Jim Morgan
 to AP
	
4 July 2009 3:19 AM 
	
	
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Hi Stacey,
 
I've been teaching Light in August to 11th graders for awhile.  It's an incredible novel.  We discuss themes involving violence and its relation to alienation, race and identity in a segregated world, the importance of community, the relation of the past to the present and other such weighty topics.  It's also a treasure of narrative techniques: flashbacks, omniscient and limited third-person narration, stream-of-consciousness narrative, framing, etc.
 
Some issues with specific chapters:
 
Ch 1: My favorite chapter, although only after reading the whole novel does its brilliance become clear.  Most of the themes are embedded here in embryo.  The first five or six pages should be read together in class to help them get used to the rhythms of the langauge and the sudden flashbacks.  ("She's STILL sitting beside the road waiting for the wagon after ten pages?")
 
Ch 5: There's a very tricky time-sequence change at the start of this chapter, and of course this is Faulkner so there are few textual clues.  It takes place a couple of days before the previous chapter, prior to the murder.  (You have to tell the kids that or they'll be totally lost.)  Assign chapters 5 and 6 together as the transition between them is stunning.
 
Ch 7:  Three "shapshot" episodes of Joe's abusive childhood, framed by poignant descriptions of his first day at McEachern's.  A particularly teachable chapter.
 
Ch. 8-10:  You'll need to help students understand what's going on with the prostitution ring...they have a hard time getting it.  (And the blood thing you can decide discuss with them or not...)  Chapters 9-10 involve another amazing Faulknerean transition so I assign those two chapters together.
 
Ch. 11: Don't worry too much about the specifics of Joanna's background.  It's confusing and not all that crucial. 
 
Ch. 12:  Lots of sex in this chapter, though most of it is inferred.  Discuss or avoid discussion as you see fit.
 
The narrative drags a little between chapters 16-18 in my opinion. 
 
Ch. 19: Percy Grimm is a great minor character for analysis.  Faulkner later said he created a prototype of a Nazi.
 
Ch. 20: Very important chapter, but VERY tough.  You have to provide a good worksheet or some sort of scaffolding to make sense out of Hightower's memories.
 
Ch. 21:  Great chapter to discuss the unusual narrative strategy, the meaning of the title, the comparison of Lena to other characters.
 
There's a book available on Amazon called Reading Faulkner: Light in August that provides all sorts of line by line commentary and information about allusions, farm terminology, etc.  Try to get that if you can; I found it to be a great help.
 
Good luck!
 
Jim