As I Lay Dying

Discuss the relationship between motherhood and death in Faulkner’s novel. You should consider at least three characters’ experiences of motherhood in your answer.

What techniques does Faulkner use to help the reader understand his characters? Do you think we learn more about the characters from their own narratives or from other characters’ perspectives of them?

What role do bodies play in Faulkner’s novel? To what extent is the shape and fitness of a body symptomatic of that character’s overall fortune?

Do you find Anse a sympathetic character? To what extent do you think that Faulkner wants the reader to make a moral evaluation of Anse’s character?

Discuss the significance of the Bundrens’ journey to Jefferson. How does the power dynamic in the family change because of this journey?

How and to what effect does Faulkner use humor in his novel about death and poverty? You should close-read at least two passages in your answer.

Discuss the tension between personal desire and social duty in Faulkner’s novel. Does Faulkner show that this tension can be resolved once and for all, or is it a continuing battle within individuals?

To what extent do the 1920s social changes of motoring and increased sexual permissiveness figure into Faulkner’s novel? How does the novel position itself as being on the threshold of the rural agrarian South and a more modern urban world?