The Sun Also Rises: Chapters 6-10

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Setting can play an important role in a novel.

More than simply providing a pretty or interesting backdrop for the plot, setting can influence the development of character and even set the tone of a story. Setting can even become its own "character" in the story as the novel's characters interact with the locations and landscape surrounding them. The Sun Also Rises is one novel that uses setting in a highly influential manner in the story as the novel's action moves from post-World War I Paris to the northern territory of Spain and the city of Pamplona. In fact, Ernest Hemingway's novel introduced many readers to the annual Running of the Bulls festival in Pamplona, that continues today and is even televised in the United States!

Read the following excerpt from Daniel C. Strack on the role of geography in The Sun Also Rises. As you read, answer the following questions in your notebook or journal that you started keeping for the novel in the previous lesson:

• How does the novel's setting help reveal information about the characters to the reader that the characters don't even realize about themselves?
• Which location in the novel is designed "to hide the truth" about a character's personality?
• What is the role of money in post-war French society, according to Strack?
• What are the "valuable qualities" of Spain that are exhibited in Pamplona's inhabitants?
• What values of French society does Count Mippipopolous display in Paris?

Read the excerpt, "Characterization Strategy in The Sun Also Rises," that begins on Page Three of the PDF (Page 103 of the original document). Read to Page 8 of the PDF (Page 108 of the original document) to the beginning of the section titled, "Into the Crucible." Click on the PDF, Reading the Terrain: Cultural Setting and Characterization in The Sun Also Rises, from Daniel C. Strack.

When you have finished exploring the excerpt on the effects of setting on the novel's characters, read Chapters Six through Ten of The Sun Also Rises. You will need to obtain a print copy of the novel, which you can find at your local library or bookstore. As you read, take notes on the events that lead the American expatriates to Pamplona. Please be aware that, depending on the version of the novel you use, there may be racially-insensitive language used in this section and it should be considered a reflection of the era in which the novel was written.

When you have finished reading, move on to the Got It? section to explore the issues raised in this section of the novel.