Finished Product

So I finished The Old Man and the Sea thanks to the two-hour delay. I woke up a bit early so I was like, I won’t waste my time doing something else so I’m going to read. Although when I finished reading the third quarter of the book the old man is on top of the world because he catches the big marlin, his success soon fades when a bunch of sharks ravage the meat of the fish. When he makes landfall there is no marlin left.

That’s a basic summary of what happened in this section of the book. This week, I want to focus more on determining whether or not this book is an AP worthy one.

First of all, I’d say this: I didn’t find this book very boring, but I think some people might. An old man goes fishing for a few days. That sounds terrible. Hemingway’s style kept me turning the pages because he doesn’t do a lot of deep analysis. That in itself may turn a lot of AP teachers away from the work. However, I think there is some value in reading a style of text that contrasts from the classic novel that’s read in advanced literature classes. In books such as The Handmaid’s Tale and Song of Solomon which we have read this year, the text is quite intricate -- there are a lot of hidden themes and motifs. I would say that these are much more obvious in The Old Man and the Sea, but Hemingway’s simple text leaves a lot for the reader to analyze.

I’ll add this too -- maybe this book shouldn’t be used for big quarter assignments like we had for Song of Solomon, but it could definitely be used for free-choice assignments similar to this bog activity. I think the teacher could even assign this book to be read in only a week because it’s so short. It does give the student another book they could possibly write about on the AP test.

If I recall correctly, we had a class assignment when we were practicing writing College Board essays that asked something like “talk about a work of fiction in which the perseverance of a character adds to the meaning of a work as a whole.” I think if most students read this book, they would be able to respond to that question confidently on the test. I would say something along the lines of “Santiago’s days-long fight with the ocean shows perseverance is one of the greatest qualities one can have.”

For variety’s sake and some extra test prep, I’d include this book in my AP Literature Curriculum. I’m in no way shape or form an advocate for summer homework assignments, but I might consider The Old Man and the Sea for that purpose if I was an English teacher that believed in such things. It would be a stress-free way for students to complete to ease into the course.