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Teaching Hills Like White Elephants

Talky, talky, talky, Hemingway.

  • Activities: 13
  • Quiz Questions: 15

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"Hills Like White Elephants" is one of the most taught, canonized, and respected American short stories. It presents abortion—a controversial topic both in author Ernest Hemingway's day and today—without judgment; instead, the story relies nearly exclusively on dialogue to let the tale unwind. It's a terrific story to teach. No pressure, or anything.

In this guide, you will find

  • an ongoing research project about how social attitudes towards abortion have changed throughout history and cultures. (Unsurprisingly for E.H., this story's set in Spain.)
  • a speculative writing project where Margaret Sanger advises Jig, the story's central character, about what to do.
  • a creative writing assignment where students predict what happens after the story ends—by mimicking Hemingway's trademark prose, of course.

Don't get hung up on the elephant-centric title. Get teaching, already.

What's Inside Shmoop's Literature Teaching Guides

Shmoop is a labor of love from folks who love to teach. Our teaching guides will help you supplement in-classroom learning with fun, engaging, and relatable learning materials that bring literature to life.

Inside each guide you'll find quizzes, activity ideas, discussion questions, and more—all written by experts and designed to save you time. Here are the deets on what you get with your teaching guide:

  • 13-18 Common Core-aligned activities to complete in class with your students, including detailed instructions for you and your students. 
  • Discussion and essay questions for all levels of students.
  • Reading quizzes for every chapter, act, or part of the text.
  • Resources to help make the book feel more relevant to your 21st-century students.
  • A note from Shmoop's teachers to you, telling you what to expect from teaching the text and how you can overcome the hurdles.

Want more help teaching Teaching Hills Like White Elephants?

Check out all the different parts of our corresponding learning guide.



Instructions for You

Objective: This assignment is pretty easy, but rooted in historical connections and context: how might Margaret Sanger have helped Jig? It means that your kids will read a bit about this formidable woman and extrapolate ideas about how she would handle Jig's situation.

Materials Needed: This link, a copy of the text and/or Shmoop's summary

Step 1: In this first step, we're going to learn a bit about Margaret Sanger. Check out this link.

Step 2: After they've read through the bio, here are some questions for your students to respond to in their notebooks:

  • What was Sanger's mission?
  • How did Sanger get into trouble with the law?
  • What may have influenced Sanger's views on women and birth control?
  • Why did Sanger find birth control so important?
  • What lasting influence does Sanger have today?

Step 3: Now for the big kahuna of a question: What might Sanger have done to help Jig out?

That's a doozy, but we think it's totally relevant. Have your students formally write a one page (that's about 300 words, for you sticklers) patient entry from Margaret Sanger's point of view, in which she sees Jig and gives her advice. This would be more like a medical record, we suppose, so could include details about Jig's condition and how Sanger would advise her. What would Sanger tell Jig to do in the present situation? What advice might Sanger give for the future?

Step 4: Have they finished writing up Sanger's advice? Great, have them read back through it, making sure everything looks peachy-keen, and then turn it in.

Instructions for Your Students

If you don't know who Margaret Sanger is, you're about to find out. Why's she so important? Here's a hint: she was a formidable mover and shaper who paved the way for the acceptance of birth control.

Considering all this, we think that once you get to know Sanger a bit better, you'll be able to give Jig a little advice on Sanger's behalf. Let's get started.

Step 1: In this first step, we're going to learn a bit about Margaret Sanger. Check out this link. Read and explore the videos…Get goin'.

Step 2: Here are some questions for you to jot down answers to in your notebook:

  • What was Sanger's mission?
  • How did Sanger get into trouble with the law?
  • What may have influenced Sanger's views on women and birth control?
  • Why did Sanger find birth control so important?
  • What lasting influence does Sanger have today?

Step 3: Now for the big kahuna of a question: What might Sanger have done to help Jig out?

Yeah, that's a doozy of a question, but we think it's totally relevant. Formally write a one page (that's about 300 words for ya) patient entry from Margaret Sanger's point of view, in which she sees Jig and gives her advice. This would be more like a medical record, we suppose, so could include details about Jig's condition and how Sanger would advise her. What would Sanger tell Jig to do in the present situation? What advice might Sanger give for the future?

Step 4: Have you finished writing up Sanger's advice? Great: read back through it, making sure everything looks peachy-keen, and then turn it in.