Name____________________________________ Date_______________ Class______
As I Lay Dying
Chapter Questions
Darl (pg 3)
Vocabulary
1. Adze
2. Dilapidation
3. Endued
4. Plumb-line
1. What details about Jewel foreshadow his personality?
2. What is the significance of the comparison of the wooden boards to gold?
3. Explain the spacing of the words “Chuck. Chuck. Chuck”
Cora (Pg 6)
Vocabulary
1. Chide
2. Shucks
1. How does Cora contradict herself in this chapter?
2. What detail indicates past tension between Cora and Addie?
Darl (pg 10)
Vocabulary
1. brogans
2. gourd
3. hiatus
4. leech
5. myriad
6. orifice
1. What details are used to show the difference between the Bundren family and the Tull
family, as far as social position?
2. What is unusual about the way Jewel interacts with his horse?
Jewel (Pg 14)
1. What is unusual about the structure of this novel so far?
2. What does Jewel think Cash’s motive is for building the coffin?
3. What is the significance of the repeated phrase “One lick less”?
Darl (Pg 16)
Vocabulary
1. aghast
2. decorous
3. flail
1. What literary device enhances the exact nature of Vernon Tull’s spitting?
2. What details are used to show Anse Bundren’s (Pa’s) incomplete masculinity?
3. What repeated details are you noticing about Jewel?
Cora (Pg 21)
Vocabulary
1. coddled
2. frailed
3. partiality
1. What elements are unique to Cora’s narrative style?
2. According to the Tulls, what seems to be the primary motivating ethic for the
Bundrens?
Dewey Dell (Pg 26)
Vocabulary
1. dassent
1. In the first section, Darla views Cash’s work as turning the boards into gold as they
become their mother’s coffin. How does Dewey Dell view this work?
2. What details about Dewey Dell’s sexual encounter with Lafe link it with fate and
death?
Tull (Pg 29)
1. What phrase does Anse repeat in this (and subsequent) passage? Why is it an example
of irony?
2. How does Tull feel about helping Anse?
Anse (Pg 35)
Vocabulary
1. hale
2. victuals
1. How does Anse’s monologue about the road express his basic personality?
2. What phrase or idea is repeated throughout this passage that shows Anse’s primary
source of frustration?
3. Anse ends the chapter by saying, “But I just can’t seem to get no heart into it.” How is
this a summary of Anse’s life?
Darl (Pg 39)
1. What image does Darl notice that evokes the Fates?
2. Earlier, Dewey Dell ‘s sexual encounter with Lafe was presented with imagery of fate
and death. How does that continue in this chapter?
Peabody (Pg 41)
1. How is Peabody’s reaction to Anse similar to Tull’s reaction?
2. According to Peabody, whom does death affect the most?
3. What image foreshadows the fact that Addie’s death will happen very soon?
4. How is alliteration used in the last paragraph of the passage to express the emotional
effect of the sound of Cash’s saw?
Darl (Pg 47)
Vocabulary
1. approbation
2. censure
3. engendered
4. juxtaposition
5. keen
6. penurious
7. semblance
8. travail
9. ubiquity
1. Describe Cash’s last interaction with his mother.
2. What is the function of the italicized text in this passage?
3. Contrast Anse’s reaction to his wife’s death to the way his children respond.
Vardaman (Pg 53)
Vocabulary
1. fetlock
1. Who does Vardaman think is responsible for his mother’s death?
2. Explain what Vardaman means when he says he is “vomiting the crying.”
3. What revenge does Vardaman take on Peabody?
Dewey Dell (Pg 58)
Vocabulary
1. stertorous
1. Explain Dewey Dell’s view of pregnancy.
2. Is Dewey Dell self-absorbed? How can you tell?
3. When Dewey Dell finds Vardaman hiding in the barn, how does she interact with him?
Vardaman (pg. 65)
1. Why does the nailing of the coffin represent such a crisis for Vardaman?
Tull (Pg. 68)
1. Compare and contrast Vernon and Cora’s views of appropriate ways to help others in
need.
2. Verdaman seems to be confusing his mother with the fish that he caught. How do Cora
and Vernon interpret this mental reaction to Addie’s death?
3. How does Vardaman try to “save” his mother?
4. How does the end of this section summarize Vernon’s feelins about Cora’s judgments?
Darl (Pg 75)
Vocabulary
1. bevel
2. burlesque
3. caricaturist
4. fluctuant
5. impalpable
6. reverberant
7. silhouette
1. Contrast Cash’s and Anse’s response to the rain.
2. Once the coffin is finished, how do the men treat it differently? What is the
significance?
3. How does Darl explain Jewel’s discontent?
4. What does Darl mean by the use of “is” and “was” at the end of the passage?
Cash (Pg 82)
1. Cash’s longest passage comes in the form of a logical argument. What does this tell us
about him?
Vardaman (pg 84)
1. What does this very short passage express?
Tull (Pg 85)
Vocabulary
1. Commence
1. What is ironic about Addie’s funeral attire?
2. When Whitfield enters, does he focus matters on God or on himself? How do you
know?
3. What is the function of the italicized passage on pg 90-91? 92?
4. Where has Vardaman been during the service?
Darl (Pg 94)
Vocabulary
1. implacable
2. portentous
3. retrograde
1. Darl says, “I cannot love my mother because I have no mother. Jewel’s mother is a
horse.” Explain the significance of this.
Cash (Pg 96)
1. What is the argument here about?
Darl (Pg 97)
Vocabulary
1. emaciation
1. Explain the significance of Jewel’s physical appearance.
Vardaman (Pg 100)
1. What does Vardaman want that is town?
2. Explain the odd conversation between Darl and Vardaman as they are getting ready to
go in the wagon.
Darl (Pg 103)
Vocabulary
1. cattymount
2. surreptitious
1. When Darl looks a Dewey Dell, who does he see in her eyes? What is the significance
of this?
Anse (Pg 105)
1. Why does Jewel not leave with the rest of the family? What happens in this passage?
Darl (Pg 107)
Vocabulary
1. capitulation
2. scoriation
3. soporific
4. uninferant
1. Describe and explain the significance of the New Hope church sign.
Anse ( Pg 110)
1. What is ironic about Anse’s monologue about society?
2. What is Anse’s source of comfort as he tries to get to Jefferson?
Samson (Pg 112)
1. What observation does Samson make about Anse? How accurate is he?
2. What does Samson say is a key difference between men women?
Dewey Dell (Pg 120)
1. What sentence perhaps best sums up Dewey Dell’s mental and emotional state?
2. Explain the significance of the paragraph beginning “The land runs out of Darl’s eyes.”
3. What is the function of the syntax in the last paragraph, where Dewey Dell mentions
belief in God?
Tull (Pg 123)
1. According to Vernon, what is the most unnerving part of Darl’s personality?
2. Do you think it is Anse’s promise to Addie that makes him go to Jefferson despite the
flood? Why or why not?
3. What details about Jewel show his inner ambivalence and rage?
Darl (Pg 128)
Vocabulary
1. gaunt
2. monotonous
1. When Jewel is sneaking out late at night and sleeping during he days, Addie either
does his chores of gets one of the other children to do them, and hids that from Anse.
Why is this ironic?
2. What do Cash and Darl think that Jewel is doing out late at night? Are they right?
Tull (Pg 137)
1. Vardaman gives Vernon the confidence to go back over the bridge to his mule. What is
the significance of this passage?
Darl (Pg 141)
Vocabulary
1. flotsam
2. irrevocable
3. plaintive
4. stanchion
1. What images are used to foreshadow the wagon’s destruction?
2. Compare and contrast the final two images of the passage: Jewel beating his horse, and
the final appearance of the mules out of the water.
Vardaman (Pg 150)
1. What is unusual about the syntax of this passage? What is the purpose?
2. What is the function of the italicized portion of this passage?
Tull (Pg 152)
Vocabulary
1. sacrilege
1. How does Cora interpret the log’s destruction of the wagon? What is Vernon’s
response to Cora?
2. In her conversations with Vernon, when does Cora seem to learn most heavily on
religion?
Darl (Pg 156)
Vocabulary
1. infinitesimal
2. ludicrous
3. scuttles
4. stagnation
1. When Anse, Jewel, Darl, Vernon, and Cash are looking for Cash’s tools, Anse says,
“Was there ere a such misfortune man.” To whom is he referring?
2. Describe Anse’s actions during the hunt for Cash’s tools.
3. Explain the significance of the last sentence of the passage.
Cash (Pg 165)
1. Explain the significance of the last sentence in the passage.
Cora (Pg 166)
Vocabulary
1. expiation
1. Addie tells Cora that her “daily life is an acknowledgement and expiation of (her) sin.”
What does she mean? What does Cora think she means?
2. What seems to be Addie’s opinion of grace, according to her conversation with Cora?
3. Where does it seem that Addie has placed her ultimate faith.
Addie (Pg 169)
1. Addie’s father told her that “the reason for living was to get ready to stay dead a long
time.” How does this help shape Addie as a teacher and as a wife?
2. Describe the nature of Anse’s courtship of Addie.
3. What is Addie’s opinion of the relationship between words and the experiences or
images that they signify?
4. What seems to be Addie’s most prized emotional possession?
5. What causes Addie to have her affair with Whitfield?
6. What is Addie’s response to Cora?
7. How does Addie rationalize her life after her affair with Witfield?
8. What does Addie mean by “cleaning up the house afterward”?
Whitfield (Pg 177)
Vocabulary
1. surmount
2. transgression
1. When Whitfield hears that Addie is dying, what is his resolution?
2. What is Whitfield’s stated motivation for revealing his sin? Is this the same as his
actual motivation?
3. What does Whitfield see as a sign of God’s forgiveness for his adultery?
4. Why does Whitfield not reveal his sin to Anse?
Darl (Pg 180)
1. Anse has been adamant that his children not “flout” the memory of Addie by doing
such things as riding a horse, or bringing their tools in the wagon. How does Anse flout
Addie’s memory in this section?
2. The function of the italicized text in this section seems to be to show us Darl’s
thoughts about Jewel while the rest of the events are happening. What is the purpose of
this?
3. In the last paragraph, what image is repeated to describe Jewel’s horse?
Armstid (Pg 184)
1. What does Anse trade to get a team of mules from Snopes? What effect does this have
on Jewel? Or Armstid?
Vardaman (Pg 194)
1. What are the creatures in “tall black circles”?
2. How does Vardaman describe Cash’s sensations of pain?
Moseley (Pg 198)
Vocabulary
1. liefer
2. toilet water
1. What is the difference between Moseley’s and Dewey Dell’s sides of this discussion?
2. How is the Bundren family perceived by the citizens of Mottson?
Darl (Pg 206)
1. As they mix the cement to set Cash’s leg, what image foreshadows the resulting
damage to his leg?
2. What does Darl mean when he says, “It would be nice if you could just ravel out into
time”?
Vardaman (Pg 210)
1. Who is Vardaman going to search for that night?
Darl (Pg 212)
1. What effect has the cement had on Cash’s leg?
2. Do you think Jewel knows that Anse is not his father?
Vardaman (Pg 214)
1. Through the holes in the coffin, Darl and Vardaman hear some noises; Darl says that
the noises are Addie “calling on (God) to help her.” What are these noises?
2. What is the function of the italicized portions of this section?
3. Where do the vultures actually go?
Darl (Pg 218)
Vocabulary
1. frieze
2. opaline
1. What is Jewel’s first concern in the barn? How does Darl divert him?
2. How is Addie’s prophecy shown to be true? What supernatural imagery goes along
with this episode?
Vardaman (Pg 223)
1. How does Anse demonstrate his total lack of respect for his family?
2. What do you think that Vardaman saw, that he is not supposed to reveal?
Darl (Pg 226)
Vocabulary
1. ejaculant
2. patent
1. Locate an instance of personification in this chapter.
Cash (Pg 232)
1. Why do the Bundrens send Darl to Jackson?
2. What is the significance of this sentence?
“It’s better to build a tight chicken coop than a shoddy courthouse.”
3. What is Cash’s final statement on Darl’s sanity?
Peabody (Pg. 239)
1. What is Peabody’s opinion of the decision to send Darl to the mental hospital?
MacGowan (Pg 241)
1. If you were Dewey Dell, who would you feel anger towards --- Mosely or MacGowan?
Why?
Vardaman (Pg 249)
1. What is the function of the italicized portions of this section?
Darl (Pg 253)
Vocabulary
1. interstices
1. What is unusual about this passage, as far as point of view is concerned?
2. What is the only word Darl says in this passage? What is the significance of this?
Dewey Dell (Pg 255)
1. What methods does Anse use to worm the ten dollars away from Dewey Dell?
Cash (Pg 258)
1. Where are the Bundrens getting their financial support in Jefferson?
2. When Anse emerges with his graphophone and his new life, what paradox is used to
describe the way he looks?