A Rose For Emily Quizlet- English

Why is this crazy: "When her father died, it got about that the house was all that was left to her..."

He didn't give her any money, only the house, which was crazy because it costs a lot of money to own a house.

Why did Emily's dad get in the way of her marriage/love life?

He got in the way because the men weren't good enough.

What is the "A Rose For Emily" timeline?

30 (Dead dad)---she cuts her hair short---> 31 (Meets Homer)---she gets really skinny---> 32 (Dead Homer)----the smell develops, she starts getting fat, 40, she teaches China painting to the town children (+30 yrs)----> 62 (Where are my taxes!)---> 74 (Emily dead)

Why did Faulkner write this story? What was he trying to say about human nature?

By trying to control something too much, you actually hurt it. The one thing that people can't live without is companionship and love.

What does perpetuity mean?

Forever. It's saying that Emily doesn't have to pay taxes forever.

Why is Emily poor and living in a once-glorious mansion?

Her dad didn't leave her any money, only the house.

Who was Homer Barron?

Homer Barron was a blue collar worker from the North, right after the Civil War.

What does this represent: "When she opened the package at home there was written on the box, under the skull and bones: 'For rats.' " Focus on the " 'For rats' " part.

Homer's a rat for not giving her what she wanted, which was a husband.

Why does a smell develop around her house? Why is this confusing when we first hear of it?

Initially, they think it's because the butler doesn't know how to keep a kitchen clean. Initially, they thought the smell was a dead animal, so they sprinkled lime (an acid, it's a chemical that aids in decomposition) in the yard. Emily saw them, so she must've moved or done something to Homer to make the smell go away.

What does this sentence mean: "Being left alone, and a pauper, she had become humanized."

It means that now the Grierson's will know what it feels like to be poor.

What does this section of the story tell you about Emily: "They rose when she entered--a small, fat woman in black..."

It tells you that she's still in a permanent state of mourning from her father's death, because she's living in the past.

Why did Emily buy the rat poison. It says this in the story "... when she bought the rat poison, the arsenic. That was over a year after they had begun to say "Poor Emily," and while the two female cousins were visiting her."

Maybe she was waiting for an engagement that never came, and then she got angry and bought rat poison.

Why does Emily choose Homer for her partner?

Maybe she's desperate, maybe he's the only one who's her age and isn't married yet, maybe he doesn't know about her history, maybe she just wants someone to rely on because she's lonely, maybe she's rebelling against her father so that she can have things her way.

Why does she kill him?

Maybe they never got married, maybe she wanted to get married but he said not, so she killed him so he could never leave her again. She wanted a love for a lifetime and she knew this was the only way to get it.

What is reconstruction?

Reconstruction is the time after the Civil War, where they're trying to fix themselves.

Why did Emily refuse to acknowledge her father's death?

She denied her father died. She kept him in the house for days. She was in denial, and she was grieving. Her father represented everything to her, he fed her, clothed her, told her what she could and couldn't do.

What is the significance of this sentence: "So when she got to be thirty and was still single."

She was 30 when her dad died and she was still single. This was very peculiar because people would get married when they're really young, so by the time her dad died and she was finally free, no one wanted to date her anymore.

What is wrong about this sentence: "Only a man of Colonel Satoris' generation and thought could have invented it, and only a woman could have believed it."

That sentence is complete sexism. It is saying that because he's a man, he's smarter than a woman, so he's smart enough to deceive lies, and she was dumb enough to believe them.

Why does the mayor allow Emily to avoid paying taxes?

The mayor cancels her taxes out of pure charity because he knows that she cannot pay them. He invented a tale that said her dad loaned the town money, and the town wanted to pay her back the money this way, because he knew she wouldn't accept charity.

When does the story take place?

The story takes place in the late 1800's

From what point of view is the story told? What is the significance of this choice? What statement is the author making?

This is first person narration, but it's from the town's perspective. This story is really about public opinion, gossip, and small town life. This whole story is told as a series of flashbacks. It's not told in chronological order.

What does this mean: "Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head. One of us lifted something from it, and leaning forward, that faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils, we saw a long strand of iron-gray hair."

This means that she had been laying next to him for decades, hugging him.

What does this mean: "When the town got free postal delivery, Miss Emily alone refused to let them fasten the metal numbers above her door and attach a mailbox to it. She would not listen to them."

This means that she wants to live in the past.

What does this sentence tell you about the mayor: "... dating from that day in 1894 when Colonel Satoris, the mayor--he who fathered the edict that no Negro woman should appear on the streets without an apron..."

This tells you that the mayor is racist and he believed that even though the black women are free, they shouldn't be.

What does remitted mean?

To get rid of

What do you know about the judge, Judge Stevens, from these two sentences that he said: "It's probably just a snake or a rat that n i g g e r of hers killed in the yard. I'll speak to him about it." (Ignore the spacing for one of the words. Quizlet wouldn't let me write out the word, so I had to put spaces in between each letter)

You know that the judge is racist.