William Faulkner 's Banquet Speech

In William Faulkner’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech, he speaks about the true purpose of writing and the importance of genuinely putting your heart into your work. He discusses how the only way writing can truly be valuable is if the author is dedicated to showing the authentic love the human spirit holds and what that love is capable of accomplishing. A good piece of writing will show both strength and vulnerability and will not be written for fame or recognition. It will be written for the sake of creating and spreading a message that is important to the author. In their memoirs, An American Childhood and The Road from Coorain, Annie Dillard and Jill Ker Conway, both feel very strongly about their purpose for writing. Conway tends to express her reasons for writing explicitly, while Dillard chooses to do it more implicitly.

American history is fraught with racism. Its evolution is depicted in literature through the ages, from journal entries of colonial slavery to novels about modern-day race relations. Countee Cullen was a black poet alive during the Harlem Renaissance whose poems “Tableau” and “Incident” portray racism as it was in the early 20th century. Through the use of figurative language and tone, Cullen develops in each poem themes about the effects of small actions.

There are numerous works of literature that recount a story- a story from which inspiration flourishes, providing a source of liberating motivation to its audience, or a story that simply aspires to touch the hearts and souls of all of those who read it. One of the most prevalent themes in historical types of these kinds of literature is racism. In America specifically, African Americans endured racism heavily, especially in the South, and did not gain equal rights until the 1960s. In her renowned book The Color Purple, Alice Walker narrates the journey of an African American woman, Celie Johnson (Harris), who experiences racism, sexism, and enduring hardships throughout the course of her life; nonetheless, through the help of friends and

The film reminds us that “slavery and its aftermath involved the emasculation-physical as well as psychological - of black men, the drive for black power was usually taken to mean a call for black male power, despite the needs of (and often with the complicity of) black women. That continues to result in the devaluing of black female contributions to the liberation struggle and in the subordination of black women in general.”4

At the end of “Rebels”, Walton summarises his feelings on the success of racial empowerment movements, beginning with a visit to the gravesite of prominent writer and black rights advocate William Faulkner. Though Faulkner was white, many of his books

Who knew a high school dropout would become one of the most well-known authors still known today? Even though William Faulkner did not finish school (“William Faulkner – Biographical”), he certainly knew how to capture a reader’s attention and drop them into a new world with just a pen. The style in which he writes is unique. With only three semesters of college, he was forced to create from nearly a blank slate; college had not brainwashed him in to a repetitive nature with writing a certain way. He was forced to think outside the box and this makes him stand out from other writers. The building blocks of his stories can be derived from his life. If a reader had a collection of his literature, it would not be hard for them to take a guess at what his personal life was like. Faulkner lived an interesting life and incorporated its aspects into his short stories, two of which, “A Rose for Emily” and “Dry September,” have similar characters, symbolism, and themes. Critics have explored the meanings behind his work and thus given readers a better insight.

Sitting on the bus, an African American woman was viciously barked at by the white bus driver to give up her seat to a white man. The woman was Rosa Parks and this event sparked the beginning of the first large-scale demonstration against segregation in the U.S and labeled her as the “first lady of civil rights.” For years, Parks and people of color were seen as detestable in the eyes of white Americans. They were forced to work dehumanizing jobs and follow rigid social predestinations. Women, in particular, carried these fates with them long after this era as they were seen as inferior to men; women were given limited rights and were expected to comply to the stereotypical duties. It would thus be apparent that they would wish to be liberated from such dehumanizing work. Such an opportunity came during the Harlem Renaissance when these downtrodden females were ultimately given a voice. African American writers, such as Georgia Douglas Johnson, emerged and finally had the power to exploit their years of pain in an attempt at reform. Georgia Douglas Johnson wrote about oppression in her poems “Common Dust,” “Black Woman,” and “The Heart of a Woman” to expose society’s unjust treatment of African American women and inspire change.

American writer and Nobel Prize laureate from Oxford, Mississippi, William Faulkner in his inspirational banquet speech, asserts that humanity can overcome war which he referred to the Cold War that was occurring at the time, and gives advice to what it means to be a talented writer. He supports his claim by first explaining how the award is not truly for him, but for his work. Furthermore, he also gives advice to upcoming writers and tells to embrace the “Truths of the heart” to have substance in what they write. Finally he uses pathos to make the speech more relatable to the audience and uses this to express his fear with being blown up during the occurrence of the war. Faulkner's purpose is to persuade young writers to keep in their minds

In the book “Woman of Color, Daughter of Privilege,” the author Kent Anderson Leslie discusses the life of Amanda America Dickson. Ms.Dickson was a born-into-privilege daughter of a young slave and her white master, who was also a very wealthy and socially accepted planter. Being a mulatto child from a white father who was greatly successful, Amanda America Dickson’s life could have been completely different. Yet, her father David Dickson and some of his family, made sure that her life wasn’t. Amanda America could ave been freed in another state, but would not have been able to return back to Georgia, so Elizabeth, and David decided to keep her as a slave.

Upon receiving the Nobel Prize for his excellence in writing, William Faulkner expresses his dismay towards the writers of the day and laid out what he terms “the writer’s duty.” In his acceptance speech, Faulkner is disheartened by the fact that young writers continue to discuss “the end of man” in their work. Faulkner advocates that authors must make all efforts to “help man endure by lifting his heart.” Because man leads a difficult life, writers are obligated to use their work to uplift and inspire the reader’s sprit. In his memoir, Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt raises the reader’s spirits by illustrating that although one may have a reprobate nature,

William Faulkner was an often misunderstood writer of many novels and short stories. ("William Faulkner’s Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech ") It was not until 1949 and after his death when he was given the Nobel Prize in Literature that people began to acknowledge him and his works. ("William Faulkner") In his Nobel Prize of Literature acceptance speech, at the city hall in Stockholm on December 10, 1950, Faulkner uses a powerful tone and effective rhetorical devices to convey his purpose. In his Nobel Prize of Literature acceptance speech, William Faulkner utilizes rhetorical devices such as

Naylor’s is a story of pride not shame The word that the young boy had tried to use to degrade her was a not a foreign one to her, she realizes “this could not have been the first the word had been used in [her] presence”(Naylor, 3). The word was commonplace in her home of Harlem, in use no longer as an insult but as something that had been incorporated into the African American lexicon, something to hold pride in. In Harlem the word “nigger”(Naylor, 5) had been given an empowering purpose. Naylor tells us it became a term applied to a man “whose strength, intelligence, and drive” (Naylor, 6) had distinguished him , for women it had become “a term of endearment for a [their] husbands and boyfriends” (Naylor, 9 ). It had become “the essence of manhood” (Naylor, 9 ), and now had more in common within the African American community with the word “girl” (Naylor, 11) than a racially charged slur. Through striking diction and a didactic tone, Naylor tells us a story of pride that contrast greatly with Gates’ humiliation, and sends a message, that although words can be destructive, it is the tongues that speak them that set their meanings, and the power and meaning of a word is smithed by those who use

William Faulkner’s unconventional writing style is widely renowned for his disregard of literary rules and his keen ability to peer into the psychological depths of his characters. His novel As I Lay Dying is no exception to his signature style. This book sets forth the death of Addie Bundren, her family’s journey through Yoknapatawpha County to bury her with her relatives in Jefferson, Mississippi, and examines each character in depth from a variety of perspectives. While this journey wreaks havoc among members of the family, As I Lay Dying serves as a dark reminder that life is to be lived and that happiness is within reach.

In “That Evening Sun,” William Faulkner uses only thousands of words to recreate the old, cruel doctrine of racial discrimination in the South America. The whole story is told by a young boy, and it analyses the miserable life of a poor black woman, Nancy, from a naïve child’s perspective. The words in the story are simple but straightforward. Faulkner makes this story strange but unique by leaving no special relationship between the young narrator and the black woman, so the narrator is pushing the entire story with his truest descriptions and most direct portrays. This objective way of narration highlights the black woman’s tragic fate that is brought by the unfair society. Under the child’s simple narration, there are darkness and misery lying under the mask.

His novel explores the healing process as well as the digression and push back of those in the South unable to compromise with the loss and renewal of life they had to make. The complex and alternating speakers and stories are laced together disruptive families that carry ties back to one another. The problems of intermarriages between blacks and whites, incest, the individuality being stripped from what people had known reaches peoples limits. Faulkner plays with these important moments, memories, ages and thoughts that prove his beliefs of this broken image of America.