"ERNEST HEMINGWAY" - разработка к серии уроков «Знакомство с английскими и американскими писателями» (с презентацией)
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ERNEST HEMINGWAY

(1899 – 1961)

        Ernest Hemingway was one of the greatest American writers of his age. He was born in Oak Park, Illinois, in the family of a doctor. His father was fond of hunting and fishing and in his school-days Ernest became excellent sportsmen. He played football, was a member of the swimming team and learned to box, as a result of which his nose was broken and eye injured. At school he was a successful pupil. He wrote poetry and prose for the school literary magazine and edited the school newspaper.

        In 1917, when the United States entered World War the I, Hemingway wanted to join the army but was refused because of his eye. Then he left home and went to Kansas City. He lived in his uncle’s house and worked as a newspaper reporter. In 1918 he tried to join the army again and was given the job of driving American Red Cross ambulances on the Italian front. Two months later he was badly wounded in the leg. He was taken to hospital in Milan where he had twelve operations. After a period of time he returned to army. Hemingway was a warded a silver medal by the Italian Government. His war experience influenced the life and all the works of the writer.

        In 1920 Hemingway returned to the United States and began to work as a foreign correspondent of a newspaper.

        Now he was earning enough to support himself by his pen and he began writing stories.  His dream was to become a novelist. To get the material for his future stories and novels Hemingway travelled all over the world. He visited Spain, Switzerland, Germany and other countries. His first work, “Three Stories and Ten Poems”, was written in 1923. It was followed by other collections of stories. Hemingway’s first novel, “The Sun Also Rises”, known in our country as “Fiesta”, was published in 1926. Then followed his masterpiece, the novel “A Farewell to Arms”, a protest against war. It was published in 1929 and made author famous.

        Hemingway continued to write short stories which were published under the title “Men without Women”. The collection includes “The Killer”, “In another Country” and others. Here the author shows the disappointment of young people in the post-war world, which was ruled by the dollar.

        In 1935 Hemingway published his novel “The Green Hills of Africa” in which the author expresses the idea that nature and art are the two things that live long in the world.

        When the Civil War in Spain began in 1936, Hemingway collected money (140 000 dollars) for an ambulance service in the Spanish Republic and went to Spain. He took part in the war as an anti-fascist correspondent. In Spain Hemingway met many progressive people – communists and fighters of the international brigades. The writer saw the heroic struggle of the republicans and his political ideas changed. In the works written later he shows sharp social conflicts (“The Fifth Column”, 1938). After the end of the Civil War in Spain Hemingway wrote one of his best novels, “For Whom the Bell Tolls”, where he speaks about the Americans who died in the fight for the republic in Spain. Hemingway’s sympathy with the Spanish people and their struggle against fascism was expressed in his speech at the Congress of American writers in 1937.

        During the World war the II Hemingway was a war-correspondent. He took part in air raids over Germany and fought against the fascist together with French partisans. In 1941 he sent a telegram to the Soviet Government in which he expressed his solidarity with the Soviet people in their heroic struggle against the fascists.

        The last years of his life Hemingway spent in Cuba, visiting the USA and Spain. He loved freedom and supposed the revolution in Cuba and greeted the revolutionary government there. Hemingway’s last work, “The Old Man and the Sea” (1952), is about the courage of an old fisherman, who was fighting a big fish and the sea for many hours and won the victory over them. In 1954 the author was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature and “The Old Man and the Sea” was mentioned as one of his best works.

         In 1960 he returned to the United States and very soon died there.

Words for learning:

injure – повреждать

ambulance – санитарная машина

“Fiesta” – «Фиеста» (праздник)

“A Farewell to Arms” – «Прощай, оружие!»

without – без

hill – холм

ambulance service – санитарная служба

“For Whom the Bell Tolls” – «По ком звонит колокол»

raid – налет

Questions for discussion:

• Where was Hemingway born?
• How did he get on at school?
• What did he do in his school-days for his future profession?
• Why couldn’t Hemingway join the army?
• What was he awarded for his service in the army?
• Where did Hemingway get material for his works?
• What was his first collection of stories?
• Which novel is Hemingway’s masterpiece?
• Why was the novel so popular?
• What did Hemingway do to help the revolution in Spain?
• How did he fight against fascism in World War II?
• What was Hemingway’s last work?