So Much Water So Close to Home

“So Much Water So Close to Home”

• Genre: Fiction; Short story; Realistic
• Originally Published: 1981
• Reading Level/Interest: College/adult
• Structure/Length: Short story; approximately 26 pages
• Protagonist/Central Conflict: The story revolves around Claire, a wife and mother, and her reactions to the disturbing story of her husband Stuart's fishing trip, where he and his friends found a dead woman in the river but did not report it until the end of their trip. This deeply unsettles Claire and strains their relationship.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Graphic descriptions of a deceased woman; Emotional and psychological distress; Marital discord; Ambiguously consensual sex; Alcoholism; Misogyny

Raymond Carver, Author

• Bio: Born 1938; died 1988; influential American short-story writer and poet; known for his minimalist style; work often focused on the blue-collar experience; had an alcohol addiction, which often figured in his writing; his later work is characterized by a sense of calm and redemption.
• Other Works: Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? (1976); What We Talk About When We Talk About Love (1981); Cathedral (1983)
• Awards: “So Much Water So Close to Home” is part of Carver's collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, which was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award (1981).

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• Isolation As Protection And Vulnerability
• The Pervasiveness Of Doubt And Deception
• Gender Norms’ Harmful Effects On Women

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Develop an understanding of the literary and sociological contexts regarding femicide that impacts the protagonist Claire’s relationship with her husband.
• Analyze paired texts and other brief resources to make connections via the text’s themes of Isolation As Protection And Vulnerability, The Pervasiveness Of Doubt And Deception, and Gender Norms’ Harmful Effects On Women.
• Draft and present a research paper that explores statistics regarding femicides in US society, based on text details.