Doing research on Ernest Hemingways short story Hills Like White Elephants.
In this brief story by one of Americas great writers, very little occurs on the surface. A man and woman are waiting for a train and having beer. But there is real tension beneath their words and the woman is very upset though tries, not always easily, to not show it, to not be afraid. But afraid of what?
And thats it, thats the story, as if were sitting at a table nearby and overhearing (which is how the story came to Hemingway). So whats to research? In this case, research will be merely to supportand not the main intentionof the short paper. Here are some suggestions:
Perhaps some brief research about the author: when he lived and died, a little about his remarkable life, what are his most famous works, where/when did this short story first appear?
The story begins The hills across the valley of the Ebro Where is Ebro? Tell more about where the story occurs, how its setting highlights the storys purpose. Other cities are mentioned: get a map and see exactly where the story occurs and tell about that.
The girl says, Everything tastes of licoricelike absinthe. Whats absinthe? Theres much to tell about that famous and notorious liqueur. If you research this, youll find yourself in Paris!
Although very subtly told and never directly mentioned, the woman will soon get an abortion. Considering when the story was written (about 1925), what was the traumatic (and illegal) procedure like? It certainly wasnt, as the man says, a simple operation that involved far more than merely letting in a little air.
November 17th, 2020 
