Nelson Algren

1 7.6

An American writer who wrote novels and short stories about poor people in Chicago

proper noun
/ˈnɛlsən ˈɔlɡrən/

: Nelson Algren

Many of Nelson Algren's works depict life in the underprivileged neighborhoods of Chicago.

Examples

Nelson Algren won the first National Book Award for his novel 'The Man with the Golden Arm.'
The influence of Nelson Algren on American literature remains significant even decades after his death.
Nelson Algren was a great writer.
Many consider Nelson Algren a pioneer of American literature.
Nelson Algren won the first National Book Award for his novel 'The Man with the Golden Arm.'
Many of Nelson Algren's works depict life in the underprivileged neighborhoods of Chicago.
The influence of Nelson Algren on American literature remains significant even decades after his death.

Surface Forms

Nelson Algren main

Morphology

Nelson + Algren

This is a proper name referring to a specific person, so its meaning (an American writer, life dates, biography) is encyclopedic and not built from the lexical meanings of the constituents. Knowing the words 'Nelson' and 'Algren' as isolated name tokens gives no clue to occupation or biographical facts, so a B1 learner would need prior exposure or world knowledge to understand the referent.

Etymology

Nelson Algren was an American writer who wrote powerful stories about the hard lives of poor people in Chicago. Imagine him walking rough city streets and writing the voices of people left out, so the name Nelson Algren now stands for a writer who shows the 'lives of the poor and marginalized'.