American Literature
346: Prompts
A)
“…And if we are a crude and childlike people
how can our literature hope to escape the influence of that fact? Why indeed
should we want it to escape?”
In his defense
of “crudity” in art, Sherwood Anderson links crudity—surprisingly—with the
adjective “childlike.” Why does he do
this? How does this change our notion of what he actually means by “crude”? Is
it vulgar, disgusting, violent, or something else entirely? How is his unique vision
evident in his own writing?
To
answer this question, it might help—but is not required—to think of Anderson’s crudity
in light of Hemingway’s fiction. It might also to help to think of focusing on
one or two of his characters to get at his precise vision of “childlike crudity”.
What does this kind of crudity have to do with “art”? Are his “crudes” somehow linked to
art/expression?
B)
In the
early 20th century, artists—writers, painters, photographers—used the
physical body as a symbolic center to make comments on social attitudes and historical
transformations. Use “Wing” and “Ad
Frances” to compare the different ways Anderson and Hemingway make the body
serve their specific purposes.
You
might want to consider the characters' bodies in light of their stories and
novels in which they appear. For
example, does “Wing” have to do with more allegations of child abuse? What is Ad’s place in a novel about the war
generation?
C)
Hemingway’s
first vignette features a drunk soldier ordered to put out his light lest he be
seen by the enemy. The stories that
follow are about revelation but also—in an important sense—hiding.
What do
people hide from in In Our Time?
Use this
simple question as a way to link two stories: “Indian Camp” and “Soldier’s Home.”
You might want to consider what the opposite of hiding is. Of course, it might help to think about Anderson here: isn't Wing hiding out?
