Effective Writing Style in Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises

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Effective Writing Style in Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises

“The bull charged as Romero charged. Romero’s left hand dropped the muleta over the bull’s muzzle to blind him, his left shoulder went forward between the horns as the sword went in and for just an instant he and the bull were one” (p. 222). Ernest Hemingway is one of the greatest American authors of all time. With his ability to pull the reader into the unfolding story and make them feel like one of the characters, Hemingway excels at showing how a story can take on a life of its own if written correctly. One novel that displays Hemingway's unique style of writing is The Sun Also Rises (1926).

Set in Paris and the Spanish city of Pamplona, this novel is a story of a World War I veteran and writer Jake Barnes and his group of expatriates as they try to find meaning to their lives in Paris in the 1920's. He and his friends convalesce in Paris and then travel to enjoy the fiesta and bullfights in Pamplona. While in Pamplona, some friendships grow stronger and some seem to fall apart as all of them begin to find their true place in the world. In order to convey this story of spiritually lost expatriates, Hemingway institutes a style of writing which incorporates three different traits of the six-trait writing system to produce a novel which devours the reader and pulls them into left-bank Paris of the 1920's within the first few pages. By using a unique style made up of many different aspects of writing, Hemingway achieves a spectacular level of realism in The Sun Also Rises.

According to the Handbook of Literary Terms, "Style combines two elements: the idea to be expressed and the individuality of the author" (Harmon). In The Sun Also Rises, Hemingw...

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... voice, Hemingway is able to cause the reader to become completely enveloped in the plot and its characters if only for a moment.

The style of writing Hemingway utilizes is created from the use of voice, sentence fluency, and word choice. These three traits from the six trait writing system give a glimpse into characters' personalities and can thrust the reader deep into the action of the novel. The Sun Also Rises is a great example of how style and its many components can be used to turn a complex story of emotions and yearning minds into a novel full of excitement and romance.

Works Cited

Harmon, William, and Holman, C. H. "Style." Handbook to Literature. New York: Macmillan, 1992.`

Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1954.

Six Trait Writing System. Portland: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 1998.

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