William Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi and based many of his characters on people from his hometown. He began writing as a hobby with no intention of making money from it. Faulkner wrote about the rural South during a time of change as the region dealt with the legacy of slavery. Some of his early accomplishments included serving in the Canadian and British air forces during World War I. Though he never finished college, Faulkner went on to become one of the greatest American novelists with works like The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying. He pioneered modern writing techniques like nonlinear narratives and developing characters without dialogue.

1. William Faulkner
Stacie D’Angelo
American Literature II

2. New Albany, Mississippi
William Faulkner is not only noted as one of the greatest American authors to date
but also one of the greatest world authors. He was born and raised in New
Albany, Mississippi and later based characters in his work around the names and
faces of his neighbors.

3. The Rural South
Faulkner began writing for himself,
believing that there was no money to
be found in such a hobby. The rural
south was going through drastic
changes at the start of his career; guilt
from slavery and the burden of the past
left on both white and African
American citizens, a change in social
statuses and the romance of the
aristocratic behavior of southern
landowners.

4. Early Accomplishments
As we know, William Faulkner was
born into a southern family in
Oxford, Mississippi. Once the legal age
he joined the Canadian Air Force and
later during World War I he enlisted
and fought on the side of the
British, Royal Air Force. Following the
war Faulkner began studying at the
University of Mississippi and worked
part-time for a New York bookstore.

5. A Giant in American Literature
William Faulkner’s most impressive
accomplishment is not something that is
obvious to the reader’s eye, it takes a bit of
research to uncover. Faulkner, a young man
who never received his high school diploma
or earned a college degree, who was living in
the poorest state in the country managed to
become one of the greatest American
novelists in history. with pieces like “Light in
August.” All while supporting a family during
the Great Depression, taking pen to paper as
an emotional release.

6. The Sound and The Fury
As previously stated William Faulkner had no intentions of finding success as a
writer, he began taking pen to paper for himself. However, once the public eye was
given the opportunity to appreciate his work his popularity spread like wildfire.
Finally, an author who was writing about the concerns of the common southern
man. Finally, middle class men and women were finding answers in their everyday
questions regarding humanity. He released “The Sound and The Fury” published in
1929 a novel that Faulkner believed no one would understand. Although it truly
was one of the hardest novels ever published it’s also one of the greatest.

7. Modern Approach
Faulkner found success in using
modern methods in his writing, he As I Lay Dying
would introduce multiple characters One of the very first pieces of the
and jumble chronological order. He was Southern Gothic movement and the
able to develop characters without gruesome short story in which
dialogue. He also builds strong Faulkner broke the ice and
character foundations by basing his skyrocketed in popularity.
roles off of local personalities in his
small hometown of Oxford, Mississippi.

8. Poetry and Short Stories
Beginning in the early 1920’s Faulkner
experimented in the worlds of poetry
and fiction stories. William Faulkner’s
last name until the 1920’s was spelled
“Falkner” however, a printer working
on a verse of “The Marble Faun”
introduced the new found “U” into the
name where it stayed until his last day.
To this day Faulkner is considered to
be one of the finest writers of short
stories, based on his work “A Rose for
Emily” which has been placed in
countless short story collections.