May 5, 2009

Short Story:  "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner

Objectives:

• To understand and appreciate a classic, modern short story in the Gothic tradition;
• To analyze plot sequence;
• To analyze conflict and setting;
• To recognize the use of foreshadowing;
• To appreciate flashback;
• To express understanding of the story through an obituary and diary entries;
• To analyze a complex character.

Reading the Story:

1. A gothic story is characterized by romance (often dark or thwarted) mystery, and horror.  It is often set in a gloomy, decaying mansion or castle.  Horace Walpole's "The Castle of Otranto" (1764) was the first of the genre.  Since then, many writers, including Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allen Poe, have used this form.

2. The setting is Jefferson, the county seat of Yoknapatawpha County in northern Mississippi-2400 square miles, 15,611 residents--the fictional world explored by Falkner in all of his novels and most of his stories.

3.Read the story "A Rose for Emily."

4. Find an obituary from a newspaper.  Identify the information typically presented in an obituary.  Consider how much space is like to be allotted to someone like Miss Emily.  Drawing on the details of the story, write Miss Emily's obituary for the Jefferson Enquirer. 

5.  Consider what a diary entry written by Miss Emily would be like.  Suppose Miss Emily's diary were found in the locked room after her death.  Write an entry or entries of approximately 250 words that might be found in the diary, describing Miss Emily's feelings about her courtship with Homer Barron, her father's death, her encounter with the aldermen, her decision to buy arsenic, or another incident in her life as told in the story.

6.  In a brief 200-word essay, write a brief response to the following statement by critic Cleanth Brooks:  "Miss Emily's story consitutes a warning against the sin of pride:  heroic isolation pushed too far ends in homicidal madness."

May 7, 2009 - Short Story - The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

May 11, 2009 - Short Story - The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

May 13, 2009 - Research project and Poetry Portfolio

May 15, 2009 - Submit Commonplace Book

May 18, 2009 - Write an original short story