The Catcher in... America
Introduction
J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye is one of the most frequently taught novels in American high schools. There is something about the adolescent problems and struggles of the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, that resonates in the minds of readers young and old.
Guiding Question
Why is The Catcher in the Rye such a popular and influential novel? At the same time, why is it a controversial book? How does it reflect American culture and values?
Questions
1. What are some of the biographical details of Salinger's life (up to
the 1960's)?
2. What has he been doing since he last published in the 1960's?
3. What historical events, or ideas, or religions and philosophy have
influenced J.D. Salinger?
4. How is Salinger's life reflected in his fiction?
5. Why and where has The Catcher in the Rye been banned?
6. What was the original reaction to the book when it was first published
in 1950? What was the positive and negative criticism?
7. The novel is set in 1948. What were some of the important
historical events of that year?
8. What was life like in America in the 1950's?
9. What other books or poems are related to, or reflect the themes of the
novel? Why?
10.
How are Holden and Huck Finn similar?
11.
Is Holden the typical American hero? Why/why not?
12.
What are some of the reasons given by readers as to why they love this book?
13.
What American values does Holden accept, reject or personify?
14.
How is the novel connected to the death of Beatle John Lennon? Find
background information on the details of his murder.
Internet Resources
Salinger's Biography/Catcher's
Theme/Comparison to Huck Finn
Salinger's Ideas and
Philosophies
Why Catcher
in the Rye was Banned
More about
Banning of the Book
Positive Criticism after
Book came out
Negative
Criticism of Book
Salinger's Ideas and
Philosophies
American Life
in the 1950's
Info about
Huckleberry Finn
Opinions on the
Book
How John Lennon is
connected with the Novel
Description
of Holden and his Family
MORE:
Homepages,
Biographies, Bibliographies
A Salinger homepage with bibliographies
"Salinger on the
Web" page
J.D. Salinger
Archives
Online Text
The Holden Server (every
reload produces a quote from Catcher in the Rye)
The
Keats poem from Seymour, An Introduction
Articles, Essays, Reviews
The
Praises and Criticisms of J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye by Eric
Lomazoff
"A Novel to Lose Sleep
Over" by Erin Cece
Review of "In
Search of J.D. Salinger" by Ian Hamilton
Other Links
Salinger at the
Internet Movie Database
Info on "Franny" and "Zooey"
(.uk)
Info on "For Esme - with Love and Squalor" and Other Stories (.uk)
Related to or Inspired by JDS
"Exercise in
writing in the style of J.D. Salinger" by Tyler Jones
The Letters to J.D. Salinger Home
Page: The Official Web Site of the (Inevitably) Soon to be Published Book,
Letters to J.D. Salinger.
Activities
1.
Write up your research in paragraph form.
2. Prepare to orally present your findings to the class.
3. Record in a bibliography and add websites used in your research.
4. Create a character (from another culture) that could be a modern,
non-American version of Holden Caulfield. Give him/her a name and write
up a description of that person, and discuss the kinds of cultural values
he/she could be rejecting and fighting against.
5. Write answers to the "guiding questions" at the start of
this "Web Hunt."
6. Illustrate scenes from the story (like the cartoon at
www.cardhouse.com/x07/cather1/htm)
Tom Tomczak, Teacher, and Diana Luu,
AP student, collaborated to develop this web hunt.