Ernest Hemingway: A Biography
Roberto Barerra
1Ernest Hemingway, an American author, lived during the first half of the twentieth century. His experience traveling the world influenced many of his literary works. Hemingway lived in a number of places including Chicago, Toronto, Paris, and Key West, Florida. He also visited Europe and Africa. After serving in World War I, Hemingway settled in Paris, France. Along with several other American writers and artists of the time, Hemingway was a well-known expatriate.
2While serving in World War I as part of the Red Cross, Hemingway was wounded while driving an ambulance to aid troops on the Italian front. For his service in the war, Hemingway earned the Silver Medal of Military Valor and the Bronze Star. Hemingway was prone to injury throughout his life. While on a safari in Africa, he badly injured himself to the point that some American newspapers mistakenly reported him dead. Both the good and bad experiences in Hemingway’s life helped to shape his writing. These injuries and their aftereffects would later appear in some of Hemingway’s most popular pieces of writing.
3Hemingway worked as a journalist for a portion of his life writing mainly for the Toronto Star, but people mostly remember Hemingway for his novels and short stories. Hemingway developed a unique writing style that emphasized short, direct sentences. Instead of including pages of description in his fiction, Hemingway used details sparingly. This style earned Hemingway many prestigious awards in literature as well as the positive regard of fans and critics. Most of Hemingway’s work centered on the themes of war and romance. He drew on his own life experiences to create great works of literature.
4Two of Hemingway’s most famous novels were The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms, both of which he wrote in the late 1920s after his time in World War I. In 1953, he won the Pulitzer Prize for his novella, The Old Man and the Sea. He also received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954 for his lifelong achievements as a writer. His distinctive writing style was a major part of his success and influence. Through his economical use of words and habit of understating the intensity of his stories, Hemingway distinguished himself from other writers of his time. His literary influence has been long lasting as well as widespread and is alive even today.
5People still flock to Key West, Florida, to visit Ernest Hemingway’s final home. The large house is maintained as a museum where visitors can walk through the rooms where Hemingway lived and wrote for more than a decade. More than sixty cats roam the museum; these felines are descendants of Hemingway’s own pet cat. Hemingway was a great lover of cats, and he included provisions in his will that his cats be taken care of long after he was gone.
Question
What does this passage imply about Hemingway's style of writing?
Responses
AHemingway's short sentences and sparse details felt commonplace to readers.
Hemingway's short sentences and sparse details felt commonplace to readers.
BHemingway's short sentences and sparse details were not noticed by readers.
Hemingway's short sentences and sparse details were not noticed by readers.
CHemingway's short sentences and sparse details shocked and repulsed readers.
Hemingway's short sentences and sparse details shocked and repulsed readers.
DHemingway's short sentences and sparse details were fresh and new to readers.