I am so pleased to encounter your Substack and look forward to reading your insights. In my Comp. II class, I teach “Hills Like White Elephants,” and it leads to one of the most intriguing class discussions of the semester. Beyond introducing students to Hemingway’s distinctive stylistic characteristics & links to Modernism, we read part of the story as a type of one-act play as we consider the limitations of this relationship and the reasons for the projected failure of it by the narrative’s quietly wrenching conclusion—often through the framing device of I Corinthians 13. The students are typically very perceptive in noting that this poignant narrative provides a striking counterpoint to the shallow depictions of transactional & compartmentalized romantic relationships bombarding us in our modern socio-cultural environment. Thanks for your illuminating perspectives!
The cover of your 1950s paperback looks just like the style of the Montgomery Clift film festival I indulged in yesterday. He was such a bright star of the screen in the 1950s, acting with a unique intelligence. Happy birthday, Ernest, July 21, and honors to Monty Clift on the anniversary of his death tomorrow, July 23. Just a quirky little serendipity there. Both of us gravitated toward the visual style of the 1950s yesterday.
AliProf, thanks for the kind note, and I'm also glad that you found your way here. Thanks too for sharing your teaching experience. It has been a long time since I read that story, but I just looked it up to remind myself of it. I can readily imagine that your students would find quite a bit there that they can relate to their own cultural context. Hemingway leaves so much to the reader in that story that it would be interesting to watch the students feel and talk their way through what they see going on.
I am so pleased to encounter your Substack and look forward to reading your insights. In my Comp. II class, I teach “Hills Like White Elephants,” and it leads to one of the most intriguing class discussions of the semester. Beyond introducing students to Hemingway’s distinctive stylistic characteristics & links to Modernism, we read part of the story as a type of one-act play as we consider the limitations of this relationship and the reasons for the projected failure of it by the narrative’s quietly wrenching conclusion—often through the framing device of I Corinthians 13. The students are typically very perceptive in noting that this poignant narrative provides a striking counterpoint to the shallow depictions of transactional & compartmentalized romantic relationships bombarding us in our modern socio-cultural environment. Thanks for your illuminating perspectives!
The cover of your 1950s paperback looks just like the style of the Montgomery Clift film festival I indulged in yesterday. He was such a bright star of the screen in the 1950s, acting with a unique intelligence. Happy birthday, Ernest, July 21, and honors to Monty Clift on the anniversary of his death tomorrow, July 23. Just a quirky little serendipity there. Both of us gravitated toward the visual style of the 1950s yesterday.
Thanks for sharing the serendipity, Tara. As for the visual style, I really thought the cover of that paperback was too classic not to add a photo.
AliProf, thanks for the kind note, and I'm also glad that you found your way here. Thanks too for sharing your teaching experience. It has been a long time since I read that story, but I just looked it up to remind myself of it. I can readily imagine that your students would find quite a bit there that they can relate to their own cultural context. Hemingway leaves so much to the reader in that story that it would be interesting to watch the students feel and talk their way through what they see going on.