Study Help
Essay Questions
1. How effective or ineffective are the unconventional opening chapters of The Sun Also Rises?
2. Compare and contrast the protagonist, Jake Barnes, and his foil, Robert Cohn.
3. Ernest Hemingway's writing has been accused of sexism. Is Brett a believable, three-dimensional character? What about the other female characters (Frances, Georgette, Edna) in The Sun Also Rises?
4. Suggest three reasons why Jake chooses the matador Romero as his proxy, or stand-in, with Brett.
5. Hemingway mentions churches in both the French and Spanish sections of The Sun Also Rises, and the fiesta of San Fermin in Pamplona is, of course, a religious festival. Discuss the use of religion in the novel. What is Jake's religion, and how does it manifest itself? What about Brett, Cohn, and the other major characters?
6. Write an essay discussing Hemingway's use of phallic symbolism in The Sun Also Rises.
7. Discuss Hemingway's use of sports — boxing, fishing, and bullfighting — in the novel.
8. Bullfighting is near the center of the action of The Sun Also Rises. Write an essay in which you argue that bullfighting should be made illegal throughout the world.
9. Compare and contrast the value systems of France and Spain, as presented by Hemingway in The Sun Also Rises.
10. Write an essay in which you disagree with the truism that the essential Hemingway style is typified by short, declarative sentences.