Discussion Questions—“A Rose for Emily” - METAL RETRACTABLE BED COVER

Discussion Questions--"A Rose for Emily"

1. In the first two paragraphs, Faulkner writes of buildings and structures, referring to Miss Emily as "a fallen monument." If Miss Emily is a monument, to what is she a monument?

2. Come up with a description, using words or phrases in the story to help you, of Miss Emily, Homer Barron, and Colonel Sartoris. Also, what do each of them represent?

3. How do Colonel Sartoris and the Board of Aldermen differ from the new town council, the narrator, and Homer Barron?

4. Who is the narrator of the story? What do we know about him or her? How does he/she affect our view of Emily?

5. Why does Emily do what she does in the end? Come up with more than 1 reasonable answer for why she does what she does. Don't just say that she's crazy. Knowing what we know about Homer, why could his death be considered symbolic?

6. What do you think is the significance of the title? 7. Is Emily a modernist hero? Why or why not? 8. What is the effect of Faulkner's telling the story the way that he does?

Sequencing Events How Well Did You Pay Attention?

Faulkner often shuffled the order of events in his stories by using flashbacks ? scenes that interrupt the present action to describe events that took place at an earlier time.

Below are important events in Miss Emily's life. Number each event in chronological order ? the order in which they occurred in time. Place a 1 next to the event that actually occurred first in chronological time (which may not be the same order in which they occurred in the textual time). Number the events from 1 to 12 with 12 being the event to occur last in chronological time.

Order in which the narrator reveals events 1. Miss Emily dies 2. The aldermen visit about taxes 3. Miss Emily gives painting lessons 4. Her father dies 5. Homer Barron disappears 6. The aldermen apply lime around the house 7. Homer Barron arrives in town 8. Miss Emily asks the druggist for poison 9. Townspeople discover the bridal tomb

10. Miss Emily has her taxes remitted 11. She buys Homer's toiletries 12. Tobe disappears

Order in which events occur

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