The Sun Also Rises

These prompts can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before or after reading the novel.

Personal Response Prompt

Bullfighting is a central element of the novel, both for its plot and for its symbolism. The Spanish bullfight is largely stylized and performative. The bullfighter (matador) wears a beautiful suit made of silks and satins which are decorated with beading, sequins, and embroidery. The costume pays tribute to the sport’s long history and highlights the grace, athleticism, and skill of the matador. Bullfighting is violent and cruel (the bull is teased and then stabbed to death), but it can also be beautiful and balletic as the matador and the bull dance around each other in the ring. In Spanish culture, a matador symbolizes the pinnacle of masculinity.

Think of a cultural ritual you have seen or practiced yourself (attending Midnight Mass at Christmas, giving and receiving red envelopes for the Chinese New Year, hula dancing, wearing a costume for Halloween, playing a soccer game, observing Yom Kippur, praying, taking a yoga class, celebrating Diwali, etc.). Then, spend some time writing about it. What do you wear? What do you eat? What acts do you perform? What do you say, or sing, or chant? Are any of these things connected to some type of history (familial, or cultural, or religious)? Are they symbolic of anything? Why do you continue to practice this ritual?

Teaching Suggestion: For students who can’t think of anything, consider suggesting birthday rituals, holidays, family dinners, weddings, game night, passing down family heirlooms or family names, funerals, and gift giving.

Pre-Reading “Icebreaker”

As a class, make a list of adjectives that are typically associated with notions of the ideal man. Then, discuss where these standards come from and how they manifest in society. (For example, if the ideal man is muscular and fit, a manifestation of that ideal could be the images we see of male models, or the sale of nutritional supplements that promise to help build muscle.) What happens if a man does not conform to these ideals? What does he think about himself? What does society think about him? What is the connection between one’s own self-worth and social expectations?

Teaching Suggestion: Consider repeating the same exercise for the “ideal woman.” This icebreaker could also be used as a writing prompt for students to self-reflect on ways they do and don’t conform to societal ideals of their gender. Students could write on post-its the ways they don’t conform, and the post-its can be collected on a wall in the classroom to celebrate difference and diversity.