On the literary map, you are still in Key West, Florida.Visit Mrs. Steller's Ernest Hemingway Gallery.
Why did Hemingway choose Key West for a home? Here is the answer.
Read a biography of Hemingway .
Read "Big Two-Hearted River" in your text and answer the questions.
The river runs through the scorched earth of Seney - beween the two "hearts," the fresh, sunlit meadow and the tangled, mist-shrouded swamp. What is significant about the fact that in the midst of a devastated countryside the river still contains living healthy fish?
At what points in the story do you first become aware that something is wrong with Nick? Explain.
Find passages in this story that express pleasure in purely physical sensations. Hemingway has a reputation for being able to convey precisely how a thing looks or how it feels. Do you think he deserves this reputations? Cite examples from the story to support your answer.
Judging from the story, what do you think Hemingway considered important in life? What kinds of skills did he think it imortant for a person to have? How did he think a person should face life? Support your answers with details from the story.
Why is trout fishing particularly difficult in a swamp? Why do think Nick sees fishing there as a "tragic adventure"?
