Incoming Pre-AP English II Students: Discussion Boards for "Barn Burning" and "Cathedral"

9/26 Update: At this point all responses need to be made on paper. Please submit your COMPLETE (not partial) responses when all 12 questions have been answered.

Barn Burning by William Faulkner (listen here!)

• Historical Context: The historical context of the time of Faulkner's writing highlights a central concern of the story -- the experiences of the sharecropper and the tenant farmer. Sharecropping has been described as "slavery's systemic descendant." Watch the video above (be sure to read it, too!) and discuss how sharecropping relates to slavery.


• Symbol: Now that you know a little bit about sharecropping, discuss why barn burning was such a major crime in those days. What is the symbolism behind this violent act? What was Abner Snopes really trying to say when he did it?


• Time: In his story, Faulkner plays with time: The story was written in 1938, but was not set in 1938. Rather, it is set during the Reconstruction era in the American South (around 1895), with flashbacks to 1860-1865 (the end of the Civil War), and flash-forwards to about 1915, when Sarty is an adult.
  
  
  1. Why do you think the author does this?
  
  
  2. What effects do flashbacks and flash-forwards have on the reader?
  
  
  3. How do the flashbacks and flash-forwards affect the characters in the story?
  
  Discuss.


• Point of View: The narrator writes in the omniscient third-person.
  
  
  1. What is achieved by using this point of view? Faulkner also makes use of the interior monologue.
  
  
  2. What do we learn about Sarty through his interior monologues?
  
  Discuss.


• Irony: Abner Snopes has created a false persona of bravery by lying about his activities during the Civil War, but the narrator makes clear that his stiff walk is the result of "a Confederate provosts's man's musket ball" which "had taken him in the heel on a stolen horse..." Here Faulkner alludes to Achilles. Discuss the irony in this comparison.

Cathedral by Raymond Carver

• Motif: Think about the different types of communication in the story (the tapes, the poems, the ham radio).
  
  
  1. What do the characters involved in the communication learn about each other?
  
  
  2. What message does the author convey to the reader by making communication so important in the story?
  
  Discuss.


• Narrator: Is the narrator of this story sympathetic?
  
  
  1. What is his attitude toward Robert in the beginning?
  
  
  2. How does he treat Robert at the end of the story?
  
  
  3. What caused this change?
  
  Discuss.


• Symbol: Blindness is a difficult thing for the narrator to face. He lets us know this in the very first paragraph when he says, "And his being blind bothered me." In fact, Robert's name isn't even mentioned until the third page of the story; he is known simply as "the blind man".
  
  
  1. In this negative way, what does blindness stand for?
  
  
  2. Why does the narrator have such a hard time with it? (Think of the things a person can and cannot do if he is blind.)
  
  Discuss.

The Reims Cathedral in France

• Symbol: The above picture is one of the most famous cathedrals in France. Looking at the structure of these buildings, it is easy to understand why the narrator has a difficult time describing one to Robert.
  
  
  1. How is the cathedral an important symbol in the story?
  
  
  2. Why does the author use a cathedral as a catalyst for the change that occurs in the narrator?
  
  Discuss.


• Theme: Discuss the overall message of this story. What are we supposed to learn from reading about the narrator's experience with being confronted by a person like Robert, who has shattered all of his preconceived notions and stereotypes about blindness?