You can't judge a book by its cover...or can you?

The powers that be (other readers) wrote of the cover to Salinger's novel:

Catcher in the Rye's pallid cover, adorned only with seven multicolored bands in its upper-left corner, is not what one would call eye-catching. Its reverse side lacks criticisms or reviews of any sort; in fact, it is bare of anything except a copyright date. Human beings are advised not to judge books by their covers, rather that they should look further than the obvious and try to apprehend the implied meaning.

[http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/catcherrye/essay1.html]

Thoughts/comments:

1. What do you think of the book's cover? What kind of purpose does it serve? Is it indicative of something?

2. If you were given a chance to design another cover for the novel, what would your cover involve? Describe your cover.

A Letter to Author: playing with allusions

One Faulkner fan decided to write him a letter regarding the events taking place in his masterpiece, 'A Rose for Emily'.

As a comment, try and squeeze in your version of fan-mail, that is, write a letter, to one William Faulkner (now long departed), and ask him anything and everything regarding the work behind the story.


Dear Mr. Faulkner,

I just wanted to applaud you on your outstanding piece of literary work. "A Rose for Emily" is just an original piece that is simply wonderful. The procedure you took to write this story was fantastic and was new to me. I love to read stories that are written differently from others.

Although, I admire your unique style of writing, I have noticed that you use many common techniques that other writers use. One that I automatically realized was a major technique was the use of symbolism. "It smelled of dust and disuse--a close, dank smell." This line intertwines with the description of Ms. Emily. "Her skeleton was small and spare". "She looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue. Her eyes, lost in the fatty ridges of her face, looked like two small pieces of coal pressed into a lump of dough as they moved from one face to another while the visitors stated their errand." I can see it all comes together to describe how depressive Ms. Emily looks while the description of the house symbolizes death too.

I have also noticed that you strongly used symbolism in the title of your story. It also was used as foreshadowing I would think. A single rose can represent so many different things. A rose can represent love, respect, and sadly death. In the story Ms. Emily was loved by many men of the town but they all was forced away by her father. At her funeral they all brought roses with them. I see that it is here that the rose represents love and respect they and the others have for her. I also observed it symbolizes death. One exciting thing I experienced when reading was I felt like a detective.

From the beginning, I knew that Emily had died but didn't know the circumstances under how she died. While I continued reading I came upon more facts that lead to her death and what happened. Another style of writing I observed was how disorganized the story was. I see that it was for a worthy cause though. Personally, it only intrigued me much more. It had me constantly thinking about what events was occurring in the story. I would say it was a stream of consciousness.

Finally, I have to comment on your surprise ending. Who would've known that Homer Barron would die that way. Surprise endings is always like a zesty touch to a meal. It only made the story even better. I would love to read other magnificent work of yours in the future. I enjoyed it dearly and hope you receive many astounding awards for your work. I would also like to inform you that I have recommended your story to various aspiring talented young writers that are trying to reach to the top. I think the essence of your story and the way you used the techniques would help them out a whole lot.


Sincerely yours, Fatima