Farewell+To+Arms+Historicism

Farewell To Arms Historicism
When Hemingway wrote the book, it was 1929. Some of the things happening in that year were:

Niagra Falls is agreed to be preserved. The Seeing Eye is established, for blind people to have specially trained dogs. Popeye and Tintin (cartoon characters) are created. The first academy awards are announced. The Grand Teton National Park is established. Revolt attempt of Generals José Gonzalo Escobar and Jesús María Aguirre fails in Mexico. Herbert Hoover is inaugurated as the 31st President of the United States, succeeding Calvin Coolidge. A fire at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio kills 123. Al Capone and bodyguard were arrested for concealing deadly weapons. Scotland Yard seizes 12 nude paintings of D.H. Lawrence from the Mayfair gallery on grounds of indecency The 1929 Palestine riots of the Hebron, Safed, and Gaza Jewish communities got underway. Black Tuesday stock market crash on the New York Stock Exchange. The Great Depression Begins

To find out what was happening in the years before, go [|here] and [|here].

Fun Activity:

THINK FAST: Have group stand and form a circle. When the group is in position, the leader explains that they will be playing a game that requires them to think quickly. A volunteer is asked to stand in the middle of the circle. The volunteer is to close his/her eyes and keep them closed throughout their entire time in the center. A person standing in the circle is then given a small object. When the center person says, “Start!”, the object is to be passed around the circle counterclockwise from one participant to the next. The center person can call out “Stop!” at any time. The center person then quickly says a letter of the alphabet and the person holding the object must QUICKLY say three nouns that begin with the specified letter //but it has to be relevant to the book "Farewell to Arms"//. If the participant says three words within five seconds, the game continues with the same leader. If the person cannot think of three nouns in that amount of time, he/she becomes the leader.

This games helps to get the journalistic point of view in. You must think quickly and be concise, just like Hemmingway. It also helps to review the book.

Discussion Questions:

Hannah D.
 * 1) How do you think the Stock Market Crash of October 29, 1929, (the year Hemingway wrote the book) affect his view on the government? Is it significant that the American government is not even mentioned so far in the book?
 * 2) Many cartoon characters, such as Popeye and Tintin, were created in 1929. Hemingway’s novel seems to be the opposite of a cartoon character, even though it is fiction. Was Hemingway trying to present a more realistic view of life?
 * 3) 1925 through 1929 was a time of fast technological advancement. Radio, better cars, television, household appliances, and long-distance telephones were all invented or improved within this time period. How does Hemingway use this technology to his advantage?
 * 4) Elliot Ness was a lawyer who put Al Capone in jail and enforced prohibition harshly in Chicago. He is commonly made up to be the hero of 1928. Is there any character who seems to be like Ness? If so, who and why, and if not, what is Hemmingway trying to tell us?
 * 5) The iron lung was invented in 1928. It is a man-made machine that allows a person to breathe if they have respiratory failure by applying pressure to the lungs and releasing the pressure. It helped many people survive paralysis from polio. Our character Fredric Henry is in a hospital. He has no modern technology in his room, only nurses. What is this saying?