In Our Time Essay, Research Paper

The Nick Adams stories were my favorite

of the collection because I got to know Nick through the reading. I started

to understand Nick and I could anticipate the actions and feelings that

he was feeling. I am not sure if this is because I became familiar with

Nick or because I have done many of the things Nick has done and was able

to understand what he was doing.

“Big Two-Hearted River: Part I and II”

were the most enjoyable short stories of the ones I read. The language

that Hemingway uses is ideally suited for describing Nick’s activities

by the river. Hemingway’s simple declarative sentences are all that is

needed to convey the wonderful scene of Nick struggling with his pack,

setting up his tent, and cooking his food. I have also done all the things

that Nick was doing by the river and I was able to understand his satisfaction

at pulling up a sound tent. Little sentences like “He was careful not to

let the hook bite into his finger” convey so much meaning to anyone who

has ever tried to tighten a fishing hook on a line that you can only help

but nod your head in agreement.

I must admit that despite not being at

the center of your course I could not help but think of how much Hemingway’s

content was influenced by his life. Many of the stories like “The Doctor

and the Doctor’s Wife” were based directly on personal experiences of Hemingway’s

life. Since it is not the focus of your course, I am trying to just accepted

the content and concentrate more on writing style and the way Hemingway

writes something. I have found it difficult to pay close attention to both

the story and the writing at the same time and have had to reread several

times.

“The Three-Day Blow” offered an interesting

irony to the title “In Our Time”, but maybe it is just my jaded view of

the television. Nick and Bill sit and discuss intelligently on various

topics like books and baseball, but I fear this sophisticated discourse

is becoming rare in “our” time of cable television which has done much

to dry up serious dialogue.