Need a Rewrite on short story week 5
Introduction to fiction short story
Nikita Sutton
19 April 2020
Park University – Introduction to fiction
Unit 5: Short Paper
A Farewell to Ar
m
s by Ernest Hemmingway and To Build a Fire by Jack London
seemingly do not have a lot in common on first glance. Each story is about something entirely
different to each other and take place during different time periods. However, Frederico Henry in
a Farewell to Arms, and the man in To Build a Fire share some similar personality traits: a knack
for accepting their circumstances.
Federico Henry, the main protagonist in A Farewell to Arms, is an American Lieutenant
in the Italian Army during World War I. Federico has a sense of duty about him, and even when
he is injured in the line of duty, he makes every attempt to deter others from thinking he acted in
any heroic way. After his injury, Federico spends many months in a hospital in Milan. The injury
to his knees was severe and even though he was told by three doctors he would have to spend 6
months in bed recuperating prior to being operated on, he sought the second opinion of Dr.
Valentino, who operated on the knee just 24 hours after being seen by the three other doctors
who insisted he could not be operated on before six months. He spent much less time staying in
the hospital than what he was originally advised by seeking a second opinion. After he was
healed well enough, Federico was sent off back to the front line of the war even though he had
fallen madly in love with Catherine Barkley and she became pregnant during this time.
Throughout Fredico’s “adventure”, he did not complain about his circumstances. He
believed that it was his duty to serve and never complained about initially being injured, never
complained about his injuries, and never complained about having to return to the front line to
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serve even if it meant being separated from the love of his life. He stated what he went through
as a matter of fact, however, the way in which the story is written leads the reader to believe that
something suspenseful was to happen, eventually.
In To Build a Fire, the man has elected to travel to his destination despite the warnings he
was given. Regardless of the extreme weather conditions the man faces, he stubbornly journeys
on through the below freezing temperatures in hopes that he can get to his destination before the
cold overtakes him. As he goes, the man narrates his story, almost robotically. He reminds
himself several times that he was warned about the conditions he would face, still he does not
obsess over this. Instead, he tries to divert his mind from thinking about how cold it is. Never
once did the man think that he would die. He progressed through the story with the sheer
determination to get to his final destination so he could be reunited with his boys. This was his
solace, and he did everything within his power to get there. However, fate can sometimes be
unfair and instead, he went quietly into death. Yet, the important factor here is that the man,
never, once, complained about his circumstances.
In order to understand the text, it’s important to understand the protagonists. In both
stories, there are two strong-willed men and they are both going through something quite
traumatic. One had to go through combating War and Love, while the other had to combat his
own mind in facing the extreme cold and the predicament he had placed himself. To the reader, it
seems that something bad will eventually happen to these men, but to the men, they do not think
about what will happen next. They exist in the present and deal with the present circumstances.
They cross each hurdle as they come and still do not complain; they just state their circumstances
as matter of fact and as nonchalantly as possible.
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The thought that more and more of his body is freezing soon sends the man running
again. After the last time he falls, the man sits quietly, reflecting on meeting his death
with dignity. He thinks that he has been running around ridiculously rather than accepting
the inevitable. He grows sleepy. He imagines the boys finding his body on the trail the
next day. He feels separate from himself, and looks at his body in the snow from the
boys’ perspective. He murmurs aloud to the old man at Sulphur Creek that he was right:
no man should travel alone in these temperatures. Finally, the man falls into a peaceful
sleep. The dog watches the man, puzzled by his inactivity, until, moving closer, it smells
death (London, 2019).
In To build a Fire, the story ends when the man is overtaken and succumbs to the cold. It makes
you wonder, how then, will Federico succumb to his challenges as well.
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References
Hemingway, E. (1935). A farewell to arms. London: Wyman.
London, J. (2019, January 12). To Build a Fire. Retrieved April 20, 2020, from
https://americanliterature.com/author/jack-london/short-story/to-build-a-fire
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Short Paper 2
You will write a short critical essay based on our assigned readings and/or class discussions. This paper will be short (~2-3 pages) but useful for generating ideas about a topic. You should use 12 pt font, Times New Roman, double-spaced, and 1-inch margins. You should also include a works cited page listing the sources you use (even if it is just the primary text). You should follow the traditional essay format (i.e. introduction/body/conclusion). You will need to have a thesis statement and supporting examples and points from the text. Be specific and use quotes and paraphrases from the text(s). It will be a better paper if you go into detail and depth, rather than trying to cover a really big or broad idea and only analyze it superficially. I will give you several topics to choose from for each short paper.
Short Paper #2 Topics:
Choose one reading (from Units 3, 4, or 5) and make a claim for how it both fits within AND challenges a particular genre category.
Compare the novel with one of the other readings from the course. Make a claim about one similarity you notice between the two and explain why it matters. How does reading the two texts together help you to better understand both?
Choose your own topic. If you decide to take this option, you MUST get prior approval of your topic from your instructor.