Activity 1. Family Voices
This activity explores the voices of
As I Lay Dying,
starting with the first introductory chapters. The principles followed
in this one class session can then aid the student in reading the
remainder of the novel, supplemented with journal entries and other
assignments according to the needs of the classroom. Of crucial
importance to this activity is the question: what is narrative voice?
Ask students to brainstorm what 'voice' might mean in terms of a
novel—what sorts of things would a person's voice reveal? Possible
answers include age, education, background, culture, religious and
other kinds of beliefs, and so on. Other questions students might
consider include:
- What does it mean to have multiple voices or perspectives instead of just one?
- Does each child's voice contain certain character traits of the parents? If so, what are they?
- Do you believe the narrators? Do they have ulterior motives for the trip to Jefferson? If so, what are they?
The following PDF worksheet,
The Many Voices of As I Lay Dying,
has 15 rows—one for each voice in the novel. The first group of voices
has already been filled out—they are the immediate members of the
Bundren family: Anse, Addie, Cash, Darl, Dewey Dell, Vardaman, and
Jewel.
The Bundren Genealogy, available at
William Faulkner on the Web, via EDSITEment-reviewed
Internet Public Library,
lists the relationships of the family in a graphical format (spoiler
alert: the genealogy does give away Addie's relationship with Rev.
Whitfield). Students can begin filling out the character sheet,
including adding new "voices" as students come across them, and use the
chart as they read to keep notes about the various characters.
As I Lay Dying
has a total of 15 voices—who are they? What do we know about them from
others? What do they reveal about themselves? What do they reveal (or
conceal) about Addie (or Addie's position as a woman in the South)?
What do we learn about the setting and culture through the characters'
voices? What do we learn about the characters that they did not
intentionally reveal (either through their own voice or another's)?
Other questions for consideration:
Once students have been able to use the chart to examine the "big picture" of
As I Lay Dying,
the form of the novel might be a little more apparent. Who is the most
frequent narrator? (answer: Darl) What happens to him in the end of
the novel? Why is that? How does he compare to the other members of his
family? Who are some central characters who are also the least
frequent speakers? (answer: Jewel and Addie, who both have just one
monologue—see
Lesson 4: Burying Addie's Voice
for more detail on Addie's role)
What does Faulkner seem to be saying
about the power—or the lack of it—in the act of narration? How does this
style of narration compare to a novel where there is one clear
narrator with authority? Without a central narrator, how does the
process of reading change? Can the reading process be compared to the
journey to Jefferson? In what way?
Known as "The Lost Generation" American writers of the 1920s Brought Modernism to the United States. For writers like Hemingway and Fitzgerald, World War I destroyed the illusion that acting virtuously brought about good. Like their British contemporaries, American Modernists rejected traditional institutions and forms. American Modernists include: