Catcher in the Rye By J.D. Salinger

1. Catcher in the RyeBy J.D. Salinger A novel of a teenage boy dealing with issues of identity, belonging, alienation, and rebellion.

2. Meet the Author: J.D. Salinger • Born in New York City - on January 1, 1919, J. D. Salinger is famous primarily for two things: his novel The Catcher in the Rye (1951) and his reclusive life. Salinger has never penned another published novel. • Search for Identity - Since his parents were of different religious backgrounds, one Christian and the other Jewish, theistic belief was never really emphasized. He has been at various times a Zen Buddhist, a Christian Scientist, and a Scientologist. • One sibling- a sister named Doris, six years older. • Flunked out of school - At thirteen, he was enrolled in the McBurney School, but within a year flunked out and was sent to the Valley Forge Military Academy in Pennsylvania, where he became interested in writing.

3. Character List • Holden Caulfield - The protagonist and narrator of the novel. A sixteen-year-old junior who has just been expelled for academic failure from a school called Pencey Prep. • Ackley - Holden’s next-door neighbor in his dorm at Pencey Prep. • Stradlater - Holden’s roommate at Pencey Prep. • Phoebe Caulfield - Holden’s ten-year-old sister. • Allie Caulfield - Holden’s younger brother. Allie dies of leukemia three years before the start of the novel.

4. Characters continued… • D. B. Caulfield -Holden’s older brother who wrote a volume of short stories that Holden admires. • Jane Gallagher - A girl with whom Holden spent a lot of time one summer, when their families stayed in neighboring summer houses in Maine • Sally Hayes  -  A very attractive girl whom Holden has known and dated for a long time. • Mr. Spencer -  Holden’s history teacher at Pencey Prep, who unsuccessfully tries to shake Holden out of his academic apathy

5. Characters continued… • Carl Luce -  A student at Columbia who was Holden’s student advisor at the Whooton School. Luce is three years older than Holden. • Mr. Antolini -  Holden’s former English teacher at the Elkton Hills School. Mr. Antolini now teaches at New York University. • Maurice -  The elevator operator at the Edmont Hotel, who procures a prostitute for Holden. • Sunny -  The prostitute whom Holden hires through Maurice.

6. Catcher VocabWrite the following vocab definitions.Try to use them all in one sentence! • ostracize (p. 3) – excluded; avoided talking to • qualm (p. 14) – uneasiness (worry); misgivings (doubt about the future. • exhibitionist (p. 29) – a show-off; someone who seeks attention. • pacifist (p. 46) – someone who is opposed to war/violence • modest (p. 57) – having a humble opinion of yourself.

7. Catcher in the Rye • The Catcher in the Rye was one of the most banned books and paradoxically one of the most taught books of the twentieth century. • Catcher is a semiautobiographical account of its teenage protagonist, Holden Caulfield. The novel’s first-person narration gave voice to a generation of frustrated young men who longed to escape the strictures of “proper” society. • The novel is set around the 1950s and is narrated by a young man named Holden Caulfield. Holden is not specific about his location while he’s telling the story, but he makes it clear that he is undergoing treatment in a mental hospital or sanatorium. The events he narrates take place in the few days between the end of the fall school term and Christmas, when Holden is sixteen years old.