A Farewell to Arms Reader Response Journal

1. HEMINGWAY’S
A FAREWELL TO ARMS
Initial Discussion/Pre-Reading
Writing Response Assessment

2. Let’s Discuss as a class….
1) How is war romanticized in popular
culture?
2) What are some examples of romantic
notions regarding war and heroism?
3) How do we culturally define a hero?

4. Agenda 11/22/13
1. Peer Review
3. Final paper reminders
4. A Farewell to Arms: book one discussion
5. TWS
6. Groups discussion
7. Closure/Reflection
Homework: Final drafts due Monday.
* Book Two AFA: Tuesday

5. Objectives:
Peer Editing (Edit/Revision)
Peer Editing
 Edit writing for mechanics (e.g., punctuation,
capitalization), spelling, grammar (e.g., pronoun-
antecedent relationship, use of modifying
phrases), style (e.g., eliminating verbiage), and
tone and mood as appropriate to audience,
purpose, and context.
Final Product Should Reflect Revisions
 Revise documents to develop or support ideas
more clearly, address potential objections,
ensure effective transitions between
paragraphs, and correct errors in logic.

6. Final Draft: Monday
 Either a title page or correct heading
 Double check your works cited
 Remember the grammar
 Rough drafts should be in your portfolios
Monday.
 (Bring to class)

7. Objectives: Book One
 Analyze a literary work, using the
characteristics of the literary time period that
it represents. (WWI)
 Analyze how authors develop complex,
multilayered characters through the use of
specific literary devices.
 Analyze texts to identify the author’s life
experiences, attitudes, viewpoints, and beliefs
and how these relate to the larger historical,

8. HEMINGWAY’S
A FAREWELL TO ARMS
Book One
Writing Response Assessment

9. Think, Write, and Share:
Characterization
“When writing a novel a writer should create
living people; people not characters. A character
is a caricature.” – Ernest Hemingway

10. Groups: 1ST Block

11. Groups: 3rd Block

12. Question One: War
In Chapter IX, a heated debate takes place
regarding the nature of war. There are many
views reflected in the debate: “nothing worse
than war,” “defeat is worse [than war], “war is
not won by victory,” and “war is fought for
money.”
1) What position does Henry take regarding
war? Does this impact the way Henry
“tells” the story? If so, how?
2) Why would Hemingway introduce this

13. Question Two: Character- Lt.
Henry
1) Describe Lt. Fredric
Henry’s character in
3 adjectives.
2) At the end of Book
One, would you
consider Lt. Henry a
hero? Why or why
not?

14. Question Three: Love
1) Describe Catherine Barkley’s character in 3
adjectives.
2) What stereotypical gender roles are present thus
far in the novel?
3) What role does love play in Book One
which is heavily dominated by war?

15. Question Four: Hemingway’s
Style
What sort of
statement does
Hemingway make
by writing this
book (primarily
about war), and by
crafting the story
in sparse
language with
frequent dialogue?

16. Did we cover….?
 Emotion- feels regret for not visiting the priest.
 False feeling of soldering.
 Irony of Henry’s injury.
 Awkward in the “wardrobe of war.”
 Pistol, Helmet, Salute (16, 29, 33)
What elements of Modern
writers are present in book
one?

17. Closure/Reflection
Hemingway’s
Biography
If we look at this novel as a semi-
autobiographical text, what
details from Hemingway’s life is
evident in book one?
Remember, you should only pull
information about his life prior to
1929 (publication date).

18. Agenda: 11/26/13
 Small group discussion
 Whole class discussion
 Love & gender
 Reader Response Journal
Homework: Book Three for Monday, December 2nd.

19. A Farewell to Arms: Book Two
Writing Response Assessment
Agnes Von Kurowsky and Ernest
Hemingway

20. Question One: Turn to page
91…
Henry sees Catherine for the first time in Milan.
He is overwhelmed by her beauty.
1) Do you believe he is actually in love with
her?
2) Why is there such an extreme attraction
and attachment between the two?
3) Is Henry a reliable narrator?

21. Question Two: Catherine
states…
 “There isn’t any me. I’m you. Don’t make up a separate
me” (115).
 “You’re my religion” (116).
 “I suppose all sorts of dreadful things will happen to us”
(116).
 “I’ll try and not make trouble for you” (138).
1) Do you have a different view of Catherine’s
character than from the beginning of the novel?
 Look at passages on 114 & 126

22. Question Three: War and
Heroism
1) How does Hemingway portray Ettore?
Why?
2) What does this say about Hemingway’s
idea of a war hero?
3)”Perhaps wars weren’t won any more.
Maybe they just went on forever” (118).
Significance?

23. Question Four: Allusions
“To His Coy Mistress”…Sound
familiar?
 Andrew Marvell’s Carpe Diem Poem
Hemingway alludes to this poem when Henry recites: “But at
my back I always hear, time’s winged chariot hurrying
near…”(pg. 155).
 Why does Henry recite this poem at this
moment in the novel?
 Why is “time’s winged chariot hurrying
near?”

24. Agenda 12/2/13: Book Three
 Small group discussion
 Study Questions
 Assigned Group Question
 Anti-Hero Discussion
 Whole Class Discussion
 Study Questions from Groups
 Reader Response Journal
 Anti-Hero Discussion

25. A Farewell to Arms: Book Three
Writing Response Assessment
Rinaldi?
The
Priest.

26. Question One: Rinaldi &
Religion
Rinaldi says, “I am the snake. I am the snake of reason.”
Henry responds, “you’re getting it mixed. The apple was
reason” (pg. 170). Rinaldi has “no sacred subjects” and notes
that he has no married friends, presumably because he can
seduce any woman through reason. Finally, he admits, “We
are born with all we have and we never learn. We never get
anything new. We all start complete” (pg. 171). These
biblical symbols draw us back into questions of religion.
1) Could Rinaldi provide a symbol of the atheist or a
world without religion? Explain.

27. Question Two: Henry & Religion
1) In this book, Henry implies that he “believes in
nothing.”
- Is this view the result of his war experience?
- If he believes in nothing does this include
Catherine and love?
2) Has Henry’s outlook changed from Book
One?
3) If this view hasn’t evolved from life-
experience, is Rinaldi correct when he says,
“We all start complete?”

28. Question Three: Henry and
Rinaldi
 “The war is terrible. We’ll both get drunk and
be cheerful.”
 “You are my best friend and my war brother.”
 “Now I am depressed myself, That’s why I
never think about these things. I never think
and yet when I begin to talk I say the things I
have found out in my mind without thinking.”
 How does Rinaldi deal with the war?
 Is Henry’s friendship with Rinaldi the only
true relationship he has? Explain

29. Question Four: Diction
Hemingway’s description of the retreat is a very
important aspect of the entire novel.
1) What do you notice about Hemingway’s
diction that reflects the content of the novel?
2) How does Hemingway overturn the
romantic notions of war in Book Three?
* Quote page 185.

30. Question Five: Distractions &
Symbols
1)In what ways does Henry distract himself
from the horrors of the war?
2) What instances of rain or water do we see
in this book? Symbolism?
3) How has Henry changed in his interaction
with the war since his intimate time with
Catherine in Milan?
- Has love changed Henry?

31. Question Six: War Activity &
Desertion
1) What is your reaction to Henry shooting the
sergeant? Is this out of character? Why does he
shoot him? Irony? Is it murder? Commentary on
war?
Turn to page 224…
2)Who is the hero? The man before Henry who
is shot rather than answering questions? Or can
you rationalize why Henry deserts the war?
Turn to page 232….
3)What is your reaction to Henry abandoning the
war? Is this noble, cowardly, or something more

32. Is Lt. Henry an anti-hero?

33. Anti-Hero
 In your group, discuss whether or not you
believe Henry fits the definition of an anti-hero.
 On the card provided write yes or no, and then
give two examples to support your position.
 If your group consists of yes and no stances,
provide one detail to support each.
Here is a narwhal to help you think.

34. A Farewell to Arms: Book Four
Writing Response Assessment
“Hmmm…I wonder
what Hemingway
intended with the use
of Catherine’s view of
her unborn child….”
Contemplative Baby

35. Question One: The Wardrobe of
War
In Book One Henry mentions how he feels
ridiculous carrying a pistol, how the men in
uniform appeared as if they were “six months
gone with child,” how uncomfortable he feels
saluting, and how he often has a “false feeling of
soldiering.”
1) When Henry throws off the ‘wardrobe of war,’
how does he feel in civilian clothes?
Significance?
Turn to page 245….
2) How does this quote reflect the sentiments of

36. Question Two: Turning Points
1) What are the two most important turning points
in the novel?
2) In this book, we find that Henry makes “a
separate peace.” What does he mean by this?
3) So, how could you relate the title, A Farewell to
Arms, to the above quote?

37. Question Three: Courage
Turn to page 249….
1) What is your reaction to this quote?
2) What is Hemingway’s tone in this quote?
3) Why is this quote significant to the novel?
4) A few pages later Henry admits, “I feel like a
criminal. I’ve deserted from the army” (251).
- Does this indicate actual guilt?
- Does it matter enough that he would
return?

38. Question Four: Count Greffi
1) How does Hemingway portray Count Greffi?
Why?
Which character does he portray in a similar way?
2) Count Greffi, “No, that is the great fallacy; the
wisdom of old men. They do not grow wise. They
grow careful” (261).
Turn to 263…
Henry and Greffi discuss religion.
3) How can love be a religious feeling?
4) Does this validate the love between Henry

39. Question Five: Antagonist &
Conflict
1) Who or what do you believe is the
antagonist of this novel? Support your
position.
2) Are there multiple conflicts within the novel?
Explain.

40. Question Six: Row, Row, Row Your
Boat…
1) Any symbolism with the couple fleeing to
Switzerland by boat? Remember a boat travels
on….
2) Reactions to how Henry, but more importantly,
Catherine perceives their unborn child?
Which character do we see in a more negative
light?
Why?

41. A Farewell to Arms: Book Five
Writing Response Assessment

42. The Ending….
“I rewrote the ending to
Farewell to Arms, the
last page of it, thirty-nine
times before I was
satisfied.”
-Ernest
Hemingway
The Paris Review, Spring
1958

43. Question One: Weather & Time
*We have discussed weather and water imagery
throughout the novel.
1) What is the significance of the snow in this
section? What is snow? Symbolism?
* The sense of urgency continues throughout the
final book. “Times winged chariot.”
“We knew the baby was very close now and it gave
us both a feeling as though something were hurrying
us and we could not lose any time together” (311).
2) Then, the ending of the novel is extremely
abrupt. What is the significance?

44. Question Two: Catherine &
Child
Turn to page 320…
“This is what people got for loving each other.”
1) Notice the urgency in his thoughts
regarding Catherine’s possible death. Does
this confirm that his love is true? Why or why
not?
Turn to page 325…
“I felt no feeling of fatherhood” (325).
2)Why? Significance?

45. Question Three: Catherine’s
Death
Turn to page 330…
Henry prays that Catherine would not die.
1) Significance? Is this surprising? Does he
know it is futile? What does this show
regarding his love for Catherine?
2) “It was like saying good-by to a statue” (332)
Significance?

46. Question Four: The Lost
Generation
1) How might Henry’s character and
challenges reflect the era?
2) Is Henry himself a symbol of the “Lost
Generation?”

47. Question Five: Defining
Greatness
1) What are characteristics of a great book?
What elevates a novel to greatness?
2) Is A Farewell to Arms a ‘great’ novel
according to our definition of greatness?
3) A great writer can be the voice of a
generation. What kind of voice does
Hemingway provide through Henry?
4) What does this voice tell us about the
concerns and dreams of Hemingway’s
generation?

48. Saying Farewell to A Farewell to
Arms
1) The Romantic View of War vs. The Reality of
War
2) Loyalty vs. Abandonment
3) Masculinity vs. Femininity
4) The nature of love and loss.
5) Relationships
6) Hope/Hopelessness
Any final thoughts?

49. Here are some royal mini-horses
to make life not so sad.