Faulkner's Definition

1. Why do you supposed Faulkner presents these events OUT of their actual chronological order?

Faulkner’s speech of 1950 at the Nobel Banquet established a new definition of good writing, one engulfed within the tortures and joys of the human condition. To write only of the lustful and greedy, the gluttons and slothful is in Faulkner’s eyes literary blasphemy, for concentrating only upon the fall of man discredits the countless amounts of admirable traits of man persevering throughout his trials. Rather an author’s duty in Faulkner’s eyes is simple; to project the inner yearnings of man and exemplify through characters ‘the old verities and truths of the heart’, the universal truths in which all men can relate, those of love and pity, and of compassion and sacrifice. Focusing upon the suffering of men, Faulkner states that the writer

The primary purpose of Faulkner’s graduation address is to motivate the students as they trudge on in the long road of life. His speech also reflects the turbulent political climate of his time. Faulkner’s speech establishes a common enemy – the politicians of the world trying to conquer Man’s individuality – and proceeds viciously attack the enemy, hoping to bring the students together in a common cause. The students must maintain their integrity, their individuality, their voice, in the fight against the liberal politics and politicians that he alludes to.

After reading through a large chunk of criticism, it seems clear to me how David Minter, editor of our edition, hopes to direct the readers’ attentions. I was rather dumbstruck by the number of essays included in the criticism of this edition that felt compelled to discuss Faulkner and the writing of The Sound and the Fury seemingly more than to discuss the text itself. Upon going back over the essay, I realized that Minter’s own contribution, “Faulkner, Childhood, and the Making of The Sound and the Fury,” is a prime example of such “criticism of the text” that focuses on the author, his creation of the text as a process, and the author’s self-professed opinions of the text. I have a number of

Through the use of words that consistently correlate with the tone within each section of the piece, Faulkner was able to teach the innocent about how one can grow over time. Faulkner’s piece enables the innocent to obtain new experiences and knowledge that one was not able to understand before. He teaches the innocent that development does occur immediately, and it is constantly

“Help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and pity and sacrifice which have been of his past.” (Oates,246) was stated in his acceptance speech. Many say that his writing reflects on today’s literature. He is known for making a enormous remark on the evolutionary periods in this society. ‪Faulkner’s style in his short stories is not the same as the typical writing you see in most short stories. Faulkner’s narrative techniques show numerous descriptions, details, and has a complex structure presented in his stories. ‬‬

Moving away from the style of Faulkner’s written word, the order and method in which the story unravels is

William Faulkner was born September 25, 1897, in Oxford, Mississippi. After living there for most of his life, he later moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, where he was a writer in the residence at the University of Virginia. Faulkner published 19 novels and more than 75 short stories between 1926 and 1962. Faulkner is known best for some of his ground breaking novels: The Sound and the Fury; As I Lay Dying; Light in August; Absalom, Absalom! and Go Down, Moses. Like the novels, the majority of Faulkner’s stories were set in the South. Particularly in Yoknapatawpha County, there he invented fictional black and white characters. His major fictional families include the Sartoris, Snopes, De Spain, Compson, Sutpen, McCaslin, and Carothers (The Facts on File Companion to American Short Story). The characters appeared multiple times carefully outlining their family histories throughout Faulkner’s canon. The majority of his stories were in the country he resided. He made use of myths, legends, themes, situations and characters; repeatedly experimenting with these and other techniques. Critic James G. Watson brings forth a key point by deepening the meaning in Faulkner’s short stories by stating these stories do more than entertain, they explain the world. These stories broaden our view of history, people of different regions, and overall of humanity. A significant fact about Faulkner’s story collection is that he envisioned them contrapuntally that is, he

     In April of 1926 Estelle had divorced her husband and married Faulkner bringing along her two children Malcolm and Victoria (“Faulkner, William”). Now working nights in a power plant Faulkner’s creative genius seemed to be at stake but still he wrote another book to add to his ever expanding collection. In April of 1930 Faulkner bought a home in Oxford that sank him deeper into debt.

were very much separate from the “ladder” of society. The “old” south was build on a very

The south was once the land of America’s kings and queens. Dresses were large, parties were larger, and mansions larger still. The Great Depression made this lavish life style nearly impossible to maintain, but the south held tight to their traditions and strict hierarchy. William Faulkner symbolizes a struggle to cling to the dying past and the traditions of the old south through the attitudes and actions of the people of Jefferson Country, in particular, Emily Grierson; age, disuse, and decay are prevalent motifs used to elaborate on Faulkner’s symbolism.

Understanding Faulkner’s upbringing is a key component in discovering how his stories had such a realistic feel to them. On September 25, 1897, Faulkner was born in the small rural town of New Albany, Mississippi. He held various occupations, including a railroad financier, businessman, lawyer, farmer, and writer in his later years. His affinity with writing and reading began at the age of 12. His mother and grandmother helped birth this interest in Faulkner because they were both very heavy readers. Faulkner’s natural intelligence caused school to bore him and he dropped out of high school without earning a diploma. He then began working after at his

Mr. Snopes valued his reputation and his son´s loyalty to him and the family more than his loyalty to truth and virtue. This exploration of Faulkner signals the cultural modern change. In the realist 1800s, it would have been apparent that

Faulkner has been hailed as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century, especially for his depictions of life in the Deep South. Many of his stories take place in fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi. In the Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying, he focuses on two very different families in this county, and explores how the “iniquity of the fathers” is revisited “upon the children” (Holy Bible: KJV Deut. 5.9). In both novels, through the use of stream of consciousness and various other modernist writing techniques, Faulkner looks at two deeply troubled families with weak parents and confused children and explores how these children cope--or fail to

Faulkner counters the rhetorical figures of language with literary devices of his own. He employs a style that unites or reverses apparent opposites and his