For Whom The Bell Tolls: Story Time ESL Listening

(TESOL Worksheets--Story Time ESL Listening)
Story Transcript: drive, docs, pub
Youtube Video HERE





Still working my way through my archives on this project before I get to some new material.  This is from this old reading lesson here.  All material necessary for the lesson is in the Google Drive Folder HERE.  (For my book review of For Whom the Bell Tolls see HERE).

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

(Book Review)

My History with Hemingway

* I read A Farewell to Arms in 1995 when I was 16.  It was assigned reading in 11th grade English.  I didn't hate it, but I didn't particularly love it either.  (In retrospect, I think I was too young to appreciate Hemingway. Hemingway is best read by 20-30 year old men who are obsessed with masculinity and alcohol).
Because 1995 was long before my blogging days, I have no review of A Farewell to Arms on this blog.  But I do have preserved (on one of my other blogs) an assignment I did for that class which was to re-write a classic fairy tale in Hemingway's style: A Farewell to Pork.
I also reviewed the movie of A Farewell to Arms here.

* In 2006, I read Hemingway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants" and found that I actually really enjoyed it.
* And so, inspired by that positive experience, that same year I read For Whom the Bell Tolls and also really enjoyed it.  (And have subsequently even used it in my classes).

Why I'm Reading This Book Now
I guess the real question is why I waited 10 years to get back to Hemingway, since I so much enjoyed For Whom the Bell Tolls.  I don't know.  I got distracted by other things I guess.

But The Sun Also Rises is one of those books I've always been meaning to get around to.  It's one of those classic books that every well read person is supposed to have read, and, even though I've got a couple Hemingway books under my belt already, this is one of Hemingway's most iconic books.

But more than that, in the past few years I've been hearing a lot of high praise for this book--from various sources (conversations at bars, mentions on the Internet, etc)--that has caused me to want to check out this book even more.

I mentioned it a couple times to my book club.  It was part of this (admittedly pretty long) list here.  And Whisky Prajer, after criticizing some of my more exorbitant choices, commented that The Sun Also Rises was one of the books on my list that was well-worth reading.

The Sun Also Rises is Hemingway's best, IMO. Punchy, nuanced, problematic because of its antisemitism and doubly so because it can't make its point without it.

At the last book club meeting, my friend Tom mentioned that a lot of people had been highly recommending The Sun Also Rises to him as well.   So we both agreed to tackle it for our next book club.
And here I am with the review.

The Review
So, this is one of those books where, if the literati crowd are to be believed, there is a lot more going on here than meets the eye.
Apparently there's a lot of symbolism going on in this book.

I didn't catch it myself.  I just read through the book on the surface level, and thought it was a story about a bunch of expats who get drunk all the time in Paris and Spain.

It wasn't until I finished the book, and started reading some of the criticism of it online, that I realized this book was (apparently) much deeper than I had realized.

But I'll leave the deeper stuff for the deeper thinkers to sort out.  (There would be no point in me parroting other people's analysis anyways.  If you want to read about all the symbolism that other, smarter, people have discovered in this novel, all of that is easily available on Google).
I'll just write about my own reaction/feeling to this novel.

On the plus side, the novel is very readable.
There's not much of a plot, especially in the first half of the novel.  It's mostly just a group of expats hanging around at bars in Paris, and drinking way too much.
But Hemingway's famous lean sentences and clipped dialogue keep the prose moving.  And at least the characters in the book keep moving too (going from bar to bar to bar as they find lots of new places to drink).  So even though there wasn't much of a recognizable plot, I was still happily turning the pages.

Hemingway's sparse style was all the more appreciated since our book club had just come off from two authors who favored long boring literary descriptions: E.M. Forster and D.H. Lawrence.  It was interesting to note that all 3 authors were writing in the 1920s, but Hemingway's prose seems much more modern and readable in comparison with the other two.

The Drinking...Oh, the Drinking!

11th grade was a long time ago now, and my memory of A Farewell to Arms is getting pretty faded.  But one thing I do remember is that Hemingway's characters were constantly drinking, and that Hemingway, for some reason, thought it was important to write down all the names of everything they drank.
I remember this because it used to confuse us 11th grade students.  We were constantly asking our teacher, "But why does he write down all the names of the drinks?  Why is this important?"
Our teacher just laughed it off as one of Hemingway's characteristic eccentricities.  Hemingway took his drinking seriously.  It mattered to Hemingway whether his character was drinking a cognac or a vermouth, and so he assumed that the reader had as much interest in these details as he did.

But if this obsession for listing drinks was true of A Farewell to Arms, then man-oh-man is it ever true for The Sun Also Rises.
The whole book is basically just one long chronicle of the drinking exploits of a group of expats.  And Hemingway feels the need to list everything they drank.

Although some allowance should always be made for separating the author from the novel, it's pretty hard to read this book and not get the impression that Hemingway must have been a huge alcoholic.  And sure enough, a quick Google search reveals that he was.  (See from Salon.com: Hemingway drank too much: Our strange, macho romance with Papa’s alcoholism).

That, plus the knowledge that this book is a roman-a-clef memoir of a real trip that Hemingway and his drinking buddies went on (W), and the conclusion I came to was this book was nothing more than an alcoholic writing the story of a drunken trip.  Beautifully written, perhaps, but not of any social value.

(Incidentally, this was also apparently the conclusion Hemingway's mother came to.  According to Wikipedia, Hemingway's mother wrote him:

The critics seem to be full of praise for your style and ability to draw word pictures but the decent ones always regret that you should use such great gifts in perpetuating the lives and habits of so degraded a strata of humanity .... It is a doubtful honor to produce one of the filthiest books of the year .... What is the matter? Have you ceased to be interested in nobility, honor and fineness in life? .... Surely you have other words in your vocabulary than "damn" and "bitch"—Every page fills me with a sick loathing. )

However, once I started researching what the critics had been saying about this book, I realized there was a lot more going on here.
Some people say Hemingway used the alcohol to convey how his characters were feeling.  Drinking cognac conveyed one type of feeling, whereas drinking wine conveyed another type of feeling (apparently).

But more importantly, according to this lecturer here, Hemingway had a dim outlook on life.  You couldn't expect much out of life, and you couldn't expect much out of your fellow man.  (Everyone is always awful to each other in Hemingway books).  So what was left?  Fill the void with physicality.  But what about the protagonist of The Sun Also Rises, who is impotent because of a war injury?  Fill the void with alcohol.

In that respect, is the alcoholism in this book a symptom of the existential angst the characters feel?

More Thoughts on Drinking

When I read A Farewell to Arms at 16, I had never touched a drop of alcohol in my life.  (I was a good kid).
As with most good kids who are non-drinkers, alcohol had no interest for me, and Hemingway's descriptions of all his alcoholic drinks bored me.

Now, however, I am older, and have more knowledge about alcohol and its effects.  And more knowledge about its potential appeal.

It's hard to read through this long chronicle of a drunken week and not think to yourself: "Boy, I could really go for a beer right now."

On at least one occasion, this book caused me to bring a bottle of wine home.  It seemed appropriate to drink a few glasses of wine while reading about all the wine these guys were drinking in Spain.

Hemingway's characters drink a lot.  Reading this book can be a bit dangerous, because you get to thinking, "Boy, maybe I've been holding back too much.  These guys drank nonstop for weeks on end, and it didn't seem to affect them at all.  Maybe I could go for another glass of wine."

It's also tempting to read this book and think, "Well, I guess that's how people lived back then.  Alcoholism wasn't stigmatized in the old days--massive drinking was just a part of everyday life."

...And then, all of a sudden, you remember that it wasn't.  That actually, in the 1920s, prohibition was happening back in the United States.  (And just in case you forgot, the book reminds you a couple times that prohibition was going on back home.)
Imagine this whole book about drinking was published and sold to a public in 1926 that couldn't legally buy alcohol!  (Although if books like The Great Gatsby are any indication, prohibition didn't slow down the party too much.)

The Antisemitism
As Whisky Prajer noted above, this book is problematic because of its antisemitism.

I don't want to spend too much time talking about this.
Since I've started this book review project, I've lost track of how many times I've had to condemn an old book for being racist.  And I've begun to get bored by the exercise.
I'll just say that Hemingway was antisemitic, and it was unfortunate, and leave it at that.

...actually just a couple more notes.

1). I don't want to let Hemingway off the hook too easily by implying that since this book is old, he gets a free pass.  Not everyone in the 1920s was racist.  For comparison's sake, E.M. Forster was ridiculing racial prejudices in A Passage to India at the same time Hemingway was indulging them.  (A Passage to India was published 2 years before The Sun Also Rises).

2). I quoted Whisky Prajer above, but I'll repeat it here:

The Sun Also Rises is Hemingway's best, IMO. Punchy, nuanced, problematic because of its antisemitism and doubly so because it can't make its point without it.

There's no argument on the first point--the antisemitism is problematic.  But I wonder about the second point.  Could the novel actually make it's point without it?

If, for example, someone went through The Sun Also Rises and deleted every reference to Robert Cohn being a Jew, would the book lose anything substantial?  Or is Robert Cohn's character too tied up in being a Jewish stereotype?

3).  I should also note that I don't equate Hemingway's antisemitism with anything like Hitler's antisemitism.   

No one would ever finish The Sun Also Rises and come to the conclusion that all Jews needed to be exterminated.

If anything, I felt sorry for Robert Cohn.  He was socially clueless, sure, but he wasn't an evil person.

What Robert Cohn desperately needed was for someone to sit him down and explain to him what was really going on between him and Brett.  A lot of grief could have been avoided if someone had just done that.

Instead, everyone chose to just make snide comments behind his back.

I felt for Robert Cohn, and wished he had had a better group of friends.

In my book club, however, Tom said he really hated Robert Cohn, and found the character really annoying.

I'm not sure what Hemingway's intended reaction was.  Definitely Hemingway himself had been annoyed by Harold Loeb (the basis for Robert Cohn), and yet I felt that Robert Cohn still got a sympathetic write-up in the book.  Or at least it evoked sympathy from me.

The Lost Generation

So, apparently this is the book that popularized the term "The Lost Generation".  

But I wondered as I read this book what exactly was so lost about "The Lost Generation".  It sounds like they spent their 20s drinking and being irresponsible, but then isn't that true of every generation?

And then after the 1920s, whatever happened to "The Lost Generation".  You never really hear about them again, do you?  They just went on to become normal adults, just like every other generation.  

While there's no denying that World War I did traumatize this generation, I wonder if a lot of what we associate with "The Lost Generation" was just the kind of thing every generation does when they're in their 20s.

...On a somewhat related note:

I got the impression from this book that all the characters were in their mid-30s.  (Robert Cohn was 34, and it's implied that Jake was about the same age).   Since this book was a roman-a-clef memoir, I assumed that must have meant that Hemingway was writing about his own mid-30s.  But then I went back to Wikipedia, and double checked the dates, and Hemingway was born in 1899.  Which meant he was still in his 20s when he published this book.  Although Harold Loeb (the basis for Robert Cohn) was actually 8 years older than Hemingway.

Other Notes
* I realize that I've gotten to the end of this book review, and I've not really tackled the main themes of this book, or talked about what this book really means.
And that's largely because I don't know.
I got the impression that it meant something.  Something about characters who wanted more out of life than they were getting, and so they took their frustrations out on alcohol and sex, and quarreling with each other.
Any more than that, and I'll have to leave it to other, smarter, people to analyze.

* Every critic talks about how great Hemingway is at describing scenes.  And I'm going to talk about it too.
It's amazing how much description Hemingway can do with so few sentences.
And it's something I didn't really even appreciate while I was reading the book.
It was only after having read the book, that I reflected on how vivid the scenes had seemed to me.  I realized that I had been picturing in my mind perfectly the little town in Spain, or the lake in the mountains, or 1920s Paris.
And Hemingway had managed to put all these pictures in my mind without getting bogged down in any long boring descriptions.  He uses just a few sentences, but he uses these few sentences very economically.

* Related to the above point: to the extent that all books act like little time capsules from the year in which they were written, this book is a wonderful literary portrait of what life was like in Spain and France in the 1920s.
Hemingway's Spain seems so peaceful and relaxed.  You can hardly believe that in just a few short years it will be ripped about by a vicious, brutal civil war.

* There's some wonderful Hemingway dialogue in this book.
It's on display throughout the whole book, really, but if I had to chose my favorite scenes, in particular I liked Bill Gorton's description of his drunken week in Vienna in chapter 8, and I thought Brett and Jake's conversation in chapter 19 was beautifully done.

* And related to the above point: the last line of this novel is pure genius.

More Whisky
Whisky Prajer comments on this book here, here and here.  (Did I miss anything?)
And, if I could be forgiven for stealing his analysis, I thought this quote was good:

I still love Hemingway — there are at least two-dozen short stories I’m very fond of (including “Homage”) and even a novel (The Sun Also Rises). I’m also familiar with Hemingway-induced dis-ease, particularly when it comes to The Sun Also Rises. The patent anti-Semitism cannot be overlooked; it’s a rotten impulse, to say the least, but Hemingway indulges it to deliberately position the Abrahamic religious-moral code as obsolete and vexatious. It’s the same code, of course, that provides the framework for Christianity and Islam, but it was the current norm to pick on the Jews — an easy and “acceptable” target. Hemingway sometimes had trouble resisting the easy target.
So, yes: loving Hemingway does take effort.

Book Club Notes

For whatever they may or may not be worth, here's some of the chatter from our book club Facebook page.  (Some of these posts cover ground that I've already covered in the main review above.  But for the sake of completeness, I'm going to include everything here.)

July 4, 2017--I Posted
The next book is The Sun Also Rises.
We're picking up the pace on this one slightly to accommodate people's schedules, so aim to have it finish on the 25th. (So 3 weeks instead of the usual 4). Fortunately it's on the short side. Only about 250 pages in the normal paperback edition. Thomas has agreed to try to find an electronic copy, and I'll aim to make print copies on Friday. Let me know who wants a copy.

July 13, 2017--I Posted
I'm following my usual practice of using the audio book to review the parts I've already read.
I'm finding this particularly useful for the famous Hemingway dialogue. It's interesting that the tone and intonation that the voice actor chose on the audio book is different than what I had imagined in my head.
Of course, part of the fun of Hemingway is trying to figure out what the rhythm of the dialogue is by yourself. So I wouldn't recommend the audio book for the first time through. But it's useful for reviewing the sections you've already read, and comparing what you imagined to how the voice actor interprets it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tNdk3E-9WY&t=490s



Tom Commented:

Personally, I find these freely available audio books to always be off-puttingly read. The William Hurt version sounds good, as do most of the books he narrates.
I will see if I can upload such files to this page.

July 19, 2017--Tom Posted (Apparently quoting from something he read online)

"The Sun Also Rises sold well, and young women began to emulate Brett..."

What rot. Don't let's emulate Brett.

I Commented:

Oh be a chap, let's. Next meeting we'll all talk like Brett the whole bloody time.

July 19, 2017--I posted

by the way, for whatever it may be worth (or not be worth) here's something I wrote back in 11th grade for high school English. The assignment was to re-write a fairy tale in Hemingway's style:

A Farewell to Pork
I stood at the entrance to the three pig's house. "Little pig, won't you let me in?"
"You can't come in."
"Let me in. I'll be good."
"You can't. We won't let you in."
"Please let me in. It'll be grand."
"Won't you have some wine? Wine really is grand."
"I shall not have any until you let me in."
"We can not let you in. Let's not talk about that."
"I shall blow down the house. I really shall."
"You still can't come in. Not yet."
I took a deep breath and blew out and out and out. My breath went out swiftly, all of it. Then I breathed and it was back. Again I blew out. Then I was exhausted, and I started to cough.
From inside I heard the laughter of the pigs, and it angered me. I went to the roof to drop down the chimney, but the pigs had set a pot below me and filled it with Kummel, Cognac, and Vermouth, then set it on fire. I landed in the pot, but jumped out and fled. I felt no guilt about abandoning my supper. Although I still have several friends who eat pork, and I wish them the best of luck, it is not my show anymore.

July 19, 2017--I Posted

From Wikipedia. It turns out Hemingway's mother hated this book. Wikipedia excerpts a letter she sent to her son telling him how much his book sucked:
The critics seem to be full of praise for your style and ability to draw word pictures but the decent ones always regret that you should use such great gifts in perpetuating the lives and habits of so degraded a strata of humanity .... It is a doubtful honor to produce one of the filthiest books of the year .... What is the matter? Have you ceased to be interested in nobility, honor and fineness in life? .... Surely you have other words in your vocabulary than "damn" and "bitch"—Every page fills me with a sick loathing.

Tom Commented:

She certainly isn't wrong in her description of his characters. At the same time, did she even know her son? Dude and his friends weren't exactly a good representation of decorum in life, so why would they be in writing?

July 19, 2017--I Posted

I didn't agree with everything here, but a very intelligent discussion of the book. They picked up on a lot of the subtleties that I had missed out on myself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFuIXwdvdHA 



Tom Commented:

Wait, according to Mr. Rightside we can call Vietnamese people foreigners because from our perspective they are foreign?

I Replied:

Some people do this. The Japanese, for example, will always refer to all non-Japanese people as "outside person" even when they themselves are in a foreign country. 

July 21, 2017--I Posted

food for thought:
In Lady Chatterley's Lover, the sexual act is given as the primary reason for being alive. So what to do with someone like Jake, who can no longer have sex? ...and that's why he substitutes alcohol for sex. At least that's what's hinted at in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT8iO3604Tk&t=741s



Tom Commented:

"None of us think walking on the sidewalk is a confrontation with death."
Lol, come to Saigon, buddy.

I replied:

Yeah, that part jumped out at me as well.

July 25, 2017--I posted

One last post on the previous book before we move on... this video is really fascinating:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBPPAbn2d34



Video Review
Video review here and embedded below:



Link of the Day
Noam Chomsky Interview | on CIA Surveillance, Vietnam, Drone Strikes, Edward Snowden, NSA 2017

For Whom the Bell Tolls Upper-Intermediate Reading Lesson

(TESOL Worksheets--Reading)
Google Drive Folder HERE
[This is an old CELTA lesson that I found on an old USB.  I remember it working fairly well at the time, so I'll post it here.  The assignment was to design a lesson to introduce an authentic piece of literature to an upper Intermediate class.  It wasn't a flawless lesson, but worked relatively well, and I've re-used it since for advanced reading classes.  Below is the lesson plan, in classic CELTA style (google: drive, docs, pub).  Followed by the reading text (google: drive, docs, pub), the vocabulary sheet (google: drive, docs, pub), and the question sheet (google: drive, docs, pub) and answer sheet (for the last section only google: drive, docs, pub).  The pictures I used for this lesson are also uploaded below.  The line numbering didn't copy and paste to the blog, so see google docs version for that.]
Listening Video HERE

Lesson plan

Time (minutes)  ___60____ Level _____Upper Intermediate________

Aims

For students to gain confidence in English reading ability by working through an authentic text from a well known author

--Secondary aims—practice reading for gist and for specific information from a text

Materials and aids

Hemingway book (in form of handout), flip board, whiteboard and markers, visuals pictures, realia (map, pencil) book, Stopwatch to time gist reading

Assumptions about students’ knowledge/ abilities

Students will probably have heard of Hemingway, but will probably not have read his books, at least not in the original English.  European students will already be familiar with the history of the Spanish Civil War, but Asian students may not be.

 Anticipated problems

1). There is a fair amount of military vocabulary in this reading.  Much of it is not blocking vocabulary, but some of it is (blow, reinforcement, sentries, and aerial bombardment.)

2). European students might have an advantage over Asian students because they’ll be more familiar with the historical context.  Also some of the more technical military language might have cognates in European languages.

Solutions to the problems

1). Turn the pre-teaching of vocabulary into an activity.  Have students scan the reading for military vocabulary, and discuss the possible meanings with their partner.  Then collect examples from students and put on board.  Make sure blocking vocabulary is covered.  Other military vocabulary address only as the student’s highlight it.

2). Ideally European students would be paired up with Asian students so that that the expertise is not all on one side of the room, and students can teach each other.  (Or would it be better to keep the partners balanced so that one does not dominate the other?)

I also want to avoid the appearance of racial profiling by assigning pairs on skin colour, so instead of intentionally pairing up Asians to Europeans, simply tell students to partner with someone from a different country, and hope that this will end up mixing up the Asians and Europeans naturally.

(Perhaps at the beginning of class tell students to stand up and find someone from a different country?  But would this violate the principle that the teacher should nominate pairs?)

Meaning (and concept checking questions)

There is lots of vocab that students potentially might not know, but hopefully will not block understanding.  (Be prepared to explain the words if they come up, but don’t pre-teach anything that’s not blocking vocab.)

Potential problematic vocab includes: reinforcements, aerial, sentries, scarred, bombardment, deaf, blow, undertake, annulled, tank, command, division, guerrilla, hawking, hearsay, croaked, sullenly

Blocking military vocab: blow, general, aerial bombardment, guerrilla, reinforcements

Form

Mostly nouns (especially military vocabulary)

Blow: verb

Pronunciation

Aerial /ˈeə.ri.əl/

Bombardment /ˌbɒmˈbɑːd.mənt/

Blow /bloʊ/

General /ˈdʒen.ər.əl/

Guerrilla /gəˈrɪl.ə/

Reinforcements /ˌriː.ɪnˈfɔː.smənt/

These vocabulary words are necessary for understanding the reading and answering the questions, but they are not useful in daily life.  Therefore do not spend time drilling pronunciation with these vocab words.  Make sure students understand meaning, and then move on.

Please rule a line after each stage           Aim of stage: Introduce novels
time: 5 min
interaction: T---Ss
Procedural steps: “Today, we’re going to talk about novels. (Show book). What are some different types of novels?” (Try and elicit as many genres as possible and write them on the board. If necessary prod students by providing a couple of examples. Try and get at least 7 on the board before moving on.)

Aim of stage: FST gain motivation for reading
time: 5-10 min
interaction: Ss---Ss
Procedural steps: *Ask students to talk to partners about their favourite book or author.
* collect some of the feedback as a class
Dialogue: “I want you to talk to your partner about your favourite book and your favourite author.”\
ICQ: “What do I want you to talk about?”
FB:
After students finish: “Okay, stop. What are some of the books and authors you mentioned?”
(After getting examples, ask, “What type of story is it?” Refer to genre words on board.)

aim of stage: Motivate students to read English
time: 5-10 min
interaction: Ss---Ss
procedural steps: Ask students if they have ever read or tried to read a book in English. Get students to talk in groups. Collect feedback as a class.
“Next, have you ever read, or tried to read any books in English? Was it difficult or easy? Talk to your partner.”

FB:
“Okay, stop. Has anyone ever tried to read any English books?”

aim of stage: Set context for book
time: 5 min
interaction: T---Ss
Procedural steps: “Well, today you’re all going to get some practice reading a real English book. I have one of my favourite books here.” (Show book, but hide title.) “It’s by a famous author. Can you guess who it is?”
If necessary, gradually give hints. “He’s an American.” “He lived from 1899 to 1961.” (Write dates on board.) “During World War I, he joined the Italian army as an ambulance driver.” “He lived in Paris, Spain, and Cuba.” If need be give title of one of his book. “He wrote ‘A Farewell to Arms’.” If at this point the answer is still not known, provide it for students.

“Has anyone read any of Hemingway’s books? What are some of the titles?” Elicit as many titles as possible. If necessary give titles. Make sure “For Whom the Bell Tolls” is put on board.

Ask students: “Have you ever read this book? Or seen the movie with Gary Cooper? What do you know about it?” Try and elicit as much student knowledge as possible


Show students picture of book cover (picture is somewhat small so make sure to bring around to the tables so that the students can see.) “What is this?” (elicit book cover). “Good, and what can you see on the book cover?” (Several possible responses. Try and direct student’s attention to the bridge.)
“What kind of story do you think it is?” (Student response. Teacher may occasionally ask “Why do you think that?” but don’t comment on correctness of guess.)

Aim of stage: FST do gist reading
time: 5-10 min
Interaction: Ss---Ss
Procedural steps: Teacher sets scene. In this part there are two men sitting at a table and talking.
(Alternative: Draw picture on flip board and ask student’s to describe it. “What can you see hear? What is this? What is that?”

One of them has a (elicit map by showing realia) and a (elicit pencil through realia).
I’m going to give you some pages from the 1st chapter. I want you to read quickly, and answer these 3 questions. (Show questions on flip board).
1). What are the names of the two men?
2). What are they talking about?
And, 3), I want you to try and think, what kind of story is this? Is this an adventure, comedy, romance, what?” (Point to examples already collected on the board.)
You only have 3 minutes, so you’ll have to do this quickly.
ICQ’s: How much time do you have? (Possibly give students one minute longer than they’re told to allow for the long reading, but still provide a sense of urgency.)


“Stop. Now, talk about the answers with your partner.”
Go over answers: What are their names? (Robert Jordan and Golz.) Good, what are they talking about? (Blowing the bridge). Aid comprehension with pictures if necessary. “Okay, so what does it mean to blow a bridge? Good you have a bridge here. And what is this man doing on the bridge here? Good, and then you have the explosion here? And what happened to the bridge?
And what kind of story is it? (Possibly differing answers: historical, adventure, et cetera. Try and elicit or highlight “War story”. Also if students have not picked up on the romance, try and highlight that as well.)
“Only war? I have the movie poster here. What kind of story does this look like? Look at lines 67—72 (write on board). What are they talking about? (girls). What kind of story could that be? (Romance). “Good, so this book is? (War and romance).

aim of stage: FST scan for vocab
time: 5-10 min
interaction: Ss---Ss
procedural steps: “A war story has a special type of vocabulary, right? What kind of words would we usually find in a war story?” (Try and elicit a couple examples from students.)
With your partner, I want you to go through this and find all the words about war. Then, talk about their meaning with your partner. If you don’t know the meaning, try to guess the meaning.”
ICQs: What do I want you to find? (war vocabulary)
What do I want you to talk about?
(the meaning)
What do you do if you don’t know the meaning? (try and guess).

Do an example with the students. “Let’s do one together. Look in the reading. Who can find a war vocabulary word? Good, and what does it mean?”


Give students a few minutes for the activity. If time is tight, don’t let students go on for two long.

“Okay, stop. Look up here. Can someone tell me a word?” And what do you think it means?
Get a few examples from students, but make sure to elicit blocking vocabulary. If blocking vocabulary is not produced in the first 5 examples, give it. Blocking vocab is: General, blow, aerial bombardment, reinforcements, and guerrilla.
Try and elicit vocab meaning. Highlight meaning if eliciting is inadequate.
(Show picture of General McArthur) “Who is this? What’s his name? What is his job? (elicit general) What is a general? (He’s a very high position in the army).
What is this? (Show pictures of bombs?) And what is this? (Show pictures of aerial bombardment.) “Aerial bombardment”. Good, aerial means what? (from the air) bombardment means? (drop bombs).
What are reinforcements?—(extra men brought in to help during a battle.)
And what is a guerrilla fighter. (Someone who fights behind enemy lines using ambush and sabotage—like blowing up a bridge.)
CCQs: Is the general in the army?
Is his position high or low?
Where do reinforcements go?
Is a guerrilla war like a regular war?
What does a guerrilla fighter do?
To ensure all students have the correct answer for the blocking vocab, hand out sheet

aim of stage: FST do detailed reading
time: 5-10 min
interaction: Ss---Ss
Procedural steps: “Next, I’m going to give you a sheet. I want you to work on this with your partner. I’m going to pass it out, and then we’ll do the first one as an example. What is Golz’s job? Good, a general. Finish the rest of these with your partner. I’ll give you a hint. You can find the answers to these in part 2.
ICQ: What do I want you to do? (Finish these with a partner)
Where can you find the answers? (In part 2).

Allow time for students to work in pairs.

After they have been working for a few minutes, assign different numbers to report back to class. “Can you guys do number 2 for the class?” et cetera.

“Okay, stop, let’s go over the answers. You guys, what did you get for number 2?”
Teacher writes answers on the board as students give them.

aim of stage: To elicit background information from students
time: 5 min
interaction: T---Ss
Procedural steps: Hopefully it will be elicited through the exercise that the book takes place during the Spanish Civil War. Otherwise try and ask students, “What’s happening in Spain at this time?” “What are they doing in Spain?”
Once topic of Spanish Civil War has been elicited, get as much information from students as possible about the war and the role that international volunteers played.
After this, direct their attention to section C and quickly read through it.

aim of stage: FST do second detailed reading [time permitting]
time: 5-10 min
interaction: Ss---Ss
procedural steps: [Time permitting] “Now, what is the plan? Look at number 11. Why does Robert Jordan need to blow the bridge? I’ll give you a hint. The answer is in part 1.”
(Try and elicit answer from students.) Good, finish the rest with your partner.

Allow students time.

“Okay, stop. Let’s go over these together.” Write answers on the board. (Or OHT?)

aim of stage: {Time permitting} FST get production practice/ exploit text for speaking practice
time: 5 min (or longer)
Interaction:Ss---Ss
procedural steps: [Time permitting]
“This book is 477 pages long? What is going to happen next? What story can you imagine? Talk to your partner about what you think will happen in this book.
ICQ: What do I want you to talk about?

Time permitting, give delayed feedback for any production mistakes picked up during monitoring.

Time permitting, collect student predictions at the end.

aim of stage: [Time permitting]
FST get writing practice/ exploit text for writing practice
time:5-10 min
interaction: Ss--Ss
procedural steps: [Extra activity if time permits]
With your partner, I want you to imagine two people are sitting at a table making a plan. (Flip back flip chart to picture of two people.) Who are they? What are they talking about? Imagine they are making a plan. What are they planning? Write down their conversation with your partner.
ICQ: What do I want you to do?

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

 From Chapter 1

"To blow the bridge is nothing," Golz had said, the lamplight on his scarred, shaved head, pointing with a pencil on the big map. "You understand?"

"Yes, I understand."

"Absolutely nothing. Merely to blow the bridge is a failure."

"Yes, Comrade General."

"To blow the bridge at a stated hour based on the time set for the attack is how it should be done. You see that naturally. That is your right and how it should be done."

Golz looked at the pencil, then tapped his teeth with it.

Robert Jordan had said nothing.

"You understand that is your right and how it should be done," Golz went on, looking at him and nodding his head. He tapped on the map now with the pencil. "That is how I should do it. That is what we cannot have."

"Why, Comrade General?"

"Why?" Golz said, angrily. "How many attacks have you seen and you ask me why? What is to guarantee that my orders are not changed? What is to guarantee that the attack is not annulled? What is to guarantee that the attack is not postponed? What is to guarantee that it starts within six hours of when it should start? Has any attack ever been as it should?"

"It will start on time if it is your attack," Robert Jordan said.

"They are never my attacks," Golz said. "I make them. But they are not mine. The artillery is not mine. I must put in for it. I have never been given what I ask for even when they have it to give. That is the least of it. There are other things. You know how those people are. It is not necessary to go into all of it. Always there is something. Always some one will interfere. So now be sure you understand."

"So when is the bridge to be blown?" Robert Jordan had asked.

"After the attack starts. As soon as the attack has started and not before. So that no reinforcements will come up over that road." He pointed with his pencil. "I must know that nothing will come up over that road."

"And when is the attack?"

"I will tell you. But you are to use the date and hour only as an indication of a probability. You must be ready for that time. You will blow the bridge after the attack has started. You see?" he indicated with the pencil. "That is the only road on which they can bring up reinforcements. That is the only road on which they can get up tanks, or artillery, or even move a truck toward the pass which I attack. I must know that bridge is gone. Not before, so it can be repaired if the attack is postponed. No. It must go when the attack starts and I must know it is gone. There are only two sentries. The man who will go with you has just come from there. He is a very reliable man, they say. You will see. He has people in the mountains. Get as many men as you need. Use as few as possible, but use enough. I do not have to tell you these things."

"And how do I determine that the attack has started?"

"It is to be made with a full division. There will be an aerial bombardment as preparation. You are not deaf, are you?"

"Then I may take it that when the planes unload, the attack has started?"

"You could not always take it like that," Golz said and shook his head. "But in this case, you may. It is my attack."

"I understand it," Robert Jordan had said. "I do not say I like it very much."

"Neither do I like it very much. If you do not want to undertake it, say so now. If you think you cannot do it, say so now."

"I will do it," Robert Jordan had said. "I will do it all right."

"That is all I have to know," Golz said. "That nothing comes up over that bridge. That is absolute."

"I understand."

Part 2

“Let us now have a drink. So much talking makes me very thirsty, Comrade Hordan. You have a funny name in Spanish, Comrade Hordown."

"How do you say Golz in Spanish, Comrade General?"

"Hotze," said Golz grinning, making the sound deep in his throat as though hawking with a bad cold. "Hotze," he croaked. "Comrade Heneral Khotze. If I had known how they pronounced Golz in Spanish I would pick me out a better name before I come to war here. When I think I come to command a division and I can pick out any name I want and I pick out Hotze. Heneral Hotze. Now it is too late to change. How do you like partizan work?" It was the Russian term for guerrilla work behind the lines.

"Very much," Robert Jordan said. He grinned. "It is very healthy in the open air."

"I liked it very much when I was your age, too," Golz said. "They tell me you blow bridges very well. Very scientific. It is only hearsay. I have never seen you do anything myself. Maybe nothing ever happens really. You really blow them?" he was teasing now. "Drink this," he handed the glass of Spanish brandy to Robert Jordan. "You really blow them?"

"Sometimes."

"You better not have any sometimes on this bridge. No, let us not talk any more about this bridge. You understand enough now about that bridge. We are very serious so we can make very strong jokes. Look, do you have many girls on the other side of the lines?"

"No, there is no time for girls."

"I do not agree. The more irregular the service, the more irregular the life. You have very irregular service. Also you need a haircut."

"I have my hair cut as it needs it," Robert Jordan said. He would be damned if he would have his head shaved like Golz. "I have enough to think about without girls," he said sullenly.

Key military Vocabulary

Aerial /ˈeə.ri.əl/ (adjective before noun)

            In of or from the air.

Bombardment /ˌbɒmˈbɑːd.mənt/ (noun-action)

            The act of using bombs

Aerial Bombardment (adjective noun combination)

            Example: There will be an aerial bombardment (line 41).

            The act of dropping bombs from airplanes.

Blow /bloʊ/ (verb)

            Example: “To blow the bridge is nothing” (line 1).

            It means to cause something to be destroyed by an explosion.  Sometimes we say “blow up,” but Hemingway only writes it as “blow.”

General /ˈdʒen.ər.əl/ (noun--person)

            Example: “Yes, Comrade Genera.” (line 5)

            A general is a position in the army.  It is one of the highest positions.

Guerrilla /gəˈrɪl.ə/ (adjective)

            Example: It was the Russian term for guerrilla work behind the lines (line 61)

            Guerrilla war is a conflict between an organized army on one side, and irregular groups on the other.  Guerrilla fighters usually use sabotage and ambush against the army.

Reinforcements /ˌriː.ɪnˈfɔː.smənt/ (noun-plural)

            Example:  “That is the only road on which they can bring up reinforcements.”  (lines 32 and 33)

            Reinforcements are extra men brought in to help during a battle.

A. Characters: Robert Jordan and Golz

Hint:  Look at part 2 (lines 53-78)

1.  What is Golz’s job?______________

2.  What is Robert Jordan’s job?________________

3.  What does Golz look like?___________

4   What does Robert Jordan look like? _____________

5.  Who is older, Golz or Robert Jordan?___________

            How do you know?__________________________________

6.  Does Robert Jordan have a girlfriend?_______________________

7.  Where do you think Golz is from?  (Try to guess.)  Why do you think this?

___________________________________________________________

8.  Where do you think Robert Jordan is from?  (Try to guess.)  Why do you think this?

___________________________________________________________

B.  Setting

9.  What country do you think they are in now?  (Try to guess.)  Why do you think this?

___________________________________________________________

10.  What year do you think it is now?  (Try to guess.)  Why do you think this?

___________________________________________________________

C.  Background

The Spanish Civil War was from 1936 to 1939.  The Spanish Republicans fought against the Spanish Fascists.  Many international volunteers, like Robert Jordan and General Golz, came from all over Europe, America, and Russia to defend the Spanish republic.

            The book “For Whom the Bell Tolls” takes place in June, 1937, the second year of the Spanish Civil War.

D.  The Plan

(Hint:  Look at Part 1)

11.  Why does Robert Jordan need to blow the bridge?

_______________________________________________________

12.  When should Robert Jordan blow the bridge?

_______________________________________________________

13.  How will Robert Jordan know that the attack has started?

_______________________________________________________

14.  What will happen if he blows the bridge too early?

_______________________________________________________

E.  Predictions

            “For Whom the Bell Tolls” is 477 pages long.  What do you think will happen from here?  Will they blow the bridge?  Will they win the war?  Will Robert Jordan find a girlfriend?  Will Robert Jordan get a haircut?  What else do you think might happen?  Talk to your partner.

11.  Why does Robert Jordan need to blow the bridge?

To stop the reinforcements from coming.

12.  When should Robert Jordan blow the bridge?

Once the attack has started.

13.  How will Robert Jordan know that the attack has started?

He will hear the aerial bombardment.

14.  What will happen if he blows the bridge too early?

It will be repaired before the attack.