Amy Hempel’s “The Man in Bogotà”

by Margaret Wedge

Joined Feb 2020
Published Books 1

Who is Amy Hempel?

Amy Hempel is an American short story writer and journalist, winner of the Pen/Malamud Award, The Rea Award for the Short Story, the Guggenheim Fellowship for the Creative Arts, and the Ambassador Book Award for Fiction.

What is a short story?

A short story is a piece of fictional prose, typically able to be read in one sitting, that focuses attention on one event or one series of events with the intention of eliciting a specific feeling from the reader.

“Short story” or “Short fiction” often refers to the literary genre that includes all short works of fiction.

Objectives

Students will read along with a spoken version of Amy Hempel’s short story, “The Man in Bogotà,” performed by Bodine Bolling.

Students will think-pair-share to determine and evaluate this story’s theme.

Students will determine, in light of their thinking on theme, whether or not this story is effective as a piece of art, and write why or why not.

Discussion Questions

With your partner, answer the following questions:

What is this story’s theme?
What did watching the video of the reading add to the text?
Did the reading enhance your memory or understanding of the short story?
What literary elements does Hempel use to make this an effective piece of literature?