Honors Modern Fiction
Student-Centered Discussion –
Possible Prompts for Faulkner’s As I Laying Dying
Instructions:
I. For each section---identified by (pages #-#)---respond to at least one of the prompts provided to help you prepare for our student-centered discussions of the novel.
II. In addition, compose an original comment or question to share with the class.
III. Also, be sure to support everything with specific references to the text and to cite page numbers! (You may be sorry later, if you don’t. I’m just saying.)
(pages 3-28)
1) Do you believe, as Anse says, that Jewel “got no affection nor gentleness” (19) for his dying mother? Explain.
2) According to Cora Tull, her husband Vernon claimed that Darl begged his father to let him stay at his mother’s bedside (22). How is this situation unclear? What is Faulkner’s purpose in making it so? Does Cora seem correct about Darl being Addie's favorite son? Does anything about Cora’s voice make her sound unreliable?
3) Who seems to force the issue of Darl and Jewel going to earn the $3, Anse, Darl, or Jewel?
4) Identify a character that uses stream-of-consciousness to the point of almost not making sense. Try to figure out what he/she is trying to say in a given “chapter” (internal monologue) and briefly summarize, identifying how you came to your summary/understanding. Then, decide whether you trust this character’s speech and explain/support your belief. Please DO NOT use a Sparknotes-type summary for help; correctness of interpretation is not important. Only effort and attempt matter here.
(pages 29-46)
5) Discuss the different kind of relationships the Bundren siblings have with each other. How do they treat each other? How do they seem to feel about each other? Support.
7) What type of marriage do you think Anse and Addie have? How do you feel about Anse as a father and a husband?
(pages 47-64)
8) On pages 53-57, we hear from Vardaman, Addie’s youngest child. Because he is a child, his narrative is possibly the most stream-of-consciousness---and most difficult to understand---of all of the characters. Let’s try to make sense of it:
i. Vardaman takes the death of his mother hard, and he blames someone for it. Whom does Vardaman blame?
ii. In his fury, Vardaman strikes with a long stick at horses attached to a buggy. To whom does this equipage belong?
iii. What is “cooked and et”?
iv. Vardaman begins in this chapter to conflate the death of his mother with the fish he caught. When he thinks of them, he uses the contrast of “is” and “not is.” What do you think he means?
9) On pages 58-64, Dewey Dell complains that “he” could do so much for her, if he only knew. Who is “he,” and what does Addie’s daughter need to have done? Explain how you know.
(pages 65-93)
10) What does Vardaman do to Addie’s coffin, and why (73)? What does this tell us about Vardaman?
11) What does Cash's list of the 13 reasons for beveling the edges of the coffin tell us about him?
12) What does Vardaman mean when he claims, “My mother is a fish” (84)? What’s symbolic about a fish, and how might this apply to Addie? (You may wish to look up the religious/Christian symbolism of a fish for this.)
13) What is the actual premise behind this story? What motivates the plot, and how is this different from a traditional plot?
14) In Tull’s monologue on pp. 85-93, why are italics used? What type of shift(s) do they indicate?
15) Who is Tull concerned about when he says, “[…We] saw him, at the end of the slough” (92)?
(pages 94-136)
18) Discuss what the involvement of people like Doctor Peabody, Cora and Vernon Tull, and Samson in the Bundrens' saga says about the importance of community in country life. What are some of the “rules of conduct” in this community?
19) By this point, we can tell that a speaker’s point of view is just that---a subjective perspective on a situation. How does this subjectivity appear in the way that Darl and Anse view Jewel? Is Jewel like they say he is? Explain.
20) Look at Darl’s monologue on pp. 94-95. Trace the physical action of this chapter. Where does Jewel go? Where are Darl and Jewel?
21) On pages 94-95, what is Darl pointing to and what does he say when he does that? Why does he do that?
22) With which adjective is Jewel often associated/described? What does this tell us about his personality?
23) What is Cash’s main concern (96)? How is this chapter like his other chapter (82)?
24) Cash’s thoughts get cut off on page 96. Who is speaking? Look closely at the diction and tone of the voice that cuts him off to support your hypothesis.
25) In Vardaman’s section on pp. 100-102, what argument does Darl make for why he doesn’t have a mother? What does this suggest about Darl’s personality?
26) What “ain’t respectful” (101) according to Anse? With which child is Anse upset?
27) What does Darl's tale of how Jewel bought his first horse reveal about Jewel's personality and his relationship with his family?
(pages 137-168)
28) Is Tull and Jewel's search in the river for Cash's tools an act of love or obligation? Support your response.
29) What other reason does Anse want to go to town, besides to bury his wife? Does anyone else have another reason to go to town?
30) How does Dewey Dell highlight the difficulties of being a woman in this time period?
31) On page 152, Tull gives his version of Darl when he tells Cora how Darl jumps from the wagon, while Cora again defends Darl. Which version of Darl do you believe? Explain.
(pages 169-213)
32) Why do you think Addie's chapter is placed where it is? How does her chapter change your earlier perceptions of the Bundren family? For example, how well did Cora really know Addie?
33) On pages 173–174, Addie meditates on the distance between words and actions. Is Faulkner saying that words—his own chosen medium—are inadequate? What do Addie's definitions say about her as a woman?
34) Did Addie love her children? Support your response.
35) On page 176, Addie says that she gave Anse 3 children, but there are 5 children in total. Which children are “missing” from her equation, and why?
36) How is Whitfield a religious hypocrite? What has he done/not done?
37) What more has happened to Addie’s body since her death?
(pages 214-240)
38) What does Vardaman see? Whom does his secret concern?
39) What do you make of the interchange between Jewel and Darl at the barn fire? Why does each son do what he does?
40) Where do they send Darl, and why?
41) Cash wonders at Dewey Dell’s seeming betrayal of Darl, the brother Cash thought she loved most. Why do you think Dewey Dell turns on Darl so viciously?
(pages 241-261)
42) What does MacGowan do to Dewey Dell?
43) Darl’s perspective switches in his final monologue. What does this suggest? Also, what additional background information do we learn about Darl---information which might tell us why he is so different from his family? What might Darl be suffering, and why?
44) What does Anse do at the end of the novel? How do you feel about this ending?
Reading Sections by Discussion #: Please note that discussion dates are subject to change. Check SchoolWires regularly for an updated syllabus.
· Discussion #1: pp. 3-28 and 29-46 (You should have 4 questions/topics prepared to discuss, 2 for each section of reading.)
· Discussion #2: pp. 47-64 and pp. 65-93 (You should have 4 questions/topics prepared to discuss, 2 for each section of reading.)
· Discussion #3: pp. 94-136 and 137-168 (You should have 4 questions/topics prepared to discuss, 2 for each section of reading.)
· Discussion #4: pp. 169-213, 214-240, and 241-260 (You should have 3 questions/topics prepared to discuss, 1 for each section of reading.)
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