AMERICAN LITERATURE

Emily's funeral Pay taxes Bad smell coming from her house Mr Grierson died Emily and Homer seen together Emily seen buying arsenic Buying bridal stuff Homer Barron last seen Emily stayin[r]

Symbols

Author

Plot

summary

Characters

Content

Point of view

William Faulkner

 Born in New Albany,

Mississippi,

September 25, 1897

 Using pieces of his own life

and family history in his fiction

 Basing part of the character of Emily on a

cousin, Mary Louise Neilson, who had

married a Yankee street paver named

Jack Barron

 Twenty novels, several volumes of short

fiction, and two volumes of poetry

 Many screenplays, essays, and articles for

magazines and newspapers

 Winning two Pulitzer Prizes, a National

Book Award, and the Nobel Prize for

Literature

A Rose for Emily

 First appearing in April

30, 1930 on a magazine

 Appearing in collections

These 13 (1931) and

then in Collected Stories

(1950)

Plot Summary

Rearrange the following events in a chronological order:

a) Emily's funeral

b) Pay taxes

c) Bad smell coming from her house

d) Mr Grierson died

e) Emily and Homer seen together

f) Emily seen buying arsenic

g) Buying bridal stuff

h) Homer Barron last seen

i) Emily staying at home for many years then giving

painting class

j) Closing her door again

k) Emily's death and her secret revealed

Plot Summary

Our suggested chronological order:

1 d Mr Grierson died

2 e Emily and Hormer seen together

3 g Buying bridal stuff

4 f Emily seen buying arsenic

5 h Homer Barron last seen

6 c Bad smell coming from her house

7 i Emily staying at home for many years then giving

painting class

8 j Closing her door again

9 b Pay taxes

10 k Emily's death and her secret revealed

11 a Emily's funeral

Miss Emily

 The main character

 The story starts at her death, then loops back

around and tell about her life starting from her father's death

 From a very wealthy southern family

 A snobby person

Miss Emily

Mr Grierson

 A controlling father with strong influence

on Emily

 Appearing loomingly in memory and in

the portrait kept on the gilt-edged easel in the parlor, and silhouetted in the doorway

 Chasing away any of Emily's follower

Miss Emily

 A Yankee coming to town to fix the sidewalks

 A typical man – hanging out with other guys

and drinking

 Becoming Miss Emily's lover, however not

approved

 Last seen in an afternoon

Tradition vs Change

– Emily's stubborness

– Emily considered as

a monument

– The supports from the

town

– The modernization – The new generation and new ways of leading the town

Themes

Sit in group and discuss the conflicts of the story

“A rose for Emily” (5 mins)

1 Emily vs community

 Chasing away the tax collectors

 Buying arsenic

 The appearing of bad smell

 The attitude of the town people toward her

house

1 Emily vs community

2 Emily vs herself

 Cutting her hair

 Teaching painting in the past

 Background vs love

 Emily's house

dying world of Southern aristocracy like Emily herself

 A Rose for Emily

Thanks for your attention!