html5-img
1 / 12

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. A B rief Introduction. Mr. Salinger. A little bit about the author…. Born New Years Day, 1919 Went to public school in Manhattan T ransferred to private school; failed out within a year Then enrolled at Valley Forge Military Academy

mardi
Télécharger la présentation

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Catcher in the Ryeby J.D. Salinger A Brief Introduction

  2. Mr. Salinger

  3. A little bit about the author… • Born New Years Day, 1919 • Went to public school in Manhattan • Transferred to private school; failed out within a year • Then enrolled at Valley Forge Military Academy • Strongest subject was English

  4. A little bit about the author… • Enrolled at New York University for under a year before dropping out • Other than a semester at Ursinus College and an evening class at Columbia University, this is all the higher-education he received

  5. A little bit about the author… • After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he was drafted into the army • Part of the army’s counter-intelligence agency • Possible post-traumatic stress disorder: “We may readily guess that the war was responsible for, or at least brought to the surface an alienation from modern existence…”

  6. A little bit about the author… • During the war he managed to publish 10 short stories • In the five years following the war he published 10 more • While he sometimes questioned his own abilities as a writer, he would often refuse suggestions or changes made by editors • Fleeting, disappointing experience with Hollywood

  7. The Catcher in the Rye

  8. The Catcher in the Rye • Published in July 1951 • Original publisher asked for revisions to be made, Salinger refused and took the book to a smaller publisher, Little Brown • Sold over 15 million copies in the 15 years after its original publication • Continues to sell over 20,000 copies a month. Do the math…

  9. The Catcher in the Rye • The title comes from the protagonist Holden Caulfield’s mishearing of an old children’s song: “Gin a body meet a bodyComin’ thro' the rye,Gin a body kiss a body,Need a body cry?” Holden hears: "Gin a body catch a body/ comin’ through the rye."

  10. The Catcher in the Rye • The book is written as if Holden is speaking out loud to someone else • There is flow in the seemingly disjointed ideas and episodes; digressions on details, side-stories • Critical reviews agree that the novel accurately reflected the teenage colloquial speech of the time

  11. The Catcher in the Rye: Criticisms • Contains too much foul language and characters who are immoral • A truly great novel should reference historical, political or economic conditions of its time and “Catcher…” does none of these • Salinger’s opinions and voice are indistinguishable from the that of Holden’s • Holden’s expectation of perfect sincerity and purity of human motive is unrealistic

  12. For chapters 1 and 2 due tomorrow… • Keep in mind the ideas of: • Digression • Contradictions • Self-Awareness • Inference

More Related