Dayna Pettit, Amy Ishiguro

Brenda McIntire, Felicia Zhang

Catcher in the Rye Book Party Outline

I. Historical Background
A. Important Events
1. World War II ends after atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, vast atrocities against human rights
2. American Economy booming
a. Americanssuburbs
b. Baby boom (1946)
c. Appearance of happiness and prosperity (superficial)
3. Tensions with Soviet UnionThe Cold War
a. Fear of nuclear war 
B. Literary Era—Post Modernism
1.  Major Techniques
a. Irony, black humor used
b. Allusion
i. Other novels and modern culture
c. Paranoia
d. Attacks social stereotypes
e. Emphasis on how things are seen, now what is being seen
f. Stream of consciousness
g. Rejected rigid distinctions opposites in writing or life
h. Emphasize unstructured subjects
i. Intertextuality—mixing ideas and concepts together
2. Important author and novels
a. Kurt Vonnegut: Slaughterhouse 5
b. John Hawks: The Cannibal
c. Thomas Pynchon: Gravity’s Rainbow
d. William Burroughs: Naked Lunch
 C. J.D. Salinger
1. Born January 1st, 1919 in New York City, NY
2. Flunks out of the school near his home (McBurney School)
a. Parents ship him off to Valley Forge Military Academy in
Pennsylvania
3. Goes to NYU for a year
a. drops out, goes to Europe
4. Goes to Ursinus College in PA before returning to NY and taking night
classes at Columbia University
5. Career and studies interrupted when drafted in US army in 1942
a. Serves from 1942- 1944
i. On the beaches at D-Day
ii. Fights in Battle of the Bulge
iii. Writes first few chapters of Catcher in the Rye while
still in the military
b. After war hospitalized due to nervous breakdown
6. Marries three times and has two children
7. Lives isolated life following publication of Catcher in the Rye, which,
he admits, is slightly autobiographical
8. Dies January 27th, 2010

II. Characters
A. Holden (narrator): insecure, judgmental, avoids complexity, avoids deep
affection and complex relationships, romanticizes childhood, calls everyone
phonies though he is a compulsive liar, frustrated that no one else sees
everybody else’s “phoniness,” cynical and depressed, traumatized by Allie’s
death thus fears complexity, wants everything to be simple and easy (black and
white), impulsive/footloose, doesn’t take people’s advice
B. Phoebe (little sister): contradiction of Holden’s misconceptions about
childhood, is smart and talks back to him, shows him childhood is not so simple,
 mature for her age yet still often acts like a child, one of the only people who
understands Holden, and one of the only people Holden holds valuable in life
(“Little Shirley Beans”)
C. Allie: Holden’s dead younger brother, very intelligent and sensitive, one of the
only people Holden doesn’t believe is a phony, Holden violently upset after
Allie’s death
D. Antolini: Holden’s old English teacher, only one to touch the dead James
Castle, lectures Holden about the importance of education and how Holden
needs to immediately start fixing his life, acts almost fatherly towards Holden
E. Jane Gallagher: Good friends with Holden, who has a crush on her), very smart
and kind
F. Sally: pretty, typical mid-1900s teenage girl; used to date Holden; realistic
about her future
 
III. Plot summary
A. 17-yr old Holden Caulfield; expelled from Pency Prep, his fourth school, for
failing 4 out of 5 subjects; is waiting to go home from Agerstown, Pennsylvania to
Manhattan on Wednesday
1. Says goodbye to Mr. Spencer, an elderly history teacher.
2. Says bye to Stradlater, Holden’s handsome roommate. Becomes
aggressive towards Stradlater about his date with Holden’s old close friend Jane and gets
punched.
3. Holden decides to leave Pencey early
B. Boards train for Manhattan
1. Arrives in New York and checks in at the Edmont Hotel; plans to stay
until going home on Wednesday
2. Misses people and tries meeting up with old friends
a. Ernie’s bar—meets Lillian Simmons and leaves
b. At hotel, gets cheated by elevator guy/pimp and prostitute
c. Meets Sally Hayes to skate and see a show, but offends her.
d.  Meets Carl Luce
 C. Goes home while parents are out to meet Phoebe
1. Goes to visit Mr. and Mrs. Antolini. Gets lectured by Mr. Antolini about
being lost and about the importance of continuing education.
2. Leaves when Mr. Antolini strokes his hair in the night—thinks he’s gay.
D. Wants to leave for good; sends Phoebe a note while she’s in school asking her
to meet him at lunchtime to say bye
1. Angry that Phoebe arrives with a suitcase, wanting to go with him
a. Cries; gives him silent treatment
b. Walks to a zoo, with Phoebe following
2. Happy seeing Phoebe riding carousel; decides to stay
3. Ends narrative by refusing to tell how he went home and got sick, or
about the school he will attend in the fall.
III. Themes
A. Insecure people may criticize others for having the problems that they see
within themselves instead of admitting their own faults.
B. Teenagers with an overly simple view of childhood and adulthood often
fail to view themselves accurately and, as a result, have trouble dealing
with their maturation.
C. Disparities among reality, anticipation, and expectations often confuse
teenagers searching for their place in society.
D. People’s need for social interaction forces them to stay within society even
if they disagree with societal values (find them annoying).
E. In order to protect their sense of self-worth, people often defend
themselves when they encounter something they don’t understand.

IV. Literary Techniques

A. Apostrophe  
1. Holden talks to an unidentified listener
2. Shows Holden’s informality
B. Repetition
a. Phrases:
 i. “that kills me”
ii. “phony”
iii. “depresses me”
b. Shows the extent of Holden’s obsession with truth and being a true
person and sensitivity
C. Irony
a. Holden blatantly lies and calls others phony
D. Stream of Consciousness
a. Shows how Holden views society
E. Imagery (detailed description of people, not actions/places)
F. Symbolism
a. Red hat
b. Little Shirley Beans
G. Allusion
H. First person point of view
I. Italicized words
V. Scene
A. First scene: Phoebe and Holden in Phoebe’s room
- equals Holden, -- equals Phoebe
-“ I just didn’t like anything that was happening at Pencey. I can’t explain.”
(Phoebe mumbles into pillow)
-“What? Take your mouth away. I can’t hear you with your mouth that way.”
--“You don’t like anything that’s happening.”
-“Yes I do. Yes I do. Sure I do. Don’t say that. Why the hell do you say that?”
--“Because you don’t. You don’t like any schools. You don’t like a million things. You don’t.”
-“I do! That’s where you’re wrong-that’s exactly where you’re wrong! Why the hell do you have to say
that?”
--“Because you don’t. Name one thing.”
-“One thing I like a lot you mean?”
(Phoebe stares off)
--“You like a lot.”
-“All right.”
(Phoebe mumbles into the pillow after Holden’s long pause)
-“What?”
--“You can’t even think of one thing.”
-“Yes, I can. Yes, I can.”
--“Well, do it then.”
-“I like Allie. And I like what we’re doing right now. Sitting here with you, and talking, and thinking about
stuff, and-“
--“Allie’s dead-You always say that! If somebody’s dead and everything, and in Heaven, then it isn’t
really-“
-“I know he’s dead! Don’t you think I know that? I can still like him, though, can’t i? Just because
somebody’s dead you don’t just stop liking them, for God’s sake-Especially if they were a thousand times
nicer than the people you know that are alive and all.”
--“All right, name something else. Name something you’d like to be. Like a scientist or a lawyer or
something.”
-“I couldn’t be a scientist. I’m no good in science.”
--“Well, a lawyer-Like daddy and all.”
-“Lawyers are all right, I guess-But it doesn’t appeal to me.”
--“Daddy’s going to kill you. He’s going to kill you.”
-“You know what I’d like to be? I mean if I had my goddam choice?”
--“What?”
-“You know that song ‘If a body catch a body comin’
through the rye’? I’d like-“
--“It’s if a body meet a body comin’ through the rye’! It’s a poem by Robert Burns.”
-“I know. I thought it was ‘If a body catch a body’. Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing in
this big field of rye and all. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to
catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff-I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where
they’re going and I have to come out of somewhere and catch them. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and
all. I know it’s crazy but that’s the only thing I’d like to be.”
--“Daddy’s going to kill you.”
-“I don’t give a damn if he does.”
B. Second part of scene: Mr. Antolini and Holden

VI. Games
A. Introductory Game: Telephone
1. How it relates to the book: Holden spends tons of time calling people
2. Two rounds, pre-prepared sentences to whisper to first person’s ear
 B. Pin the Tail on the Holden
1. Spin-off of Pin the Tail on Eeyore (fictional donkey who’s always
depressed)
a. Holden always depressed about life and everyone’s phoniness
2. Whichever blindfolded person gets closest to the mark wins candy
C. Are You Smarter Than Phoebe Caulfield?
1. Pheobe is super smart and sometimes more reasonable than Holden
2. She and Holden always asking questions about random things in the
world
3. Game Questions: 1Q: If Mrs. Furstenthal’s peacock lays an egg on Mr.
Morgan’s lawn, who owns the egg? A: Neither, peahens lay eggs. Q2: What do you call a
person who wears sunglasses indoors? A: A phony. 3Q: How many meters long is a
koala’s appendix? A: About 2 meters. 4Q: How much dirt is there in a hole six feet long,
three feet deep, and 10 feet wide? A: There’s no dirt in a hole. 5Q: Why has southeastern
Alaska so many canning factories? A: Because there’s so much salmon. 6Q:There was an
airplane crash, every single person on board died, but yet two people survived. How is
this possible? A: They were married. 7Q: What do you sit on, sleep on, and brush your
teeth with? A: A chair, a bed, and a toothbrush. Bonus Q: Where do ducks go in the
winter? Answers vary.
4. Winner gets prize: candy
D. Hat Decorating Station
1. Everyone decorates their phony hats to make them unique
a. Vote on whoever has the best at the end, most unique hat
2. Winner gets candy
E. Ending game: voting on best hat
4. Invites
a. Principal’s notes, such as the one Holden got from all of his schools
5. Decorations
a. Posters with Holden-like phrases such as ‘you depress me’ and ‘you’re
phony’.