The Old Man and the Sea

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The Old Man and the Sea

• by Ernest Hemingway
• 1952

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Outline

• Basic content context, plot, roles
• Focal point the old mans character, code hero
• Difficult point the relationship between the old
  man and the marlin (or the sea)

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Basic content Context

• It was published in 1952 after the bleakest ten
  years in Hemingways literary career and was the
  last novel published in Hemingways lifetime. But
  it was an instant success. This short novel won
  the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and played a
  significant role in Hemingways selection for the
  Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.

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the bleakest ten years

• 1940 For Whom the Bell Tolls
• 1950 Across the River and Into the Trees
  (self-parody)
• 1952 The Old Man and the Sea (an act of literary
  revenge)
• Papa is finished?

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Basic Content Plot
Rising Action Climax Falling Action
After eighty-four successive days without catching a fish, Santiago promises Manolin that he will go far out into the sea. Santiago conquers the marlin. On the way back, he encounters the sharks and struggles with them. Sharks destroy the marlin. Santiago arrives home only with the marlins skeleton.
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Basic content roles
1.Santiago 2.Manolin 3.the marlin 4.sharks 5.the
sea
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Questions

• Focal point After the first shark attack,
  Santiago says Man is not made for defeata man
  can be destroyed but not defeated. At the end of
  the story, is the old man defeated? Why or why
  not?
• Difficult point Whats the relationship between
  the old man and the marlin (or the sea) ?

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reason manifestation significance
failure (destroyed) pride the marlins skeleton outer, material
victory (not defeated) endurance, determination, confidence, bravery, knowledgeable earns the respect, achieves the natural self, confirms his heroic personalities inner, spiritual
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Code Hero (Tough Guy)

• A man who lives correctly, following the ideal
  of honor, courage and endurance in a world that
  is sometimes chaotic, often stressful, and always
  painful.
• ------by Hemingway

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the spirit of code hero

• Endurance to accept pain, even loss
• Pride of knowing that one has done ones best
• Courage act truly according to ones own nature
• Will to face defeat or victory
• He is a man of action but not a thinker.

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the relationship between Santiago and the marlin
(or the sea)
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the sea
brotherhood
catch
Santiago (Manolin)
the marlin
challenge
defend oneself
invade
sharks
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Homework writing style (iceberg principle)

• 1. What is the iceberg principle?
• 2. How does Hemingway use it in The Old Man and
  the sea?
• 3. Which phrases embody this principle fully?

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Writing Style Iceberg Principle
I always try to write on the principle of the
iceberg. There is seven-eighths of it underwater
for every part that shows. Anything you know you
can eliminate and it only strengthens your
iceberg. It is the part that doesnt show. If a
writer omits something because he does not know
it then there is a hole in the story.