Study Questions

A Rose for Emily

1. What is meaningful in the final detail that the strand of hair on the second pillow is iron-gray?

Perhaps that she had been close by to the corpse, or slept with it.
2. Who is the unnamed narrator? For whom does he profess to be speaking?
Someone who is a citizen of the town.
3. Why does “a Rose for Emily” seem better told from his point of view then if it were told from the point of view of the main character?
This point of view gives it a mysterious feel, like looking in through a window into a richly furnished house.
4. What foreshadowing of the discovery of the body of Homer Barron are we given earlier in the story? Share your experience in reading “A Rose for Emily”: did the foreshadowing give away the ending for you? Did they heighten your interest?
The poison foreshadowed his death and made reading the story more interesting.
5. What contrasts does the narrator draw between changing reality and Emily’s refusal or inability to recognize change?
She killed Homer so he couldn't leave, and nothing would change.
6. How do the character and background of Emily Grierson differ from those of Homer Barron? What general observations about the society that Faulkner depicts can be made from his portraits of those two characters and from his account of life in this one Mississippi town?
The difference is in class. One is from a higher social class, and the other is not. The life of the higher classes is more stressful, but the lower class is more laid back.
7. Does the story seem to you totally grim, or do you find any humor in it?
There is some humor in how the family members relate to one another.
8. What do you infer to be the author’s attitude toward Emily Grierson? Is she simply a murderous madwoman? Why do you suppose Faulkner calls his story “A Rose…”?
She is someone stuck in time, clinging to the golden age of her life, unwilling to move on, and this is why i think Faulkner named it "a rose" because a rose changes.

Teenage Wasteland

1. From whose point of view is the story told? How would you characterize the method employed-omniscient, or objective?
It's told from the third person, and it's omniscient.
2. What is the significance of the opening paragraph of the story?
His growth as a person and the changes he went through.
3. Daisy is extremely self-conscious about how others view her. Find instances of this trait in the text. How does it affect her approach to raising her children?
She caters to what others tell her regarding raising her children.
4. Daisy’s attitude toward Cal undergoes frequent and at times rapid changes. Find examples in the text. What does she seem to think of him by the end of the story?
She is very bipolar toward him during the story. By the end she blames him for what happened to Donnie.
5. How does the portrayal of Donny’s sister, Amanda, help to clarify the larger concerns of the story?
It puts Donny's problems in the limelight and makes them larger in comparison.
6. Would you describe Tyler’s presentation of Daisy as satirical or sympathetic? Can it be both at once? Explain.
She inspires both criticism and sympathy with her action. One wishes to condemn her for what she does, but at the same time feel compassion for her.