Considerations for The Mayor of Casterbridge and As I Lay Dying Family Connections: Considerations for The Mayor of Casterbridge and As I Lay Dying

Contrasting settings: Michael – From the agricultural county of Wessex to Casterbridge in 1880s England The Bundren Family – From the rural Mississippi county of Yoknapatawpha to Jefferson in 1920s American South

Consider the Protagonists: Michael – encumbered but determined, yearns to unyoke from his family Addie? Darl? – who is the protagonist of As I Lay Dying? How does family create conflict?

Consider the antagonists: The Mayor of Casterbridge: People: Farfrae, himself Ideas: popularity VS loneliness; failure VS success As I Lay Dying (no antagonist in the traditional sense): - people VS animals - Addie’s favorite as the damned one - death as an opportunity - Addie as an evil spirit – the opposite of nurturing

Historical Significance: Farm Life versus Industrial Landscape Money Calculations: 5 guineas in 1880 = $161.32 today Cost of Living (1 guinea =21 shillings) 3 dollars in 1920 = $37.54 today Grocery Prices Wife Auctions: Wife Selling in Victorian England.docx

Common Archetypes: The Journey Bridges Social Class Death

Consider symbols: As I Lay Dying: The Mayor of Casterbridge The river The coffin Animals Tools The Mayor of Casterbridge Wheat/farm production Five Guineas The Goldfinch Letters

Analyzing THEME: Theme is NOT: Theme IS: One word/phrase; Specific to one work; A subject Chapter-specific A universal comment about life and/or human nature; A complete sentence; Relevant to the WHOLE work

Examples (and non-examples): The theme of The Mayor of Casterbridge is love and marriage. The theme of As I Lay Dying is that Addie’s death is hard on the whole family. The theme of The Mayor of Casterbridge is that successful marriage does not require love. As I Lay Dying conveys the idea that death is not an individual experience.

Your Task Review your READING LOGS for key elements of plot, character, and setting; Be able to write a STATEMENT of THEME for EACH NOVEL; Prepare your speech so that DEEPENS it our understanding of that topic. THIS FRIDAY, Be able to write an essay analyzing some aspect of EITHER novel