The Sun Also Rises
by Ernest Hemingway
Table of Contents
Essay Topics
1. Hemingway opens the novel with a description of Robert Cohn rather than the protagonist, Jake Barnes. How are the two characters similar? How are they different? How does Cohn function as a foil for Jake throughout the novel?
2. Charges of sexism are often leveled at Hemingway’s writing. What, if anything, in The Sun Also Rises might be considered sexist? Think about the female characters in the novel. Are they portrayed as stereotypes, or are they complex characters? Choose a position and defend your argument with examples from the text.
3. Hemingway goes to great lengths to describe the bullfights in the novel, giving the reader vivid descriptions and blow-by-blow accounts. How does this add meaning to the novel? Choose one of the bullfighting scenes and analyze its language, discussing its metaphorical and symbolic implications.
4. Although World War I is rarely mentioned in a direct way, nearly every character in the novel is a veteran of it. How has the experience of war shaped these characters? How are the nonveterans like Cohn and Romero, different from those who were in the war? Using examples from the text, compare and contrast the veterans with the nonveterans.
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