Index Cards

In my first draft of the Sound and the Fury exploratory essay, I completely misunderstood the definition of an "exploratory essay" and the process of writing one. I understood the content, and class discussions helped trigger my memory of plot details that I forgot since reading The Sound and the Fury over the summer. During our peer revision meeting (or whatever it was called where we met with a group to discuss our first drafts) I realized that most of my essay was spent describing the deconstruction process, and there was not really a "question" that I explored. I more or less was describing a phenomenon that I already thought a lot about and wasn't really questioning: totally not the point of writing this.
After clarifying the process with both my peers and through conferencing with Chia, I wrote down my ideas surrounding promiscuity both inside and outside the novel on index cards. This helped me get my ideas written down so none would get lost in the abyss of frantic analysis. I then removed the index cards that I thought didn't fit in to the flow of my ideas, organized the remains into a groups to form a coherent, linear outline, and drew transition notecards (arrows) between the groups. This made the essay-writing process easier, for all my ideas were laid out in front of me.
An important part of this essay was my conference as well as comments provided by my peers. Most of these comments came as questions to which I had the answers. It also made me realize how much I over-analyze.
I believe that after my ideas were drawn out of me through "verbal comments provided to me," I was able to see the big picture, and the index card process was merely a way for me to organize my essay and speed up the process a bit. In the future I would like to continue outlining my ideas in this fashion, as well as avoid over-analyzing. I just need to look at the big picture, and details will help support whatever conclusion I arrive at, but focusing on small aspects within the big picture won't help me determine anything, and I won't make sense at all.

Briony the Storyteller

Briony is introduced as a young playwright. Young. Playwright. These two words cannot describe her more. Briony always seems to be telling a story of her own, especially when she witnesses a situation she may not understand. For example, she watches her sister by the fountain with Robbie, who Briony is familiar with. She doesn't necessarily understand what is going on, so based on her sister and Robbie's actions, she more or less fabricates a story. The reader, however, is well aware of the scene by the fountain, for the previous chapter zooms in on the seemingly innocent, playful, and a bit flirtatious interaction between Cecilia and Robbie. However, Briony assumes that, because her sister removed articles of clothing, there is some sort of sexual interaction or attraction between the two; even if this is true, the situation is portrayed in a different light in the previous chapter, and neither Cecilia nor Robbie are seen as sexually-driven characters.

It seems as if Briony's interpretation of Robbie and her sister more or less changes the course of the book. She sees Robbie and Cecilia's relationship as dangerous. She witnesses another scenario in the study where her sister and Robbie are having sex, but because she is young, she perceives the situation in a different way. She truly believes that her sister is being attacked by Robbie, a sexual deviant, and needs to be rescued. Her "big lie" where she claims to have witnessed Robbie raping her cousin, Lola, is yet another example of how her misinterpretation led her to indirectly cause harm to Robbie (and Cecilia), and even herself.

In class, we perpetuated a discussion about Briony. Somehow, started talking about a conflict between Briony's supposed desire to manipulate the storyline (need for power) and her naivete. Personally, I believe that, although Briony has some desire to control and produce a situation that she feels is adequate (i.e. Trials of Arabella), this does not apply to how she misinterprets events. She is merely immature and ignorant, especially when it comes to sex and relationships.

Caddy Smells Like Bees...I Mean Trees.

I generally want to dig deeper into Caddy's character, or a specific contradiction that I noticed. Benji is portrayed throughout the novel as a mentally impaired, abnormal man incapable of surviving without being looked after by someone "normal", or competent. Caddy is portrayed as (1) loving and patient with Benjy, which no other members of the family are able to be in the same way as her, but also as (2) having a lusty, sinful nature, where she is portrayed as selfish for ruining her family's name through her sexual conquests and the reputation she has earned, or so they claim. I think there is something else to be discovered in this contradiction. It really bothers me, for I don't understand how Caddy can be both a nurturing, mother-like figure to Benjy as well as a slutty, scornful girl. It especially bothers me because, though Benjy notices the latter, he continues to love the side of her represented by the former.

What does Caddy value?
What does the Compson family feel about Caddy? Why?
What is Caddy's relationship with her brother, Benji?
Why am I so drawn to learning more about Caddy's relationship with Benji when there are still two brothers as well as a mother and a father who have relationships with her also?