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Final Exam (Realism)
Hemingway
9
English
Undergraduate 4
05/03/2009

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Cards

Term
Hemingway
Definition
"Big Two-Hearted River" 1925
Term
Hemingway style:
Definition
Prose writing, terse, leaves out a lot; spare, omission, cuts out every unnecessary word
Term
modernism:
Definition
experimentalism-- medium= the message
- he learned by writing to newspaper back home via telegraph... simply gave facts, so ppl will know what's going on
Term
modernists/modernism
Definition
-rejects past literary style
- "make prose new" refuses to comment what is going on, simply given info
-write 1/3 less than earlier novels
Term
“[…] as he went back into the stream under the surface, his shadow seemed to float down the stream with the current, unresisting, to his post under the bridge where he tightened facing up to the current.

Nick’s heart tightened as the trout moved. He felt all the old feeling.”
Definition
BTHR (Hemmingway) (1925)

-- We get the idea that Nick relates to the fish “facing the current.” The control which the fish seems to possess as he faces the current is something that Nick envies.

-- We also get the feeling that we are missing a piece of Nick’s life—something in his past that affects him, the “old feeling”

-- This is an example of Hemingway’s style: purposely leaving something out and leaving the reader to infer what could be missing
Term
“Inside the tent the light came through the brown canvas. Now things were done. There had been this to do. Now it was done. It had been a hard trip. He was very tired. That was done. He had made his camp. He was settled. Nothing could touch him. It was a good place to camp. He was there, in a good place. He was in his home where he had made it. Now he was hungry."
Definition
Hemmingway (BTHR) (1925)

-- After reading “As I Lay,” we learn that Nick (the same character in both stories) is afraid to fall asleep at night, because he thinks his soul will leave his body in the night. He only sleeps during the day. This piece of information, left out of "Big Two-Hearted River", helps us to better understand Nick’s behavior.

-- Hemingway’s short sentences and terse style of writing is exemplified in this passage.

-- There is a distinct purpose to Hemingway's repetition: “It was done,” refers to the tent. “That was done,” refers to the fact that he has become tired. We learn that he has made it a part of his agenda to tire himself out, so that he can fall asleep without being troubled by his thoughts. This desire to tire himself out also shows us why Nick walks as far as he can, and carries a large, heavy pack.
Term
“Nick’s hand was shaky. He reeled in slowly. The thrill had been too much. He felt, vaguely, a little sick. As though it would be better to sit down. The leader had broken where the hook was tied to it. […] He went over and sat on the logs. He did not want to rush his sensations any.”
Definition
BTHR (Hemmingway, 1925)

-- Nick deliberately slows himself down after the sudden adrenaline rush

--Hemingway’s style is reflective of Nick’s psyche: his writing is deliberate and slow as he describes Nick’s organized, systematic actions. As with most of Hemingway’s prose, “the medium is the message”

-- Throughout the story we also get a sense that something is missing, and that Nick is avoiding thinking about his past: Just as Nick doesn’t want to think about things, Hemingway doesn’t tell us things.
Term
Iceberg principle
Definition
the idea that 7/8ths of an iceberg's mass is hidden underwater; relevant in Hemingway's works in that he leaves many of his broad themes under the surface of a simplistic portrayal of subject matter
Term
*Adrenaline rush
Definition
Nick can't handle the adrenaline rush. Sits down and slows himself.
Nick decides to finish his cigarette, he makes known decisions. He slows things down when he gets excited. Prevents himself from thinking about anything else, expands his thoughts/the moments.
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