Concluding Remarks Cummings Syntactic fragmentation suggests the

Concluding Remarks: Cummings • Syntactic fragmentation suggests the inconsistency, incoherence, and ambiguity of the speaker’s words • Repetition of clichés, especially given their ideological source (patriotic songs), suggests lack of rigor in thought and reliance upon preformed “meanings”

William Faulkner (1897 -1962)

Major Works • • The Sound and the Fury (1929) As I Lay Dying (1930) Light in August (1932) Absalom, Absalom! (1936)

Yoknapatawpha County

Status • Which social groups in Taiwan have status? • What is the (historical) source of this status? • Which groups have lost status compared to the past? • What accounts for this change?

The Southeast US • What characterizes the southeast United States, the setting of the story, as a distinct region? • You might consider its social make up, history, economic organization, etc. in light of discussions and texts last semester.

Characters • • • Emily Grierson Colonel Sartoris Tobe Judge Stevens Homer Barron we, us, the ladies of Jefferson, etc.

Faulkner’s Treatment of Time • Describe the timeframe of the story. Why is it complex? • Why does Faulkner organize his story in this way instead of simply following chronological order?

General Timeline • Emily’s death (74 y. o. ) and status at that time/1920 s (1/2182) • Social position in 1894 (1/2182) • Subsequent position one generation later (tax problem)/c. 1910 (1/2182) • 30 years earlier (the smell)/1896 (2/2183) • Father’s death/Emily 30 y. o. /1894 (3) • Relation with Homer and his disappearance/1895 (45) • The smell, again (6) • Emily has grey hair (6)

Other Complicated Timeframes • What other stories do you recall as possessing complicated timeframes? • How do they compare to Faulkner’s? • What motivated these complex treatments of time?

Types of Conflicts • Several conflicts arise, for instance: – – – social/class conflicts gendered conflicts generational conflicts regional prejudices (noting names) racial conflicts • Find evidence of these conflicts. • How are they resolved, or are they? • How does the idea of resolution change over time?

Social Focus • Primacy of tradition • Primacy of class/status • Primacy of etiquette

Locating the Narrator • Who is the narrator? passages: 3, 6 -7 • Why does the narrator continually use “we” instead of I or some other narrative marker? • Is the narrator omniscient? Unreliable? • Is he (? ) prejudiced in some way? • Is it the same narrator throughout?

Change and Decline • Decline and decadence are common literary themes. Note how this theme functions in the story. • passages: 1 (state of the house), 1 -2 (taxes), 5 -6 (painting lessons), death (6) • What attitude (or tone) is conveyed by these descriptions?

Emily’s Power • At more than one point (and despite the suggestion that she is weak), Emily exerts power over others— name some examples of this from the story. • Sometimes this power is exerted without her even being present. • What accounts for this power? • Why do others generally acquiesce to her will? • Can you find contemporary examples of this kind of power for us?

Examples • • • The tax problem The smell The potential witness in Tobe The “rat” poison The Baptist minister Avoiding a murder charge (“decently in the ground”)

The Grotesque • What is the grotesque (or grotesquerie)? • What makes Faulkner’s story grotesque (or Gothic)? • Point out a couple instances in the story. • What does Faulkner achieve by using it?

Decadence • Is Faulkner depicting a decadent society, as some have claimed (that is, in reference to the decline of the post-Civil War situation in the deep south)? • Is the use of the grotesque intended to indicate this decline and serve as a kind of criticism?

Fred Newmeyer

Safety Last (1923)

Harold Lloyd (1893 -1971)

Film as New Medium • What justifies including film in a literature course? • What overlap is there between the objectives, methods, and meanings used in literature and film analysis? • What special considerations must be made for film? • You might also reflect on what distinguishes film from drama.

Themes • Trace one of themes I have given you in the film. Consider how the treatment of theme possibly reflects attitudes, especially those related to power. • Does the treatment seem to be reinforcing ideas or criticizing them?

Themes • • Gender relations, roles, and expectations Sympathetic and unsympathetic characters The American Dream Definitions of success and its relation to materialism • Marriage

Themes • The ideology of work and its norms; working conditions • Northern sensibilities (cf. Faulkner) • Depictions of ethnic and racial minorities (Jews and blacks); class structure [segments: 13. 10 -, 23. 50 -] • The obsession with appearances and its relevant value system

Types of Humor • What types of humor are present in the film? • Do they fit in with any the of theories of humor we have discussed in the past? • Should this film be regarded as a form of criticism (satire)?

MLA Form Review • I’ll take William Carlos Williams as my example. • Topic: William Carlos Williams • Narrowed topic: Modernism and the poetry of William Carlos Williams • Search terms: poetry, William Carlos Williams, Modernism, criticism

Example of a Book Golston, Michael. Rhythm and Race in Modernist Poetry and Science. New York: Columbia UP, 2008. Print.

Example of a Journal (database) Monacell, Peter. “In the American Grid: Modern Poetry and the Suburbs. ” Journal of Modern Literature 35. 1 (2011): 122 -42. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Mar. 2017.

For Next Time • Read: Wharton, “Roman Fever” • Read: American Vision 592 -597, 610 -616, 626630