Hemingway : Vulnerability in Short Fiction
… these stories deal with masculine toughness unsoftened by woman’s hand …
Hemingway : Vulnerability in Short Fiction
Courage in the moment of crisis demanding urgent action, whilst still putting the heart on the line : this is the lesson that Hemingway’s best fiction teaches. Lost was the generation from which Hemingway became Hemingway, yet his Art survived with grace. We intercept and interject Hemingway and his fictional world, time and again, during this course, to imbibe our lives with a comprehension of vulnerability. Often, only the impression left by minimal words on our hearts may last a lifetime. Our aim, here, is to emulate Hemingway in expressing our vulnerability, not to people but to our own hearts, through the pages which lay blank in front of our typewriters. So, let’s punch on !
Interpretations and biographical elements from the books Write Like the Masters : Emulating the Best by William Cane and Hemingway on Writing by Larry W Phillips will be constant features, regularly discussed alongside the fictional stories of Hemingway.
How this course works
The participants and the instructor meet each Tuesday evening, 6:30-8:00 PM in a group Skype, for a session of textual analysis of a few selected passages from the chapters covered that week. Through this method, the guide offers at once the keys to participants to enter and further explore the texts on their own, and a personal reading rich with originality and creative potential. Participative responses are encouraged across the session, during the exercise of textual analysis by the instructor and through the open discussion.
On the Fridays 13 January and 3 March, the study of Hemingway’s short fiction is complemented with CineWords, our participative exchanges of movie interpretation, based on the films The Killers (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1956) (more details here) and Snows of Kilimanjaro (Henry King, 1952) (more details here), selected by the guide in relation to the course. Each of these participative sessions takes place through a group Skype.
Finally, on the Saturdays 28 January, 4 March and 25 March, the group meets physically in the studio of IST Delhi, for a live Questions & Answers session with the instructor. The room is located in Noida, 30 minutes from Connaught Place by metro, and walking distance from the station. The exact address will be shared with each participant after registration. Akshansh will join these sessions through a live Skype session, as he is currently residing in Dubai. The participants unable to join physically will be invited to partake in the Skype session with Akshansh and the group of students in the IST Studio.
Term Course
This page describes the Hemingway Term Course offered in Term 1 (Jan-March 2017 ; 12 weeks). For the Hemingway Term Course offered for Term 2 onwards (8 weeks), click here.
Term : 1 – Jan-Mar 2017
Interactive Textual Analysis Sessions :
Tuesdays · 6:30-8:00 PM · Group Skype
Q/A Sessions :
1 Saturday/month · 4:00-5:30 PM · IST Delhi
Group Size : 10 Participants
Open to : All · No prerequisites
TEXTS COVERED
Men Without Women
1927
Winner Take Nothing
1933
The Snows of Kilinamjaro and Other Stories
1961
(Short stories published separately
in 1936 and 1938)
The Old Man and the Sea
1952
A Moveable Feast
1964
Write Like the Masters : Emulating the Best
By William Cane
2009
Chapter 12 : Write like Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway on Writing
By Larry W Phillips
1999
TIMELINE
Session 1 - Tue 3 Jan
Introduction : Hemingway’s back story, childhood influences, women, World War I, bullfighting, fishing and big-game hunting, alcoholism, suicide.
Session 2 - Tue 10 Jan
Textual Analyses and Discussions of excerpts from :
“The Killers” from Men Without Women.
“Cat in the Rain” from Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories.
“Soldier’s Home” from Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories.
“One Reader Writes” from Winner Take Nothing.
CineWords 1 - Fri 13 Jan
Participative discussion on the following films in a Group Skype · 6:30-8:00 PM.
Open interpretations and cross-analyses with the texts of the course.
The Killers (Andrie Tarkovsky, 1956) – based on Hemingway’s short story (details).
The participants will be shared links to watch the movies online. They are expected to join the discussion after having watched the movies on their own.
Session 3 - Tue 17 Jan
Textual Analyses and Discussions of excerpts from :
“Up in Michigan” from Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories.
“Fifty Grand” from Men Without Women.
“The End of Something” from In Our Time (bonus story)
Discussion on a recurring Hemingway character, Nick Adams, and how he is the most auto-biographical of all Hemingway characters.
Session 4 - Tue 24 Jan
Writing Like Hemingway Session :
Textual Analyses and Discussions of excerpts from :
“Shortest Story ever written”
“Understanding the Iceberg Theory”
Applying the Iceberg Theory to understand stories covered in previous sessions.
Questions & Anwers 1 - Sat 28 Jan
Questions & Anwers session at IST Delhi · 4:00-5:30 PM.
The discussion is livestreamed on Skype simultaneously for participants unable to join physically.
Doubt clearing session about previous sessions.
Session 5 - Tue 31 Jan
Textual Analyses and Discussions of excerpts from :
“A Day’s Wait” from Winner Take Nothing
“A Simple Enquiry” from Men Without Women
“Now I Lay Me” from Men Without Women
“Indian Camp” from In Our Time (bonus story)
Session 6 - Tue 7 Feb
Textual Analyses and Discussions of excerpts from :
“Hills Like White Elephants” from Men Without Women
Writing Session
Session 7 - Tue 14 Feb
Textual Analyses and Discussions of excerpts from :
“Snows of Kilimanjaro” from Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories
Writing Session
Session 8 - Tue 21 Feb
Textual Analyses and Discussions of excerpts from the following chapters from A Movable Feast :
“Shakespeare and Company”
“Hunger was Good Discipline with reference to Knut Hamsun’s Hunger”
“Ford Madox Ford and the Devil’s Disciple”
“With Pascin at the Dome”
Session 9 - Tue 28 Feb
Textual Analyses and Discussions of excerpts from the following chapters from A Movable Feast :
“Ezra Pound and His Bel Esprit”
“The Man who was Marked for Death”
“Evan Shipman at the Lilas”
“An Agent of Evil”
CineWords 2 - Fri 3 Mar
Participative discussion on the following films in a Group Skype · 6:30-8:00 PM.
Open interpretations and cross-analyses with the texts of the course.
Snows of Kilimanjaro (Henry King, 1952) – starring Gregory Peck (details).
Difference in endings in the story and in the movie.
Importance of the tragic ending.
The participants will be shared links to watch the movies online. They are expected to join the discussion after having watched the movies on their own.
Questions & Anwers 2 - Sat 4 Mar
Questions & Anwers session at IST Delhi · 4:00-5:30 PM.
The discussion is livestreamed on Skype simultaneously for participants unable to join physically.
Doubt clearing session.
Session 10 - Tue 7 Mar
Textual Analyses and Discussions of excerpts from the following chapters from A Movable Feast :
“Scott Fitzgerald”
“A Matter of Measurements” (Discussing the role of masculinity)
“There is Never Any End to Paris”
Session 11 - Tue 14 Mar
Textual Analyses and Discussions of excerpts from Old Man and the Sea.
Session 12 - Tue 21 Mar
Concluding Session : A Farewell to Writing Arms.
Questions & Anwers 3 - Sat 25 Mar
Questions & Anwers session at IST Delhi · 4:00-5:30 PM.
The discussion is livestreamed on Skype simultaneously for participants unable to join physically.
Discussion on what we all are taking back home.
YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Akshansh Singh
Instructor
Experience with the Texts of this Course : 5 years +
Masculinity comes hard to boys. Hemingway redefined masculinity in fiction. I learnt from his works that being vulnerable is being brave. Hemingway wrote somewhere : “The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are strong at the broken places.” I found Hemingway when I was broken. And I am strong at broken places, courtesy – Hemingway.
Akshansh Singh is an Indian writer currently based in Dubai.
Discover his courses here.