Please do not forget that this activity is now homework for the three-day weekend, along with reading and annotating "A Rose for Emily"
Here is your chance to be concise about your understanding of modernist literature.
Produce a literary commentary, roughly 4-5 sentences, describing at least one feature of modernist writing which you believe is evident in the text: "A Rose for Emily," by William Faulkner or "The Wasteland," by T.S. Eliot. Speak about the author's tone or style.
HINT: Irony, stream of consciousness, break with tradition, unreliable narrator, alienation, and cynicism are features or themes of modernist literature.
Please use complete sentences in your literary commentary. Use evidence from the text. Include the title of the work in your commentary. If have trouble you may use the internet.
During the Modernist Period, writers started to break away from tradition and add new elements to their writing. In "A Rose for Emily" by William Faukner the writer starts off pitying Emily and saying that she is somewhat pathetic, but at the end of the story we learn that she killed the man she was in love with which strays from the cookie cutter role that women used to have in society. This short story symbolized the break from tradition that modernist writers had and how it changed English literature.
ReplyDeleteA feature of modernism found in "Wasteland," by T.S. Eliot is a feeling of alienation from the rest of the world. This also applies to the postmodernist period in a sense that people are so disconnected from the real world due to the constant use of technology. In "Wasteland" the narrator says, "What are the roots that clutch... Out of this stony rubbish?" questioning the simplest of things. This really expresses that feeling of alienation and questioning the world around you.
ReplyDeleteThe Modernist Period spurred cynical writing; as is shown in "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner. Emily's life was sad, her father died, and then her sweetheart "left" her. She was pitied by the townspeople, shut in her house with no company. (I'll finish at home)
ReplyDeleteEmily represents the change in women's roles in society. She was not out making a good impression and courting men, she sat at home with her deceased lover.
DeleteA feature in "The Wasteland," by T.S. Eliot is irony. Right at the beginning of this piece, Eliot starts off by saying, "April is the cruellest month, breeding..." This is an example of irony because in most cases, people consider April to be a wonderful month because it's spring time and most of life comes back in full force in April. As the poem continues there are many allusions to things in the real world, such as the Canterbury Tales, the London Bridge and a few others. In the end, although it is not quite "alienation", it does seem like the speaker is a bit distant from the rest of the world.
ReplyDeleteOne feature of modernist writing in the short story, A Rose for Emily, by William Faulkner is alienation. In the short story, Miss Emily rarely left her house after her father passed away. She isolated herself and "the only sign of life about the place was the Negro man-- a young man then--going in and out with a market basket". This quote clearly shows that she isolated herself from the town after her father's passing. Alienation can relate to my life in many ways. One way this principle relates to me is by how I go to my house after school and almost go straight to my room. I usually spend my time at my house by isolating myself in my room. Internet does that to you. (:
ReplyDeleteThe Wasteland by T.S. Eliot demonstrates the use of intertextuality, a common feature of modernist literature. The first stanza refers to lilacs and spring, alluding to "The Leaves of Grass," a 19th Century poem written by Walt Whitman. The first stanza also contains the line "dull roots with spring rain." This alludes to The Canteburry Tales from Middle English Literature. By referencing these other famous works, Eliot is making art from art, or practicing intertextuality.
ReplyDeleteIn modernist literature, break with tradition is used effectively to demonstrate modernist writing in "The Wasteland," by T.S. Eliot. Written in this are tactics which have not been used previously, such as imagery, or fragmentation. Eliot uses break with tradition effectively because he demonstrates how modernist literature has become different than past writings. In most of the first stanza, there is imagery about the seasons. "Lilacs out of the dead land... dull roots with spring rain" (Eliot 1, 4). Also in the poem are fragments of memory about nature and past life in the city.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" is an archetype of the Modernist movement in literature. The story presents a cynical view of humanity, which is a trait of modernism. Faulkner's cynicism is shown in his negative portrayal of his characters. The townspeople are trivial and meddlesome, and Miss Emily is lonesome and murderous. Mayor Sartoris is one of the only characters portrayed favorably when he benevolently waves Miss Emily's taxes. This, however, is not heeded by the future mayors, who try and collect taxes from her. "When the next generation, with its more modern ideas, became mayors and aldermen, this arrangement created some dissatisfaction," (Faulkner 1). Faulkner's scorn of "modern ideas" reveals his cynical view of young politicians. The feeling of alienation and cynicism in "A Rose for Emily" are modernist elements which reflect societal trends of the time.
ReplyDeleteIn T.S Elliot’s “The Wasteland,” the use of irony is an evident feature in this modernist poem. “The Wasteland” presents the attractiveness of death, which is a cynical view of humanity. For example, April, the month of rebirth, is not the most joyful season but the cruelest. Winter at least “kept us warm” in forgetful snow. Usually, Easter Sunday, which commemorates Christ’s resurrection, falls in April. But Eliot ironically comments here that April is the "cruelest month" as the spiritual resurrection symbolized in Easter fill humans today not with hope but fear and despair. This is clearly suggested in the phrases "dead land," "dull roots," "dried tubers" and the bleak picture of earth covered in "forgetful snow." The use of irony effectively develops the grim picture of an "Unreal City" such as modern-day London. It is a bleak place where people lead a purely mechanical and droning existence. There does not seem to be an escape this urban landscape, where materialism and hypocrisy have made society part of the "living dead."
ReplyDeleteThe Modernist Period was a break from tradition. In William Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily," Faulkner uses alienation as an escape from traditional writing. The character Miss Emily distances herself from society after the death of her father because her father had always kept her distanced from other people. By isolating herself even more, Miss Emily could hold onto the past. "with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her". Alienation is a prominent feature of modernist literature.
ReplyDeleteDuring the Modernist Period, writers began to add different forms of writing in their texts. Like breaking from tradition, irony, alienation, cynicism, etc. In 'A Rose for Emily' by William Faulkner, breaking from tradition is found. Emily and her father, continue to live as if in the past; neither will consent to a marriage for Emily to a man below their perceived status. Her father dies when Emily is about thirty; she refuses to accept that he has been dead for three days, behavior written off by the community as part of her grieving process After her acceptance of her father's death, Emily revives somewhat; she becomes friendly with Homer Barron, a Northern laborer who comes to the town as a contractor to pave the sidewalks. The connection surprises the rest of the community: the match would have been far below her earlier standards, and Homer had himself claimed that he was "not a marrying man." The town appeals to Emily's distant cousins; they are her closest remaining relatives, but they have been on bad terms with Emily and her father, and had not even been present at her father's funeral. The cousins arrive at Emily's house. Faulkner's tone is almost of awe, the people of the town are dissecting and experimenting with the life of Emily. They pay attention to the relationship between her and Homer Barron and they message her family and send them in to see what might happen. "When she had first begun to be seen with Homer Barron, we had said, 'She will marry him.'...the following day the minister's wife wrote to Miss Emily's relations in Alabama...At first nothing happened.Then we were sure they were to be married.We learned that Miss Emily had been to the jeweler's and ordered a man's toilet..." (A Rose for Emily, Faulkner).
ReplyDeleteModernist writing styles have been present in all of the short stories we've read in class. One example of this writing style is in William Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily." Miss Emily is an old woman who lives separated from her community. She doesn't go outside, and the neighbors began to spread rumors about her. She alienated herself, which is a common element in modernist writing, meaning she "removed" herself from the outside world, choosing to live a life in the odd comforts of her own home. Due to her alienation, the townsfolk think of her as creepy, wicked or even crazy, so its apparent that Faulkner knew what alienation looked like within a small community.
ReplyDeleteMany of the short stories we have read in class over the last few weeks have all had modernism apparent in them. on feature of modernist writing is that of a break with tradition. In the short story "A Rose For Emily", by William Faulkner. The writer starts out feeling sad and full of pity for Emily, but by the end of the story that feeling is gone. This is because we find out that she has killed the man that she loves to keep him with her. There is also alienation in this short story. Emily does not come out of her house ever and instead has isolated herself from the outside world. This is an other form of modernism literature. many short stories have some of these traits.
ReplyDeleteA feature of modernism evident is "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner is alienation. Miss Emily, the protagonist of this story, is an old woman who refuses to come out of her ways to resemble others. For this reason, she alienates herself from the rest of those living in her town by presenting herself as a strange, introverted, woman. Not only does she alienate herself from the town, but the town alienates her but breaking the traditions she had grown up accustomed to. Miss Emily lives in the part of town which at a time was understood to be the "good neighborhood" in which the wealthy lived. The more modern townspeople however, chose not to live there separating her from them. This story shows use of an alienation both ways possibly caused by the death of her father. This could be because Miss Emily preferred isolation, perhaps feeling that there was no place in the world for her.
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