Thursdays

11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. EST

Zoom

1/19, 1/26, 2/2, 2/9, 2/16, 2/23

6 Sessions

Limit 25 Participants

CLOSED - AT CAPACITY

CLOSED - AT CAPACITY

William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying is a psychological jigsaw tracking the odyssey of the Bundrens, poor white farmers from Depression Era Mississippi, as they fight flood and fire to honor Mrs. Bundren’s wish to be buried with her family in Jefferson. Hailed as “the most original novel ever written by an American” (Harold Bloom), the tragicomic story unfolds through fifteen narrators with private struggles and distinctive voices.

We will examine the novel in terms of how Faulkner experiments with language and employs cubism and country music to create the work that he intended to be his “tour de force.” Participants should anticipate reading 50 pages per week and to watch an occasional short video. For the first class, please read Faulkner’s short story, “Barn Burning” which can be found here: https://pdcrodas.webs.ull.es/naturalismo/FaulknerBarnBurning.pdf,

Readings: William Faulkner. As I Lay Dying, Vintage international (paperback). ISBN 978-0-679-73225-9. Please try to obtain this corrected edition to facilitate ease in locating passages during discussion.

Nancy G. Walters earned an MA Trinity College (Hartford). She was a high school English teacher in St. Louis and an English instructor at St. Louis University, Lindenwood University, and Southwestern Illinois College.

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