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Essay Questions
1. Why does Faulkner use three separate narrators?
2. What is meant by saying that Thomas Sutpen's fault was his innocence?
3. What was Sutpen's design?
4. How did Sutpen first conceive of his design?
5. Correlate Sutpen's conception of his design with his refusal to acknowledge his son Charles.
6. What information do we learn only from Miss Rosa's narration?
7. What information do we learn from Mr. Compson's narration? How does his narration differ from Miss Rosa's?
8. What techniques does Faulkner employ to give his story a mythic structure?
9. What advantage does Faulkner achieve by treating his story as a myth?
10. What is the function of Shreve McCannon?
11. Justify Miss Rosa's acceptance of Sutpen's proposal of marriage.
12. Why does Faulkner have Sutpen killed by Wash Jones?
13. How does the French architect's captivity and attempted escape emphasize one aspect of Sutpen's nature?
14. Justify calling Judith a Sutpen in temperament and Henry a Coldfield in temperament.
15. Why does Henry finally agree to the incestuous marriage and what does his agreement signify?
16. Why does Quentin choose to narrate the Sutpen story as an example of "What the South is like"?