Take Wing with Kay
  • Bulletin
  • Charles Dickens (1812-1870)
  • Hamlet (circa 1600)
  • As I Lay Dying (1930)
  • The Catcher in the Rye (1951)
  • 1984 (1949)
  • Victorian Literature (1837-1901)
  • Heart of Darkness (1899)
  • The Awakening (1899)
  • Writing Mechanics
  • Slaughterhouse Five (1969)
  • The Iliad (Classical Antiquity)
  • The Divine Comedy (Dante, 1320)
  • Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales
  • Early 20th-century Literature
  • Late 20th-century Literature
  • Vocabulary Might
  • Kay Drama
  • Kay's Garden
  • The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891)
  • Essay Lab
  • Ephemera
  • The Great Gatsby (1925)
  • Maus (1980-1991)
  • Pygmalion (1913)
  • To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)
  • Cultural Capital
  • Circe (2019)
  • Lord of the Flies (1954)
  • Things Fall Apart (1958)
  • Brave New World (1931)
  • 20th-century Literature
  • Figures in Action
  • For the Sake of Levity
  • IB Year 1 English 3
  • Outliers (2008)
  • IB SL English 4
  • Othello (1603)
  • Romantic Poets
  • Metaphysical Poets
  • Kafka (1883-1924)

​Listen to the novel at your pace.
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The Catcher in the Rye
 Audio Clips: 

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Read the novel at your pace.
​​
The Catcher in the Rye full text PDF:
catcher_in_the_rye.pdf

​"I Am a Rock" is a 1965 song by Simon and Garfunkel. The speaker of these lyrics claims that he has built a fortress around him and alienation is what he has willingly chosen for his mode of existence. But if you read it against its grain, the speaker thirsts for love and friendship. 

Holden Caufield in The Catcher in the Rye and the speaker of this song may find a kindred spirit in each other even though each will put up a fight against such a comparison. Why do you think they have built a wall around them?


Chapter 1: Let me tell you my story if you want to know the truth . . . 
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The narrator confides that he is currently near Hollywood, California, trying to "take it easy" after going through the "madman stuff." What can you infer from this statement? 

The narrator repeatedly says "if you want to know the truth." But he does not seem to know why he sabotages himself and habitually flunks out of school. What reason do you think makes the speaker to fail himself again and again? 

He refuses to begin his narrative in the conventional way--what he calls, "all that David Copperfield kind of crap." Writing David Copperfield, Charles Dickens uses chronological order of his protagonist's life, from birth of David Copperfield to the present day. Even though the narrator of this novel rejects the conventional storytelling techniques, he directly and indirectly shares much information about his personality and background. Identify three biographical facts and come up with three adjectives that in your mind capture the narrator's personality. 

The narrator claims that somebody stole his camel-hair coat while he was attending Pencey Preparatory Academy. What personal item, left in the coat pocket, was also stolen? 

Why did the narrator go up on Thomsen Hill? Read between the lines: 
"I was trying to feel some kind of a good-by. . . . when I leave a place I like to know I'm leaving it. If you don't, you feel even worse."
"If I get a change to remember that kind of stuff, I can get a good-by when I need one--at least most of the time I can." 


How does the narrator react to the silent treatment he received from his fencing team? 

Chapter 2: the last day at Pencey Prep and paying a visit to "Old Spenser" 

Chapter 3:

Chapter 4:

Chapter 5:

Chapter 6:

Chapter 7:

Chapter 8:

Chapter 9:

Chapter 10:

Chapter 11:

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Chapter 12:

Chapter 13:

Chapter 14: Maurice and Sunny fleece five more dollars from Holden
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Chapter 15: Encounter with two nuns at a sandwich bar

Chapter 16: Little Shirley Beans album; the Museum of Natural History
Holden buys an album called Little Shirley Beans and later fondly reminisces about a little boy singing a tune of "if a body catch a body coming through the rye." In what ways do such details reveal the overall meaning of this novel?

Chapter 17:

Chapter 18:

Chapter 19:

Chapter 20:

Chapter 21:

Chapter 22:

Chapter 23:

Chapter 24:

Chapter 25:

Chapter 26: