Challenges & Opportunities of Teaching A Rose for Emily

An eccentric, old spinster dies and, upon her death, you find out that she was a murderer who had a taste for necrophilia. What's not to like?

"A Rose for Emily" combines all the cool stuff of high literature (metaphors, analogies, rich imagery) with all the really fun, spine-tingling stuff of Gothic low literature (thrills! suspense! romance! murder!). Your students get to read a freaky thriller, but it's also a literary classic. Not to mention, the story fits into a tidy seven or so pages. There might be no better story than this one to get students to like reading Faulkner (who otherwise – let's face it – can be challenging and overwhelming).