Transcript Power point

William Faulkner’s
As I Lay Dying
William Faulkner (1897-1962)
“My requirements for writing: paper, tobacco,
food, and a little whisky”
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Grew up in Oxford Mississippi in a longestablished Mississippi family
Uncle a colonel in the Confederate army
Family’s roots in the Old South furnish him
with settings, themes, and cultural identity
for sixteen novels and many short stories
His work is decidedly southern
Faulkner’s Writing
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Began writing after he
was in WWI
Won both Nobel Prize and
Pulitzer Prize
Created Yoknapatawpha
County: a fictional place
in MI
A microcosm of the
American South both
Ante-bellum and Postbellum
Fictional Yoknapatawpha County
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Although Fictional,
Faulkner gave it
credibility, supplying a
physical place and a
census count
Location used in
several of his novels
Near the real Yocona
River in Mississippi
Crossing the Yocona River in 1900
Poor Whites in the South
Poor Whites House
Exterior of House
Interior: sparse, clean
Sharecroppers: proud, sad,
resigned
Essential Questions for AILD
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How and why do human beings manipulate
others for their own gain?
How does an antagonist devise the manipulation
and downfall of a tragic figure?
How do writers in different genres and literary
time periods reveal the effects of betrayal and
manipulation on the individual?
How do literary works reflect complexity of tone
through their textual detail, literary devices, and
overall structure?
The American South and As I Lay
Dying
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The loss of the Civil War shaped the mentality and
outlook of all southerners
In Faulkner’s writing, the history of the south is a
tragedy which must be addressed
The novel asks: How do people deal with devastation
and degeneration in their lives?
Like the death of a loved one, a mother or wife, war also
causes immense upheaval
The novel is not about the Civil War; rather it is about
the manner in which people deal with adversity in their
lives: it is about the Human Experience
Faulkner’s Style in As I Lay Dying
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Written in stream of consciousness form
Reader “hears” a character’s thoughts
Faulkner never directly comments, describes, or explains
Novel comprised of 59 monologues by 15 different
characters
Dream-like writing: often disjointed, distorted, and
seemingly illogical
Readers must piece the story together in a puzzle-like
fashion
Tale of a journey: nothing impedes the straightforward
movement of plot to its destination-Jefferson and the
burial of Addie