...Andrew Costroff ENG 102 Faulkner and American Literature Nobel Prize winner William Faulkner is commonly considered one of America’s most creative and inspiring novelists. Influenced by authors such as Phil Stone, Sherwood Anderson, and James Joyce, Faulkner’s works center on themes like racism, sexuality, and social decline that was taking place in the 1920’s and 30’s in the South. At the core of his stories and novels are symbols of decay, like Miss Emily in “A Rose for Emily”, and Southern pride, like in “The Sound and the Fury”. His experimental use of techniques, such as stream-of-consciousness and multiple narrators, make his work challenging to read, but nonetheless unique. Many of Faulkner's writings are set in Yoknapatawpha County, a fictional area reflecting his native Lafayette County, which played a major role in shaping one of the world’s most artistic imaginations. William Faulkner (he actually added the u later) was born on September 25, 1897, in New Albany, Mississippi. He was named after his great-grandfather, William Clark Falkner, the “Old Colonel” who often appears in William’s stories. As a young boy, he would often listen to stories told to him by his family, particularly his mother Maud and his grandmother Lelia – both of which were well-educated and excellent readers. These included stories of the Civil War, the Ku Klux Klan, slavery, and the Falkner family. Considering this, it is easy to see how themes of racism, sexuality, and battles of...
Words: 1093 - Pages: 5
...Love-Ashby P. Elmore Composition II 1302-7420 5/25/11 FAULKNER Faulkner was born in 1897, to a genteel southern family. His father, Murry Cuthbert Falkner, was a railroad worker, owner of a cottonseed oil and ice plant, livery stable operator, hardware store employee, and secretary and business manager at University of Mississippi. His mother was Maud Butler Falkner. Falkner grew up and spent most of his life, off and on, in Oxford, Mississippi. He trained for the Royal Air Force in Canada, and later the British Royal Air Force during World War I, but the war was over before he saw action. After the war he briefly attended the University of Mississippi. He married Lida Estelle Oldham Franklin, June 20, 1929. The Faulkner works were greatly influenced by his family history. The area in which he lived had a great deal to do with his sense of the doleful position of Black and WhiteAmericans. This also influenced his sense of humor and is said to be the legacy of earlier writers like Mark Twain. Faulkner was best known for his novels, but he also wrote short stories, poetry and occasional screenplays.. Film versions have been made of several of his works: Sanctuary (1961), Intruder in the Dust (1949), The Sound and the Fury(1959), The Reivers (1969), and Pylon (1957; or Tarnished Angels). Others (Requiem for a Nun, 1951, and "Barn Burning") have been filmed for television. (Pierce, Constance, and Heller) Faulkner received the 1949 Nobel Prize for Literature for "his powerful...
Words: 2838 - Pages: 12
...Name Professor Course William Faulkner William Faulkner is viewed by many as America's greatest writer of fiction. He was born in New Albany, Mississippi, where he lived a life of up and downs. Although, despite the down times he would become known as a poet, a short story writer, and finally one of the greatest contemporary novelists of his time. William Faulkner's accomplishments resulted not only from his love and devotion to writing, but also from family, friends, and certain uncontrollable events. William Faulkner's life is an astonishing accomplishment; however, it is crucial to explore his styles of writing, and how one particular style of writing was able to alter my path in the way I approach my goals in life. He adjusts the style to fit the topic, able to adapt a more traditional type as he easily can invent new, complicated techniques of writing. Throughout his early education, he would work conscientiously at reading, spelling, writing, and arithmetic. However, he especially enjoyed drawing. When Faulkner got promoted to the third grade, skipping the second grade, he was asked by his teacher what he wanted to be when he grew up. He replied, "I want to be a writer just like my great granddaddy"(Minter 18). Faulkner took interest in poetry around 1910, but no one in Oxford, Mississippi, could tell him what to do with his poems. Shortly after, he met a man named Phil Stone. So one afternoon, Stone went to Faulkner's house to get to know him better, and...
Words: 1252 - Pages: 6
...The Tall-Tall Tale of William Faulkner Gavin D. Respress ENG 1102 Troy University The Tall-Tall Tale of William Faulkner The brilliant author William Faulkner stood only five feet, six inches tall, but he is enormous in size in relations to American literature. Faulkner was a prominent writer from the state of Mississippi, who became a Nobel Prize winning novelist and an excellent short story writer who is admired worldwide as one of the best writers of the twentieth century. He is giving credit for transforming the deep-south region of Mississippi in to a fictional setting, where he explained, tested and explored “the old verities and truths of the heart.” In less than a decade, Faulkner accomplished more artistically than most writers have accomplish in their entire lifetime. In fact, his greatest creative triumph is during the period of The Sound and the Fury in 1929 to Go Down, Moses in 1942. This essay will discuss how William Faulkner became a legend of American literature, writing a series of novels, in spite of never graduating from high school or attending college, while living in the poorest state in America and balancing a large family and financial setbacks during the Great Depression. William Faulkner was the first of four sons born to Murry and Maud Butler Falkner in New Albany, Mississippi on September 25, 1897. His parents named him after his great-grandfather who was killed eight years prior in a battle in the streets with a former business...
Words: 2405 - Pages: 10
...William Faulkner HUMN 142 Swapnil Davada Professor – Bonnie Ronson 04/09/2016 William Faulkner was a well-known novelist for his writings of short stories and fictions. His writings of novels, short stories, screenplay and fictional work took him to the stage of the Noble prize winners. On the day of him receiving the award, Willian Faulkner stated “I feel that this award was not made to me as a man, but to my work” (http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1949/faulkner-speech.html). The Nobel Prize is what made William Faulkner known to the American public, as even though his work was majorly written in early 1900’s, it wasn’t appreciated till 1949. This is what made him as one of the most celebrated writers in the field of American literature in his time. As per the information on William Faulkner, 13 novels and a lot of other short stories were published by him by 1920. This included the famous novels like “As I lay Dying”, “The sound and the Fury”, and “Light in August”. On the day of William Faulkner receiving the Nobel Prize, he stated in his speech: “the young man or woman writing today has forgotten the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself which alone can make good writing because only that is worth writing about, worth the agony and the sweat.” (http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1949/faulkner-speech.html) His most of writing focused on the conflicts that humans face within himself/herself. Every...
Words: 937 - Pages: 4
...------------------------------------------------- William Faulkner William Faulkner (September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was a Nobel Prize-winning American author. One of the most influential writers of the20th century, his reputation is based on his novels, novellas and short stories. He was also a published poet and an occasional screenwriter. Most of Faulkner's works are set in his native state of Mississippi. He is considered one of the most important Southern writers along withMark Twain, Robert Penn Warren, Flannery O'Connor, Truman Capote, Eudora Welty, and Tennessee Williams. While his work was published regularly starting in the mid 1920s, Faulkner was relatively unknown before receiving the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature. Since then, he has often been cited as one of the most important writers in the history of American literature. ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Biography Born William Cuthbert Falkner in New Albany, Mississippi, he was the eldest son of Murry Cuthbert Falkner (August 17, 1870 – August 7, 1932) and Maud Butler (November 27, 1871 – October 16, 1960). He later changed the spelling of his name to Faulkner. His brothers were Murry Charles "Jack" Falkner (June 26, 1899 – December 24, 1975), author John Falkner (later Faulkner) (September 24, 1901 – March 28, 1963) and Dean Swift Falkner (August 15, 1907 – November 10, 1935). Faulkner was raised in and heavily influenced by the state of Mississippi...
Words: 2731 - Pages: 11
...William Faulkner - Biographical William Faulkner (1897-1962), who came from an old southern family, grew up in Oxford, Mississippi. He joined the Canadian, and later the British, Royal Air Force during the First World War, studied for a while at the University of Mississippi, and temporarily worked for a New York bookstore and a New Orleans newspaper. Except for some trips to Europe and Asia, and a few brief stays in Hollywood as a scriptwriter, he worked on his novels and short stories on a farm in Oxford. In an attempt to create a saga of his own, Faulkner has invented a host of characters typical of the historical growth and subsequent decadence of the South. The human drama in Faulkner's novels is then built on the model of the actual, historical drama extending over almost a century and a half Each story and each novel contributes to the construction of a whole, which is the imaginary Yoknapatawpha County and its inhabitants. Their theme is the decay of the old South, as represented by the Sartoris and Compson families, and the emergence of ruthless and brash newcomers, the Snopeses. Theme and technique - the distortion of time through the use of the inner monologue are fused particularly successfully in The Sound and the Fury(1929), the downfall of the Compson family seen through the minds of several characters. The novel Sanctuary (1931) is about the degeneration of Temple Drake, a young girl from a distinguished southern family. Its sequel, Requiem For A Nun (1951)...
Words: 440 - Pages: 2
...William Faulkner Standing at just five feet, five inches tall William Faulkner was very small in stature, so much so that he was rejected by the U.S. Army, but his work made him a giant in the history of American Literature. Faulkner was a Nobel Peace Prize winning author and is considered one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. He is considered to have one of the most amazing periods of writing in the history of literature. Between 1929 and 1942 Faulkner published several famous novels, all coming during the Great Depression. He was able to write these novels without graduating high school or gaining a college degree. He even wrote one of the most famous novels in American history during this period called, “Absalom, Absalom!”....
Words: 1342 - Pages: 6
...The style of Faulkner and Hemmingway in “Barn Burning: and “A Clean, Well-Lighted place, respectively, is completely different. The writing of Hemmingway is quite unique due to which he can be considered different from other authors. There is a slow tempo of the story at the beginning and create a serene feeling for the reader. In contrast, Faulkner is quite extreme and takes a completely different approach by utilizing complex terms. Hemmingway prefers to write short sentences in comparison to Faulkner whose sentences are quite lengthy at times and make up a complete passage. Furthermore, the vocabulary used by Hemmingway is quite simple and easy to understand, however, this might pose a problem as well-educated readers will probably lose...
Words: 266 - Pages: 2
...For example, in the beginning of “A Rose for Emily,” Faulkner uses the pronoun “we” without clarification, then changes to “they,” again without clarification. Nebeker discusses that the subjects change from the old generation, which is a representation of the old Southern ideologies, to the new generation, which is a representation of the new Northern ideologies. In addition to Nebeker, Palmer agrees that “Faulkner uses partial and flawed subjects who demonstrate their own inadequacy in the face of the forces of history (Palmer 121)” Palmer is referring to the abstract subjects, like the old and new generations Falkner alludes to, that are flawed in ideologies and have existed in history. This excerpt, “So she vanquished them, horse and foot,...
Words: 1714 - Pages: 7
...The Power of Symbolism Used in Faulkner's A Rose for Emily In 1897, William Faulkner was brought up in Oxford, Mississippi. To be wealthy in those days of the south (or not), meant the difference between whether one was worthy of praise, or not. Faulkner's family was no longer high on the wealth "berth," but it was still respected due to the honor it possessed. Southerners placed a wealth of stock in big positions in life, as well as being a war hero. Faulkner's father and grandfather fit the bill perfectly. His father was treasurer of the university of Mississippi, in oxford. Before this, his grandfather had acquitted himself admirably by becoming a hero of the civil war. The point is made that even though the family no longer occupied...
Words: 338 - Pages: 2
...A Rose for Emily When reading literature it is important to identify characters into to certain categories. The easiest of these categories are the protagonist and the antagonist. Though people automatically define them as the good guy and bad guy, it is really just that the protagonist is the one that has things happening to them and the antagonist is the one cause the things to happen. There can be many protagonist and antagonist in a story, though to find the main one just look for the ones that are doing it more predominantly. Some times in a story the protagonist can also have some qualities of an antagonist. While reading A Rose for Emily, you read about Emily Grierson. IT starts with the funeral for her, and how the town reacts. The men showing respect to her for who her father was, and the women intrigued by the mystery of her house in which no one had been in for over ten years. We find out that her father was a onetime wealthy and prominent man with in the community. He also became crazy and kept Emily sheltered from the outside world. When he died it devastated Emily to the point she shut the outside world even more. Her one and only love, which she was to marry, had died also. With each passing she became more and more withdrawn. Though while being withdrawn Emily become more and more bitter towards society. When the town decides that she must now pay taxes, she constantly defied their notices. When a strange odor start to emit from her house and she...
Words: 483 - Pages: 2
...William Faulkner’s, “Barn Burning,” is a story of a sharecropper, Abner Snopes, and the plight of his family during tense class times in the South. Sharecropping became a way of life in the South after the Civil War and the abolishment of slavery. It was during this post- bellum time that social class tensions were on the rise as sharecropping took advantage of poor white people, while greatly benefiting the wealthy. Faulkner uses Abner Snopes and his family as a portal to the trials and tribulations of a poor white sharecropping family. Faulkner’s, “Barn Burning,” is an excellent portrayal of the extreme disparity and injustice within the social classes in the South. This disparity and injustice is what triggers the leader of the family, Abner Snopes, to let out his aggression by burning barns. The dynamics of class system and hierarchy are well demonstrated throughout the, “Barn Burning.” Not only is it evident in the social and cultural details surrounding the Snope’s lives, but, it is also evident within their immediate family dynamics. Abner Snopes is the authoritative head of the family in, “Barn Burning.” Abner calls the shots in regards to his family, throughout the story. His position amongst society is quite opposite of the role he has within his own family. As a sharecropper and tenant of wealthy plantation owners, Abner was treated much like a slave. At one point in the story, Abner says, “I reckon I’ll have a word with the man that aims to begin to-morrow...
Words: 813 - Pages: 4
...Nancy Wood Ms. Worthington Eng 102 Feb. 14th, 2013 Analysis Of Barn Burning-William Faulkner How is the setting in the Barn Burning southern? There are many things that prove this story is very southern and they are as follows: the use of the word N___er, reference “share cropping after the Civil War”, (The History Channel) a Nigro servant in what is plainly an Plantation like house, the father was in the war as an Confederate soldier, and several stereo typical southern references as well as the use of common southern accents.. The use of “N___er” (AFRAKA) is used multiple times in this story. It is used openly and without shame in regard to any person of color referenced in the story. This term is not as acceptable as it used to be, in reference to people of color, the term black is acceptable now in the south even though it doesn’t matter what one’s skin color is, we are in fact equal. “It is probable that n---er is a phonetic spelling of the white southern mispronunciation of nego” The family that is the focus of this story is sharecroppers, Landless laborers who rent land from landowners in return for a portion of their crop. The sharecropping system was developed as a way for landowners to establish a work force after the abolition of slavery in the south. To this day landowners still rent their land to the landless so that both can make a profit. Plantation houses of the classic antebellum style are indicative of the southern society before and after the civil...
Words: 627 - Pages: 3
...William Faulkner once said, “Given a choice between grief and nothing, I'd choose grief” (Brainyquote). He further explains why he’d do this in “A Rose for Emily”; although the story is not about him, he details the loneliness and selfishness of a poor woman, Miss Emily. Miss Emily is unable to grip the idea of death and suffers great deals of denial. After the death of her father, the townspeople expected her to be in a state of grief but alas she is not. Instead she proceeds to say that her father is very well with her, alive. William Faulkner’s idea of grieving is clear in this story because he shows his audience that it is better to accept death than to ignore it through the accounts of Miss Emily’s journey. William Faulkner’s story takes place in the South, during a time period of racial discrimination and major political change. By using reader response criticism, a reader can analyze “A Rose for Emily” through the aspects of the secret held within the story, race found through anthropology, and gender found through anthropology. To begin with, one can analyze “A Rose for Emily” by examining the underlying hidden message found within the story. The hidden message that William Faulkner tried to convey in his story was the themes of death and change. Death looms through the story from the beginning right on through to the end as the narrator begins describing the beginning of Miss Emily’s funeral. Miss Emily herself chooses not to accept the fate of death when her extremely...
Words: 1089 - Pages: 5
