Rose for Emily
English 210, summer
Formalist Strategy (imagery)- A Rose for Emily
Imagery is an author’s use of descriptive words and phrases to develop depth in their stories by providing vivid detail so the reader can imagine all the components involved. In the story, A Rose for Emily, old Emily Grierson’s traits, characteristics and life are brought about through Faulkner’s descriptive language. Miss Emily is first brought to life on page 85 where she is described as “a small, fat woman in black, with a thin gold chain… leaning on an ebony cane”, the passage goes on to talk about her skeleton being small, and perhaps that’s why she looked obese, bloated, and that her eyes looked like “small pieces of coal pressed into a lump of dough”. Her voice is then said to be dry and cold. These words used to describe to Emily give one an impression that she is not a warm, welcoming, lady, but instead almost cold hearted and removed. The author continues to paint her this way as she is described only as a figure in a window and motionless in the shadows. The shadows and grim detail chosen to portray her bring mystery to Miss Emily as well as darkness. Her home is described in the second paragraph as “big, squarish frame house that had once been white… heavily lightsome style of the seventies” and “an eyesore among eyesores” as it is said to be decayed. To place Miss Emily in a run-down home like this is important to the story as it allows for the reader to infer mystery, darkness and a cold unknown to her life and who she is; the house itself seems somewhat creepy, abandoned and wasting away. The house is then later described to have a smell, a complaint from many in the neighborhood, and is described as the smell of a decaying animal “probably just a snake or a rat”. The smell was so bad a few men snuck around her place one night and sprinkled lime everywhere to try and mask it. The detail of rotting smell may allow the reader to wonder what type of person can live like that
Formalist Strategy (imagery)- A Rose for Emily
Imagery is an author’s use of descriptive words and phrases to develop depth in their stories by providing vivid detail so the reader can imagine all the components involved. In the story, A Rose for Emily, old Emily Grierson’s traits, characteristics and life are brought about through Faulkner’s descriptive language. Miss Emily is first brought to life on page 85 where she is described as “a small, fat woman in black, with a thin gold chain… leaning on an ebony cane”, the passage goes on to talk about her skeleton being small, and perhaps that’s why she looked obese, bloated, and that her eyes looked like “small pieces of coal pressed into a lump of dough”. Her voice is then said to be dry and cold. These words used to describe to Emily give one an impression that she is not a warm, welcoming, lady, but instead almost cold hearted and removed. The author continues to paint her this way as she is described only as a figure in a window and motionless in the shadows. The shadows and grim detail chosen to portray her bring mystery to Miss Emily as well as darkness. Her home is described in the second paragraph as “big, squarish frame house that had once been white… heavily lightsome style of the seventies” and “an eyesore among eyesores” as it is said to be decayed. To place Miss Emily in a run-down home like this is important to the story as it allows for the reader to infer mystery, darkness and a cold unknown to her life and who she is; the house itself seems somewhat creepy, abandoned and wasting away. The house is then later described to have a smell, a complaint from many in the neighborhood, and is described as the smell of a decaying animal “probably just a snake or a rat”. The smell was so bad a few men snuck around her place one night and sprinkled lime everywhere to try and mask it. The detail of rotting smell may allow the reader to wonder what type of person can live like that