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William Faulkner's Life Exposed In 'As I Lay Dying'

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William Faulkner grew up in the south allowing him to get a better view on social issues; thus leading him to write about issues other authors might have not had an eye on. His writing allows readers to get a better eye on his personal life along with his experiences.
To begin with, William Faulkner grew up in Mississippi, which allowed him to get a better grasp of political issues down south.(Faulkner, 1) Since discrimination and slavery were a big part of this time period, it showed in some of his books. For instance, the fact that his poems portray a dark, evil, gloomy tone in them. Some of the poems involve people realizing things about life they never thought and some are about being stuck in a life of doom. For example, the book Sartoris, includes a world of tremendous class distinction and racism. I see this as Faulkner putting his word of mouth that never is said into a book, thus, allowing for people that are being faced with this to relate on it to another level. Although, not many other authors were able to get a glimpse of these problems in the south, Faulkner …show more content…

Some popular books include books written in the 1930s all the way to the 1960s. A couple popular ones include “As I lay Dying” is a book based off of a family learning to cope with the death of a loved one. “The Sound and the Fury” was a personal favorite that revolves suffering around a human. Most of his books are broke up into parts but it just means they switch points of views and are told in them. Some of his other books are about remorse of what he was feeling at one point but never got to speak. Faulkner has many poems, but what makes them stand out is the different styles that he has it deepened with them. An example, would be the dark, gloomy, melancholoy tone he has them told in. His use of figurative language includes uses of metaphors, personification, similes, and an extreme amount of imagery. (Faulkner,

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William Faulkner had a faith in humanity that few possess. In his 1950 Nobel Prize acceptance speech, he proclaimed that, “man will not merely endure: he will prevail”. He felt humans contained a certain compassion in our spirits, which is very valuable. Faulkner views America as a place where people often have more compassion or intelligence than they let on, especially in the rural areas. Everyone is capable of having these traits, but not everyone uses them.

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He uses negative connotation to describe the evils of the world, such as “war,” “injustice,” and “suffering.” In the next paragraph, he shows that he believes in “man’s capacity for courage and endurance and sacrifice.” These words are complete opposites from one another and shows his thoughts behind and the bias towards the powers that bring injustice compared to the youth that has the capacity to wipe out these tyrannical powers. These sets of words were purposely put together by Faulkner in order to achieve a sense of writing style similar to a pattern. It is evident in multiple occurrences that Faulkner has a consistent writing style he carries throughout the passage.

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Faulkner composites a family that is far away from perfect, instead the family members each face a tribulation that connects to the death their mother. With the supporting passages Faulkner demonstrates how the novel, As I Lay Dying fulfill his own vision of the writer’s duty, which is to express the problems by appealing to pathos, introducing relatable problems, and discussing family dynamics. Faulkner fulfills the writer’s duty by introducing problems the writers can relate to. Faulkner inspires readers to write about, “problems of the human heart... with itself which can make good writing...because that is only worth the sweat agony” (Faulkner 14-15).

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Faulkner’s decision to switch perspectives allows the reader to see what is burdening each character and is instrumental

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Nowhere is this more evident than in Faulkner’s short story “Barn Burning” and Warren’s long poem, Brother to Dragons. Despite differences in setting and content, the two texts express both similar and opposing sentiments of Southern life and display Civil War-era influences. By comparing these two works, one can see the nature of each author’s viewpoints

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In 1930, Faulkner published the novel As I Lay Dying, a story of a southern family trying to complete their matriarch's last dying wish for her burial. It is said that the title of the work was influenced by Homer’s The Odyssey, taken from one of the chapters. During this time, the Modernist movement was happening, which was where authors wrote in order to give meaning to life post WWII. Before the novel, the South was not seen as influential in American Literature, but his novel As I Lay Dying was a book that helped change that image.

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Just like Faulkner speaks of the way that the writer can remind man of the meaningful abstractions honor, hope, pride, compassion, pity, sacrifice, he can show to the reader to remind them of the glory of their past (Faulkner 872). A writer can create a character that withstands great odds, and shows fluently his ability to exercise the abstractions Faulkner speaks

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Our storytellers are no longer people verbally telling us a story. Instead, they are the authors of the past and present. They take us through a journey the main characters take. A lot of authors keep something the same in most of the novels. William Faulkner is no exception.

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Author William Faulkner in his Nobel Prize Acceptance speech offers advice to young and aspiring writers about what “alone can make good writing.” As said in his speech “the young man or woman writing today has forgotten the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself which alone can make good writing because only that is worth writing about, worth the agony and the sweat.” What Faulkner is saying that the only thing worth writing about is how to live life along with the struggle of one’s internal self, a topic that is difficult but “worth the agony and sweat.” One of Faulkner’s famous works is the novel As I Lay Dying, which tells the story of a mother’s revenge from each of the family member’s point of view. As I Lay Dying exemplifies

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In order to qualify as a Modernist writer, an author had to be revolutionary. William Faulkner was no exception. Not only did Faulkner write his novel As I Lay Dying entirely in stream of consciousness narration, but he confronted and questioned controversial topics such as isolation and religion. Faulkner’s method of stream of consciousness narration and motif of isolation throughout As I Lay Dying simultaneously acknowledge and confirm the disillusioned Modernist notion that in this world, both suffering and alienation are inevitable experiences every human must confront. Unlike authors before the Modernist movement, Faulkner’s decision to utilize the stream of consciousness narration not only reveals his character's innermost thoughts and feelings, but reveals a sign of isolation within each character.

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Faulkner’s interesting modernist devices allow the reader to achieve a great understanding of Sartoris. Also, the techniques of Faulkner

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It was many of his life events or stories about where he lived and experienced that influenced how he wrote. It was his work in fiction that earned him the Pulitzer Prize, thanks to his novel “A Fable”. In addition to the Pulitzer, he also won the National Book Award. Most notably, his work in novels, short stories and poetry is what made Faulkner who he became. He was a man of variety, but most of his more successful work was done in the novels he wrote as well as the short stories.

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Back in Louisiana, the American writer Sherwood Anderson, who had become one of Faulkner’s friends, had gave Faulkner some advice: He had told the young author to write about his native region of Mississippi where he had grown up-a place that Faulkner would surely know better than northern France where he was not from. Inspired by the concept that was given to him by his friend, he began writing about the places that he had been and people that was part of his

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When the author wrote that line, instead of using descriptive diction, he just said it bluntly. Faulkner just went right down to the point, which added to the ironciness of the story. By using diction, the author conveyed the ironic ending, which was one more characteristic of modernism that this story

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Today’s economy constrains the life of young individuals who seek to earn a higher education. Whether it is paying for college or finding a job after graduating, college students are becoming more concerned with how to get to the destination instead of the path itself. Because of the competition in the job market, new graduates have a difficult time finding work due to lack of experience. Although internships and lower paying jobs are offered around their setting and major, it would be more beneficial for graduates to obtain work experience outside of the normal path they would take. Recent college graduates who do not have or cannot find jobs should move abroad and seek different job opportunities because it will better effect their total experience by enhancing their work assets, teaching them how to learn and adapt to a different environment, and expanding their global knowledge overall.

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