HEMINGWAY AND JAMES

Compare and contrast James’s and Hemingway’s depictions of American women abroad.

General Comments on Essay Questions. These essay questions form the basis for class
discussion, as well as the essay questions. They are the heart of the class. A good strategy is to pay
attention to them as you do the reading. We will have a brief class discussion about each Essay
Question on the dates indicated in this document. (e.g., we will discuss EQ.1 on Thursday Sept 6)

In my experience, superior essays (B+ or A), go beyond meeting the requirements for a satisfactory
essay above. The analysis may be especially trenchant; the writing unusually good; or the essay
might do one of the following:
• Disprove an alternative thesis.
• Argue pro and con before giving a decision.
• After proving a thesis, relate the ideas in the essay to other assigned reading.

Paper Topic:
A. Americans Abroad

Three Simple Rules.

1. You must write on one of the questions for each unit: A, B, C
2. You must answer one Norton Critical Challenge question (i.e., EITHER EQ. 23 OR EQ. 44)
3. You must answer at least one question requiring a comparative analysis of works of fiction.
All “comparative analysis” questions are marked by a double asterisk (**) on this list of Essay
Questions. Examples include EQ.11(b.), EQ.56(b.), EQ.57, and EQ.58(b.)

So the unit is Americans Abroad and the Essay question is

18. “The Pamplona action is at the heart of book 2, and it places Brett in a world she does not understand. The
fact that she has never seen a bullfight suggests that she has not spent much time in Spain and that she
knows little of Spanish customs. If Brett as New Woman was very much at home in the progressive
atmosphere of Paris, she could not be more alien in the conservative world of traditional Spain, where
young ladies are chaperoned until marriage. ”
James Nagel, “Brett and the other women in The Sun Also Rises,” in The Cambridge Companion to Ernest
Hemingway (p.96)

** HEMINGWAY AND JAMES Compare and contrast James’s and Hemingway’s depictions of American women abroad.** (essay question)