A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner
The Second Literary Essay This paper should be between three and four pages long, double spaced and follow the normal formatting. You must choose any three stories from our readings this semester for this paper, but not the same story you used in the first essay. The topic of the essay must have something to do with gender roles. You may discuss male or female characters, but the overall thesis (argument) should focus on gender issues. The Best General Plan Read as many of the assigned stories as you can, so that you have the maximum amount of choices for your paper. Decide what aspect of gender you want to consider. Then choose the most interesting women or men to write about. Keep the paper on either men or women so that you have a central focus. You can mention other characters and will have to, but think about the paper as a concentrated study of either some women or some men. You may choose three wives, or three husbands, three rebellious women or three traditional men. When you choose the characters to talk about, stick with the important roles in the story. Sometimes there are characters that are only peripheral to the main theme in the story (flat characters). You want to concentrate on people that are important to the story, characters that change and that we know a lot about (round characters) Reread the stories with the most interesting characters, paying particular attention to the role gender plays in each story. Prewrite some ideas about this group of characters, noting similarities, differences, particular characteristics, or general themes in the stories. Brainstorm your ideas randomly at first, just to get started thinking. Decide what your overall thesis will be, the general argument you want to make about how ideas of gender are important to the literature. Find specific examples and details from the stories that support your general ideas about these works. Highlight some quotes, some particular language that you think is distinctly revealing. Look carefully at the elements of fiction in each of these works and determine how of Point of View, Setting, Symbolism reveal aspects of the characters. Write your first draft of the paper Revise and edit the paper carefully Some Questions to ask yourself as you write the paper What are some of the most important tensions that revolve around issues of gender? What of the roles of marriage, work, domesticity, children? Do any of the characters you chose rebel against gender roles? In what ways specifically and what is the result? Do gender roles influence the decisions and choices the characters make? If so, are there positive or negative effects? Do you see any gender stereotypes in the stories and if so, how does the writer portray these stereotypes? Are conclusions drawn or suggested by the plots and themes of the works? Does the author’s gender have any importance in your interpretation of the work? these are the stories to choose from: "Let Them Call it Jazz" by Jean Rhys "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver "So Much Water So Close To Home" by Raymond Carver "1955" by Alice Walker "The Swimmer" by John Cheever "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker "the Bath" by Raymond Carver "A Small Good Thing" by Raymond Carver "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman "Hair" by William Faulkner "A Rose For Emily" by William Faulkner
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“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner as the author and is set immediately after the Civil War. In the story Faulkner was attempting to create a story concerning a woman in love that wanted a family as well as a normal life. When she does find a man that she supposes would give her the life she has been longing for she too finds that he does not truthfully want her, and in the end this causes Emily to kill him. Faulkner is a sparkling author who in this short narrative draws a picture of the life of a girl who was house bound most of her life due to her father. After his death she thinks that she could find an ordinary life of her own.
In the short narrative “A Rose for Emily” the story begins at the end, with her death and then after talking regarding her funeral Faulkner then writes regarding her life and how she became the woman she ended up being. The narrative begins with the urban people talking of the death of Emily. In addition, a woman’s role in life was that of a submissive one. When Emily was alive as the tradition of the town, she had hereditary responsibility of taking care of the town. It was unheard of to be as old as Emily at thirty and still be not married. Prior to the war, it was not unheard of to be married as youthful as seventeen. History indicated that the impacts of the Civil War had destroyed the Southern marriage patterns. The death rates were so great that Southern women became demographically disadvantaged. For instance, when Emily died, the entire town attended her funeral. This threatened the personality of the white woman becoming wives as well as mothers. In Emily’s instance, her father thought that no man was good enough for his daughter as well as the town pitied her. Therefore, women during this time took part in the work force and Emily herself gave art lessons.
In the story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker narrates about mother and her two daughters in the rural south. Ms. Johnson who is the narrator of the story is a middle-age African-American woman who has strongly struggled to make sure that she raises her daughters successfully. Therefore, the story centers most on the two daughters. Alice describes significant difference between the two daughters. Dee was the older daughter who is well-educated as well as most classy young lady who leaves home in order to get extra education. On the hand, Maggie who is young is very shy and habitually skilled who suffered emotionally as well as physically due to house fire. ...