SWBAT: Analyze style and
purpose in “A Rose for Emily”
by William Faulkner
Do Now: 5 sentence summary
With a buddy, create a 5
sentence summary of the story!
What is Gothic Literature?
• Let’s start with regular Gothic, which was
around long before Southern Gothic
– Gothic literature - characterized by mysterious
castles, secret dungeons, wild weather, and
strange people (think Jane Eyre and Edgar Allen
Poe)
– Evident from the mood of suspense and/or horror
created by the author, Gothic literature
specializes in the grotesque or the uncanny (the
macabre)
– Ghosts, maniacal laughter, chains clanking,
unexplained shrieks: those kind of things are clues
that you are reading a Gothic work
And Southern Gothic?
• American version of Gothic
literature: Southern writers
found that Gothic mood
matched the experiences of
their own region, which,
especially pre-Civil War,
included plenty of strange
characters, superstition,
voodoo and ghosts
• These authors added a touch
of humor to the straight
Gothic genre, and so
Southern Gothic usually has
bizarre, fantastic, or quirky
characters or situations that
startle readers
What Else is Uniquely Southern?
• Explorations of the subconscious
through dreams
• Good vs. evil-polarity in the characters
• Use of setting & atmosphere to evoke a
vivid emotional response in the reader
• “Straight” Gothic fiction focuses on
love, sexuality and reason
• Southern Gothic fiction focuses on
social interaction, terror, sex,and
death
Southern Gothic Writers
Flannery O’Connor
“Good Country
People” and “A Good
Man is Hard to Find”
Truman Capote
William Faulkner
“A Rose for Emily”
and As I Lay Dying
Who was William Faulkner?
• B. 1897 in Mississippi, D. 1962
• American novelist whose work is set in his native
Mississippi; all of his novels inhabit a fictional place
he named Yoknapatawpha County.
• Faulkner won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in
1949.
• With Mark Twain and Truman Capote, Faulkner is
considered one of the most important writers of the
American South…some say of the twentieth century!
• “A Rose for Emily” – first published short story
(1930)
Faulkner’s Roots
• He lived in Oxford, Mississippi, most of
his life, and renamed this town
Jefferson in his fictional works.
• His great-great-grandfather was an
important man in northern Mississippi &
served as a colonel in the Confederate
Army.
• This man served as a model for the
famous (or infamous) Colonel Sartoris in
Faulkner’s novels.
Faulkner’s Roots…
• “Mississippi marked his
sense of humor, his sense
of the tragic position of
blacks and whites, his keen
characterization of usual
Southern characters and
his timeless themes, one
of them being that
fiercely intelligent people
dwelled behind the
façades of good old boys
and simpletons”
(Wikipedia)
A Rose for Emily
• Macabre=
– Gruesome and horrifying
– Ghastly and horrible
– Of, or pertaining to,
death
• Black/dark humor=
– Humorous effects
resulting largely from
grotesque, morbid, or
macabre situations
dealing with a horrifying
and disoriented world
– Aims to shock and
disorient readers, making
them laugh in the face of
anxiety, suffering or
death
Group Questions
#1: Analyze and be prepared to outline the structure of the story. What is the
effect of Faulkner’s choices? How do they contribute to theme/purpose?
#2: Who is the speaker? Consider gender, class, personality,and age. Be
prepared to support your claims with multiple textual details. Why do you think
Faulkner chose this unique point of view?
#3: It’s fun to go back and look for clues now that you know the gruesome
ending! Analyze the foreshadowing by close-reading images, word-choice,
figurative language, and details.
#4: Tone: How does the speaker feel about Emily and the townspeople? How
do you think Faulkner feels? From this story, do you think Faulkner is a
traditionalist regarding the South? Or are his views progressive? Consider
multiple textual details and word choice.
#5: Occasion/Setting: Analyze the setting – time and place, cultural mores – as
well as Emily’s house. Pay attention to imagery and word choice. What is the
effect of Faulkner’s choice? How is Emily’s house an appropriate metaphor for
larger themes?
Groups – Period 3
#1: Anabel, Sophia, Julia, Nicaela
#2: Brittany, Nithya, Blanca
#3: Mackenzie, Sharon, Rona, Victor
#4: Josh, Sean, Caroline
#5: Michael, Alex, Simone, Meghan
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Group Questions
Make sure to answer fully-we will discuss
these as a class!
How does this story handle the linked themes of
female oppression and empowerment? What does
it say about the various kinds of male-female
relationships in American-and Southern- society
of this period?
What are the different uses of the themes of
"love," "honor," and "respectability" in the story?
What statement is Faulkner making about
isolation and its effects?
Discuss the ways in which Faulkner uses Miss
Emily's house as an appropriate setting and as a
metaphor for both her and the themes
established by the narrative.