As I Lay Dying #3

Success and endurance
1) Another way of reading the novel involves recognizing the images of success and endurance. To do this look at the comedic and optimistic aspects of the novel. Many of the Bundrens, after all, do succeed in their endeavors, especially Anse, who not only gets his new teeth but also finds a new "Mrs. Bundren"—possibly a hopeful indication for progeny and prosperity.

2) What does the final portrait of the Bundrens look like? Are they as rotten as Addie's corpse, full of despair and dissolution? Or are they a tribute to the vigor and resolve of a Southern family, who successfully complete an overwhelming task? Does Faulkner truly resolve this issue 

As I Lay Dying #2

Despair and desolation:

One way of reading the novel is to see the myths of the South slowly revealed to be as rotten as the corpse of Addie Bundren. How do the desires of each family member reveal in different ways this sense of despair and dissolution? Consider, for example, Anse's false teeth (and new wife), Dewey Dell's failed abortion, Darl's 'madness,' Cash's lost tools, and Jewel's bartered horse. 

As I Lay Dying #1

Death and dying - Each group member choose one of the following questions:

1) What does the final portrait of the Bundrens look like? Are they as rotten as Addie's corpse, full of despair and dissolution? Or are they a tribute to the vigor and resolve of a Southern family, who successfully complete an overwhelming task? Does Faulkner truly resolve this issue?

2) The title of the novel, As I Lay Dying, indicates action that occurs simultaneous to the death of the matriarch—what else might be "dying"? The South? The authority of the narrator? The institution of the family? Faulkner's artistic depth allows for all of these possibilities.

3) What kind of promise does he offer after death? Is the novel simply pessimistic, or is there some hope throughout?

Each group member choose one of the above questions to discuss in a blog response:

And all talk about:

What does this discussion indicate that this novel is saying about death and dying?

Prufrock - images and their implications

I just read over your Prufrock essays, and honestly, most were good, a few were great, and a couple lacked analysis. So choose one of the following images and discuss what it implies (imcorporating lines from the poem please), or what effect Elliot meant it to have, what hidden understanding it presents to you.
For example:
Why a "yellow fog" and "the evening is spread out against the sky like a patient etherised upon a table" ? 
This is the answer of another student: 
          First of all, there's all the crazy conflicting imagery, like "when the evening is spread out against the sky like a patient etherised upon a table."  I mean, look at that line (or rather, two lines). Just look at it. "When the evening is spread out upon the sky" sounds all Romantic-esque with its emphasis on nature and evening (which is when 90% of romantic scenes take place, I swear), but then it abruptly turns to that poor patient. The word "patient" suggests sickness and pain- a big difference from the romance of the evening and the sky. And then "etherized." Well, an eveing that is a sick patient and is drugged to sleep is going NOWHERE! Just like the narrator. It sets the scene, predicts the future of poor J. Alfred, before he even has a chance to introduce the women.

Now you do - choose one of the questions below to discuss in a responding post:

1. Class divisions are also pretty apparent in the poem- How did Elliot incorporate this? AND WHY ? Hint: while the city, home of the working classes, is depicted as being dirty, unpleasant and possibly unsafe, the upper class life is much different.

2. Where and WHY does Elliot incorporate vers libre: reflecting the free flow of human consciousness as it attempts to come to terms with a complex reality" and "occasional, irregularly placed rhymes? 

3. Fragmentation is a common theme of this time period because everything, including people's ideas, are all challenged to the limits with all the crazy stuff that's happening, like the World War, and, sure enough, there's a hell of a lot of fragmentation in this poem. How many examples, different types, are evident and WHAT was Elliot's PURPOSE in creating such fragmentation?

4. What is the implication of the line - "Do I dare eat a peach?" and how does it relate/compare to Prufock's other questions in the poem?


5.This one is for Anthony:

Visual imagery: Imagery related to sight.
Olfactory imagery: Imagery related to smell.
Kinesthetic imagery: Imagery related to movement.
Tactile imagery: Imagery related to touch.
Aural imagery: Imagery related to sound.
Gustatory imagery: Imagery related to taste.

What two or three types of imagery do you feel dominate the poem and why would Elliot have chosen to focus on the images that he has?