Ernest Hemingway
Instructions: Click on the links below, read/view the material on those websites, and then answer
the accompanying questions about Ernest Hemingway.
Go to the following website: www.lostgeneration.com
Click on "Biography."
Read each page of Hemingway's biography. At the bottom of each page is a link, which you should click to
move on to the next page of the biography. There are 7 pages in all.
As you read the biography, answer questions 1-10.
1. What two prestigious awards did Hemingway earn in his career for writing?
2. Who was the inspiration for the main female character in A Farewell to Arms?
3. Define the terms expatriate and Lost Generation. (If you cannot infer the definitions from the article,
click on each word, which will take you to a website where you can access information about these
terms.)
4. List 3 well-known American authors, other than Ernest Hemingway, who were members of the Lost
Generation. (If you cannot infer the answer from the article, you may go to other sources for this
information.)
5. In Hemingway's novels, what often leads to the characters' destruction?
6. What other careers did Hemingway have, besides being a novelist?
7. List the various countries in which Hemingway lived throughout his life.
8. How was The Old Man and the Sea received by the public and critics?
9. What words are typically used to describe Hemingway's writing style?
10. What led to Hemingway's eventual demise?
Flannery O'Connor
Use the following websites to answer the questions below.
http://archive.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap10/oconnor.html
http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/flannery-oconnor-1925-1964
http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/short-stories-flannery-oconnor
1. What two activities was O’Connor involved with in High School that was related to her future
writing career?
2. By what did she address her parents?
3. In what state was O’Connor born?
4. O’Connor was diagnosed with what disease in 1950?
5. What was the name of her first novel? What year was it published?
6. If not for this important literary couple O’Connor’s writing career may never have gotten off the
ground. Name this couple.
7. After her death The Complete Stories received what award? Why was this peculiar?
8. In which of O’Connor’s short stories does the character The Misfit appear?
9. What type of character usually acts as the protagonist in most of O’Connor’s writings?
10. What phrase did O’Connor give to her particular philosophical theme in her writings?
William Faulkner
Use the following websites to answer the questions below.
http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/faulkner_william/
http://www.egs.edu/library/william-faulkner/biography/
1. For what reason was Faulkner refused entry into the US Army?
2. From which Shakespearian play did Faulkner get the title of one of his most famous book? What
was the name of Faulkner’s book?
3. The title to which book of Faulkner’s is an allusion to King David mourning the death of his son
from the Old Testament in the Bible.
4. What 3 prestigious awards did Faulkner receive for his writing in his career?
5. To what institution did Faulkner will all his manuscripts in 1961?
6. Which of Faulkner’s published works was the only one that he adapted into a screenplay?
7. Out of which academic institution did Faulkner not make it out?
8. What region is Faulkner typically associated with in literature?
9. Faulkner experimented with several different narrative techniques throughout his career. Name
three.
10. As a member of ‘The Lost Generation’ what city did Faulkner frequent to meet with other
authors?
Mark Twain
Use the following websites to answer the questions below.
http://muscarellar.victorschools.org/PDF/Tom%20Sawyer/Mark%20Twain%20bio.pdf
http://twain.lib.virginia.edu/index2.html (click through the multi-colored boxes to find the information)
1. What was Mark Twain's real name?
2. Where was he born?
3. Where did he grow up?
4. What work did he do on the Mississippi River?
5. What does "Mark Twain" mean?
6. When was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer published?
7. What are five interesting facts about Mark Twain?
8. How did Mark Twain create his characters?
9. Mark Twain was the first literary _________________________?
10. Beside Adventures of Huckleberry Finn & The Adventures of Tom Sawyer name one other work
of Mark Twain’s.
Sylvia Plath
Use the following websites to answer the questions below.
https://prezi.com/k6oxz5nhdky4/sylvia-plath-intro/
http://www.english.illinois.edu/MAPS/poets/m_r/plath/twoviews.htm
http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/sylvia-plath
1. Plath writes about her relationship with her father most notably in her poem entitled
______________________?
2. In 1960, Plath published her first collection of poems. What was the name of this collection?
3. How did Plath die? (be specific)
4. Sylvia Plath was the first writer to receive the Pulitzer Prize under what unique circumstance?
5. The Bell Jar was published under what pseudonym?
6. What other literary work served as an influence to Plath while writing The Bell Jar?
7. In 1953, Plath underwent what kind of treatment to combat depression?
8. How old was Plath when she died?
9. What are two reoccurring symbols/themes in Plath’s writings?
10. Read through quotes of Sylvia Plath’s from the following link:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/4379.Sylvia_Plath
Pick two that stick out. Copy and paste them below. Explain why they appealed to you.
Jack Kerouac
Use the following websites to answer the questions below.
https://prezi.com/i5sa0diyzgrs/jack-kerouac-on-the-road/
http://archives.waiting-forthe-sun.net/Pages/ArtisticInfluences/Beats/BeatStory/meaning_of_beat.html
http://www.online-literature.com/periods/beat.php
1. The Beat Generation was born out of what major event?
2. What is the name of Kerouac’s first and best know work?
3. Legend has it that he wrote this piece of literature on what?
4. Along side Kerouac, who is considered the other founder of the Beat Movement?
5. The influence of Kerouac and his counter-culture movement in literature lent to the ideology of
what other movement later in American society?
6. What are two major themes that appear in Kerouac’s works?
7. What name does Kerouac give to his alter ego in his book On The Road?
8. Who is Neil Cassady?
9. What is the name of the particular style in which ‘Beat’s’ wrote?
10. Peruse the quotes from Jack Kerouac on the following page:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/jack_kerouac.html
What other movement that we studied in American Lit class this year does this remind you of?
List two examples/similarities that the two movements share.