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"If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.." (Hemingway - A Movable Feast)
Afraid of Nothing - The Life of Ernest Hemingway - A Lecture Part 1 : I very rarely lecture - perhaps two or three times a year for each of my classes. Because I am such an afficiando of Hemingway's life and his work, I wanted to share some of what I had learned with my students. The lecture is divided into two parts - the first part covers his birth until the tragic loss of all of his early writing. The second part picks up at that point and goes until the end of his life. Though lecturing is zealotly frowned upon these days in teaching - I honestly believe that some of the best classes that I've ever experienced were lectures - talks by speakers who cared deeply and energetically about their subjects, and were able to make them come alive for their listeners. Finally, having a lecture in class is a great way to get students ready for their college classrooms. Unlike normal classes - there is no stopping - no slowing down - though I do take questions at the end of the second lecture, and students have to learn how to take notes accordingly. And that is, I believe, an invaluable skill.
Lesson Overview
Lesson Overview
The Lecture
The Lecture
No Quiz. If you are going to do this lecture, it take every moment of class time (over two days, no less). I do put questions about Hemingway's life on the final exam - and I may pause the lecture once or twice to remind students to take notes - usually telling them that questions from the lecture will appear on the exam are enough incentive.
The Power Point Presentation of Hemingway's Life
The Power Point Presentation of Hemingway's Life
Below you will find the Power Point Presentation that I used. Starting after 2015, I combined the presention from two to one single presentation. I made sense for a number of reason. The foremost of these was that I never knew how far I was going to get with each class period - and then we changed our schedule to the horrible Block Scheduling, and I was forced to do the Lecture in one single period. I only did it once, before I retired and I must admit that lecturing for 90 minutes was something that I would never want to again. The audio recording of the lecture (without the Power Point Presentation) is divided into two parts - however, I have created a single video of the lecture using the Power Point along with Part 1 & Part 2 of the audio.
Quiz - "Now I Lay Me"
Quiz - "Now I Lay Me"
Most Recent Quiz
Most Recent Quiz
This is a very short quiz (it's a very short reading). I think it's important to give a quiz on the story - because you also want to make sure they are here for today's lesson, as it is so much of a follow-through for the last lesson. By giving them a quiz, you can almost be assured they will find out what they missed for today's lesson as well.
Handout (1A & 1B above)
Handout (1A & 1B above)
Most Recent Handout
Most Recent Handout
This is a two sided Handout. The first page is covered in the Lesson Overview above as Part 1A & 1B and is a handout that first covers the theory (1A) that the students came up with in their Group Work (the previous lesson) and the bottom of that page summarizes "Now I Lay Me" - a story the students read for home work and that is covered above in 1B.
The other side of the handout gives theory #3, primarily in an excerpt from A Movable Feast. Hemingway wanted to write a story that resembled the way that Cezanne painted.
BigTwo-HeartedRiverDisc_20170227.mp3Class Recording
Class Recording
Make sure you download and follow along with the Vertext that goes with this discussion. We go through the story, first following up on what the students did in groups - what they came up with as a plausible under-the-iceberg motivation for this story. Next, we take a look at "Now I Lay Me" which offers another possibility. Finally, we look at what Hemingway wrote about the story at the time that he was writing it ( a third theory).
"Big Two-Hearted River" (parts 1 & 2) etext
"Big Two-Hearted River" (parts 1 & 2) etext
I try to leave enough room in the margins for students to take extensive notes. If possible, I preferred that students had their own copy of the novel that they could write in. The work, published before 1930, is in the Public Domain.
"Big Two-Hearted River" with my notes
"Big Two-Hearted River" with my notes
Over 30 years of notes on here - but if you are at all curious at how I come up with my lessons - this will tell you a lot. The great thing about this story is that every year I read it - I would see more and try to share that with the students. What the students came up with would also get added to this document as well.
In Our Time - online copy
In Our Time - online copy
This is a complete copy of the book - found at the Internet Archive , complete with the Interchapters. The book was originally posted by the Harold B. Lee Library. The work, published before 1930, is in the Public Domain.
Remote Enhancements
Remote Enhancements
Especially by having the Power Point found above - this lesson works great.
The Battler - Hemingway's Life - A Lecture Part 2
The Battler - Hemingway's Life - A Lecture Part 2
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
Thoughts on the Lesson
Thoughts on the Lesson
Every once in a while, I really believed as a teacher - that it was important to show students that things are just not "that simple". The previous lesson was great - and the students feel that they - like so many critics, have this story figured out. But, there's no reason to believe it is the story of a man dealing with PTSD any more than the other theories. The important thing is the text - and the text allows to see many things, but most of all it show us beauty.
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