Literature - Hemingway and In Our Time

The Hemingway story, "Cat in the Rain," from In Our Time always provokes a wonderful discussion in my class.  For one thing, it is - like most of the stories in this collection -- quite subtle.  For another, there are those students who want to attack the husband, George, and there are those that wonder what he's done that's so bad -- or that the wife is a "whiner."  I don't care where the students go with this -- so much as whereever they go -- they back up their ideas with textual evidence. 

LISTEN TO AUDIO.  Some stories cannot help but lend themselves to class discussion.  Students usually read this story after we have discussed Ernest Hemingway's belief in the "iceburg theory" of writing.  In other words, a writer should keep much of the literal plot of a story from the reader with the belief that the hidden elements (the ice under the water) will still be felt and understood by the reader.  I often have the students do the "Hills Like White Elephants" activity either directly before or directly after this story.

LISTEN TO AUDIO.  Sometimes there is so much to cover in a class discussion -- it can be truly daunting for a teacher.  I know that every year I feel that way when it comes time to discuss Hemingway's "Big Two-Hearted River."  There are a couple of things that help me focus the discussion here.  One of them is that the students have, the day before, worked in groups on the story (see group work). 
The other is that I will give them a handout with selected quotes on it.  Still, there is a lot to get through -- and I also want the discussion to go in a direction that the students want it to.