After you've read chapter 1 of Great Expectations as well as Chapter 1 and "Indian Camp" in In Our Time, respond in a comment to this post. Be sure to read what those before you have written so you don't repeat the same ideas but instead carry on a conversation.
Respond to any (or all) of the following questions:
Try to characterize Hemingway's and Dickens' writing styles given what you've read by
each.What characterizes each author's "voice and vision"?
How is the writing similar? Different?
Does the content or style of either of these authors remind you of other books you've read?
What are your first impressions?
After reading chapter 1 of Great Expectations as well as Chapter 1 and "Indian Camp" in In Our Time, I found that the writing was similar. Both texts give you enough information that you know what is happening, but also leave a ton of room for personal interpretation. In terms of differences, Dickens seem to give more description when it comes to the characters.
ReplyDeleteMy first impression on the Indian Camp was i thought that Nick was going with his dad to see him perform a child birth. The ending was very unexpected, i had no idea that Nick would have to walk into a room where a man had killed himself. I felt it was a good way to catch the readers attention and a good way to end the chapter.
ReplyDeleteDickens and Hemingway have different writing styles. Dickens is a lot more descriptive and pays more attention to details to settings, people, backgrounds etc.
I found that both authors were very descriptive in their writing, paying very close attention to detail and giving very accurate descriptions of characters and their surroundings. However, there is also quite a bit of room for interpretation of events. A difference that I noticed was the Dickens set more of a stage, in that he gives more background information than Hemingway does (Hemingway starts right in the middle of things).
ReplyDeleteHemingway's writing in "Indian Camp" was done in third person and left a very heavy impression on one of the main characters, creating lots of room for interpretation. Hemingway also ended on a note that showed the impression of the events on the protagonist, but did not give the reader a lot of information about what would come later in the protagonists life. Hemingway also had a very dark, depressing writing style with lots of hidden messages. These hidden messages create opportunities to think how they apply to life. Dickens writing style is also very dark and also has a young protagonist, however he writes in first person. Both Dickens and Hemingway's protagonists are young boys trying to find their place. DIckens writing style has less of a message to take away, but his writing is far more descriptive. Both writing styles reminds me of Edgar Allen Poe.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading both Indian Camp and chapter one of Great Expectations, both authors give minimal detail to allow the reader to know what is going on in the story. Hemingway's writing style is very mysterious. What I mean by that is he allows the reader to draw their own conclusions about the story and be creative. Dickens, also very short with his descriptions, was more straight forward with his vision of the story and conclusions he wanted the reader to draw. His vision is still not very clear, but it was easier to visualize than Hemmingway's. Finally, I am eager to read Chapter Two of "Great Expectations" and Indian Camp intrigued me due to its different style of writing and interesting plot line.
ReplyDeleteWhile Dickens and Hemingway are both very impressive writers, their writing styles are quite different. Dickens uses many more descriptions and focuses a lot more on the personality and characteristics of the characters themselves. Hemingway on the other hand, is blunt and focuses more on the plot of the actual story. Hemingway writes in a fashion that displays humans in a light that can sometimes be ugly and is less idealistic than Dickens.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBoth authors; Dickens and Hemingway, chose specific details they found important to the overall scene and built upon those to focus the reader on important areas of the stories. In Great Expectations, Dickens tried to incorporate humor on a serious subject, which is not easy to do. He also discussed, in great detail about religion and focused on race, which is something that Hemingway did as well. Hemingway approached his novel though in a completely different way by tieing together different short stories to make one signal novel. Hemingway also deals with innocence (Nick) and concentrates on the adolescence of Nick.
ReplyDeleteWhen first reading each of these texts, the endings are both unclear, and as many other of you mentioned, these novels allow much room for interpretation. These novels do not lead you to the x but wants you to search for your own x. The difficulty with such a free (confusing) ending is there is no clue as to hint you in as to what Hemingway and Dickens might be trying to say.
This may be a little far fetched, but I think the Kite Runner could be a possible novel to compare Nd contrast to these novels? Due to the openness to interpret the kite festival and characters are not explained what so ever in this book and there are not clues to explain to you why, how, and what was the reason for the ending.
After reading and analyzing the writing styles of both Dickens and Hemingway, I concluded that they have very similar writing styles. They both give you descriptive detail, but leave room to fill in the grey areas and interpret the text yourself. I think that Charles Dickens gave the reader more detail--for example when he was introducing himself and his family in the opening paragraphs.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Chapter 1 in Great Expectations and Indian Camp, it is very clear to tell how these two authors are different. In Great Expectations Charles Dickens focuses on little details, and elaborates them. However, Hemingway just focuses on the bigger details and events which allows him to fully tell his story. I like how Hemingway wrote his story because it was very easy to understand. I found that it was very hard to understand Dickens chapter.
ReplyDeleteDickens and Hemingway both describe their worlds with lots of detail, however Dickens seems to do it in a much more dark, and creepy manor. Most of the first chapter is described with darkness, tombstones, and marshes; all things that could be considered sad and depressing. Hemingway on the other hand uses light for description. He mentions lanterns, and towards the end even describes the sun rising.
ReplyDeleteBoth Charles Dickens, and Hemingway have distinctive writing styles, however there are also some similarities between the two. Hemingway's Indian camp was short yet very descriptive which made it easy to picture what was happening with an introduction telling the reader what was happening. In Dickens chapter 1 just goes right into the story but is also short and very descriptive.
ReplyDeleteI think that since both authors are very descriptive with their writing, it allows readers to fully understand the characters since the can picture the situations they are put into. Personally, I find this more challenging since I enjoy reading dialogue to keep the story moving. However, Hemingway's short story gets the point across with just the right amount of detail, as well as Dickens who created longer paragraphs of descriptions for his story. Pip in Great Expectations and Nick in Indian Camp seem to be a younger protagonists who remind me of Holden in J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye.
ReplyDeleteAfter analyzing both authors, it is apparent that both Dickens and Hemmingway have very different views on the way to tell a story. In Hemmingway's chapter one "In Our Time" and "Indian Camp" one thing that these stories share is the fact that they get to the point in few words. The story has little background and truly focuses on the action in the book. In Dickens writing of "Great Expectations" background is something that is heavily provided and then leads into in a longer transition to the dialogue within the chapter. Both of the authors however take the time, whether it is a lot or a little, to give each character personality. Each character is given a persona that is truly their own and the authors ability to do this in a clear manner in which the reader can understand is impressive.
ReplyDelete