1. What is the effect of the final paragraph of the story? How does it contribute to your understanding of Emily? Why is it important that we get this information last rather than at the beginning of the story?
2. How is foreshadowing used in Faulkner’s short story
3. Contrast the order of events as they happen in the story with the order of which they are told. How does this plotting create interest and suspense?
4. Faulkner uses a number of gothic elements in this plot: the imposing decrepit house, the decayed corpse, and the mysterious secret horrors connected with Emily’s life. How do these elements push forward the plot and establish atmosphere?
5. Who or what is the antagonist of the story? Why is it significant that Homer Barron is a construction foreman and a northerner? ( You may need to do some extra research to understand the answer to this question)
6. In an interview, Faulkner described the conflict of Miss Emily: she “had broken all the laws of her tradition, her background, and she had finally broken the law of God too. . . And she knew she was doing wrong, and that’s why her own life was wrecked. Instead of murdering one lover, and then to go on and take another and when she used him up to murder him, she was expiating her crime.” How might this story be seen as expiation?
7. Do a character analysis of Miss Emily Grierson
8. Write about the parallel between the physical decay of Miss Emily with her decline/decay within the community.
