1. Vocabulary (an asterisk indicates a word used in an unusual sense): cupolas (par. 2), scrolled balconies (par. 2), August (par. 2), coquettish (par. 2), cedar-bemused cemetery (par. 2), edict (par. 3), archaic (par. 4), calligraphy (par. 4), dank (par. 5), parlor (par. 5), pallid (par. 6), temerity (par. 15), teeming (par. 16), diffident (par. 21), deprecation (par. 21), locusts* (par. 24), tableau (par. 25), spraddled (par. 25), noblesse oblige (par. 31), craned silk (par. 32), jalousies (pars. 32, 43), matched team (par. 32), imperviousness (pars. 35, 51), divulge (par. 44), cabal (par. 46), circumvent (par. 46), virulent (par. 47), carven (par. 51), tranquil (par. 51), doddering (par. 52), sibilant (pars. 54, 55), bier (par. 55), macabre (par. 55), pervading (par. 57), acrid (pars. 57, 60), pall (par. 57), valance curtains (par. 57), grimace (par. 59), cuckolded (par. 59), inextricable (par. 59), biding (par. 59)

2. This short story is notable for the scrambling of chronological order in its form or structure. How does this scrambling facilitate the comparison and contrast of different eras, characters, and values in each of the story's five sections? What themes and ideas are expressed through these various comparisons and contrasts? How does the narrative voice's comment about time (par. 55) relate to the story's structure or form?

3. How could the following chronology of this story be worked out from various scattered references in it (look up the abbreviations "c." and "ca." in your collegiate dictionary) -- from which paragraphs do specific clues come from for each of the following:

c. 1857 -  Emily born
c. 1891 -  Emily's father dies
c. 1892 -  Courtship of Homer
c. 1893 -  Purchase of arsenic, a smell at the Grierson house, some aldermen sprinkle quick lime
    1894 -  Col. Sartoris remits Emily's taxes
c. 1897-1904  -  Emily gives china-painting lessons
c. 1916 -  Col. Sartoris dies
c. 1922 -  new aldermen conflict with Emily about taxes
c. 1923 -  no visitors admitted to the Grierson house
c. 1931 -  Emily dies

4. Not all short stories - or literary works - have numbered sections, but this one does. (A) How does each of the five sections constitute a distinct thought, thematic, characterizational, or plot unit? (B) How might the number of the sections - five - have overtones or associations with another literary genre, the drama? Why would such overtones or associations be appropriate?

5. In the structure of this short story, what is the thematic function of Tobe, the African-American servant? What ideas or values are conveyed through his presence and actions?

6. Another notable feature of this short story is its handling of point of view (see Ch. 5 of R&J), the issue of who is referred to by the first-person plural ("we," "our," "us") throughout the story. (A) What group is represented by the first-person plural in the story? (B) What ideas or themes are conveyed by having the story narrated by a voice representing this group?

7. Some characters in this short story have connections with other of Faulkner's fiction. (A) The Colonel Sartoris (par. 3) referred to is Bayard Sartoris II, the son of Colonel John Sartoris, after whom the juvenile protagonist is named in Faulkner's "Barn Burning" (see Ch. 4 of R&J, along with some explanatory material about Colonel John Sartoris). The title "Colonel" is a sort of honorary inheritance granted to Bayard Sartoris II, who appears in Faulkner's short stories "There Was a Queen" and "The Bear," as well as Faulkner's novels Sartoris, The Unvanquished, The Hamlet, Requiem for a Nun, The Town, The Mansion, and The Reivers. (B) The Sartoris family as a whole is important in Faulkner's fiction, as is the Stevens family as represented by Judge Stevens (par. 17), who seems to be the father of Lemuel Stevens (judge in Jefferson around 1912). The latter appears in the short story "Tomorrow" and the novel The Reivers. Gavin Stevens is Lemuel's son, a lawyer and county attorney who appears in Knight's Gambit, Requiem for a Nun, The Town, The Mansion, Light in August, Intruder in the Dust, "Hair, "Go Down, Moses," and "The Tall Men." Gavin Stevens' wife, Melisandre Backus Harriss Stevens, appears in "Knight's Gambit," The Town, and The Mansion. Gowan Stevens, a first cousin once removed of Gavin Stevens, appears in Sanctuary, Requiem for a Nun, and The Town, while Temple Drake Stevens, Gowan's wife, is a central character in Sanctuary and Requiem for a Nun.

8. One of the main functions of all components in literary works is the expression of theme and meaning - what do we learn about people, human nature, the natural world, society, and so on, from the literary work and its components. Hence the question to be asked about plot (in drama and poetry, as well as prose fiction) is not "what happens?" or "what happens next?" but "what is the meaning of what happens?" - what is conveyed about individual behavior, people, human nature, the world, society, humanity in the natural world or society, etc., from any particular incident or action? (A) What does the edict issued by Colonel Sartoris (par. 3) indicate about him and about the town's values in the past? (B) How do the details of how she chooses to communicate with the town government of the next generation (par. 4) help indicate that Emily lives in a world of bygone values? (C1) Aspects of setting (see Ch. 6 of R&J) connect with plot -- actions -- since a person or persons may act in choosing to furnish a room in a certain way. How does the portrait that Emily chooses to emphasize in her parlor (par. 5) reveal the values of her immediate family? (C2) How does the parlor portrait connect symbolically with the Grierson "tableau" townspeople recall (par. 25) as well as the decor at Emily's wake (par. 55)? (D) How do the physical actions of Emily in her dialogue with the new aldermen (par. 7) indicate her intentions and values? (E) How do Judge Stevens' words and the aldermen's actions (par. 24) suggest the values of a bygone era? (F) How are the actions of the townspeople immediately after the death of Emily's father (par. 26) indicative of the relationship between the lower or middle class vis-a-vis the upper class? (G1) How does Emily's behavior about her just-deceased father (par. 27) reveal what is now recognized as a "stage" in the mourning process? (G2) How does Emily's behavior about her just-deceased father (par. 27) connect with an earlier comment about the Wyatt side of Emily's family (pars. 25 and 31)? (G3) How does Emily's behavior about her just-deceased father (par. 27) foreshadow how Emily will ultimately behave or act toward Homer Barron? (G4) How does Emily's behavior about her just-deceased father (par. 27), as analyzed by the narrative voice about clinging to that which has robbed (par. 28) relate to the concept in sociology of "cognitive dissonance"? (H1) How do details of Homer Barron's behavior, as initially described when he begins work in town (par. 30) reveal facets of his personality and nature? (H2) How might any of the facets of Homer Barron's personality as suggested by the initial description of his first doings in town (par. 30) be romantically attractive or alluring to Emily? (J1) Why do the townspeople react negatively to Emily's attachment to Homer (par. 31)? (J2) How might the negative reaction of the townspeople to her attachment to Homer (par. 31) actually be one of the motivations of Emily's initial behavior toward Homer (cf. par. 33)? (K1) Why does Emily refuse to say anything to the druggist about the arsenic (pars. 41-42)? Why doesn't she just lie or go along with the druggist's verbal suggestions? (K2) Why doesn't the druggist come back to deliver the item; why does he send a substitute person to hand over the item (par. 42)? (K3) How does the druggist achieve a small triumph in the midst of defeat, via the label he provides for the item (par. 42)? (K4) How does the druggist's label for the arsenic turn out to be true in an ironically symbolic sense? (L1) How does the minister's behavior, with regard to the conversation with Emily (par. 46), reveal things both about the minister and Emily? (L2) How does this episode with the minister echo the episode with the druggist (pars. 41-42)? (M) How do Emily's purchases (par. 45) connect to her ultimate behavior toward Homer Barron, as revealed at the story's end? (N) What is suggested about Emily's cousins -- and one part of Emily's family line -- through the townspeople's actions and intentions toward them (par. 46)? (O) What is revealed about Emily by her six-or-seven-year activity with china painting (par. 49), and what is revealed about the townspeople in regard to how they respond to this activity (pars. 49-50)? (P) What is revealed about Emily through her actions relative to house numbering for postal delivery (par. 51)? (Q) Why does Tobe act the way he does when he lets in the first visitors to the Grierson house in many years (par. 54)? (R1) How does Emily's furnishing of the upstairs room reveal things about her and her attitude toward Homer Barron (par. 57)? (R2) How does Emily's furnishing of the upstairs room help explain the short story's title? (S) How does where Emily died (par. 53) as well as her values, shown throughout the short story, contradict any hint of necrophilia (look the word up in your collegiate dictionary) in the story's shocking final detail? (T) Many readers incorrectly remember the title of this short story as "A Rose for Miss Emily," rather than the correct title "A Rose for Emily." Why do you think this mistake often happens?

9. Everything in the literary work (with a few exceptions, such as many of the writings of William Blake) is made out of words, that in word choice or diction (as explained in Chs. 7 & 14 of R&J, as well as your composition handbook), sentence structure (including syntax and grammar; see Ch. 7 of R&J, along with material about style in your composition handbooks), and figures of speech (see Ch. 17 of R&J, along with material about figurative language or figures of speech in your composition handbook) convey all the other components of the work (structure, plot, characterization, setting, etc.). Faulkner is one of the great prose stylists of American literature, and "A Rose for Emily" constantly reveals how style helps convey meaning in the work. (A1) As used in par. 1 and later, what multiple meanings does the word "fallen" accumulate in the short story, through plot and repetition of the word? (A2) How does vertical imagery --- particularly words referring to elevation or descending --- become a symbolic or thematic motif in the short story? (B) How does the oxymoron (figure of speech) of the Grierson house being decorated in a "heavily lightsome style" (par. 1) apply to the combination of (B1) Emily and her father, and (B2) Emily and Homer Barron? (C) How does the personification (figure of speech) of the Grierson house as "coquettish" in contrast to its modern environment (par. 1) apply to the relationship of Emily and Homer, and Emily and the town after 1890? (D) What are the thematic implications and connotations (properties of word choice or diction) of the verb "fathered" in describing Col. Sartoris' edict about African-American women (par. 2)? (For example, why wouldn't the synonyms "founded" or "authored" or "decreed" be as significant or meaningful in revealing the town's values in the past, along with implied relevance to the relationship between Emily and her father?) (E) How does the balanced antithesis of the last sentence of par. 3 help convey irony about both male and female thought and behavior? (F) What appropriate implications in the imagery, or connotations in the word "iron," are conveyed by the repeated point that Emily's hair turned "iron gray" (pars. 48 and 60)?