WEEK 13 DISCUSSION THREAD This week, you will be working on your final research projects. Remember, your final paper must be 5-7 pages with APA in-text citations and a references page. Question 1: Whi

ICOMPOSITION II

Prof. Martin Hyatt 

WRITER RESEARCH QUESTIONS 

Author: Ernest Hemingway 

1. What is the most famous work/works of the writer?

- From Whom the Bell Tolls: This was his greatest novel. This novel was about his experiences as a journalist during the Spanish Civil War. Hemingway incorporated a mix of themes as he wrote about war, honor, and romance. 

- The Old Man and the Sea: This was the last novel that Hemingway published. This novel depicts the story of a man who struggles at sea for many days but ends with a catch that not only lasted three days but earned him a huge prize. This novel is known to have multiple meanings with themes that involve pride, glory, and honor. Hemingway won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1953 with this novel. This novel also contributed to his Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.

- The Garden of Eden: This novel unfortunately was not completed and was published 25 years after Hemingway’s death. This novel was about gender roles and the struggles dealt within a newly-wed couple.

- Farewell to Arms: This was Hemingway’s third novel. This novel was about a 16th century poet during the First World War.  In this novel some of the events can be compared to Hemingway’s experiences in war and being in love. 

- The Sun Also Rises: This novel is what helped Hemingway get publicly seen as a famous writer. This novel is set after the First World War and is about the struggling relationship between a couple who are in love but the war has caused them to be apart. 

1. Who were the writer’s contemporaries?

Ernest Hemingway’s contemporaries were F. Scott Fitzgerald (American author), Pablo Picasso (Spanish sculptor, painter), Gertrude Stein (American writer), Salvador Dali (Spanish surrealist painter), and John Dos Passos (American author). 

1. What are some of the things that made the writer’s style unique?

What makes Ernest Hemingway’s writing style unique is that it is short and direct. With his training and career as a journalist, his simple style followed the “short and to the point” ideal with minimal adjectives. He liked the idea of using short sentences because they did not discourage the reader from continuing to read. Along with this simple style, his writing also involved simple language. 

1. Why was this writer considered to be important? 

      Ernest Hemingway is considered to be important because he was one of the most influential writers that ever lived.  He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. He wrote his stories based on his experiences during World War I, the Spanish Civil War and World War II.

1. Did the writer’s geographical background influence their work? 

Hemingway’s work was heavily influenced by his personal experiences during the First World War            in Europe. In his writing, he talks about his experiences and injuries during his time in the Italian army. He also was influenced by his trips to Paris. 

1. Did the writer’s cultural background influence their work? (i.e. race, politics, religion, sexuality, etc.)

Ernest Hemingway did not speak about his cultural background in his writing nor is it seen that his cultural background influenced the writing of his novels. Hemingway was mostly influenced by his experiences with his career as a journalist, the places he visited, and his love life. 

1. Was this writer part of any particular ‘movement’ in literature? (i.e. modernism, romanticism, minimalism)

Ernest Hemingway was one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century.  In France he was considered a modernist because of his style. He wrote the essentials that needed to be on paper, leaving the reader to their imagination and their own interpretation.  The reader cannot see beneath the lines, they need to read and re-read the story to discover the layers of meaning. He makes the reader work by not expressing everything, instead the reader has to go into the writer’s mind to attempt to understand what his intentions are. 

1. Who was the writer influenced by?

Ernest Hemingway was influenced by his experiences as a journalist during the First World War. Several of his books depict personal experiences from the war that involve newspaper writing, injuries, and his romance with a Red Cross nurse. Hemingway’s fellow writer friends that were called “The Lost Generation” also influenced his writing. One of the men from the group, Gregorio Fuentes, was his long-time friend that often went fishing with him. Fuentes influenced the novel Old Man and the Sea. 

Section #9

BRAINSTORMING:

In order to come up with a strong research question, please fill in the blanks, then come up with a research question that will become your thesis. 

I want to know why his experiences in the war influenced many of his novels.

I want to know how they were able to publish his uncompleted novel after his death.

I want to know what encouraged him to transfer his writing styles as a journalist to become a novelist.

Research Question/ Thesis 

In what ways did Ernest Hemingway’s journalistic experiences influence his writing which in turn impacted future writers?

Ernest Hemingway’s journalistic experiences influenced his writing which in turn impacted future writers and still does to this day.