A ROSE FOR EMILY

Author: William Faulkner

Literary theory/Approach used: Formalistic Approach

SUMMARY:

The story started from the present time when the citizens of Jefferson gather in the funeral of Emily
Grierson. Then it was followed by the flashback how Miss Emily suffered from his father for not letting him marry
anyone. Also, the people of the town want her to pay taxes but she only said that they must see Colonel
Sartoris. There was a complaint about Miss Emily but Judge Stevens instructed men to spread lime in the
house of Emily secretly. Day passed by, Emily went to a drug store and she bought arsenic. The people of the
town are making the conclusion that Emily will kill herself because they saw that she has arsenic in her hands.
In the next following days, the citizens break the door in the bedroom. The people in the town found Homer
Barron’s dead body. They concluded that Emily killed him after they had sexual intercourse. They also saw Miss
Emily died in one of the downstairs rooms. The second pillow was the indentation of a head. One of the citizens
lifted something from it, and leaning forward, that faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils, they saw a
long strand of iron-gray hair.   

ELEMENTS OF A SHORT STORY

CHARACTERS:
 Emily Grierson – the main character of the story. She easily got irritated and showed unfriendly
behavior. She suffered from mental and physical pains because of his father’s perspective and
became aloof when his father died. She is the one who killed Homer Barron.
 Homer Barron – a construction foreman and a Yankee--a big, dark, ready man, with a big voice and
eyes lighter than his face. He was killed by Miss Emily.
 Judge Stevens – the mayor of Jefferson and make way to preserve the female dignity of Miss Emily
 Mr. Grierson – the father of Emily who never let her daughter to be courted or marry anybody
 Tobe – An old man-servant of Emily Grierson - a combined gardener and cook
 Colonel Sartoris – had been dead almost ten years. The mayor who had also who fathered the edict
that no Negro woman should appear on the streets without an apron-remitted her taxes, the
dispensation dating from the death of her father on into perpetuity.

SETTINGS:
 House of Emily in the town of Jefferson
 Day in 1894
 Dim hall from which a stairway mounted into still more shadow. It smelled of dust and disuse--a close,
dank smell.
 PLOT

CLIMAX
Miss Emily bought a poison. The people
of the town are making the conclusion
that Emily will kill herself because they
saw that she has arsenic in her hands.
But the next following day, the citizens
break the door in the bedroom.

RISING ACTION DENOUMENT

The people in the town found Homer
There is a flashback that Emily was
Barron’s dead body. They concluded that
encouraged to pay her taxes, but Emily
Emily killed him after they had sexual
just said that they must see Colonel
intercourse. They also saw Miss Emily
Sartoris. Also, Judge Stevens instructed
died in one of the downstairs rooms.
the aldermen to spread lime in the house
of Emily secretly.

EXPOSITION RESOLUTION
The story started when citizens of The second pillow was the indentation of
Jefferson town gathered together for the a head. One of the citizens lifted
funeral of Miss Emily. something from it, and leaning forward,
that faint and invisible dust dry and acrid
in the nostrils, they saw a long strand of
iron-gray hair.

TONE:
 Memory because the story was written in flashbacks.
 Suspenseful because the author keeps on making events full of questions about what will happen next
and how and why it happened.
 Mysterious because the author keeps on giving mystery to be solved.
 Tragic because in the end, main characters died.

MOOD:
 Sad because the readers can feel the pain and sufferings of Miss Emily
 Loneliness because the readers can feel loneliness where Emily do not experience the real happiness.
 Anger because the father mistreated her daughter.

MORAL:
 Always be optimistic. Don’t let other people dictate what you can and cannot do. Because if you follow
them, sometimes, you will be just neglected or miserable. Make a way to move on your own.
 Mental illness or being aloof doesn’t mean you are totally sick. Sometimes, you cannot just accept the
fact that everything has changed. Do not let anyone control you or to be judged because you look like
that.
  Love and acceptance is the best medicine. But do not forget, sometimes it is fragile that can cause you
to be killed.

IMAGES USED:
 It was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and
scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most
select street. (appeal to the sense of sight/visual imagery)
 A small, fat woman in black, with a thin gold chain descending to her waist and vanishing into her belt,
leaning on an ebony cane with a tarnished gold head. Her skeleton was small and spare; perhaps that
was why what would have been merely plumpness in another was obesity in her. She looked bloated,
like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue. Her eyes, lost in the fatty
ridges of her face, looked like two small pieces of coal pressed into a lump of dough as they moved
from one face to another while the visitors stated their errand. (appeal to the sense of sight/visual
imagery)
 They rose when she entered (kinesthetic imagery)
 "will you accuse a lady to her face of smelling bad?" (olfactory imagery)

STYLE:
 William Faulkner uses gothic horror and tragedy style of writing because the story portrayed social
issues and culture of South America. The story was full of sufferings and different perspectives that in
the end, the main characters died. He wrote the story by narrating the story in the present then
connects it to the past happenings of the story. Faulkner puts some suspenseful happenings then
relates it to the past. It also presents mysterious, dark, agony and terrifying events that add to the style
of writing. The story was divided into five parts to deliver the story to the readers.

SYMBOLISM:
 Rose symbolizes love for Emily that she had never experienced through of her life.
 The big and squarish house of Emily symbolizes her life that is full of pretension. It was like living in a
palace, yet hell because of her father. It represents grievances of the main character.
 Iron-gray hair represents the life of a person as time passes by. It can be gleaned that in the
beginning, humans have a lot of strength to face challenges in life, but as time passes by, it fades
away. There is a change that happens in our life and that changes can sometimes lead to the death of
a person.
 Homer Barron symbolizes a man who is opportunist that taking all the credits and uses another to
become more popular
 Mailbox symbolizes the changes in our life that we cannot accept
 Tobe symbolizes slavery of the blacks or may be represents as one to relate in future because his
name is TOBE which may conclude to “to be…”
 Short hair of Miss Emily symbolizes the positive changes in life that talks about moving on from cruel
past

CONFLICT:
 The conflict of the story is Man vs. Self because Miss Emily is suffering from internal struggle. She is
fighting against the reality where many changes happened to her. She cannot accept her father’s death and she
is not living in her house anymore. She also suffers from many delusions and easily get irritated.

LITERARY DEVICES USED:

 Alliteration
 It smelled of dust and disuse--a close, dank smell.
 a faint dust rose sluggishly about their thighs, spinning with slow motes in the single sun-ray
 …sack slung from his shoulder.

 Hyperbole
 The violence of breaking down the door seemed to fill this room with pervading dust.

 Metaphor
 When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort
of respectful affection for a fallen monument (the author compared Miss Emily to a monument)
 …the past is not a diminishing road but, instead, a huge meadow which no winter ever quite
touches… (the author compared the past to road and a meadow)

 Onomatopoeia
 …swift clop-clop-clop of the matched team passed: "Poor Emily.

 Personification
 Miss Emily's house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton
wagons and the gasoline pumps-an eyesore among eyesores.

 Simile
 She looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue.
 Her eyes, lost in the fatty ridges of her face, looked like two small pieces of coal pressed into
a lump of dough as they moved from one face to another while the visitors stated their errand.
 She had evidently shut up the top floor of the house--like the carven torso of an idol in a niche

POINT OF VIEW:
The story was written in first person point of view because there is an unnamed narrator who keeps
on using the word “we”. It seems that the narrator was one of the people in the town or literally, the town people.
One or more people are sharing different perspectives to narrate the story.

THE STORY OF AN HOUR

Author: Kate Chopin
Literary theory/Approach used: Formalistic Approach
SUMMARY:
There was news that Mr. Brently Mallard died because of the train accident. Mrs. Josephine was
suffering from heart illness so her sister and the friend of Mr. Mallard, Richard, are afraid of what may happen to
her so they gently told her the news.  She didn’t say anything about it and keeps on calming herself. She then
realized that she is now free from married life. Mrs. Mallard was very happy when her sister thought that she
was killing herself. Then someone opened and entered the door. It was her husband in a little travel-stained,
composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella. Mrs. Mallard collapsed. The doctors came to their house but
she had already died. They concluded that she had a heart attack because of too much joy.

ELEMENTS OF A SHORT STORY

CHARACTERS:
 Louise Mallard – the wife of Brently Mallard and suffering from heart disease.
 Brently Mallard – the husband of Louise Mallard and the one who was reported killed in a train
accident.
 Josephine – sister of Louise Mallard and the one who reported about the train accident of Brently
Mallard to her sister.
 Richards – friend of Brently Mallard and the one who witness when Josephine told to her sister that
Brently Mallard got into train accident
 The Doctors – they are the one who declare that Louise Mallard died, concluding that it is because of
too much joy that causes a heart attack.

SETTINGS:
 The story happened within an hour in the house of Mallards

PLOT

CLIMAX
Mrs. Mallard realizes that she is now free
from married life where she was not
totally happy.
 RISING ACTION DENOUMENT
Josephine and Richards gently told her After realizing that Mrs. Mallard can now
as gently as possible the news of her live freely and happy without a husband,
husband's death. Mr. Mallard came in, alive.

EXPOSITION RESOLUTION
Mrs. Mallard is suffering from heart Mrs. Mallard collapsed. The doctors
illness, so everyone worries what might came to their house but she is already
happen to her if she learned about the died. They concluded that she had a
death of her husband. heart attack because of too much joy.

TONE:
 Being not contented because the author made Mrs. Mallard to be not contented in her life being
married who she is not fully in love with.
 Unhappy because the author made Mrs. Mallard not to be happy with her husband and only became
happy when she learned that he was killed by a train
 Bitter joy because the author made Mrs. Mallard not to accept the fact that her husband died, but then
realizes that she is now free

MOOD:
 Depressing because Mrs. Mallard is suffering from heart illness and her husband died in a train
accident
 Optimistic, instead of mourning, Mrs. Mallard realized that she can be now free
 Exciting because now that Mrs. Mallard considers herself as free from her marriage life, what will
happen next to her?

MORAL:
 Do not be happy with someone’s death. Who might know, he/she is still alive and will come to you?
And in the end, you will be the one who will die because of his/her surprise comeback.
 If you know that you have heart illness, learn to calm yourself and don’t be pessimistic. Instead, learn
to accept things, even if you do not want it to happen.

IMAGES USED:
 She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms. (tactile imagery)
 She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength.
(visual imagery)
 It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip-sack and
umbrella. (visual imagery)
 It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half
concealing. (auditory imagery)
  Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhole, imploring for admission.
(kinesthetic imagery)

STYLE:
The story was written in situational irony that surprised the plot endings. It was narrated in the
beginning of the story that her husband had already died. Mrs. Mallard is already happy and about to celebrate,
but her husband came back alive and she is the one who died in the story.

SYMBOLISM:
 Spring symbolizes new beginning of Mrs. Mallard
 Mrs. Mallard’s Heart symbolizes too much enjoyment and stress of a person
 Open window symbolizes freedom and new opportunities.
 Heart troubles symbolizes challenges and emotional condition of everyone

CONFLICT:
The story has a Man vs. Man conflict. It is about Mrs. Mallard vs. her husband Mr. Mallard. The wife is
not happy and in love with her husband so when she learned that it died from an accident, she became happy.
But in the end, when her husband came home alive, she was the one who died because of too much surprise or
joy. She didn’t expect that he is still alive and died because the freedom she is expecting will not happen
anymore.

LITERARY DEVICES USED:

 Simile
 she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory
 she was striving to beat it back with her will--as powerless as her two white slender hands
would have been
 Metaphor
 When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone.
 The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares.
 Personification

 …a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.
 …the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window.
 …thing that was approaching to possess her

POINT OF VIEW:
The story was written in third person point of view. The author is narrating the characters and events in
the story. It uses third person pronouns such as, he, she and day.

SILAS MARNER

1. What are the consequences of being a victim of lies, gossip, or rumors?

  The consequences of being a victim of lies, gossip, or rumors can be critical. It can cause depression,
be involved in crimes and wrong directions that will lead to leaving behind everyone. There is no good
result of doing these things because it will only bring you to sufferings. It may have a good result at
first, but later on, you will suffer to its outcome. Everything will not flow according to what you have
planned. Oftentimes, it will deliver you unexpected consequences you have never imagined.

2. How do people cope with extreme despair?

 People cope with extreme despair through acceptance and appreciation of the things we have. Learn
to trust and believe others to have a happy life. In Silas's case, he went straight to the loom. He had
been comforting himself with work after the incident happened in Lantern Yard. It gave him the balance
to move forward, or to simply sit and mourn.

3. How does social upbringing influence personal characteristics and behaviors?

 Social upbringing influences personal characteristics and behavior by knowing where class you really
belong. For example, you are rich, and then you will get along in the circle of rich friends. They can
influence your lifestyle, personal characteristics and behavior. If it is about wasting money because of
thinking that you have lots of money that is how socialites influence you. It is the same how the society
of poor people influences each other. Any of them can influence how they value life, money and
friends. The influence in changing personal characteristics depends upon what circle you want to be
influenced and/or belong.

4. Does money bring happiness?

 Yes, money can bring happiness, but not all the time. Always remember that money is the root of evil.
You can be happy at first because you can buy and get what you want if you have money. But when
you abuse the use of it and spend your money on irrelevant things, you will not experience real
happiness. It can lead to bad addiction. Some people around you may envy or encourage you to use
your money in unimportant things.