Paper 1: Hemingway

There are 2 parts to this paper: the 3-4 page analysis of A Moveable Feast and the 1 page writer’s evaluation.

Remember that a memoir is a writer’s reflection on and depiction of themselves at a particular stage of their life. In Hemingway’s case, he’s recalling the period between 1921 and 1926 when he and Hadley, and later Bumby, were living in Paris post WW1.

Some things to consider as you examine this experience:

  1. What aspects do you see of Hemingway in the text in terms of his personality, his relationships and friendships, and his connection to and experience of Paris itself?
  • Consider his relationship with Hadley. How does he use dialogue to construct this? What issues, characteristics, tensions, happiness, etc. does he convey? What is their marriage like?
  • Examine one or more of his friendships: with Gertrude Stein, Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra

Pound, Ford Maddox Ford, etc. What is the nature of these friendships and how does he express them in his writing?

  1. Hemingway reflects on the nature and process of writing in general and in relation to himself as a writer, both as a journalist and as a writer of fiction. Isolate some aspects of this and examine them analytically. What does he consider important in his writing? Do you see this in the text.
  2. In the last section of the text, Hemingway reflects a lot on memory, and memory as fiction. Explore aspects of this in relation to the text. Remember, he wrote A Moveable Feast from memory in 1957-1959, rather than using the manuscripts he wrote about his experience at the time.
  3. Consider the different implications and applications of the title, A Moveable Feast. Take into account what Patrick and Sean Hemingway say about the title, if you want.
  4. Consider Gertrude Stein naming of Hemingway’s generation “The Lost Generation” — the young men who fought in VVW1 and now find themselves back in the civilian world. What does she mean by this and does it apply to Hemingway?
  5. Focus on a particular chapter or a couple of chapters and analyze them in detail.
  6. Choose an area of your own interest to explore.