Homework Assignment H: Read the short story “Dry September,” by…

ConstablePencil11107 Homework Assignment H: Read the short story “Dry September,” by…Homework Assignment H: Read the short story “Dry September,” by William Faulkner.  Please read the comments below carefully, before you read the story and answer the questions: 1. The story was written in 1931 and takes place in a fictional American town, in the south, probably in Mississippi, where the author lived.  It seems to describe reality as it existed in 1931, when the story was written.  Slavery was done away with in 1865, with the end of the American Civil War, but white supremacy still was dominant in the south, at this time, creating a climate for terrible racial inequities and injustices.  2.  The “n” word appears probably 50 to 100 times in this story, written by a white man, William Faulkner.  This does not make him a racist–he tried to write  work of fiction that described the reality and social attitudes that had surrounded him since birth.  3.  One of the main characters is a barber, named Henry Hawkshaw.  He is referred to as “Hawk”and “Henry” by different men in the story.  4.  Another main character is named John McLendon, and he had been a soldier in World War I, having served in France, in the 19-teens.  5.  Another character who has a major part in the story is not given a name, but is called a “drummer.”  He does not play any drums…he is a traveling salesman.  “Drummers” traveled all over America at this time, on trains, “drumming up” business in towns everywhere for companies they worked for.  The “drummer” in this story is a customer in the barber shop, but he is just a visitor to the town, a salesman passing through.      As you read the story, gather details and then type detailed answers to these questions:         1. Scene 1 of the story takes place across pages 338-340 of the story.   From that scene, make a list of the different attitudes toward race that various men express.2.  For Scene 2 of the story, make a list of what seem to be the important facts that you learn about the woman named Minnie Cooper, who supposedly has been sexually assaulted by a black man named Will Mayes.3.  The barber eventually goes with the men who want to attack Will Mayes, but he later jumps out of the car while it is moving.  Why do you think he jumped out of the car?  Why might he have given up, stopped arguing with the men, and abandoned Will Mayes to his fate?  List any possible reasons that you see, based on the details in the story.4.  Read Scene 4 very carefully.  By the end of the scene, what seems to have happened to Minnie Cooper?  And, do you think she really had been sexually assaulted?  If not, why might she have made up a story about it?5.  Choose two details out of Scene 5 (dialogue, description, or something that happens) and write  few sentences about each one, discussing how they are meaningful to the story or suggestive of some additional meaning in the story.    Arts & HumanitiesEnglish