • Left out essential information of the story in the belief that omission can sometimes strengthen the plot of the novel • Major Themes: Love, war, wilderness, loss

What would Hemingway say? Why did the chicken cross the road? To die. In the rain.

Six Word Stories For sale: baby shoes, never worn. What does this story reveal to the reader? How does Hemingway manage to tell us an entire story in just a few words?

Homework: Create your own six word story! In the spirit of Hemingway, you are going to create your very own six word story. Be creative & have fun! Due tomorrow, 15 points • 10 pts for your six word story • 5 pts for creativity and presentation (Make it pretty! They will be on display!)

Sample Six Word Memoirs Undertaker’s wife likes second-hand jewelry. I like you. Delete delete.