The Sound and the Fury

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Part 5”

In this activity, students will demonstrate their understanding of how multiperspectivity and stream-of-consciousness are used in the novel by using these techniques in a new narrative section from another character’s perspective.

Because of the novel’s multiperspectivity, readers of The Sound and the Fury are exposed to more than one interpretation of many plot events. However, not all of the novel’s characters get a chance to share their perspective. In this activity, you will choose a character who does not get a chance to narrate and offer this character’s perspective on a single plot event, using Faulkner’s characteristic stream-of-consciousness style.

Plan

• Choose a character who is not one of the novel’s three first-person narrators.
• Choose a plot event that your character is present for and that at least two of the novel’s narrators already discuss. (If your chosen character is Dilsey, choose a plot event that is not discussed in Part 4, because the third-person narrator in that section already shares much of Dilsey’s perspective.)
• Consider how your character’s memory and interpretation of this plot event would likely differ from other perspectives.

Write

• Write a stream-of-consciousness narrative sharing your character’s perspective on the plot event you chose.
• Your narrative should convey the character’s personality through the thought process revealed in the stream-of-consciousness style.

Share and Revise

• Share your narrative with an editing partner. Ask your partner for feedback on the way your narrative conveys perspective and characterization.
• Revise your narrative to hone these qualities before submitting your work.

Teaching Suggestion: This activity allows students to demonstrate how their understanding of stream-of-consciousness, multiperspectivity, and Faulkner’s novel have evolved throughout the unit. If your students are ready for an additional challenge, you might ask them to include at least one example of the synesthesia typical of Faulkner’s novel or ask them to add a final reflection explaining how the choices they made in constructing their narratives support one or more of the novel’s themes.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Stream-of-consciousness is used to convey the thoughts and characteristics of Benjy, Quentin, and Jason. Choose two of these characters to use as the basis for your response.

• What significant difference in characterization is revealed through the stream-of-consciousness narration between these two characters? (topic sentence)
• Choose at least three quoted examples to support your interpretation of how thought patterns highlight a significant difference between these characters.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, comment on how this difference in characterization supports one or more of the novel’s thematic concerns: Pride Before the Fall, Women’s Sexuality and Sexual Transgression, and Identity, Legacy, and Destiny.

2. To an extent, all of Caddy’s brothers blame her for something. One major focus of their criticism is her sexuality.

• Is the reader meant to empathize with Caddy or condemn her, particularly in regard to her sexual behavior? (topic sentence)
• Give at least three examples of characterization, plot detail, and/or language that support your interpretation of how the reader should feel.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, comment on how the reader’s intended reaction to Caddy supports the novel’s thematic concern with Women’s Sexuality and Sexual Transgression.

3. Western literature has a long tradition of “blind prophet” figures, whose lack of physical vision is compensated for by mental or spiritual vision that allows them to “see” into the future and understand things others cannot understand.

• How do Benjy’s intellectual disability and sense of smell link him to the “blind prophet” tradition? (topic sentence)
• Give at least three examples of characterization, plot detail, and/or language that support your interpretation of Benjy’s relationship to blind prophet figures.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, comment on how this aspect of Benjy’s character supports one or both of the novel’s thematic concerns with Pride Before the Fall and Identity, Legacy, and Destiny.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. How does the novel’s multiperspectivity create a constantly shifting understanding of Caddy and her role in the downfall of the Compson family? Does the reader ever come to a place where they fully understand Caddy? What does this reveal about relationships, language, or communication? Write an essay in which you analyze what the novel’s use of multiperspectivity conveys about our ability to fully understand and depict the “truth” of other people. Support your assertions with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from the novel, making sure to cite all quoted material.

2. What is the function of the novel’s final section in which a third-person narrator explores events from Dilsey’s perspective? Why does Dilsey not narrate this section? How does this section differ in tone and technique from the previous three sections, and what new insights does the reader gain as a result? Write an essay in which you analyze the impact of Dilsey’s perspective in the novel’s final section. Show how this structural choice is related to the novel’s thematic concerns with Pride Before the Fall and Identity, Legacy, and Destiny. Support your assertions with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from the novel, making sure to cite all quoted material.

3. What is the symbolic value of the watch, and what is Quentin trying to stop, reject, or destroy when he breaks it? Why does he wear the broken watch on the day of his death? How do Benjy’s inability to understand the passage of time and Quentin’s memories of their father’s philosophy about time relate to the watch as a symbol? Write an essay analyzing the symbolic significance of the watch. Show how this symbolism supports one or more of the novel’s thematic concerns: Pride Before the Fall, Women’s Sexuality and Sexual Transgression, and Identity, Legacy, and Destiny. Support your assertions with evidence from the novel, making sure to cite any quoted material.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following phrases most accurately describes Jason Compson?

A) Bitter and resentful

B) Responsible and ethical

C) Entitled and compassionate

D) Remorseful and despondent

2. Why does Jason most likely encourage the family’s poor perception of Caddy?

A) He is angry that she has damaged the family’s reputation

B) He is ashamed of her promiscuous behavior

C) He is motivated by self-interest

D) He is jealous of her financial security

3. Which of the following statements is true about Benjy?

A) He symbolizes the family’s growing wealth and importance

B) He is a source of pride for his mother and brothers

C) He adores his sister Caddy because she treats him like an individual

D) He acts independently to gain Mother’s appreciation and support

4. Who does Jason blame for the broken window in Part 4?

A) Miss Quentin

B) Luster and Benjy

C) Mrs. Compson

D) Dilsey and Luster

5. What figure is Benjy symbolically tied to in the image of him surrounded with light on the staircase?

A) Christ

B) Cassandra

C) Tiresias

D) Faust

6. Which of the following statements applies to the final section of the novel?

A) It employs a first-person reliable narrator with events told from Luster’s perspective

B) It employs an unreliable narrator with events told from a new character’s perspective

C) It employs a subjective narrator with events filtered through Caddy’s perspective

D) It employs an omniscient narrator with events filtered through Dilsey’s perspective

7. Which statement accurately describes the following quote from Part 3, “Whatever I do, it’s your fault […] If I’m bad, it’s because I had to be. You made me. I wish I was dead.”?

A) Miss Quentin is insulting Mrs. Compson for her immorality and weakness of character.

B) Miss Quentin is erupting at Jason for holding her hostage to her inheritance.

C) Jason is insulting his father for being defeated by life and giving in to substance abuse.

D) Benjy is yelling about the unfairness of being characterized by his disability.

8. Other than Caddy, which characters most clearly reject patriarchal attitudes toward women’s sexuality?

A) Miss Quentin and Mrs. Compson

B) Mrs. Compson and Jason

C) Jason and Mr. Compson

D) Mr. Compson and Miss Quentin

9. Which of Benjy’s senses is much sharper than it is in most people?

A) Taste

B) Sight

C) Hearing

D) Smell

10. Over how many days does the present-time (1928) narration take place?

A) Two

B) Three

C) Four

D) Five

11. Which techniques does Faulkner employ in the following quote from Part 4, “He was like a worn small rock whelmed by the successive waves of his voice. With his body he seemed to feed the voice that, succubus like, had fleshed its teeth in him. And the congregation seemed to watch with its own eyes while the voice consumed him”?

A) Irony, metaphor, personification

B) Imagery, alliteration, simile

C) Simile, metaphor, personification

D) Anaphora, allusion, alliteration

12. Which character’s philosophical perspective is most aligned with the novel’s title?

A) Jason’s

B) Mr. Compson’s

C) Dilsey’s

D) Quentin’s

13. Which idea is conveyed by Caddy’s and Miss Quentin’s sexual behavior?

A) Patriarchal control of women’s sexuality is unnatural.

B) Women are less likely to be bound by family culture and norms.

C) Aristocratic Southern families deserve their own decline.

D) Women’s sexuality is both a valuable resource and a source of danger.

14. Which idea is most clearly supported by both Benjy’s and Dilsey’s prophetic abilities?

A) God, not humans, decides how the future will unfold.

B) The decline of families like the Compsons is inevitable.

C) Disabilities are often offset by some exceptional ability.

D) Gifted outsiders will eventually supplant the Southern aristocracy.

15. What do Mr. Compson’s role in the family and Benjy’s surgery both suggest about the values of families like the Compsons?

A) Their values are timeless.

B) Their values are dangerous.

C) Their values are impotent.

D) Their values are honorable.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. Why does Quentin confront Caddy about Head in Part 2? What does he reveal about Head, and how does this impact Caddy?

2. Consider the theme Pride Before the Fall, which derives from the following biblical quote: “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). How does this concept apply to the Compson family?