William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Faulkner was an enormous man in literature despite the fact that he stood less than five foot six. He reshaped the way in which the world views literature today. Faulkner was one of the greatest influences to American culture of his time. In fact, his influence spread throughout many years to come. Faulkner started out as a child with a dream, and with this dream he redefined the literary society of America.
William Cuthbert Faulkner was born on September 25, 1897, in New Albany, Mississippi. Faulkner was the son of Maud and Murry Faulkner. He was the eldest of four sons, and was named after his great grandfather, who was a bestselling writer of “The White Rose of Memphis.” When Faulkner was young, he showed an artistic talent for drawing and writing poetry. Estelle Oldham and Phil Stone were acquaintances of him while in his youth who would become important figures in Faulkner’s future. Stone found great interest in Faulkner’s poetry, which soon caused him to recognize William’s unmistakable talent. He set out to advise Faulkner and give him models for his study of literature. He said that “Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Don 't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.” (William Faulkner). It was in this way that he conducted his literature, for the rest of his life was sloppy and indulgent. He worked as a postmaster and a scoutmaster for Boy Scouts, and in both he was asked to resign for drinking, and poor work. He dropped out of both high school and college in favor of partying, but during his stay in college, Faulkner was able to create many short stories and poems which were featured in the school newspaper and the yearbook. Faulkner may have been irresponsible and incompetent, but his writings proved to be extravagant works of art that redefined American literature for centuries to come.
William Faulkner’s work was defining to the culture of
William Faulkner was an enormous man in literature despite the fact that he stood less than five foot six. He reshaped the way in which the world views literature today. Faulkner was one of the greatest influences to American culture of his time. In fact, his influence spread throughout many years to come. Faulkner started out as a child with a dream, and with this dream he redefined the literary society of America.
William Cuthbert Faulkner was born on September 25, 1897, in New Albany, Mississippi. Faulkner was the son of Maud and Murry Faulkner. He was the eldest of four sons, and was named after his great grandfather, who was a bestselling writer of “The White Rose of Memphis.” When Faulkner was young, he showed an artistic talent for drawing and writing poetry. Estelle Oldham and Phil Stone were acquaintances of him while in his youth who would become important figures in Faulkner’s future. Stone found great interest in Faulkner’s poetry, which soon caused him to recognize William’s unmistakable talent. He set out to advise Faulkner and give him models for his study of literature. He said that “Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Don 't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.” (William Faulkner). It was in this way that he conducted his literature, for the rest of his life was sloppy and indulgent. He worked as a postmaster and a scoutmaster for Boy Scouts, and in both he was asked to resign for drinking, and poor work. He dropped out of both high school and college in favor of partying, but during his stay in college, Faulkner was able to create many short stories and poems which were featured in the school newspaper and the yearbook. Faulkner may have been irresponsible and incompetent, but his writings proved to be extravagant works of art that redefined American literature for centuries to come.
William Faulkner’s work was defining to the culture of
Cited: 1) Padgett, John B. . " William Faulkner“ <http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/faulkner_william/ 2) “Gray, Richard J.” The Life of William Faulkner: A Critical Biography, 9/1/1996 3) .Elsevier Publishing Company,” William Faulkner The Nobel Prize in Literature 1949” 4.) Dunn, John F, “Stamps; Honoring William Faulkner”, The New York Times http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE1DB1438F931A3575BC0A961948260 5) Larinde, Toyin, “Biography of William Faulkner”, “The Mississippi Writers and Musicians Project” http://shs.starkville.k12.ms.us/mswm/MSWritersAndMusicians/writers/Faulkner.html