The Atomic Era, spanning from 1945 through the 1960s, was a source of immense concern and fear that faced both Americans and the entire world. During this tumultuous time in history, past abominations such as the Depression and two deadly World Wars haunted Americans, while the Cold War loomed as an imminent threat. Due to such prolonged suffering, the human spirit holding people together the world over had fallen apart at the seams. Upon receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950, William Faulkner delivered an acceptance speech in which he applies balanced sentences, meaningful repetition, and potent hyperbole in order to call aspiring writers to abandon their fears and encourage them to create work that will aid the world in midst of the current, volatile Atomic Age.
William Faulkner incorporates balanced sentence structure throughout his speech to draw connections between the writer and their role within humanity. Faulkner begins his speech by addressing all aspiring writers and linking himself to them. He states that these writers are “already dedicated to the same anguish and travail, among whom is already that one who will someday stand here where I am standing.” Faulkner immediately establishes a hopeful tone regarding the future of writers, writers who, like Faulkner, understand that good writing requires the hard-work of self-sacrifice. Later on, when discussing the work of authors who disregard the universal truths of writing, Faulkner once again employs a balanced sentence. He claims such works are “of defeats in which nobody loses anything of value, of victories without hope and, worst of all, without pity or compassion”. Defeat and victory juxtaposed blurs the lines between the two and emphasizes the lack of meaning found within the works of authors unwilling to share the problems of the human heart. The parallelism of victories without hope, pity, and compassion marks any author’s work lacking these essential elements as destitute. Faulkner closes his speech with a final balanced statement, “The poet’s voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.” Faulkner expounds his central message that our writings must be the
Faulkner, in his sports essay, describes the actions of hockey in order to convey the excitement derived from playing the sport. He successfully achieves this portrayal of action and excitement by his deliberate use of syntax and imagery.
The style in which Faulkner writes this story allows the reader’s mind to wonder and put the story together their own
William Faulkner is one of America's most talked about writers and his work should be included in any literary canon for several reasons. After reading a few of his short stories, it becomes clear that Faulkner's works have uniqueness to them. One of the qualities that make William Faulkner's writings different is his close connection with the South. Gwendolyn Charbnier states, 'Besides the sociological factors that influence Faulkner's work, biographical factors are of great importance…'; (20). Faulkner's magnificent imagination led him to create a fictional Mississippi county named Yoknapatawpha, which includes every detail from square mileage of the county to the break down of
Analyzing character in a Faulkner novel is like trying to reach the bottom of a bottomless pit because Faulkner's characters often lack ration, speak in telegraphed stream-of-consciousness, and rarely if ever lend themselves to ready analysis. This is particularly true in As I Lay Dying, a novel of a fragmented and dysfunctional family told through fragmented chapters. Each character reveals their perspective in different chapters, but the perspectives are true to life in that though they all reveal information
Faulkner grew up in Mississippi in the beginning of the twentieth century ('William Faulkner'; 699). He was the son to Murray C. and Maud Butler Faulkner (Hoffman 13). Growing up in the South in the early 1900's meant being exposed to harsh racism. He watched the blacks endure unbelievable amounts of cruelty and was amazed at how the blacks conducted themselves with such dignity. He witnessed, first hand, what discrimination is and could not comprehend why this goes on. In many of Faulkner's works I found that he portrayed blacks as quite,easy-going, well-tempered people. He attempted to show them as heroes. It is my belief that Faulkner writes about the south because that is the subject that has affected his life most.
Who knew a high school dropout would become one of the most well-known authors still known today? Even though William Faulkner did not finish school (“William Faulkner – Biographical”), he certainly knew how to capture a reader’s attention and drop them into a new world with just a pen. The style in which he writes is unique. With only three semesters of college, he was forced to create from nearly a blank slate; college had not brainwashed him in to a repetitive nature with writing a certain way. He was forced to think outside the box and this makes him stand out from other writers. The building blocks of his stories can be derived from his life. If a reader had a collection of his literature, it would not be hard for them to take a guess at what his personal life was like. Faulkner lived an interesting life and incorporated its aspects into his short stories, two of which, “A Rose for Emily” and “Dry September,” have similar characters, symbolism, and themes. Critics have explored the meanings behind his work and thus given readers a better insight.
Faulkner uses every detail in an abstract manner to paint a vivid image to the reader of the plight she endures. The summer following her fathers' death, the community began the
If we compare William Faulkner's two short stories, 'A Rose for Emily' and 'Barn Burning', he structures the plots of these two stories differently. However, both of the stories note the effect of a father¡¦s teaching, and in both the protagonists Miss Emily and Sarty make their own decisions about their lives. The stories present major idea through symbolism that includes strong metaphorical meaning. Both stories affect my thinking of life.
In William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying the story is told from different characters creating many different perspectives. All though every character has a voice, they are not all created to intelligent and sympathetic voices. Faulkner controls which characters we closely identify with by the amount of time he devoted to the characters, the number of entries the person had and the attitude that is given to these characters.
Upon receiving the Nobel Prize for his excellence in writing, William Faulkner expresses his dismay towards the writers of the day and laid out what he terms “the writer’s duty.” In his acceptance speech, Faulkner is disheartened by the fact that young writers continue to discuss “the end of man” in their work. Faulkner advocates that authors must make all efforts to “help man endure by lifting his heart.” Because man leads a difficult life, writers are obligated to use their work to uplift and inspire the reader’s sprit. In his memoir, Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt raises the reader’s spirits by illustrating that although one may have a reprobate nature,
This renders the tone more one of reminiscence and, if Faulkner's narrator is not as grandiloquent as Poe's, he nonetheless paints vivid pictures, as in his description of Emily later in life: “She looked bloated, like a body long submerged in water, and of that pallid hue” (Faulkner 3). What may be most interesting in the differences of narrator tone, however, is how each underscores the thrust of the story. Poe's extreme voice works to build up to a disturbing conclusion of murder; the exaggeration of Montresor's tone conforms to the trajectory of the story. With Faulkner, understatement is the key. His story ends as dramatically, if not more so, than Poe's, and the effect of the revealed necrophilia is amplified by how moderately the narrator conveys the tale.
Faulkner proves us that it is impossible to sruggle with one's own heart . The moment when Sarty decided to choose morality over the blood pool and warned the de Spain's revealed his true character. Though this meant the death of his
William Faulkner was an often misunderstood writer of many novels and short stories. ("William Faulkner’s Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech ") It was not until 1949 and after his death when he was given the Nobel Prize in Literature that people began to acknowledge him and his works. ("William Faulkner") In his Nobel Prize of Literature acceptance speech, at the city hall in Stockholm on December 10, 1950, Faulkner uses a powerful tone and effective rhetorical devices to convey his purpose. In his Nobel Prize of Literature acceptance speech, William Faulkner utilizes rhetorical devices such as
The written word has become a domain for people of all ages and eras to learn from. Within the last century or so, there has been a procession of memorable writers with important messages to understand and learn from. It takes diligence when reading to understand what the author is saying within the context of their lives. Sometimes, the context of the reader’s life makes the writer’s story more memorable. In The Best American Essays of the Century, by Joyce Carol Oates, just in the range of 35 years, from 1901 to 1935, readers are told about things experienced, told, or imagined. Each essay tells a story or a lesson in the form of the written world. Although the authors most likely lived very different lives compared to each other, each essay portrays similar ideas or themes that can be interpreted by the readers. Only through writing can ideas, such as these, be preserved and shared with others in completely different situations as the author was. These essays’ themes have made them timeless, being able to apply to the past, the present, and the future. Within the first fifteen essays of this collection, the themes: the present is made from events in the past, strength can be stemmed from bad surroundings, and judgment is inevitable from those around us, are evident and important for readers to discover in order to understand the historic credibility behind them.
William Faulkner’s unconventional writing style is widely renowned for his disregard of literary rules and his keen ability to peer into the psychological depths of his characters. His novel As I Lay Dying is no exception to his signature style. This book sets forth the death of Addie Bundren, her family’s journey through Yoknapatawpha County to bury her with her relatives in Jefferson, Mississippi, and examines each character in depth from a variety of perspectives. While this journey wreaks havoc among members of the family, As I Lay Dying serves as a dark reminder that life is to be lived and that happiness is within reach.