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Ernest Hemingway and In Our Time
Lessons and projects by students and teachers on the works of Ernest Hemingway, especially his first collection of short stories, In Our Time.
Cat in the Rain by Jenny Lee
The Illuminated Text that convinced me of the power and potential of the medium. This project explicates the short story "Cat in the Rain" from In Our Time. About a year and a half after this site opened, someone asked me how I got the idea for Illuminated Texts -- the answer for that one is easy: I saw Jenny Lee's "Cat in the Rain." Note: We now have a movie version of "Cat in the Rain" in case any of you were having problems viewing the Power Point version.
Click Here to View the QuickTime (video) Version of Cat in the Rain
Click Here to View the Power Point Version of - Cat in the Rain Read more »
"Indian Camp" - Illuminated text by Jesus Alonso
This illuminated text on Hemingway's "Indian Camp" uses to text, to among other things, point out the journey from dark to light and back to light again. The words, in the presentation, move from darkness to light, echoing Nick's journey to the world that awaits him at the Indian Camp. It is moving and insightful. I also continue to show this Illuminated Text every year when we read the story - it never fails to impress me or my students.
Click Here to view the Flash Video Illuminated Text of "Indian Camp"
Click Here to view the Power Point Illuminated Text of "Indian Camp"
"The End of Something" an Illuminated Text by Alex Nuttal
A thoughtful and complex treatment of Ernest Hemingway's short story, "The End of Something," as presented by Alex Nuttal. Alex uses both pictures, words, and graphic shapes to represent and to explicate the sadness and the resolution of the story about the end of a lumber town and the end of a relationship. [We now have a Flash Video version of this text - click on that if you have trouble hearing or viewing the Power Point version]
Mountains through the Mist: "Hills Like White Elephants" partner work
This in-class assignment, designed to be worked on by two partners, attempts to have students discover the "iceburg" theory of Hemingway's writing for themselves through a close reading of the story "Hills Like White Elephants." The partner work is divided into parts -- when they finish (or think they finish) one part, they move on to the next. The big idea here is for them to try and discover something on their own that they may not have seen on a first reading (I know I didn't see it). You should be aware that the subject matter is ultimately controversial and requires mature and older readers.
An Illuminated Text of Hemingway's "Soldier's Home" by Alison Moy and Lori Mai
This illuminated text was created by Alison Moy and Lori Mai. Key Points found in 'Soldier's Home" from Ernest Hemingways novel, 'In Our Time' were taken and kept in sequential order to enhance the greatness of the chapter. This illuminated text helps us envision a young soldier's thoughts about his familar, yet strange, surroundings and his new feelings towards those who were once close to him, after he comes back from war.
Big Two-Hearted River Group Work - Part 2
Some quotes with a graphical hint to try and give students a little hint about Group Work Part 1 on "Big Two-Hearted River." The quotes are arranged to resemble the river that Hemingway was fishing while he came to grips with (well, I don't want to give the lesson away now do I?) These quotes should only be given after the class and the groups have had a chance to find their own quotes based on their own understanding of the text.
"Now I Lay Me" - An Illuminated Text by Drew Johnson and Chassity Santiago
This is the first presentation that my students have done on this text. I teach "Now I Lay Me," by Ernest Hemingway after we have discussed "Big Two-Hearted River" and it seems that the students have come up with a plausible theory about the level of detail and other specifics of this story. Well, "Now I Lay Me," nicely undercuts that theory -- with its own "Twilight Zone" possibility. The Illluminated Text, complete with chirping crickets, done by these two students does a wonderful job of explicating the entire story as well as its possible links with other Nick Adams stories.
Hunting Black Squirrels: The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife Group Work
A group work for 3-5 students designed to have students closely reread the text of the story. Students are asked to find where and how the Doctor is humiliated as well as whose point of view the story comes from.Finally, the group work tries to have students discover the reason that the Doctor took the much too young Nick with him in the previous story, "Indian Camp."
Fighting Racism: An Essay prompt for Ernest Hemingway's "The Battler."
If you teach American Literature, it is nearly impossible to avoid the ugly language and stereotypes that have haunted some of our writing over the past two-hundred years. If you teach Ernest Hemingway's In Our Time - one of the stories, "The Battler," contains language and images that are particularly offensive. Though it is possible (and quite frankly, often advisable) to sidestep the story - and the issue, for some of us that are lucky enough to teach in a school where these issues can be raised - it may be worthwhile to examine the issue and to use it as a teaching moment (I do not like that term, I must confess). This essay prompt starts with an extended quote from fellow (to Hemingway) Nobel Prize winner Derreck Wolcott - on Hemingway, racism, and the role of an artist.
Hemingway and Hadley: The End of Something - A Presentation
A presentation with music and images that I created to illustrate some biographical aspects of Hemingway's story, "The End of Something," from In Our Time. The video begins with pictures of the old lumber mills found in the U.S. at the turn of the century -- then talks a bit about the end of Hemingway's marriage to his first wife, Hadley -- and ends with pictures of those same lumber mills in ruins. Readers of the story should see and understand the connection.
An Illuminated Text of Hemingway's "Indian Camp"
This is an illuminated text on Hemingway's Indian Camp. It is done in power point and plays a lot with the light and dark showed in this short story. From beginning to end light has a strong play in all of this and shows the growth of Nick as well.
"Soldier's Home" Group Work
Work designed for 3-4 students to facillitate a close and critical reading of Hemingway's story. Part of the group work examines the uniformity of the world that Harold Krebbs left and returns to -- and how he can no longer fit in. This story provides a wonderful background for "Big Two-Hearted River." We usually begin In Our Time with this story, though it is not the first in the book -- but it fits in quite well after having just read All Quiet on the Western Front. Most of the time - we will have a discussion rather than doing this group work - but if I can't be there this does, I think, a fine job.
An Illuminated Text of Hemingway's "The End of Something"
This is an illuminated Text that is based on Ernest Hemingway's "The End of Something". It shows the scenery, in which Hemingway depicts, from one artists point of view. It shows the stiff day that Nick and Marjorie spend with each other up to the point where Nick breaks off his relationship with Marjorie. In the end the illuminated text refers back to a moment in the story where Nick possibly begins to hint to Marjorie that something was was wrong and that something was going to end that night.
Big Two-Hearted River Group Work - Part 1
This group work on Hemingway's "Big Two-Hearted River" is one of my personal favorite group works. One of the reasons is that at the end of the period, the students usually discover a "big truth" through their own cooperative investigation. The other reason is that it requires all students in the group to contribute -- and in very different ways. The students divide their close analysis into different specialties -- some students look at the geography of the story, some at its context within In Our Time, some at its style, etc.
Two Trains: An Illuminated Text of Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" by Nora Rosengarten and Jeremy Tomuta
In this illuminated text, we sought to convey to the viewers the artful tension of Hemingway's story "Hills Like White Elephants", and thereby expose the viewer to the words which betray so much of that story's hidden significance and meaning. This amazing Hemingway story uses the 'iceberg technique' so regularly cited by Hemingway fans, and we sought to draw the iceberg out of the water for everyone to see, while maintaining the story's structure.
