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Faulkner's As I Lay Dying: Images of Faulkner and the South
Guiding Questions
- Who is William Faulkner?
- What makes "the South" an interesting setting?
- What does it mean to have multiple voices or perspectives instead of just one?
Learning Objectives
After completing the lessons in this unit, students will be able to:
- Learn Faulkner's place in American literary history
- Explore Faulkner's "South" in the context of the historical South
- Understand and explore the use of multiple voices in narration
Preparing to Teach this Lesson
Review the curriculum unit overview and the lesson plan. Locate and bookmark suggested materials and other useful websites. If necessary, download and print out any documents you will use and duplicate copies as necessary for student viewing.
Activity
Using the following websites, students will (preferably in groups) explore one aspect of or perspective on Faulkner's life and the culture of the South. Students should explore the webpage in detail and then write a brief summary of what they discover. If there are images on the website, students should also analyze them—what kind of image is it (graph, photograph, etc.) and what does it reveal about the subject? What does it obscure? The Document Analysis Worksheets, available via EDSITEment reviewed NARA Digital Classroom, might aid in this process.
Questions that students might want to consider:
- What is the 'voice' of their website? Who wrote it? For what purpose? [these
are also good questions for students to ask when viewing any webpage for academic
purposes]
- What effect does the style or form of the source have on your interpretation
of the content? Does it matter if you read a biography, a chronology, a map,
or an image? Do certain forms illuminate certain things while obscuring others?
In what way?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages to having multiple perspectives
on the same subject?
The teacher should have each group present their findings, recording important aspects on the board (it might help the teacher to compile a list of possible findings on his or her own prior to class in order to supplement or confirm student findings).
Web Links:
Allow each group to offer a perspective, writing the information on a black
board. After all groups have presented, you should have a list of different
"perspectives." Discuss them and put them in the context of Faulkner's life
and work. This activity serves two purposes. First, the fact finding aspect
simply educates students about Faulkner's life, as well as some history of the
South. Secondly, and equally importantly, the teacher can use this opportunity
as an introduction to the idea of multiple perspectives or points-of-view in
describing the life of one person. They are creating a narrative of Faulkner
just as many perspectives help shape the narrative of Addie Bundren and her
family.
Finish by reviewing the quotation by Evan Goodwin at the beginning of this
lesson:
[Faulkner] often told his stories using multiple narratives, each with their own interests and biases, who allow us to piece together the 'true' circumstances of the story, not as clues in a mystery, but as different melodies in a piece of music that form a crescendo. The conclusion presents a key to understanding the broad panorama surrounding the central event in a way that traditional linear narratives simply are unable to accomplish.
Discuss how Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, like history, can be made up of sometimes competing or confusing bits of knowledge, based on the perspective of the viewer.
Assessment
Ask students to maintain a journal while reading As I Lay Dying, where
they can write down thoughts, questions, and ideas about the novel. They should
be sure to include page numbers to relevant passages in the text. Their first
entry can explore the following question: what makes "the South" a compelling
literary setting?
Selected EDSITEment Websites
Internet Public Library [http://www.ipl.org/]
American Memory
[http://memory.loc.gov/]
American Studies at the University of
Virginia
[http://xroads.virginia.edu/]
Documenting the American South
[http://docsouth.unc.edu/index.html]
Standards Alignment
View your state’s standards
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