Keep it the Heming-Way “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”
- Ernest Hemingway It has been brought to my attention that the English Department is questioning the importance of teaching about Ernest Hemingway, who they say is a “simplistic” writer. A Farewell to Arms is an example of a novel Hemingway wrote which mirrors his life and many of his own experiences during the time he spent in World War I. He is familiar with the settings of his novels because he once lived within them. As a result of writing for a newspaper company in his younger ages, Hemingway developed a unique style that is direct and seems “simplistic” to many. However, there is much more beyond the words in Hemingway’s novels that takes deep analysis and careful reading to pick up on. The statements previously made by Ima Whyner about Hemingway’s sentence structure, dialogue, descriptions, and themes are inaccurate and untrue. Ms. Whyner misunderstood Hemingway’s writing when she stated that his sentence structure has “no complexity”. His sentences may not seem complex because they flow so well together. He incorporates a lot more to his sentences other than getting his point across to the reader. In the beginning of chapter 37 when Mr. Henry and Catherine are rowing towards Switzerland Hemingway says: I rowed in the dark keeping the wind in my face. The rain had stopped and only came occasionally in gusts. It was very dark, and the wind was cold… The oars were long and there we no leathers to keep them from slipping out. I pulled, raised, leaned forward, found the water, dipped and pulled, rowing as easily as I could… I pulled it along in the dark water (Hemingway 270). Hemingway’s sentence structure changes with the setting and emotions of characters. On the next page the storm has calmed and the characters can row easier. Hemingway shows this relaxation and calmness by lengthening his sentences. He states: The rain stopped and the wind drove the clouds so that the moon shone through and looking back I could see the long dark point of Castagnola and the lake with white-caps and beyond, the moon on the high snow mountains. Then the clouds came over the moon again and the mountains and the lake were gone, but it was much lighter than it had been before and we could see the shore (Hemingway 271). Hemingway uses his word choice and sentence length in this scene to describe the boat’s motions through the water and to describe the character’s feelings. The sentence length is choppy where Hemingway describes the water through the storm. His short sentences give small bursts of narration and gives the reader a feeling of actually being in the boat with Mr. Henry and Catherine. He describes the oars he is rowing with and the time period after the storm with lengthy sentences. He uses longer sentences to show dragged-out actions, like that of the oars through the air and back into the water. Hemingway’s long sentences also describe the characters emotions and the calmness after the hectic storm. Catherine and Mr. Henry are relaxed after the storm. With this relaxation, everything seems to flow well and is more enjoyable. Hemingway spends more time describing the scene because the characters notice their surroundings and don’t feel rushed to row faster to shore. Hemingway is a unique writer and a genius. Through his sentence length alone, he can make the reader feel as if they are actually in the scene with the characters. Hemingway’s sentences are far from simple. Subtle differences in length …show more content…
In the bed of the river there were pebbles and boulders, dry and white in the sun, and the water was clear and swiftly moving and blue in the channels. Troops went by the house and down the road and the dust they raised powdered the leaves of the trees. The trunks of the trees too were dusty and the leaves fell early that year and we saw the troops marching along the road and the dust rising and leaves, stirred by the breeze, falling and the soldiers marching and afterward the road bare and white except for the leaves (Hemingway
- Ernest Hemingway It has been brought to my attention that the English Department is questioning the importance of teaching about Ernest Hemingway, who they say is a “simplistic” writer. A Farewell to Arms is an example of a novel Hemingway wrote which mirrors his life and many of his own experiences during the time he spent in World War I. He is familiar with the settings of his novels because he once lived within them. As a result of writing for a newspaper company in his younger ages, Hemingway developed a unique style that is direct and seems “simplistic” to many. However, there is much more beyond the words in Hemingway’s novels that takes deep analysis and careful reading to pick up on. The statements previously made by Ima Whyner about Hemingway’s sentence structure, dialogue, descriptions, and themes are inaccurate and untrue. Ms. Whyner misunderstood Hemingway’s writing when she stated that his sentence structure has “no complexity”. His sentences may not seem complex because they flow so well together. He incorporates a lot more to his sentences other than getting his point across to the reader. In the beginning of chapter 37 when Mr. Henry and Catherine are rowing towards Switzerland Hemingway says: I rowed in the dark keeping the wind in my face. The rain had stopped and only came occasionally in gusts. It was very dark, and the wind was cold… The oars were long and there we no leathers to keep them from slipping out. I pulled, raised, leaned forward, found the water, dipped and pulled, rowing as easily as I could… I pulled it along in the dark water (Hemingway 270). Hemingway’s sentence structure changes with the setting and emotions of characters. On the next page the storm has calmed and the characters can row easier. Hemingway shows this relaxation and calmness by lengthening his sentences. He states: The rain stopped and the wind drove the clouds so that the moon shone through and looking back I could see the long dark point of Castagnola and the lake with white-caps and beyond, the moon on the high snow mountains. Then the clouds came over the moon again and the mountains and the lake were gone, but it was much lighter than it had been before and we could see the shore (Hemingway 271). Hemingway uses his word choice and sentence length in this scene to describe the boat’s motions through the water and to describe the character’s feelings. The sentence length is choppy where Hemingway describes the water through the storm. His short sentences give small bursts of narration and gives the reader a feeling of actually being in the boat with Mr. Henry and Catherine. He describes the oars he is rowing with and the time period after the storm with lengthy sentences. He uses longer sentences to show dragged-out actions, like that of the oars through the air and back into the water. Hemingway’s long sentences also describe the characters emotions and the calmness after the hectic storm. Catherine and Mr. Henry are relaxed after the storm. With this relaxation, everything seems to flow well and is more enjoyable. Hemingway spends more time describing the scene because the characters notice their surroundings and don’t feel rushed to row faster to shore. Hemingway is a unique writer and a genius. Through his sentence length alone, he can make the reader feel as if they are actually in the scene with the characters. Hemingway’s sentences are far from simple. Subtle differences in length …show more content…
In the bed of the river there were pebbles and boulders, dry and white in the sun, and the water was clear and swiftly moving and blue in the channels. Troops went by the house and down the road and the dust they raised powdered the leaves of the trees. The trunks of the trees too were dusty and the leaves fell early that year and we saw the troops marching along the road and the dust rising and leaves, stirred by the breeze, falling and the soldiers marching and afterward the road bare and white except for the leaves (Hemingway