Objectives
Given that the student in this class has not had a great amount of exposure to American writers, one of the objectives is to introduce the foreign student to American literature. The foreign student who will be working with these writers and their selected works, is in need of becoming acquainted with American personalities in the literary field.
Secondly, I intend to have the student analyze American short stories. We will examine the parts of three short stories. The student will be made aware of the meaning of plot, theme, characters and setting, and be able to recognize these parts as the stories are discussed.
The third objective will be to increase the student’s reading comprehension. The short stories will be read out loud in class. The reading will be paraphrased and discussed by the student. I found that reading out loud in class, helps the student retain more and at the same time improve pronunciation skills.
The last objective will be to increase the student’s vocabulary. In practice each short story will be preceded by a list of vocabulary words. The student will work with the meaning and the usage of these vocabulary words in written and spoken English.
Strategies
The students will read the following short stories by prominent American writers. “The Egg”, Sherwood Anderson; “A Rose for Emily”, William Faulkner, and “ Désirée’s Baby” by Kate Chopin.
An analysis and discussion of the theme, the plot, the setting and the characters of each story read will follow the reading.
The students will be required to complete all the exercises given at the end of each analyzed short story.
* “Désirée’s Baby” by Kate Chopin is available upon request from the Institute office.
Sherwood Anderson, “The Egg”
Plot
The short story “The Egg” presents the story of a family and their desire to make it in life. At the beginning we see the father as a farmhand. He has a horse. He goes out on Saturday without a care in the world and he has no desire to advance. He gets married. With the marriage and a son new responsibilities and ambitions arise. Both parents want to rise in the world.
The wife convinces him to begin a business of his own. Their enterprise develops around raising chickens. Here the story explores the “vicious cycle” of the chicken: The baby chicks are pleasant to admire, but many don’t make it to maturity. The ones that survive lay eggs and the cycle starts over again. Here there is a comparison between people and chickens. Chicks just starting out appear to be smart and alive, but in fact they are stupid just like people who are mixed up about life’s priorities.
They struggle with the chicken farm for ten years. It doesn’t pay of. They move away and become involved with the restaurant business. The description of moving is very vivid. They drive down the road looking like refugees full of hopes. Everything is packed on a borrowed cart. The furniture is old and cheap, but very dear to them. In the midst of this furniture, some jars, containing deformed chicks, occupy a special place. The father plans to use them to entertain people.
As a child, the narrator used to sit and stare at his father’s head, comparing it to a broad road. This causes him to dream of walking to a far beautiful place where there are no chicken farms, no eggs.
When they get to Bidwell Ohio, they open a restaurant. It is situated across the railroad station. The mother sees this as a profitable business. They work very hard to get the place in shape and to run it.
The father becomes ambitious. He wants to provide entertainment for the people who come to the restaurant. It is this desire that destroys the last film of hope built up in him, as he tries to amuse Joe Kane. He spends one whole night trying to get Joe Kane interested in his tricks with the egg, but it doesn’t work. Joe Kane laughs at him. The father becomes momentarily insane. After being calmed by his wife, he puts aside the egg and goes to sleep.
Analysis
The short story “The Egg” illustrates the harsh realities of life. The life of the father has been a “vicious cycle”. He hasn’t been able to detach himself from failure. His failure is caused by the internal ambition for success. One venture after the other shows this man that he can’t make it, just like the egg which can’t stand up without breaking its shell.
Theme
The themes of this story are: The atrocities of life, disappointment, failure, and the “vicious cycle” of the egg in comparison to the life of this family.
Characters
The narrator—The narrator is the son. He characterizes himself as being a “gloomy man inclined to see the darker side of life”. He blames this on his childhood days spent on the chicken farm, instead of having experienced the happiest, joyous days of his life. He is the son of his father and like his father, he has been engulfed in this “vicious cycle”, life itself.
The father—The father is a farmhand. He is cheerful up to the age of 35. He is a kindly man satisfied with very little. By 45 he is bald-headed, fat and has become silent and discouraged. He wants success. He wants to entertain people. He tries, but failure overtakes him. He remains shut in his enclosed world and inability to succeed.
The mother—She is a school teacher. She convinces her husband to give up being a farmhand, sell the horse and put up some independent enterprise of his own.
She is tall, silent, with a long nose and troubled gray eyes. For herself she doesn’t desire anything, but for the son and the father she is very ambitious. At the end she softens a little. She consoles her husband, acknowledging his defeat.
Joe Kane—He is the son of a merchant of Bidwell Ohio.
Setting
The setting shifts from a chicken farm in the country, to a restaurant in Bidwell Ohio. Both settings reflect the internal states of the characters: Everything dies; the son isn’t happy on the chicken farm; they are unsuccessful. The restaurant, a gloomy looking place, serves as a background for the failure about to happen.
Activities
Questions for Comprehension
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1. Who is narrating the story?
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2. How does the father appear to be at the beginning of the story?
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3. How is the mother described?
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4. Why did they become ambitious? What is their ambition?
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5. How does the narrator describe himself?
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6. How successful are they in raising chickens? Why?
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7. Describe the moving from the chicken farm to the town. What does it tell you about these people?
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8. What is very valuable to the father? What do these jars represent?
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9. Their second venture; the restaurant business, how do they manage to keep up the place? Are they successful?
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10. Toward the end, how is the father changed? How and where does he see success?
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11. Describe the father’s attempt at being an entertainer. Why does he want to put up a show for Joe Kane?
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12. Is the mother changed by the end of the story? How?
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13. What does the father realize at the end?
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14. In the last six or seven lines of the short story, we have the narrator’s comment and observation about the egg; what does he say? What does it tell us about life, people and the narrator himself?
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15. Why is the story entitled “The Egg”? What is its importance? As a symbol, does the egg stand for something else? Explain?
Vocabulary
cheerful
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scrub
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wriggle
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solemn
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ambitious
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lurk
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fame
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mutter
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venture
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struggle
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tragic
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consummate
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pip
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nonchalantly
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vermin
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roar
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incubators
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inarticulate
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refugees
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evidence
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flee
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triumph
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wonders
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exhibit
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monstrous
Questions for Discussion
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1. What is the theme of the short story? How does it develop through the story?
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2. Who are the characters? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each one?
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3. What is the setting? Does it reflect the internal states of the characters? Explain?
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4. What is the plot?
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5. Why is this a story about “The Egg”? What does the egg symbolize?
William Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily”
Plot
This short story “A Rose for Emily” in an account of the life and death of Miss Emily Grierson.
Miss Emily’s house has been closed to the public for ten years. At the time of her death, many people come to pay their respects and see the house. The house, old and majestic, still reigns among the more modern structures of the town. The house and its furniture are old. The parlor is furnished with heavy leather covered furniture. By the fireplace there is a crayon portrait of Miss Emily’s father. The state of the house can be compared to the physical appearance of Miss Emily.
In 1894 Colonel Sartoris, the mayor, established that Miss Emily would not pay any taxes since her father had loaned some money to the city. Time passed, new laws were established. When the tax notice is mailed to her, she doesn’t reply. After vain attempts to get in touch with her, she returns the tax notice, enclosing a note and no payment. A special meeting of the board of Aldermen is called, and a visit to Miss Emily’s house is arranged. After a brief conversation, she stubbornly tells them that she doesn’t have any taxes to pay in Jefferson. Her taxes were abolished by Colonel Sartoris. She doesn’t realize that Colonel Sartoris has been dead for 10 years.
The death of two people very close to her, contribute to the specification of Miss Emily’s character. Her father and her sweet-heart die. When her father dies, the people have a hard time trying to convince her to bury him. After three days she does accept the fact that he is dead and should be buried. The people begin to feel sorry for her. The only thing left to her is the house. Now she is alone and pauper. She becomes sick. When the town’s people see her again, she has her hair cut, and looks sort of tragic and serene.
A new event, the paving of the sidewalks, brings over a new group of people. Among them a foreman, Homer Barron. He is a nice looking fellow. Soon he begins to court Miss Emily. She begins to go out with Homer Barron. The town’s people are not at all pleased with Miss Emily’s actions. They talk to the minister. She is approached about the matter, but with no results. The minister’s wife writes to her relatives in Alabama. They come to visit and she has to deal with them.
For a while nothing happens. Then she goes to the Jeweler’s and orders a man’s toilet set in silver. Later she buys a complete outfit of man’s clothes and a nightshirt. The people in town look at this and think that she and Homer Barron are going to get married.
The paving of the sidewalks is finished. Homer Barron leaves. The people think that he has gone home ahead to prepare for Miss Emily. Few days later he returns and he is seen entering the house. He isn’t seen ever again. Miss Emily is seen after some time. She appears fat and her hair has grown gray.
When she is around forty, she puts up a studio for china painting. She gives lessons but as the pupils grow, she has to close it since the new generation isn’t interested. This was her last attempt to socialize. She dies alone, in the big, old, moldy house. The people go to pay their respects. They act more out of curiosity than sadness.
The last unrevealed secret; a room which has been locked for forty years, is opened. The room is attired as if ready for a bride. A sense of dume fills it. A silver man’s toilet pices are darkened by time. A collar and a tie remain on a dressing table. A suit carefully folded and a pair of shoes and worn socks, can be seen by a chair. The bed is occupied by a fleshless skeleton. It lies there in an embracing motion. The nightshirt and the rotting body are plastered to the bed. Dust covers everything. On the pillow beside him, can be seen the indentation of a head and on it a long strand of iron gray hair.
Analysis
The short story “ A Rose for Emily”, investigates Miss Emily’s intimate life. She becomes what she is because of her father and what happens to her with Homer Barron. Her father never gave her the freedom of acting on her own. He deprived her of a boyfriend. Her boyfriend, Homer Barron, is also a big reason why she becomes secluded from life. She wants to marry him. He wants to pass the time, and as he states, he likes mem. Another relevant point of the story is the comparison that can be made between Miss Emily’s life and the house. The house is in a state of decay just like Miss Emily’s life.
Theme
The themes are: bitterness, resentment, generation gap, disillusionment and suppressed forbidden love.
Characters
Miss Emily Grierson—At first we see her as an old, small fat woman in black. She walks with a cane. Her skeleton is small but her body is obese. She looks bloated as if her body has been submerged in motionless water. Her eyes are small and lost in the fatness of her face. Her voice is dry and cold. She does things with pride. She is a bit eccentric. She does not move with time. She remains secluded in her own little world.
The father—He is stubborn. He is seen with a horsewhip. He feels that no one is good enough for his daughter. He has driven away all the young men who were interested in Miss Emily.
Homer Barron—He is a Yankee. He is big and dark. He has a big voice and eyes lighter than his face. He likes men. He isn’t the “marrying man”.
Colonel Sartoris—He is the mayor of the town contemporary of Miss Emily’s father.
Judge Stevens—He is the mayor during Miss Emily’s time. He is eighty years old.
Lady Wyatt—She is Miss Emily’s great grand-mother.
The Negro—He is Miss Emily’s servant. He is very faithful. He stays with her until she dies.
The town’s people—They believe that Miss Emily is crazy.
Setting
The setting is Miss Emily’s house. It is old, big, gloomy and decayed. It is filled with dust. It is located in the middle of a new growing section of the town.
Activities
Questions for Comprehension
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1. What is the time span of the short story?
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2. Who is telling the story?
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3. What has Colonel Sartoris done in relation to Miss Emily’s father?
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4. What conflict exists between Miss Emily and City Hall? Is it ever resolved?
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5. At the first meeting with the towns-people, how is Miss Emily pictured?
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6. It seems that Miss Emily is always having problems with rules and regulations. What is the problem which she has had thirty years prior to the tax conflict? How does the town deal with it?
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7. How would you characterize Miss Emily’s family?
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8. When her father dies, why doesn’t she want his body to be buried?
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9. Who is the new man in Miss Emily’s life? What kind of relationship develops between the two?
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10. As the people of the town watch this relationship grow, how do they react to it?
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11. Why are the towns-people always saying “poor Emily”?
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12. Why does she buy arsenic?
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13. What kind of man is Homer Barron?
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14. What evidence is there that allows the people to say “They are Married.”?
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15. When Miss Emily is about forty, she opens a studio where she gives lessons in china-painting. As time moves on, what happens?
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16. The last section of the story reveals Miss Emily’s secret. What is this secret? Why did she kill Homer Barron?
Vocabulary
squarish
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cupolas
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spires
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scrolled
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encroached
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coquettish
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archaic
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calligraphy
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tarnished
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easel
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obese
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bloated
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pallid
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hue
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holt
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vanquish
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temerily
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depreciation
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pauper
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insanity
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tragic
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serene
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cabal
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impervousness
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thwart
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circumvent
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fasten
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virulent
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impervious
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inescapable
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perverse
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tranquil
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macabre
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sibilant
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array
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pall
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monogram
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tarnish
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grimace
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mute
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Questions for Discussion
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1. Is there evidence of a generation gap? Explain?
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2. How does the relationship that existed between Miss Emily and her father influence her entire life? Is she able to get away from her father’s ideals?
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3. In the town and the people, we see a certain progression. Is it the same for Miss Emily? Explain?
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4. Miss Emily is pitied by the people of the town, why? Quote evidence from the reading.
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5. Why does Miss Emily kill Homer Barron? Do you think she should have gone to that extreme? Why? Why not?
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6. What is the theme or themes of the story? Support your answer with evidence from the reading.
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7. Who are the characters of this short story? What are the characteristics of each?
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8. Why do you think the story is entitle “A Rose for Emily”?
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9. What does the old house symbolize?
Appendix
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Section A