ESSAY #1 PROMPTS

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 20^th 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?