This handwritten chart was used by Heller to outline chapters of Catch-22 and to track characters and events. Characters are listed along the top of the grid and dates are listed along the left side of the grid. Where the characters and dates intersect on the grid, the events in the story are identified. In this way Heller was able to keep the story straight in his mind while presenting it in a chaotic fashion in the novel. This lack of adherence to real time was a new technique in writing. It was well received by some in literary circles and criticized by others. Its literary effect was to heighten the experience of the chaos of war in the mind of the reader.
Previous Exhibits
- 10th Annual Professor John Howard Birss, Jr. Memorial LectureCelebrating the 50th Anniversary of To Kill a Mockingbird
- 9th Annual Professor John Howard Birss, Jr. Memorial LectureCelebrating the 125th Anniversary of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
- 8th Annual Professor John Howard Birss, Jr. Memorial LectureCommemorating The 50th anniversary of Elie Wiesel's Night
- 7th Annual Professor John Howard Birss, Jr. Memorial LectureCelebration of the 50th Anniversary of On the Road
About Birss Memorial Library Exhibition
The Professor John Howard Birss, Jr. Memorial Lecture and Professor John Howard Birss, Jr. Memorial Library Fund were established by University alums, Robert Blais '70, to honor Professor John Howard Birss, Jr., nationally recognized for his knowledge of first editions.
The Birss Lecture is an annual lecture series benefiting the humanities programs at Roger Williams University's Feinstein College of Arts and Sciences.