Lesson Overview 

The Quiz ("Now I Lay Me")

The quiz today is not on "Big Two-Hearted River" - that quiz  can be found in the previous lesson and covers both parts.  Instead. at the end of the last class, the students were given a copy of Hemingway's story, "Now I Lay Me" to read for today's class - and the quiz is on that.

The Vertext - Theory #1 (Shell-Shocked veteran trying to return to the life he knew0.

The majority of the Power Point (found below) is a Vertext (quotes verbatim) from both parts of the story.  As with all Vertexts, a student reads the quote (just go down each row, giving each student a chance) and the class responds to the quote through discussion.  I have included below a version of that Vertext with my notes on what should (though anything can) come up in discussion - and possible areas for the teacher to make sure get covered.  After having done their exhilarating Group Work in the previous class - the students will have a lot to say about these quotes, and that will probably go far beyond what I've included in my notes.  The discussion for this part (the Vertext) will present theory #1 - the one that they did in their Group Work, that "Big Two-Hearted River" is about Hemingway (Nick) after he returns from the war.  It is a struggle but by taking it in "small bites" he can do it.

Handout #1A  (found below - "Big Two-Hearted River / The Great War")  Theory #1 (again)

Have a student read the first part of this handout aloud (from James R. Mellows's Hemingway - A Life without Consequences).  This reiterates the idea of Nick's fishing trip as rehabilitation after the war.

Handout #1B  (found below - 2nd half of the same handout)  Theory #2  - "Now I Lay Me"

On the Power Point and on this handout are found parts of the text of Hemingway's story, "Now I Lay Me".  In that story, the entire fishing trip is just a way for the wounded, disturbed soldier (Hemingway/Nick) to keep from falling asleep by creating a river and its surroundings with such detail that the creation of it - keeps him from falling asleep because he believes that if he does fall asleep he will lose his soul and go mad.

Handout #2  (found below - from A Movable Feast)  Theory #3  - Write like Cezanne paints.

Have students read the paragraphs of this handout aloud.  Here they will find a very different backstory (or lack of it) for "Big Two-Hearted River".  In his recounting of his years in Paris, Hemingway writes that he wanted to write a story - in the same way that Cezanne painted landscapes - and he found himself doing a pretty good job of it!   This is also a good time to bring up the fact that the idea for "Big Two-Hearted River" being the story of a soldier's attempt to return to normalcy only came many years after "In Our Time" was published an in absolutely none of his contemporaneous letters did he even hint that was the kind of story he was writing.  The Power Point includes a number of Cezanne landscapes to give the students an idea of what Hemingway may have been aiming for.

Coming Soon:  Theory #4 - Hemingway's mother kicked him out and "Big Two-Hearted River" is a recounting of that monumental and scarring incident in his life.

The students will be given this theory when they hear the two day lecture on Hemingway's life.

What is the Purpose of this Lesson?

That's a great question.  The students came up with a theory to explain the unique nature of "Big Two-Hearted River" in their previous class - the Group Work - and now this lesson undermines (though it doesn't negate) what they came up with.  Well - to fully understand that, the best explanation is to show them that nothing is simple in literature and that putting too much stock into the history and biography surrounding a text - may turn out to be a waste of time.  For a deeper dive into that idea please see my lesson on Stephen Booth and his lens of literary criticism.

Part IIB - As different groups made of like tasks (4 minutes) - The Jigsaw Aspect

If you have Block scheduling or longer periods, you can spend more time on this.  Otherwise, the students have only 4 minutes to get together with like tasked students.  The teacher will have to help out here in corralling students together.  I usually help them get into two groups of each letter , for instance two groups of A's - the geography of where Nick is in the story.  The only thing that the students have to do in these four minutes is to write down what they came up with during their research and share it with others who were looking for the same thing.  They should take as good of notes as they can on what others came up with .

Part III - Back to Original Groups - Seeing the Pattern (7 minutes)

Here are the instructions for Part 3 - now that they get back together:
DO YOU SEE A PATTERN?  Do you have a possible explanation for Nick's emotions, for the writing style, etc.  Remember the iceberg theory.  What is under the surface here.  Could this story, and how it is presented, be a reaction to something that happens in Nick’s life?

I must say that for 95% of my Group Works - I never walk around and comment on what the groups are talking about, or ask them questions.  This Group Work is different.  I walk around the room and see what they're coming up with.  Surprisingly, most groups get to a beautiful moment of epiphany without any coaxing.  They see the burnt out geography of where Nick is as echoing a burnt out battlefield from World War I.  They know Nick is based on Ernest Hemingway - and that Hemingway was in the war and wounded there (see "Soldier's Home" - even though it's Harold in the story - not Nick - it really is Nick Adams).

Most groups also put the story somewhere between "The Three-Day Blow" and "Soldier's Home".   The prose style aspect can be tricky BUT that's what the wonderful jigsaw aspect of the Group Work is for.  Someone will mention that this prose is spare, even for Hemingway - it sounds like a "How To" book or a manual.

Then they wonderfully put it all together: "Big Two-Hearted River" is the story of a shell-shocked veteran - coming home and trying to do the things he used to do - that he used to find pleasure in - but now finds so difficult to do - almost foriegn.  He doesn't want to "rush things" and knows that coming up - there will be "plenty of days to fish the swamp" - the swamp being those thoughts from the war that are now too hard to contemplate.

Part IV - Looking back at significant quotes through their new lens (10 minutes)

Is there anything better in a classroom than when students use what they came up with (mostly on their own) and get that profound feeling of recognition.  On the back of the Group Work are a series of quotes that illustrate exactly what they came up with.  When done right - you can literally hear the excitement as the students go through the quotes and see them in a new light.  Another reason that it is so important to assign reading for homework.  They will see something together today - that they didn't see when they are on their own.  The next time they read on their own, they will read differently.