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Comparing Emily's House In A Rose For Emily And Barn Burning

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Symbolism is using symbols to represent different things or ideas. William Faulkner is just one author, out of the many, to use symbolism in his literature works. He wrote several short stories, including “A Rose For Emily” in 1931 and “Barn Burning” in 1939. In both of these stories, Faulkner uses an imaginary county called Yoknapatawpha, located in Mississippi. Emily’s house, a strand of Emily’s hair, and fire, are great ways that William Faulkner used symbolism in “A Rose for Emily” and “Barn Burning.” Emily’s house in “A Rose for Emily” is not an ordinary house. Miss Emily’s house was once normal, but as the years went by the house was not maintained as well as the other houses that surrounded hers. The house was different with the old …show more content…

The iron-gray hair was found on a pillow next to Homer Barron’s dead body, which means she had slept with him recently. The indention in the pillow proves that this happened more than a few times. The only person who could have possibly known was her servant, but once Emily died everyone found out about it. It should not have been a surprise that she slept with a dead body considering she was so attached to her father’s body. Fire in “Barn Burning” symbolizes being powerful. Because Abner Snopes burned down two families barns, he felt like he had power. After his family was kicked out of town, he set a small fire for them to remain warm. Abner felt in control by setting fires and talking down to his family. Not only does he start fires, but there is also a fire burning inside of him. William Faulkner used Emily’s house, a strand of Emily’s hair, and fire, to show symbolism in the stories “A Rose For Emily” and “Barn Burning.” These three symbols are very important in the two stories. Without them, the stories would leave out major details.. William Faulkner did an astonishing job with using symbolism in both short

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Emily’s Mental Deterioration After getting over the initial shock of finding out that the mysterious woman that everyone was talking about was going to sleep each night with a decaying body next to her, it makes sense for the reader to question her mental state. If the reader took a closer look at the town’s description of her, they will realize that as time went on, Emily’s will power began to deteriorate. When she was young, she was the topic of everybody’s conversation, however, she did not let that bother her and walked down the streets with her head held high. Emily took over the old house after her father’s death and kept a few servants around to keep the house tidy, nonetheless, the outside of the house was not kept in the best of conditions.

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(AGG) Why would authors include symbolism in their books? (BS-1) The use of a major symbol in Under the Persimmon Tree by Suzanne Fisher Staples is seen when Najmah gets her first haircut after her family is killed and her home is destroyed.(BS-2) Other than using the haircut to show Najmah’s reaction to important events, Staples also includes stars as another symbolic idea. (BS-3)

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Andrew Fry Period 4 ELA Mrs. Weinrich Argumentative Essay Adolescence: The Battlefield Many people will argue about adolescence being easy or hard. However, many people, including the authors Gary Soto, who wrote “Saturday at the Canal,” Adam Bagdasarian, who writes “Going Steady” and “Popularity,” and Audre Lorde, who wrote “Hanging Fire,” believe that Adolescence is a difficult time. These authors clearly illustrate that even though adolescence can come easy for some, for many teenagers it is full of mental, physical, and social challenges.

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The previous lavishness of the “big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies…set on what had once been [the] most select street” (437) indicates that Emily came from a well-off family that was probably highly respected. The whiteness of the house can be taken to symbolize the innocence of her youth, and that as she got older her macabre habits manifested themselves and polluted that innocence, leaving the house dingy and tainted. The condition of the house when Emily dies is that of a worn down vestige to the past, “an eyesore among eyesores” (437), representing how the towns people saw her. She was a curiosity, a clandestine entity that could only be unraveled after her death when there was no one left to safe guard the dark secrets of her house. The house stands as a monument to a lost time and a testament to tradition that has no place in the modern era, much like Emily

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not surprisingly they are at a creepy old home. The Fall of the House of Usher and A Rose for Emily are unsurprisingly not so different. They both have this very creepy feeling to them considering they both are involving a very old house/mansion. Both settings also include it being dark out.

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“Barn Burning” is a very interesting story about a family and the hardships they face. Though the narrative focuses on Sarty Snopes, his father Abner causes many of the problems they encounter. Abner Snopes is a very cruel and negative father who does not grow throughout the story because of his hate towards others. In this story, Faulkner uses figurative language to characterize Abner.

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Barn Burning is a modern story that shows a theme, plot, characters and uses narrative techniques. The title of the story, “Barn Burning,” is used to identify the main method carried out by the father in the story, Abner to get revenge on the people he grew angry with for their treatment of black people in the south. The story does not give a number of the barns Abner had burned, but Sarty said they had moved a lot of different times indicating the moves were due to Abner destroying the property of others. Abner seemed to have a sickness or craving for burning property; this seemed his way of regaining his dignity or self-respect after feeling he was wronged by the evil, hate, and racism of southern society. Abner kept burning fuel handy and had containers to refill when it was time to burn another barn and caused destruction, but when it was time to keep his family warm in the cold outdoors, he would only build small fires.

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Throughout the story, the main character, Miss Emily Grierson, shows signs of what appears to be some form of mental illness. Although Faulkner never states that Miss Emily has anything wrong with her mental health, he does provide enough evidence to support that she is not psychologically stable. In “A Rose for Emily,” Faulkner portrays the main character as a mysterious icon of the small town of Jefferson, Mississippi. As the story states, Emily’s father is an admirable figure in the city of Jefferson. After his passing, the townspeople show the same respect for Emily, as well.

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Throughout the reading of "A Rose for Emily "there is many expressions of symbolism. Understanding and able to point out the objects or people and the meaning behind them is very important. Knowing the explanation of each expression will help you understand the author and his or her message towards the audience. In the selection, "A Rose for Emily" some examples of symbolism is a character name Homer Barron, the house, and the rose that is stated in the title. These all have significant meanings behind them that are important to fully understand why Emily acted, felt and explain the reasoning behind each of her actions.

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“Symbolism is the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense.” Symbols can add a deeper meaning than just an object itself that the author is trying to make. Symbols can also foreshadow what is yet to come. The audience can interpret a symbol in many ways it depends on their experience. In Southside Chicago the Younger family is struggling to have hope as they are always facing society.

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Similarly, the protagonist in “A Rose for Emily” is Emily Grierson. The house that she lives in drives her mind to inhabit it in dusty and dark. Miss Emily is a mysterious character. The impression that Miss Emily gives us about her is that she is a “necrophiliac”. Necrophilia means a sexual attraction to dead bodies.

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In William Faulkner’s, “A Rose for Emily,” the historical context is important to understand. In order to fully comprehend the short story there must be some sort of understanding about the time period in which the story took place. This short story took place in the 18th/19th century during and after the Civil War in the South. In “A Rose for Emily” the historical context shows the social, economic, and the cultural environment of the background. Miss Emily was born during the Civil War.

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Within the novel “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” the author uses specific symbols throughout the book to get certain points across. He uses symbolism through the setting of the book so we are able to read between the lines. The weather and specific objects in nature are two symbolic representations used consistently throughout the novel. Other forms of symbols can include the way he uses character names, senses, and animals. The author chooses to use all of these at specific points in the book to make our attention really drawn to key factors in the novel.

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Symbolism is one literary device Faulkner uses and has major importance to the story. One big symbol in the story is Emily’s house. For most of the townspeople they only saw the house from the outside in never the inside out. Faulkner gives a good description of the house by saying, “it was a big squarish frame house that once had been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on

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