The Sun Also Rises

Use these activities to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity. 

ACTIVITY 1: Travel Log

Imagine that Jake and his group of friends are staying in your neighborhood (or a place that you know very well). Create a “travel log” in which Jake narrates his impressions of what they eat and drink, who they meet, what they talk about, and what they see. Aim to mimic Jake’s voice as closely as possible. It might be particularly helpful to reread chapter 10 before writing.

• Jake and his friends should visit the following places and write an entry of 250-400 words in the travel log for each:

o a restaurant

o a park

o a school

o a store

o a library

Teaching Suggestion: Have the class read aloud some of the descriptive passages from chapter 10 and talk about what they notice: sentence patterns, diction, punctuation, etc. Make a list of these things for the students to refer to as they write.

ACTIVITY 2: Dialogue Acting

Reread the following extended dialogues in the book:

1. “Have any fun last night?” I asked – “Let’s get something else to eat” (chapter 4, between Cohn and Jake)
2. “Oh yes, he told me all about it last night” – “Let’s go over to the Iruña and start” (chapter 5, between Bill and Jake)
3. “What’s all this irony and pity?” – “Tell you some more at lunch” (chapter 7, between Bill and Jake)
4. “That’s an extraordinary business” – “I must bathe before dinner” (chapter 8, between Brett, Cohn, Bill, Mike, and Jake)
5. “Here come the gentry” – “Just imagine it” (chapter 15, between Bill, Jake, Brett, Mike, and Cohn)
6. “You might introduce your friends” – “You can’t hit him here in the hotel” (chapter 16, between Romero, Jake, Mike, Bill, Brett, and Cohn)
7. “Was I rude enough to him?” – “I do feel such a bitch” (chapter 16, between Brett and Jake)
8. “I feel sorry about Cohn” – “Get some sleep, old Jake” (chapter 18, between Bill, Jake, and Mike)
9. “‘Hello,’ said Brett. ‘Is it you, Jake?’” – “Isn’t it pretty to think so?” (chapter 19, between Jake and Brett)

Divide into groups, with each group taking one dialogue. Stage the dialogue, considering how each character moves, the tone of their voice, and the conflict they’re involved in. Remember that these characters often don’t say what they mean, and that tone and body language can be used to convey something other than what is being said. In some of the dialogues, it’s difficult to discern which character is speaking when there isn’t a dialogue choice, so make a directorial decision for those lines.

Teaching Suggestion: After the dialogues are performed, reflect on them as a class. What characters seemed to keep the most “hidden” from the others? What characters seemed more open? What moments didn’t seem meaningful on the page but seemed more significant after being performed? What did you notice about the dialogue when you saw it acted out that you hadn’t noticed when you first read it? How much of what is going on with these characters is simply implied (through tone and movement), and how much is spoken? What do these dialogues reveal about how the characters communicate and miscommunicate, and how they reveal themselves or keep things secret?