A
Separate Peace
Introduction to
By John Knowles
About the Author
John Knowles
• Born in West Virginia on
September 16, 1926
• Knowles was educated at Phillips
Exeter Academy, which served as a
model for the setting of A Separate
Peace.
• A Separate Peace was Knowles’
first work, which earned him the
Rosenthal Award of the National
Institute of Arts and Letters. This
established Knowles as a
successful author.
Historical Context
World War II
• Began in 1939 when the Germans invaded Poland, and officially
ended in August 1945, when the Japanese surrendered.
• A Separate Peace takes place during the summer of 1942, directly
in the center of World War II.
In America:
• In order to cope with the war, America instituted rations on books,
sugar, coffee, and other goods.
• To conserve gasoline, a national 35 MPH speed limit was
implemented, and driving for pleasure was banned.
• By the summer of 1942, many Americans realized that the war
was far from over.
Literary Context
• A Separate Peace belongs to a
genre of literature called
____________________. This is a
German term which describes a
novel whose main character
_____________ over time, usually
from childhood.
• The novel is based on events that
happened during Knowles’ years at
the Phillips Exeter Academy.
• Similar to Lord of the Flies, A
Separate Peace deals with children
coming to terms with their ________
set against the backdrop of World
War.
Main Themes
Internal and external conflicts.
The relationship between war and peace.
The nature of friendship.
People’s ability to change.
Biblical allegory.
Phillips Exeter Academy
• Devon School, the setting of A Separate Peace, is based
heavily on the Phillips Exeter Academy.
What Did you Learn
John Knowles was educated at the _______________________________.
The novel A Separate Peace takes place during ____________________.
The nature of ___________________ is one of the theme’s of the novel.
_______________________ is a term used to describe literature about
growing up and maturing.
Because some people see Finny as a Christlike character,
A Separate Peace has been called a _____________________.
Types of Narrators
• First Person Narrator
• First person observer
•
• First person participant
• Gene Forrester is a First Person Participant
• Story telling technique:
Setting
• New England Prep School
• Gene Forrester is from the south
• World War II is omni-present.
Characters
• Stories seek to reveal character: either a
particular individual or of human nature in
general.
• Protagonist
• Antagonist
Plot
• Structure
– ______________
• Protagonist’s life is in relative order, although he may not be
satisfied
– Gene is a young man.
» Follows the rules, likes order, hard worker.
» Has a perfect best friend in Finny
– _________________
• Something disrupts the status quo and creates conflict
– Finny is a foil for Gene, upsetting Gene’s life
– Gene perceives that Finny is jealous of Gene, whereas the
opposite is true
– Gene’s jealousy consumes him.
Plot
• Rising Action
– _____________________________
– ______________________________
– ______________________________
• Climax
– _________________________________
– _________________________________
Plot
• Having resolved the conflict, a new state
of equilibrium is achieved.
– _______________________________
– ________________________________
– _________________________________
– _________________________________
Characterization
• Round
– __________________________________________
__________________________________________
• Flat
– __________________________________________
__________________________________________
• Dynamic
– __________________________________________
__________________________________________
• Static
– __________________________________________
__________________________________________
Characterization Grid
High impact on events
Significant emotional
development &
change
Little emotional
development &
change
Low impact on events
Literary Devices
• Similes
• Cliffhanger
• Irony
Literary Devices
• Allusion:
– ____________________________________
____________________________________
– ____________________________________
____________________________________
• Foreshadowing:
– ____________________________________
____________________________________
Literary Devices
• Personification:
– ____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
– ____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
Literary Devices - Metaphors
• World War II
– The internal war that each student fights within himself. The
focus of the novel is internal and on the young people.
• ______________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
• Finny
– _________________________________
• WWII
• When Gene can not acknowledge his feelings and is at war with
himself.
• Finny is a victim and a casualty
• Winter Carnival
– _______________________________________________
– _______________________________________________
Literary Devices - Metaphors
• Metaphor: a figure of speech in which a comparison
between two unlike objects is suggested or implied.
• Blitzball:
– A sport without competitors
– Life at Devon. Individual struggle or every man for himself
– Finny triumphs at this game
• Snowball Fight:
– Similar to blitzball, but this time Finny is defeated.
• It brings an end to Finny and the peace he represents.
• The surf at the beach.
– The control that Finny had over Gene
Literary Devices - Symbols
• Symbols: The use of one object to represent or
suggest another. They embody universal
suggestions of meaning.
– _____________________________________
• __________________________________________
• ________________________________________________
________________________________________________
_
– _________________________________________.
• ___________________________________________.
• ________________________________
• ______________________________
Bildungsroman
• Conflicting and confusing emotions.
– Gene:
• __________________________________
• __________________________________
• __________________________________
– Finny:
• __________________________________
– Brinker:
• __________________________________
• __________________________________
• __________________________________
• __________________________________
– Leper:
• __________________________________
Motifs
•
War
– ______________________________________________________.
• WWII is a key element of the setting
– It encroaches on life at Devon
• Students like Gene at war with themselves
•
Peace
– ________________________________________________________
•
Competition among the students
– __________________________________________________________
•
Athletics
– __________________________________________________________
• _____________________________________
– Blitzball
• _____________________________________
•
Jealousy, Envy
– ________________________________________
•
Rash Actions
– _________________________________________
Themes – Ignorance & War
• Ignorance in the human heart leads to
conflict or war.
– ____________________________________
____________________________________
___________________________________
(202-203)
– ____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
Bildungsroman
• Coming of Age story
• The journey from innocence to experience.
– ____________________________________
____________________________________
• __________________________________
__________________________________
• Discomfort leads to suspicion and
jealousy.
Forming an Identity
• Seeking to establish, but being uncomfortable with one’s
identity.
– Gene is from the south and does not quite fit in.
• He makes up a false identity.
– The pictures of the old south on his walls.
– Gene’s desire to blur his own identity with Finny’s.
• Wearing Finny’s clothes.
– After accident they depend on each other.
•
•
•
•
Gene does sports for Finny.
Gene lets Finny coach him.
Finny live vicariously through Gene.
Gene finds happiness in losing himself in Finny.
– Gene does not like himself.
– Gene likes Finny very much.
• In the end Gene feels as if Finny’s funeral is his own.
Tone
• Does the author focus on the innocence of
youth or the difficulty in growing up?
• Is the tone hopeful or dark?
• Are people basically good or evil?