Summer Reading Exercises and Study Guides
A Farewell to Arms and My Antonia
Honors American Literature - 2007, Saint Ursula Academy
A Farewell to Arms
Read the novel carefully, taking copious notes on major plot events, major characters, and important themes. Notice, too, Hemingway’s style. Use the following study guide to keep a record of your thoughts about and reactions to plot, character, theme, and style. Answering the questions at the end of the study guide might help you with the exam in August.
[Read Book III very carefully and very slowly, keeping in mind Hemingway’s belief in the iceberg theory of narrative (telling the reader just enough to direct him/her to the desired reading/interpretation). Pay close attention to any changes in the way the narrator tells the story.]
From the back of the novel:
Ernest Hemingway did more to change the style of English prose than any other writer in the twentieth century, and for his efforts he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. Hemingway wrote in short, declarative sentences and was known for his tough, terse prose. Publication of The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms immediately established Ernest Hemingway as one of the greatest literary lights of the twentieth century. As part of the expatriate community in 1920s Paris, the former journalist and World War I ambulance driver began a career that led to international fame. Hemingway was an aficionado of bullfighting and big-game hunting, and his main protagonists were always men and women of courage and conviction, who suffered unseen scars, both physical and mental. He covered the Spanish Civil War, portraying it in fiction in For Whom the Bell Tolls, and he also covered World War II. His classic novella The Old Man and the Sea won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953. He died in 1961.
Important Phrases and Concepts for Hemingway Studies:
Grace under pressure (being able to act according to high codes of conduct under the most difficult circumstances à a bullfighter gracefully "dances" in the ring while putting his life on the line; soldiers do the right thing during a war even though others are not)
The iceberg theory (telling the reader only what appears above the surface of a story. Much of the plot remains "submerged" as does a character’s motives, past, and the like. The idea is that the writer must get the reader to experience the moment as if her were there, and giving too much background might interfere.
Disillusionment (loss of general human/American hopefulness about the future and all that it brings because of horrors and futility of war) and "The Lost Generation" (the generation that came home from WWI, scarred and wounded, looking for something in which they could believe, or attempting to drown their disillusionment in drink and/or sex
The importance of setting. Hemingway’s writing depends heavily on place. Why describe it so artistically? (He was influenced especially by French artists such as Cezanne.)
Major Themes in the Novel:
War
o
The effects of war (ravaging? Character building?) on men and women, love, codes of conduct, the land, cities, and the like.o
War wounds—some are physical, some, psychological. Note how and when characters are wounded and how they deal with these wounds.o
The battle of Caporetto—look this and a brief overview of World War I up in an Encyclopedia and take notes on the importance of the battle to the conflict between the Italians and the Austrians and Germans.Love
o
Love between men (find examples of which men "love" each other and how and why they do or don’t)o
Love between men and women—note major romantic relationships and minor ones as wello
The way love changes during war/conflict—after reading the novel, note how the relationships begin, how they undergo conflict, and how they emerge from such conflicto
The effects of love on major charactersPain
o
Physical Pain—make a note every time someone is physically injuredo
Emotional Pain—make a note every time a character suffers some kind of emotional injuryo
Mental Pain—note every time a character suffers from mental anguisho
Spiritual Pain—make a note of every time a person tries to understand their place in the cosmos/universe or talks about their loss of faith in GodCodes of Conduct (an important synonym for Hemingway is standards)
o
Religious Codes—note which characters adhere to these codes, which ignore them, and which are blissfully ignoranto
Militaristic Codes—note when characters adhere to military laws (written or unspoken), and when they ignore or break the rules of war ("the ruls of engagement")o
Codes guiding relationships (both romantic and Platonic) between men and womeno
All other codes, laws, rules, mores, etc.Games, Jokes, and Entertainment
o
Note how characters divert their attention from the waro
Note any time a joke is told or played on another charactero
Note how love itself can be viewed as a game with rules, and winners and losers: note who wins, who loses, who follows the rules, who breaks the rules, who refuses to play, etc.o
Note the ways people drink alcohol. Why do they do this?Masculinity and Femininity
o
Note when and where Hemingway writes about the behavior of men, and what is expected of them because they are men (or soldiers, friends, lovers, etc.). Be sure to consider the men with whom Henry identifies. With whom does he want to spend his time? Who does he trust? Why?o
Note when and where Hemingway writes about the behavior of women, and what is expected of them because they are women (or prostitutes, wives, mothers, etc.)Appearances vs. Realities
o
Note when characters present themselves to the world in one way, but act in another. When is this good? Bad?Characters (Note what happens to the minor characters; for the major characters*, consider them in greater detail. You may be asked to identify sections of dialogue, so consider what makes a character’s voice unique. Don’t try to memorize 100s of lines of dialogue—enjoy the novel (!) and use your mind to be able to ID dialogue.):
Frederic Henry*
Lieutenant Rinaldi*
The Priest*
Catherine Barkley*
Helen Ferguson
Passini and Gordini
Miss Gage
Miss Van Campen
Dr. Valentini
Count Greffi
Ettore Moretti
Ralph Simmons
Edgar Saunders
Gino
Emilio
Bonello
Aymo
*For the major characters, note their attitudes toward: each other, the war, love, honor, glory, religion, humanity itself, and life & death.
Other activities to consider, and which we may do during the school year (but will not be a part of the test):
Find a copy of Andrew Marvell’s poem, "To His Coy Mistress" and read it when you’ve finished the novel; reread chapter XXIII. How does the poem influence this chapter? The action in the rest of the novel?
What do you think rain symbolizes in the novel?
Consider how Hemingway writes landscapes (the verb writes is meant, here, to sound like, paints). Look at chapter I and at the descriptions of villages, army columns, and the like.
In what does Frederic Henry believe? What do plot and character do to help us see his system of beliefs?
Is this a love story? War story? Cautionary tale?
While Hemingway used a simple narrative style, he also experimented with new methods of narration. Notice the oddness of the way the dialogue is done in Ch. XII. Notice the rendering of thought in Ch. XXVIII.
In class next year we will discuss A Farewell to Arms while reading several of Hemingway’s short stories. In each of the following stories, we will see similarities in both themes and styles.
"In Another Country" and Ch. XXV (and using machines for rehab; marriage)
"Big Two-Hearted River Parts I and II" (and using nature for rehab, and "breaking" or "burning"
of humanity) Chs. XXXIV & XLI—hopelessness?)
"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" and Chs. XXIII, XXV (Having a safe place) and Religion (espec.
as discussed in Ch. XXVI)
"The Sea Change" and Ch. XXIII (and Pope on "vice")
"Indian camp" and Ch. XXV (and grace under pressure; Valentini’s and Rinaldi’s medical
abilities)
Above all else:
Take the time and energy to try to appreciate Hemingway’s style. Let chapter I, for example, affect you like a beautiful painting would. ENJOY!
My Ántonia
By Willa Cather
As with the Hemingway reading, be sure to focus on plot, character, setting, narrative style, and themes. Setting, in particular, and the descriptions of the land and man’s relation to it, are important.
Optional, but Strongly Encouraged, Exercises:
Plot (as an exercise in summarization, write three complete sentences—no more, no less—which adequately, but succinctly summarize the action in each of the five books of the novel):
Book I:
Book II:
Book III:
Book IV:
Book V:
As another exercise in summarization as well as quotation, choose on complete sentence from each book that highlights an important feature of plot, character, theme, or setting. Write that sentence below as well as the page number on which it appears, using the following format: Jim Burden recounts, "I first heard of Antonia on what seemed to me an interminable journey across the great midland plain of North America" (3).
Book I:
Book II:
Book III:
Book IV:
Book V:
Characters (write summaries of each character to help you remember their place in the story):
Jim Burden*
Jake Marpole
Otto Fuchs
Josiah and Emmaline Burden
Mr. and Mrs. Shimerda
Antonia*
Yulka
Ambrosch
Marek
Pavel & Peter
Tiny Soderball
Lena Lingard*
Mr. and Mrs. Harling
Frances
Charley
Julia
Sally
Larry Donovan
Mrs. Gardener
Samson D’Arnault
Wick Cutter
Gaston Cleric
Widow Steavens
Anton Jelinek
Peter Krajiek
Cuzak*
Major Themes:
Setting itself:
o
Location/Geography§
Land (the frontier, the prairie, the farm)§
Nature§
Civilization (towns and cities)o
Time§
The past·
Its positive (escapism) and negative (intrusion) effects on the present·
Its inability to be recovered§
The Present§
The Futureo
Human relationship to place and timeImmigration and the American Dream
Midwestern, frontier values (cf.: The Great Gatsby, A Farewell to Arms, and The Sound and the Fury, some of which we will read during the school year); codes of conduct in general
Religion
Childhood, innocence, and growing up (an important theme, for example, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, perhaps the great American novel.)
Storytelling itself; narrative framework/framing
Directed Questions for Review AFTER reading the novels (plot events will be "given away" below. Please resist the urge to read these before reading the novel. They will ruin the great surprises that develop in each novel.)
A Farewell to Arms
What is Frederic’s role/job in the war?
Does Frederic ever kil anyone? If so, why? If not, why not?
Does Frederic ever get decorated? If so, why?
What does Frederic believe in? (What might this mean? Consider the context.)
What do other characters believe in? Why?
What are some of the things Frederic does that keep him busy at verious points in the novel (the hosptial, for example, or in Switzerland)
Chart the movement throughout the novel. How and why do the main characters move to different places? (And the bigger question: what does this tell us about setting?)
What do Frederic and Catherine do to control the size of the baby?
What is the last thing that happens in the novel?
My Antonia
What does Jim do to amuse himself on the train? He mentions this in the introduction he writes while on the train.
Is Antonia "successful" according to Jim at the end of the novel?
What is the most important and noticeable feature of the prairie?
Fuchs tells Jim a story about the Mormons. What is it that Jim likes about the roads?
What are some of Jim’s adventures? Quests? What does he conquer/destroy on them?
What is the horrifying story Jim hears about Pavel? Be sure you understand this story.
Where does Antonia prefer to work (after going to work for the Burden’s in town)? What does Jim’s gradnmother say about this?
What kinds of work do Jim’s gradnparents do throughout the novel?
Another story that is told, this time by Antonia, is the account of Ole and the tramp. What are some of the important features of the story?
Who is Blind d’Arnault? What do you think is important about him?
What’s the difference between the town girls (Black Hawk) and the country girls in Jim’s eyes?
Describe the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Cutter.
What significant thing does Jim do at gradutation? Who does this impress? Why?
What is the lesson about the Spanish Conquistadors? What do Jim and Charley Harling think of this lesson?
Describe (Who, What Happens, When, Where, Why, How) Jim’s beating while sleeping in Antonia’s bed.
Who is Gaston Cleric? How are he and Jim similar? Different?
Translate: "Optima dies . . . prima fugit." Where (two places at least) does this appear in the novel? Why do you think it appears twice?
Describe the relationship between Lena and Jim in Lincoln. Is it good for him? Bad for him? Why?
Is Lena "successful"? If so, why? (We’re going to talk a lot about the nature of the American dream, success, etc.)
Is Tiny Soderball "successful"? Why? How?
Who is Larry Donovan? What does he do that is so good or so bad?
What is the story Mrs. Steavens tells Jim about Antonia? (Are you seeing the importance of storytelling in this novel?)
What is Jim’s "confession" to Tony?
What does Jim send Antonia? What does she do as a result?
Another story-within-a-story: the Queen of Italy. Where is this story told in the novel? In what context? Why do you think this story is important?
Describe Jim’s last visit to Antonia. What does he talk to the boys about? Why is this important?
Do you think Jim loves Antonia? What kind of love is it? Why?