10-21 Monday Update for Seniors

Read "To Autumn," Keats's ode to the season. Complete the somewhat creative questions on the back of the handout that you were given in class.

For Wednesday's class, read the Hemingway story, "Hills Like White Elephants." It's in your book, but I have also attached a copy of the story at Studywiz if you would like to print it out.

The story is Hemingway at his minimalist best. The dialogue is subtle and understated, the character actions show more than you think, and symbols pop from the prose canvas as "true" as the bridge and dust in "Old Man at the Bridge." Look up what the expression "white elephant' commonly means. With that in mind, you "might" be able to guess what the Hemingway is suggesting when the woman says that the hills look like white elephants.

Some helpful notes:

The story takes place in Spain--my guess, the 1920s, at a train station outside of Barcelona.

The Ebro is a river in Spain.

Absinthe is a powerful alcoholic drink, once banned in the USA, because it was thought to have psychedelic properties.

The "operation" the American (the man) refers to is an abortion. The woman is pregnant--she drinks alcohol, not knowing (as we do today) of its adverse health effects for her unborn child.