One Of Ours

Maps are used as a motif over the course of the novel, from Claude’s initial interest in the war (finding locations of cities mentioned in the newspaper) to his direct involvement in the war (using maps to plan battle strategies). How does Claude’s relationship with maps, places, and imagined locations change and evolve throughout One of Ours? Give at least three different examples of scenes involving maps.

How does the title of One of Ours gesture to Claude’s evolving sense of meaning, purpose, and belonging? Compare and contrast at least two different groups that might claim Claude as “one of ours” (such as his family in Nebraska, the Erlich family, the army, and the Joubert family). How does the meaning of the title change as Claude’s social environment and personal perspective change? 

Cather makes several allusions to American ideas, attitudes, and identity. According to this novel, what does it mean to be an American? How do you think the novel changes or complexifies its definitions of American identity from beginning to end?

Claude meets several people from other countries, including Ernest Havel, Julius Erlich, Troilus Oberlies, and the Joubert family. How does Claude measure his own American identity against their perspectives? Choose at least three different characters born outside America that Claude meets, and compare and contrast their dynamics.

1.       Over the course of the novel, Claude makes numerous allusions to actions, ideas, and decisions he considers “unmanly.” How does Claude’s understanding of masculinity and manhood develop throughout each of the five books in One of Ours? 

Though Claude finds himself at odds with the religious conservatism of his mother, his Temple educators, and his wife, Enid, One of Ours is filled with religious iconography and imagery. Compare and contrast at least two scenes featuring a religious icon or image and analyze Claude’s relationship to it. 

Though Claude finds himself at odds with the religious conservatism of his mother, his Temple educators, and his wife, Enid, One of Ours is filled with religious iconography and imagery. Compare and contrast at least two scenes featuring a religious icon or image and analyze Claude’s relationship to it. 

When One of Ours was first published in 1922, several male writers, including Ernest Hemingway, critiqued the novel for its unrealistic depictions of combat. These writers suggested that Cather, as a woman who received her information secondhand through letters with her soldier cousin, lacked the necessary experience to write about war. Do you think the second half of One of Ours is limited by Cather’s lack of direct experience with the Great War? Or do you feel that Cather’s perspective as a woman writer enhances these war scenes in unexpected ways? If so, how?