Modern Family

Monday, 27 October

"I set out deliberately to write a tour-de-force. Before I ever put pen to paper and set down the first word I knew what the last word would be and almost where the last period would fall."   - William Faulkner

We transition from Twain’s late-nineteenth-century text to Faulkner’s great modernist experiment coming four decades later. To establish a solid foundation, we’ll consider the Faulkner’s oeuvre and his invention of Yoknapatawpha County, his Nobel Prize-winning career, and the historical context in which he sets As I Lay Dying. Turning to the novel, we’ll look at all the different character depictions and seek out some measure of a plot. Once we have a good idea of what’s happening, we’ll discuss the formal elements employed by Faulkner, particularly the shifting point of view and the characterization, and then look to the ethics on display.

For Wednesday’s class (10/29):

•Read Faulkner, As I Lay Dying, pages 58-111

By 11:59pm on Wednesday (10/29):

•Submit Close-Reading Essays to Assignments Page on Discussion Board.

Wednesday, 29 October

Today we continue with As I Lay Dying. We start by ensuring a strong grasp of the plot, and then we conduct some close readings of key characters. We take a step back to assess the development of various themes and attempt to place these themes in the broader context of modern fiction. By the end, we hope to have a firmer take on Faulkner’s aesthetics and their function in literary art.

For Monday (11/3):

•Read Faulkner, As I Lay Dying, pages 112-179