The Old Man and the Sea Summer Reading for English 3 Honors
YourMomsFantasy
Mr. YourMoms 4th Block
English III Honors
August 29, 2012
The Old Man and the Sea, written by Ernest Hemingway, was a story about an old fisherman named Santiago who lived in Cuba. Santiago went eighty-fourdays without a single catch. Hemingway uses great description when he describes the old man in the beginning of the story as “thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck. His hands had deep-creased scars from handling heavy fish on the cords.” Using great descriptions often keep a reader thinking and provide an excellent mental picture. I also couldn’t help but admire his use of similes right from the start, “But none of these scars were fresh. They were as old as erosions in a fishless desert.” This gave me an image of a waterless desert being eroded by the sun as if it were a rock being broken down by water. Santiago is described to be almost like a loner or that weird neighbor no one wants to be around. He was only described to have a single friend, a young boy named Manolin. Manolin helped Santiago through the first forty days of his unlucky affair but his parents noticed the old man was unlucky and ordered their son to join another boat. I love the fact that even though Manolin’s parents said he couldn’t fish with this unlucky old man, that he helped Santiago bring his empty boat in every night.
Manolin’s character is described to have a lot of compassion for Santiago. He tells Santiago of his new and nearly blind employer and lets him know that he’ll attempt him to fish near him the next morning just in case he catches a big fish, he and his new employer will be able to help him pull it in. Hemingway describes Santiago as “too simple to wonder where he attained humility.” This statement informs the reader that Santiago is becoming a better person throughout the novella.
Santiago is given a very earthy and nonchalant personality. The word “plain” and “simple” are used a lot when Hemingway describes him.
Mr. YourMoms 4th Block
English III Honors
August 29, 2012
The Old Man and the Sea, written by Ernest Hemingway, was a story about an old fisherman named Santiago who lived in Cuba. Santiago went eighty-fourdays without a single catch. Hemingway uses great description when he describes the old man in the beginning of the story as “thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck. His hands had deep-creased scars from handling heavy fish on the cords.” Using great descriptions often keep a reader thinking and provide an excellent mental picture. I also couldn’t help but admire his use of similes right from the start, “But none of these scars were fresh. They were as old as erosions in a fishless desert.” This gave me an image of a waterless desert being eroded by the sun as if it were a rock being broken down by water. Santiago is described to be almost like a loner or that weird neighbor no one wants to be around. He was only described to have a single friend, a young boy named Manolin. Manolin helped Santiago through the first forty days of his unlucky affair but his parents noticed the old man was unlucky and ordered their son to join another boat. I love the fact that even though Manolin’s parents said he couldn’t fish with this unlucky old man, that he helped Santiago bring his empty boat in every night.
Manolin’s character is described to have a lot of compassion for Santiago. He tells Santiago of his new and nearly blind employer and lets him know that he’ll attempt him to fish near him the next morning just in case he catches a big fish, he and his new employer will be able to help him pull it in. Hemingway describes Santiago as “too simple to wonder where he attained humility.” This statement informs the reader that Santiago is becoming a better person throughout the novella.
Santiago is given a very earthy and nonchalant personality. The word “plain” and “simple” are used a lot when Hemingway describes him.