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“A Rose for Emily”

“A Rose for Emily”. Notes on the story. General Information: Narrator. The voice of the town (Jefferson, MS) tells readers the story. General Information: Emily’s House. Emily = house (Note the many similarities between Emily & her house).

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“A Rose for Emily”

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  1. “A Rose for Emily” Notes on the story

  2. General Information: Narrator • The voice of the town (Jefferson, MS) tells readers the story.

  3. General Information: Emily’s House • Emily = house (Note the many similarities between Emily & her house). • As the crumbling Grierson house is being described, think about how the town views Emily herself as a fallen monument.

  4. General Information: Plot • Plot is non-chronological • Non-linear plot encourages growing pity for Emily • The non-linear plot also serves to hide Emily’s crimes (just as the town does) by discouraging attention to any single event

  5. General Information: Foreshadowing • Foreshadowing = smell, lime, poison, father’s body • Readers know all along that something (someone) is rotten (dead), yet the ending still has an element of shock.

  6. General Information: Ending • End of story has 2 surprises: #1: Homer is there #2: Emily slept with him

  7. Making sense of the events • Chronology of Events • Emily’s father dies • Col. Sartoris pays Emily’s taxes • Col. Sartoris dies • Homer arrives • Emily buys arsenic • Homer disappears • Smell appears • Aldermen try to collect taxes • Emily dies

  8. Portraits of Emily: Descriptions of Emily framed in a portrait, window, or doorway

  9. Portraits of Emily: Section I • Crayon portrait with her father – tarnished gilt easel

  10. Portraits of Emily: Section II: • Small fat woman in black framed by doorway; she looks dead (something inside her has died) • Miss Emily sits in window (watching sprinkling of lime)

  11. Portraits of Emily: Section III • Angel in window (short hair)

  12. Portraits of Emily: Section IV • Emily is seen in upstairs/downstairs windows

  13. Descriptions of Emily How Emily is presented in the story: Growing sympathy makes ending more disturbing; romantic view prevents town from seeing reality; they cover her crimes.

  14. Descriptions of Emily • Tradition, duty, care • Fallen monument • Hereditary obligation on the town • Would not accept charity • Emily in denial about father’s death

  15. Descriptions of Emily • Small fat woman in black • Bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water; pallid hue • Eyes like coal pressed in dough; fatty ridges • An idol

  16. Descriptions of Emily • Hair cut short, like a girl • Angelic comparison • Carried head high with Homer • Thin, cold, haughty black eyes; lighthouse keeper

  17. Descriptions of Emily • Fat with iron gray hair; like the hair of an active man • Dead on a heavy walnut bed

  18. Conflicts in the story Character conflicts that drive the plot

  19. Conflicts • Emily vs. Homer • Emily is southern aristocracy, desperate for marriage • Homer is Yankee, day laborer, not marrying kind • Homer is also gay • Resolution = she kills him and keeps his body

  20. Conflicts • Emily vs. her Father • Keeps her single – chases her suitors • Possible incest and possible insanity • Resolution = he dies, leaving her alone

  21. Conflicts • Emily vs. Town • Taxes • What is acceptable? (smell, Homer) • Gossip • Is there resolution?

  22. Conflicts • Emily vs. Herself • Maintain status or marry • Takes a lover vs. religion and tradition • Murders what she loves • “Loving” Homer after death was her atonement

  23. Old Southern Setting • What makes this uniquely southern? • Influence of traditions • Negro servant • Role of clergy/relatives/women • Class considerations • Gothic elements: Old house, mysterious activities, smell, strange servant, closed rooms, dust, darkness, decay…

  24. Symbolic elements • Rose – love; gift of love; delicate; sweet smelling • Iron – strong, firm, cold, inflexible • Dust – overlooked, neglected, dirty, return to dust, antique • Barron – barren • Rat/snake – Homer is both • Black – death/funeral (psychologically dead) • Closed house/rooms – closed mind; isolation

  25. Vocabulary • cupolas: dome on a house, often serving as a belfry • august: majestic; inspiring admiration • coquettish: to act like a flirtatious woman • motes: particles or specks of dust or dirt • crayon: Pastels, (not crayola) • pallid: pale, drained of color

  26. Vocabulary • vanquish: to conquer or subdue • temerity: reckless boldness • diffident: lacking self confidence; timid; shy • deprecation: disapproval of • tableau: striking picture or scene • spraddled: to straddle or sprawl

  27. Vocabulary • vindicated: cleared from accusation; liberate; defend • imperviousness: impenetrable; incapable of being impaired, injured, or influenced • cabal: a small group of plotters, or their plot; subversives • bier: frame or stand for a coffin • jalousies: blind or window with horizontal slats

  28. Vocabulary • sibilant: hissing • macabre: gruesome; grim; ghastly • acrid: sharp or biting in taste or smell • cuckholded: cuckhold=husband of an unfaithful wife

  29. “…the man himself lay on the bed.”

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