Please choose ONE of the following questions, and write an essay. Concentrate on your arguments, and you must make reference to the text in your essays in support of your points. Goal: 1,000 words.
1. Compare and contrast the men that died in Faulkner's story, Emily's father and Homer. In what way, if any, were they responsible for the way Emily reacted to them? How did her father's treatment toward her impact her relationship with Homer? Why was there no mention of Emily's mother in the story? Was this significant, in your opini.
2. Likewise, diagnose Faulkner on the basis of the characters in A Rose for Emily. What does the behavior of the men versus the women tell you? What does the odd behavior of Emily regarding the deaths of her father and Homer lead you to conclude?
3. Diagnose Hemingway on the basis of the characters in Macomber. Freud felt that the work exemplified the author's mental state, so on the basis of the biography and the characters in the story, what might you conclude about Hemingway himself?
4. Apply psychological criticism and anything else you might have learned from a psychology class to Emily. This will likely be an evaluation essay.
5. Compare and Contrast Hemingway's Margot and Faulkner's Emily from a psychological perspective. In each case, they killed the man they had once loved. What were their motives and situations at the time of the deed? What was going on in their minds? What did they have to gain by killing these men? Consider these and other pertinent questions with respect to these women.
6. Which story/author did you prefer (Hemingway or Faulkner)? Give very specific reasons and examples from both texts in your essay.