As I Lay Dying One-Pager

One-Pager Assignment


In your group of four complete the following tasks to answer your group’s discussion question:

1. Discuss the question assigned to your group.

2. Write a paragraph long summary of your answer on your poster paper.

3. Provide evidence that supports your group’s position. Include references to Faulkner’s use of literary elements. Also include specific quotes.

4. Try to relate your question and answer to a real-world issue. This may be contemporary or historical. You may also relate what you are discussing to another piece of literature.

5. Complete an illustration that relates to the text and explains your group’s answer to your question.


Requirements:

1. Everyone must participate in this activity in some way. You will receive credit for participating (or lose it for not) as well as for how well your group as a whole completes the outlined tasks. (Artistic ability is appreciated but not necessary to receive full credit).

2. Please write all of your answers on your poster paper. In doing so, make sure that you write everything so that it is easy to read. If you need extra room for quotes or examples of literary elements, you may want to write them on the back of your group’s paper.

3. Write the names of your group members and your assigned question number on the back of your poster paper.





Discussion Questions

1. Even the reader of such an unusual book may be surprised to come upon Addie Bundren's narrative on page 169, if only because Addie has been dead since page 48. Why is Addie's narrative placed where it is, and what is the effect of hearing Addie's voice at this point in the book? Is this one of the ways in which Faulkner shows Addie's continued "life" in the minds and hearts of her family? How do the issues raised by Addie here relate to the book as a whole?

2. What makes Darl different from the other characters? Why is he able to describe Addie's death [p. 48] when he is not present? How is he able to intuit the fact of Dewey Dell's pregnancy? What does this uncanny visionary power mean, particularly in the context of what happens to Darl at the end of the novel? Darl has fought in World War I; why do you think Faulkner has chosen to include this information about him? What are the sources and meaning of his madness?

3. Anse Bundren is surely one of the most feckless characters in literature, yet he alone thrives in the midst of disaster. How does he manage to command the obedience and cooperation of his children? Why are other people so generous with him? He gets his new teeth at the end of the novel and he also gets a new wife. What is the secret of Anse's charm? How did he manage to make Addie marry him, when she is clearly more intelligent than he is?

4. What is your response to the section spoken by Vardaman, which states simply, "My mother is a fish"? What sort of psychological state or process does this declaration indicate? What are some of the ways in which Vardaman insists on keeping his mother alive, even as he struggles to understand that she is dead? In what other ways does the novel show characters wrestling with ideas of identity and embodiment?

5. This is a novel full of acts of love, not the least of which is the prolonged search in the river for Cash's tools. Consider some of the other ways that love is expressed among the members of the family. What compels loyalty in this family? What are the ways in which that loyalty is betrayed? Which characters are most self-interested?

6. The saga of the Bundren family is participated in, and reflected upon, by many other characters. What does the involvement of Doctor Peabody, of Armstid, and of Cora and Vernon Tull say about the importance of community in country life? Are the characters in the town meant to provide a contrast with country people?

For General Consideration: What does the novel reveal about the ways in which human beings deal with death, grieving, and letting go of our loved ones? (Use this as a study guide for your critical lens along with the most recent posts on the blog site).
Adapted from: http://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/13-fiction/83-as-i-lay-dying-faulkner -Also available on this site: author bio and book review