Exploring the Text

Access the text here.

  1. Describe the setting of “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place.”

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - Describe the setting of “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place.”
  2. Describe the story’s six characters. What do they have in common? What differentiates them?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - Describe the story’s six characters. What do they have in common? What differentiates them?
  3. Look carefully at the story’s mentions of light and dark. What patterns emerge? How do those patterns develop the deeper meanings of “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - Look carefully at the story’s mentions of light and dark. What patterns emerge? How do those patterns develop the deeper meanings of “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”?
  4. Why do you think the older waiter inserts the word “nada” (nothing, in Spanish) in the Lord’s Prayer and at the beginning of the Hail Mary? What words has he replaced with “nada”? Read the two prayers in their original form and compare them to the versions here.

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - Why do you think the older waiter inserts the word “nada” (nothing, in Spanish) in the Lord’s Prayer and at the beginning of the Hail Mary? What words has he replaced with “nada”? Read the two prayers in their original form and compare them to the versions here.
  5. What do you think the old man’s deafness represents in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - What do you think the old man’s deafness represents in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”?
  6. Compare and contrast the two waiters based on the dialogue between them. How are their needs different? What does each one represent?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - Compare and contrast the two waiters based on the dialogue between them. How are their needs different? What does each one represent?
  7. This story takes place in a café in Europe. In what ways are its themes American? In what ways might you consider them European?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - This story takes place in a café in Europe. In what ways are its themes American? In what ways might you consider them European?
  8. James Joyce is said to have considered “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” one of the best short stories ever written. He said that Ernest Hemingway “reduced the veil between literature and life.” Do you agree with Joyce? Explain your answer.

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - James Joyce is said to have considered “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” one of the best short stories ever written. He said that Ernest Hemingway “reduced the veil between literature and life.” Do you agree with Joyce? Explain your answer.