DAY 1: BIOGRAPHY/ PHILOSOPHY
**HERE IS THE LINK TO THE TRAILER WE MADE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfnyDN_kiIg**
The Life of William Faulkner:
William Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi on September 23rd, 1897. He was the son of Murry Falkner (yes it is spelled like that) and Maud Butler Falkner. Growing up in Mississippi, William Faulkner was very much influenced by the females in his life. Both his mother, Maud, and grandmother, Leila, were strong readers and painters, leading Faulkner to love of books. Due to this, as a teenager, he was fascinated with poetry and writing. Despite his love for literature, he never enjoyed school, which led to him never earning a high school diploma. After dropping out, he started working in the carpentry business, and eventually met Estella Oldham, a woman he fell deeply in love with. However, Estella got engaged to another man, leaving William heartbroken. After his heartbreak, in 1918, Faulkner joined the British Royale Flying Corps. He once tried to join the Royal Air force, but the he was too short to enlist. He also changed his name from Falkner to Faulkner to sound more British.
In terms of his writing, Faulkner published his poetry collection, The Marble Faun, in 1924. In 1925, his first novel Soldier’s Pay was published. Later on, a friend suggested that he should write about his life in Mississippi. Thus, the fictional setting of Yoknapatawpha was created. Based off the place he grew up Oxford, Mississippi, this county served as the background to many of his other novels such as, As I Lay Dying and The Sound of Fury. He often explored southern influences and morality in his novels. William Faulkner also won a Nobel Prize in 1949.
He passed away in January 1961.
"William Faulkner." Bio. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2015.
“William Faulkner.” Pbs: The American Novel. Educational Broadcasting Company,
March 2007. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.
NOTES: WHAT WE COVERED IN CLASS TODAY
**DAY 1: We made connections between the novel and facts about Faulkner's life. **
1) William Faulkner was born and raised in Mississippi. What influences do you see in the book based on this fact? Consider southern influences. (Dictionary of World Biography volume)
- As I Lay Dying takes place in the fictional Yoknapatawpha. This is the is the center of many of Faulkner’s books.
- The southern influences can be seen throughout the book, especially through social class. Some of the classes evident in the novel include, white trash (The Bundrens), African Americans, and the wealthier whites (townspeople).
- The diction is very colloquial and focuses on a southern dialect. Characters that obviously present a southern regionalism influence in their diction include Anse, the Tulls and Dewey Dell.
-In the rural south in the post war years, people made their own coffins and dug their family’s graves. This fact reflects in the novel as the Bundrens build their own coffin and dig Addie’s grave. However, only a small percentage of people brought the dead to their final resting place. As the Bundrens brought Addie’s body to Jefferson, the people they met along the way such as the Armstids and the Samsons all judged the Bundrens and disapproved of their actions. They thought the Bundrens were ridiculous to bring a rotting corpse 40 miles away to be buried.
2) Both of William Faulkner’s family came from wealth but were reduced to genteel poverty by the Civil War. Relate this to the novel, and find examples. (Encyclopedia of world of biography)
- Anse struggles for money throughout the novel, which causes him to sell Jewel’s horse, take Cash’s money, and sell some of his belongings.
-Anse also take Dewey Dell’s ten dollars for his teeth.
- Vardaman eats bananas, which is a food of poor people.
- Darl and Jewel leave Addie on her deathbed to earn a measly three dollars.
- Vardaman realizes that he is not a town boy, but an impoverished country boy.
-When Jewel brings his horse home, Anse immediately gets upset and thinks that he cannot afford to pay for the horse and its food, showing their poverty.
- Anse gets upset at the road by their home because he has to pay taxes on it.
- Anse follows the typical sense of southern honor in this type period. This includes not asking for help, despite his impoverished state.
3) Faulkner’s father, Murray Faulkner, was a “well-meaning but ineffectual man, drifting from job to job, largely on the strength of the family name, and overshadowed by his strong-willed wife.” (Dictionary of World Biography Volume)
- Addie is the center of the household. She still has a control over her family even after she is dead. On the opposite end, Anse is perceived as weak and lazy.
- Anse states that he will die if he sweats again. He uses this excuse to manipulate his family into doing work for him. He does not want to put any hard work into anything and is perceived as lazy.
- When Jewel experiences “narcolepsy,” Anse does not help out around the house. Instead Addie, helps out with Jewel’s workload.
-Addie can be perceived as strong willed as she was an authoritative school teacher who whipped her students.
- Dewey Dell considers asking Peabody instead of Anse for help with her pregnancy, showing Anse as a weak person that his children cannot go to.
-Vardaman wants Dewey Dell to clean his fish, showing him depending on women rather than doing it himself.
4) Faulkner worked in a power plant, where there was nothing to do from 12am-4am. This was when he wrote the book. Faulkner also wrote the book in six weeks. How does this reflect his narration? (Bleikasten)
- The narration is not always consistent. This is perhaps William Faulkner got lazy or just rushed through writing the book.
Ex. Vardaman on page 56 (He sounds like a kid and then elevates his language all of a sudden)
-The italics do not have one consistent function but rather have various uses. He may have been rushed in writing and was not able to keep one function for the italics.
- The chapters are all very short.
5) Faulkner wrote poems in the early 1920s. How is this reflected in his language? (Encyclopedia of world biography second edition)
-Faulkner sometimes goes from very colloquial language to very elevated and poetic language. This shows his poetic background.
- Also, Darl’s narration, the most poetic-like language in the novel, is said to represent Faulkner’s voice.
- In general there is an abundance of figurative language, metaphors, and allusions.
Ex. “my mom is a fish” -Vardaman
Ex. Darls description of Jewel on his horse in Chapter 3.
6) His book is classified as a tour de force (literal translation: of feat), which is an impressive performance managed with great skill. (William Faulkner’s the Paris Interview)
- The narration in general shows this; there are 15 narrators. Also, it’s written as a stream of consciousness, which was a new type of writing style introduced by Faulkner.
- Darl has a very unique narrative style. He is an omniscient narrator in terms of how he can narrate two different events in the present at the same time. He is also very perceptive. For instance, he knows that Dewey Dell is pregnant by just looking at her.
- As I Lay Dying is not just one genre exclusively, but a few, which is a unique aspect of the book.
7) Just like his other novels (The Hamlet, The Town, and The Mansion), As I Lay Dying belongs to those works in which Faulkner deals with the “Southern poor whites, who are often associated with illiteracy, shiftlessness, and brutality.” Apply this to As I Lay Dying. (Jan Bakker)
- Dewey Dell and Anse are both illiterate
- Jewel gets angry at the white man (knife scene).
- Anse puts cement on Cash’s leg
- The fact that they carry a rotting corpse for ten days is very undignified and brutal
- Anse says he never sweats, and his family believes him.
- Anse’s logic on human movement.
- Putting Addie in the coffin backwards.
- Drilling holes into the coffin shows brutality.
Philosophy Found in As I Lay Dying:
1) Nihilism is a philosophical doctrine that suggests the negation of one or more reputedly meaningful aspects of life.
- In the novel Peabody describes nihilists to view death as the end. This view is clearly seen through Addie’s father. He thought the reason of life is to be dead for a long time.
2) Absurdism is the belief that human beings exist in a purposeless, chaotic universe.
- Addie is put in the coffin backwards.
- There are many more examples in the book of this.
3) Existentialism: a philosophical movement that focuses on the connection between consciousness and existence. There is no real connection between the past and present.
- This view is presented through Darl. He often refers to past and present at the same time. This can be seen in the passages of Darl explaining things using “is, are, and was.”
- Darl also questions what it means to be exisitng throughout the whole novel.
- Lastly, Faulkner is said to mostly believe in existentialism. Other works of his also portray this philosophy.
4) Fundamentalism is the strict adherence to basic principles of any subject or discipline.
- In the novel Peabody describes Fundamentalism to encompass the thought that death is the beginning. This concept of a heaven and hell and an afterlife is most strongly believed by Cora. Although Cora is slightly hypocritical in her religion, she does most things in life to be rewarded by God in her after life. For instance, she wants to help the Bundrens so that God will see her as a good person and reward her after death.
**HERE IS THE LINK TO THE TRAILER WE MADE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfnyDN_kiIg**
The Life of William Faulkner:
William Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi on September 23rd, 1897. He was the son of Murry Falkner (yes it is spelled like that) and Maud Butler Falkner. Growing up in Mississippi, William Faulkner was very much influenced by the females in his life. Both his mother, Maud, and grandmother, Leila, were strong readers and painters, leading Faulkner to love of books. Due to this, as a teenager, he was fascinated with poetry and writing. Despite his love for literature, he never enjoyed school, which led to him never earning a high school diploma. After dropping out, he started working in the carpentry business, and eventually met Estella Oldham, a woman he fell deeply in love with. However, Estella got engaged to another man, leaving William heartbroken. After his heartbreak, in 1918, Faulkner joined the British Royale Flying Corps. He once tried to join the Royal Air force, but the he was too short to enlist. He also changed his name from Falkner to Faulkner to sound more British.
In terms of his writing, Faulkner published his poetry collection, The Marble Faun, in 1924. In 1925, his first novel Soldier’s Pay was published. Later on, a friend suggested that he should write about his life in Mississippi. Thus, the fictional setting of Yoknapatawpha was created. Based off the place he grew up Oxford, Mississippi, this county served as the background to many of his other novels such as, As I Lay Dying and The Sound of Fury. He often explored southern influences and morality in his novels. William Faulkner also won a Nobel Prize in 1949.
He passed away in January 1961.
"William Faulkner." Bio. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2015.
“William Faulkner.” Pbs: The American Novel. Educational Broadcasting Company,
March 2007. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.
NOTES: WHAT WE COVERED IN CLASS TODAY
**DAY 1: We made connections between the novel and facts about Faulkner's life. **
1) William Faulkner was born and raised in Mississippi. What influences do you see in the book based on this fact? Consider southern influences. (Dictionary of World Biography volume)
- As I Lay Dying takes place in the fictional Yoknapatawpha. This is the is the center of many of Faulkner’s books.
- The southern influences can be seen throughout the book, especially through social class. Some of the classes evident in the novel include, white trash (The Bundrens), African Americans, and the wealthier whites (townspeople).
- The diction is very colloquial and focuses on a southern dialect. Characters that obviously present a southern regionalism influence in their diction include Anse, the Tulls and Dewey Dell.
-In the rural south in the post war years, people made their own coffins and dug their family’s graves. This fact reflects in the novel as the Bundrens build their own coffin and dig Addie’s grave. However, only a small percentage of people brought the dead to their final resting place. As the Bundrens brought Addie’s body to Jefferson, the people they met along the way such as the Armstids and the Samsons all judged the Bundrens and disapproved of their actions. They thought the Bundrens were ridiculous to bring a rotting corpse 40 miles away to be buried.
2) Both of William Faulkner’s family came from wealth but were reduced to genteel poverty by the Civil War. Relate this to the novel, and find examples. (Encyclopedia of world of biography)
- Anse struggles for money throughout the novel, which causes him to sell Jewel’s horse, take Cash’s money, and sell some of his belongings.
-Anse also take Dewey Dell’s ten dollars for his teeth.
- Vardaman eats bananas, which is a food of poor people.
- Darl and Jewel leave Addie on her deathbed to earn a measly three dollars.
- Vardaman realizes that he is not a town boy, but an impoverished country boy.
-When Jewel brings his horse home, Anse immediately gets upset and thinks that he cannot afford to pay for the horse and its food, showing their poverty.
- Anse gets upset at the road by their home because he has to pay taxes on it.
- Anse follows the typical sense of southern honor in this type period. This includes not asking for help, despite his impoverished state.
3) Faulkner’s father, Murray Faulkner, was a “well-meaning but ineffectual man, drifting from job to job, largely on the strength of the family name, and overshadowed by his strong-willed wife.” (Dictionary of World Biography Volume)
- Addie is the center of the household. She still has a control over her family even after she is dead. On the opposite end, Anse is perceived as weak and lazy.
- Anse states that he will die if he sweats again. He uses this excuse to manipulate his family into doing work for him. He does not want to put any hard work into anything and is perceived as lazy.
- When Jewel experiences “narcolepsy,” Anse does not help out around the house. Instead Addie, helps out with Jewel’s workload.
-Addie can be perceived as strong willed as she was an authoritative school teacher who whipped her students.
- Dewey Dell considers asking Peabody instead of Anse for help with her pregnancy, showing Anse as a weak person that his children cannot go to.
-Vardaman wants Dewey Dell to clean his fish, showing him depending on women rather than doing it himself.
4) Faulkner worked in a power plant, where there was nothing to do from 12am-4am. This was when he wrote the book. Faulkner also wrote the book in six weeks. How does this reflect his narration? (Bleikasten)
- The narration is not always consistent. This is perhaps William Faulkner got lazy or just rushed through writing the book.
Ex. Vardaman on page 56 (He sounds like a kid and then elevates his language all of a sudden)
-The italics do not have one consistent function but rather have various uses. He may have been rushed in writing and was not able to keep one function for the italics.
- The chapters are all very short.
5) Faulkner wrote poems in the early 1920s. How is this reflected in his language? (Encyclopedia of world biography second edition)
-Faulkner sometimes goes from very colloquial language to very elevated and poetic language. This shows his poetic background.
- Also, Darl’s narration, the most poetic-like language in the novel, is said to represent Faulkner’s voice.
- In general there is an abundance of figurative language, metaphors, and allusions.
Ex. “my mom is a fish” -Vardaman
Ex. Darls description of Jewel on his horse in Chapter 3.
6) His book is classified as a tour de force (literal translation: of feat), which is an impressive performance managed with great skill. (William Faulkner’s the Paris Interview)
- The narration in general shows this; there are 15 narrators. Also, it’s written as a stream of consciousness, which was a new type of writing style introduced by Faulkner.
- Darl has a very unique narrative style. He is an omniscient narrator in terms of how he can narrate two different events in the present at the same time. He is also very perceptive. For instance, he knows that Dewey Dell is pregnant by just looking at her.
- As I Lay Dying is not just one genre exclusively, but a few, which is a unique aspect of the book.
7) Just like his other novels (The Hamlet, The Town, and The Mansion), As I Lay Dying belongs to those works in which Faulkner deals with the “Southern poor whites, who are often associated with illiteracy, shiftlessness, and brutality.” Apply this to As I Lay Dying. (Jan Bakker)
- Dewey Dell and Anse are both illiterate
- Jewel gets angry at the white man (knife scene).
- Anse puts cement on Cash’s leg
- The fact that they carry a rotting corpse for ten days is very undignified and brutal
- Anse says he never sweats, and his family believes him.
- Anse’s logic on human movement.
- Putting Addie in the coffin backwards.
- Drilling holes into the coffin shows brutality.
Philosophy Found in As I Lay Dying:
1) Nihilism is a philosophical doctrine that suggests the negation of one or more reputedly meaningful aspects of life.
- In the novel Peabody describes nihilists to view death as the end. This view is clearly seen through Addie’s father. He thought the reason of life is to be dead for a long time.
2) Absurdism is the belief that human beings exist in a purposeless, chaotic universe.
- Addie is put in the coffin backwards.
- There are many more examples in the book of this.
3) Existentialism: a philosophical movement that focuses on the connection between consciousness and existence. There is no real connection between the past and present.
- This view is presented through Darl. He often refers to past and present at the same time. This can be seen in the passages of Darl explaining things using “is, are, and was.”
- Darl also questions what it means to be exisitng throughout the whole novel.
- Lastly, Faulkner is said to mostly believe in existentialism. Other works of his also portray this philosophy.
4) Fundamentalism is the strict adherence to basic principles of any subject or discipline.
- In the novel Peabody describes Fundamentalism to encompass the thought that death is the beginning. This concept of a heaven and hell and an afterlife is most strongly believed by Cora. Although Cora is slightly hypocritical in her religion, she does most things in life to be rewarded by God in her after life. For instance, she wants to help the Bundrens so that God will see her as a good person and reward her after death.
DAY 2: INTERPRETIVE QUESTIONS
1)How does the meaning of Ode on a Grecian Urn relate to the cyclical aspect of the novel? Consider the last line of the book.
2) Who is the "I" in As I Lay Dying?
3)The title of the book is a line in The Odyssey Book 11. “As I lay dying, the woman with the dog’s eyes would not close my eyes as I descended into Hades.”Why would Faulkner choose a line from The Odyssey? Discuss the eyes in the quote and how they applicable to characters, specifically Darl and Addie?
4)What is the genre of the novel? epic? Tragedy? Comedy? How does Faulkner blur all three? What purpose does this serve?
5)Are there any Christ Archetypes, (or false Christ archetypes) in the novel? If so, who and explain. How does this aid in Faulkner’s black humor in the novel?
6)What is Faulkner’s depiction of religion through the characters? Address this through Whitefield, Cora, Anse, Addie, and Vardaman.
7)In the text, it is mentioned that Darl fought in World War 1 in France. How does this aid in Darl’s mental disintegration. What evidence can you find in the book based on this?
8)Turn to page 15 in chapter 4 (Jewel’s only chapter). Discuss what you think Jewel means when says “if it had just been me” in reference to his relationship with Addie. Give other examples where Jewel wants an exclusive relationship with Addie.
1)How does the meaning of Ode on a Grecian Urn relate to the cyclical aspect of the novel? Consider the last line of the book.
2) Who is the "I" in As I Lay Dying?
3)The title of the book is a line in The Odyssey Book 11. “As I lay dying, the woman with the dog’s eyes would not close my eyes as I descended into Hades.”Why would Faulkner choose a line from The Odyssey? Discuss the eyes in the quote and how they applicable to characters, specifically Darl and Addie?
4)What is the genre of the novel? epic? Tragedy? Comedy? How does Faulkner blur all three? What purpose does this serve?
5)Are there any Christ Archetypes, (or false Christ archetypes) in the novel? If so, who and explain. How does this aid in Faulkner’s black humor in the novel?
6)What is Faulkner’s depiction of religion through the characters? Address this through Whitefield, Cora, Anse, Addie, and Vardaman.
7)In the text, it is mentioned that Darl fought in World War 1 in France. How does this aid in Darl’s mental disintegration. What evidence can you find in the book based on this?
8)Turn to page 15 in chapter 4 (Jewel’s only chapter). Discuss what you think Jewel means when says “if it had just been me” in reference to his relationship with Addie. Give other examples where Jewel wants an exclusive relationship with Addie.